This is unconfirmed, but I’m pretty sure it’s true: when the three-person arbitration panel makes its decision after Ethier’s arbitration hearing this morning, that decision, which usually is made public the following day, will be sealed for a few days. Not even Andre or the club will know what it is. It won’t be made public until after ALL of the pending arbitration hearings have taken place. The reason for this, apparently, is that there are several comparable players — Arizona’s Conor Jackson, Pittsburgh’s Nate McLouth, Atlanta’s Kelly Johnson — awaiting hearings. Comparables are routinely used by one side or the other in hearings to make its case. But because there are so many this year, it would be unfair to Ethier, whose hearing is the first among those players, because there isn’t a comparable hearing that either side can use in his case. But in any subsequent hearing, the sides would be able to use Ethier’s result as a comparable. It shouldn’t be too long, though. The hearings end this week, so we should know by early next week at the latest. For the umpteenth time, Ethier filed at $3.75 million, while the Dodgers filed at $2.65 million.