NEW YORK — The Yankees declined to offer salary arbitration to World Series MVP Hideki Matsui, Johnny Damon and Andy Pettitte, a move that means New York would not receive draft picks as compensation if they sign with other teams.

Tuesday night was the first big deadline of baseball’s offseason, with teams having until midnight to make arbitration offers to their former players who became free agents. Players have until Dec. 7 to accept; if they reject, they still can re-sign with their former clubs at any time.
As of early evening, 11 players had received arbitration offers and just three of them were position players: Seattle third baseman Adrian Beltre, Texas catcher Ivan Rodriguez and Rangers outfielder Marlon Byrd.
Pitchers offered arbitration included Detroit’s Brandon Lyon and Fernando Rodney; Oakland’s Justin Duchscherer; Atlanta’s Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano; Colorado’s Rafael Betancourt and Jason Marquis; and Houston’s Jose Valverde.
Among those declined arbitration were Detroit pitcher Jarrod Washburn, Seattle lefty Erik Bedard, Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado, Milwaukee center fielder Mike Cameron and Kansas City catcher Miguel Olivo.
Before 2006, players not offered arbitration could not re-sign with their former clubs from Dec. 8-April 30, but that provision was eliminated in the latest collective bargaining agreement.
Teams losing top free agents, as defined by a complicated statistical formula, get draft picks next June as compensation if those free agents were offered arbitration by their former clubs.
Type A free agents are among the top 20 percent of players at their position, as defined by the formula created in the 1981 strike settlement, and Type B are from 21-40 percent. Teams receive two extra draft picks if they lose a Type A player and one if they lose a Type B.