It is just confusing for this year. The CBA wasn't signed until the 11-12 offseason. Teams had been planning during the 11 season to keep using the old rules. They decided to have a complicated rule set for this offseason so no team would get screwed over, but would also slightly follow the new rules. For example, you now need to have a player on your team for the full year to get compensation for losing a player. This means that we wouldn't get anything for K-Rod if we lost him. But when we traded for him in July, we thought we would get at least a Type B pick for "losing" him. It wouldn't be fair to the Brewers (or other teams who made mid season moves) to say "You traded away prospects for a rental and draft picks, but the new rules say no draft picks". Going forward, the compensation rules are simpler than the old Type A:Type B system. There will no longer be any Type As or Type Bs. You are allowed to offer arbitration to any FA player at the average of the top 125 salaries. In 2011 this would be ~$12M. If the player signs elsewhere, you get an extra draft pick. If you offer arbitration for anything less than the average, or if the player spent any part of the year for a different team, you will get nothing for losing the player.