Some arbitration notes and minor league signings

There are all sorts of league-mandated deadlines involving arbitration-eligible players during the offseason.

And boy, is it entertaining, thrilling stuff.

Is that sarcasm jumping off the page at ya, or what?

To start the process off, teams must tender contracts to their arbitration-eligible players (players with at least three years, but fewer than six years of major league service time) by a certain date early in the offseason. The teams and players then have time to negotiate a deal for the upcoming season, and if one is not reached, then the player must officially file for arbitration by a certain date and subsequently submit a formal salary request.

The teams then follow by officially submitting their own salary request. Teams and players' agents then have a few weeks to try and find some middle ground and reach terms before actually needing to head to an arbitration hearing, which takes place in February.

Earlier this offseason, the Nationals tendered contracts to 10 arbitration-eligible players: right-handers Stephen Strasburg, Doug Fister, Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard and Craig Stammen, left-handers Ross Detwiler and Jerry Blevins, catchers Wilson Ramos and Jose Lobaton, and infielder Danny Espinosa.

Detwiler has since been traded to the Rangers, leaving nine arbitration-eligible players remaining. And today, those nine players will officially file for arbitration (assuming a late deal is not reached before then).

These players must have their former salary requests in by Friday, the same date that teams must also have their formal salary offers in to the league.

Here are the projected arbitration salaries for these nine players, according to MLBTradeRumors.com, with each player's service time in parentheses:

Tyler Clippard (5.148) - $9.3 million
Jerry Blevins (5.081) - $2.2 million
Doug Fister (5.058) - $11.4 million
Craig Stammen (4.160) - $2.1 million
Drew Storen (4.140) - $5.8 million
Stephen Strasburg (4.118) - $8.1 million
Wilson Ramos (4.047) - $3.2 million
Jose Lobaton (3.138) - $1.2 million
Danny Espinosa (3.113) - $2.3 million

The Nationals avoided arbitration with infielder Kevin Frandsen earlier this offseason by agreeing on a $1 million deal for this season and also avoided an arbitration-related grievance hearing with Bryce Harper by signing the outfielder to a two-year, $7.5 million deal covering 2015 and 2016.

Now they have to get ready to negotiate with nine other players. This is never an enjoyable process for teams, and both teams and players try to avoid actually heading to an arbitration hearing when at all possible. We'll see if the Nats can yet again reach terms with all their arbitration-eligible players without needing to head in front of the three-person arbitration panel.

On a separate note, the Nats have signed first baseman/outfielder Mike Carp to a minor league deal with an invitation to big league spring training, according to Carp's agency, O'Connell Sports.

Carp, who had a breakout year with the Red Sox in 2013, batting .296/.362/.523 with nine homers and 43 RBIs in 86 games with the World Series champions, saw his production drop off last season.

He batted just .175/.289/.230 in 59 games between the Red Sox and Rangers, and was designated for assignment by Boston in July. He was granted free agency by the Rangers in late September.

Carp could end up getting a share of the spring training playing time made available by Jayson Werth's shoulder surgery, and if he has a strong spring, the 28-year-old left-handed hitter could end up in the mix for a bench spot.

The Nats have also signed catcher Steven Lerud to a minor league deal with a big league spring training invite, the team announced.

Lerud went 2-for-15 in minimal big league playing time with the Phillies in 2012 and 2013. He hit .250/.376/.390 at Triple-A Gwinnett in 2014.