Cubs GM Jim Hendry said that he still expects to avoid arbitration with closer Carlos Marmol, writes Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com.
The Cubs and Marmol have an arbitration hearing scheduled for Feb. 15, but whether it be a one- or multiyear deal, Hendry said that he doesn't think the hearing will come to fruition, noting that he has a long-standing relationship with Marmol's agent, Barry Praver.
The North Siders prefer to ink Marmol to a three-year deal in the range of $22-25MM, according to Levine, which would buy out the right-hander's two remaining years of arbitration eligibility as well as one year of potential free agency. Marmol is seeking $5.65MM for 2011 while the Cubs have submitted a figure of $4.1MM, rendering a midpoint of $4.88MM, as our Arbitration Tracker shows.
Marmol reported to Spring Training in Mesa, Arizona, on Saturday and took a physical, indicating that a pre-hearing agreement may be imminent.
Not a big enough gap there for the Cubs to quibble about (in baseball money, I mean… in real life $780K is a lot of money). Offer him the $4.88M and get that off your plate before the season starts already.
Edit: Before ST begins, I mean.
That’s a bigger gap than the Cubs had with Ryan Theriot last year and they took him to the hearing. That being said, Marmol has a much better resume and the Cubs don’t have a “closer in waiting” like the Cubs had at shortstop with Starlin Castro last year.
This will get done before the hearing, and some sources have said that the framework for the agreement was done a couple weeks ago
Yeah, but as you kinda said, comparing your light hitting, not stellar defensively SS/2B to your closer who strikes out 16 per 9 isn’t apples to apples.
Very good point. Carlos Marmol holds batters to a career .174 average!! The guy is a beast compared to Ryan Theriot I mean the guys strike out rate is 15.99 per 9 innings.
if those numbers are true, average salary of 7-8 million dollars is ludricrous. Relievers just dont hold up. Marmol is great, but watch the sharp decline of a reliever kick in
Marmol is a scary reliever just on his own; he’s as likely to walk-and-bean in runs as he is to strike out the side in any given appearance (or hell, do both in the same appearance). In that sense the deal is a little bit worrying.
I don’t have a particular problem with the idea of $7-8MM for a closer though. Aside from the fact that he’s probably never going to get his control to the level of other elite closers, he’s been pretty dominating. With the Cubs’ payroll, it’s not a horrible chance to take.