Arbitrati.....what?!

We have about a week before pitchers and catchers report to camp. That being said, the world of baseball is about to gain life again. We are past the type-A free agent signing stage and there is now little room for trading. Most teams have a solidified lineup set to begin spring training and all that is left for deciding who is in and who is out is a (not so) simple process called Arbitration.
I am a self-diagnosed baseball fanatic. I umpired for 4 years, played for 7, and watched for 22.
However, this process of arbitration is something that I have still yet to be able to understand.
Arbitration is as followed:

A player with less than six years of service time is eligible for salary arbitration if he:

1. is without a contract for the next season, AND
2. has been tendered a contract offer by his current team by the tender deadline, AND
3. cannot agree with his current team on a new contract, AND
4. meets one of the conditions below:
   1. has been on a major league roster or disabled list for at least three years, OR
   2. has at least two years of major league service but less than three, AND is among the top 17 percent for cumulative playing time in the majors in this class of players, AND was on an active major-league roster for at least 86 days in the previous season.
   
   
   
   
   So, basically, if your team doesn't want you, you can take them to court and defend the notion that you are in the top 20 percentile at your position in the entire league. In most cases, this is untrue. The last case of this actually working out was with Ryan Howard.