The Marlins and first baseman Jesús Aguilar have agreed on a $7.5MM deal to avoid arbitration, reports Mark Feinsand of MLB.com (on Twitter). That comes in the form of a $7.3MM salary for the upcoming season plus a $200K buyout on a new mutual option for the 2023 campaign. That buyout will increase to $250K if Aguilar, a client of MVP Sports Group, tallies at least 550 plate appearances this season.
Aguilar had filed at $7.75MM, while team had countered at $7MM. They’ll eventually come in a bit north of the midpoint of those figures to avoid an in-season hearing. It concludes the final trip through the arb process for Aguilar, as the 31-year-old is set to hit free agency at the end of the season.
The mutual option theoretically raises the possibility of him not hitting the open market, although it’s likely little more than an accounting measure. Mutual options are very rarely exercised by both sides, and the primary purpose is to push the team’s responsibility for the buyout to the end of the season as opposed to dispersing that money over the coming months in 2022 salary.
Aguilar has spent the past two seasons in South Florida. He’s served as Miami’s primary first baseman since being claimed off waivers from the Rays in December 2019. The right-handed hitter has been a solid but not elite hitter over that run, hitting .265/.336/.458 in a pitcher-friendly home ballpark. He’ll be part of what looks to be a solid crop of free agent first basemen next winter; Brandon Belt, José Abreu, Josh Bell, Yuli Gurriel and Trey Mancini are all set to hit the open market, while Anthony Rizzo will have the opportunity to opt-out of his deal with the Yankees.
Their budget is so tight they had to push $200K to next season? No wonder Jeter left.
Teams do that all the time. It’s totally normal and has nothing to do with a tight budget and nothing to do with Jeter.
Except it’s the Marlins and they’ve done this since they existed. So yep it does have to do with a tight budget and yep that’s exactly why Jeter said go scratch.
No that’s not how it works. Every team does it. You can’t say, sure, every team does it, but when the Marlins do it it’s different. That’s childishly absurd. Jeter most certainly did not leave because the Marlins did something every other team does. Sorry, the Marlins might be “cheap” but you’re intentionally misreading this as evidence to that idea.
Yeah you are right other teams can hold money back. It’s not uncommon. But the Marlins aren’t doing this because it’s a common play by front offices…. they are doing this bc for almost 30 years they have pinched ever penny they can. The evidence is in almost every move they have ever made in their entire existence. ENTIRE.
It’s 2022, the internet exists (you’re on it now)…..do yourself a favor and google the Marlins and their history. It’s childishly absurd that you did not educate yourself on a topic you are speaking on.
@Yanks4life22
Speaking for educating yourself, the internet exists and you can easily see that Jeffrey Loria is no longer the Marlins owner.
As for Jeter, let me see. He said we didn’t want to spend. Uh, seems like they spent on Soler since Jeter left. Jeter wanted Castellanos. Well, so he doesn’t look stupid, he better hope that Soler doesn’t end up looking like the better signing.
And in closing, I guess it’s normal to love Jeter as you do and bash the Marlins after so much he did for your team in relation to the Marlins. He led you all to the 2003 World Series championship…oh wait. Oh yeah…he gifted you Stanton. That’s certainly the gift that keeps on giving.
Image where the Marlins would be now if they still had Stanton. I would take Castellanos over Soler all day everyday. Enjoy your season.
Lol I love how in your closing argument you bring up Stanton, the franchise player your organization traded bc why? Oh yeah they are CHEAP!!!!
Thanks for making my point for me lol.
Enjoy that 03 championship, coming up on 20 years now. Too bad you’ll never see another one in your lifetime.
If Stanton was on the Marlins they would be a better team. He would be by far the best player on their team. Nobody even comes close. They are also bottom 5 in payroll so Stanton’s contract wouldn’t be a problem on their books. Who else are they paying that they couldn’t afford Stanton?
@Yanks4life22 Why pay all that money for a player that is constantly on the IL.
And nice trying to alter facts about keeping Stanton. We also had contracts for Chen and Prado. We were going to have to pay Yelich, Realmuto, and Ozuna. And since our pitching was awful, and we loss our Ace to death, we were going to have to pay for a bunch of pitching just to compete. We would have had a payroll that would have cleared $200 million.
Know the facts.
And you’re one of the very few Yankees fans that think the Yankees came out well in that Stanton trade. So enjoy paying all that money for a guy that can’t stay on the field. You won’t find any knowledgeable Marlins fan or really knowledgeable fan of baseball that will bash the Marlins for that Stanton trade.
BTW, interesting that the last two numbers of your screen name is 22. I guess you being happy about Stanton at that contract makes you similar to another 22 on these boards (@MetsFan22).
@Willy Smith (troll name no doubt) Take Castellanos all you want. Bottom line: Jeter claimed the Marlins were not going to spend any more, and they did…period.
You’re resorting to fallacy: just because the Marlins are “cheap” doesn’t mean every move they make is a result of being cheap.
@Cosmo2 I think he’s a troll. We’ve all seen @MetsFan22 get scarce on this site, then all of the sudden we have some new trolls popping in or “fans” that know very little about the teams they claim to follow…or make these E!SPN narratives.
Is it coincidence that @Yanks4life22 has the same last two numbers in his name as another person we all know?
Another example is the pretend Marlins fan that has shown up all of the sudden. His screen name is along the lines of @rockoflove or something like that. He pretends to be a Marlins fan, but spreads misinformation and garbage that you hear on E!SPN or FOX Sports. And he clearly doesn’t watch Marlins games as indicated in his clear inability to say anything that shows he’s watching the Marlins or even gets news about them from anywhere in the state of Florida or any website that covers them.
I think they’re all just trolls…or one troll.
It’s repeats itself it repeats itself. I’m here is y’all got some fresh new points but if you’re just going to dress up your original statements and change the wording of the sentence y’all really aren’t giving me much to respond to no?
Troll on. That’s a fresh, new point.
You don’t mess with the Jesus.
Hmmm. I know you don’t tug on Superman’s cape. You don’t spit into the wind. You don’t pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger. And you don’t mess around with Jim.
Nope. Doesn’t say anything about Jesus…
You are out of your element Rsox.
@LarsAnderson
I think he misunderstood you because of the Red Sox angle. He doesn’t know that for many people, Jeter is Jesus. And he doesn’t realize that you saying to not mess with him is actually good advice because no one should go to bed with Jeter to mess with him. Ain’t no gift basket worth the occasional itchy irritation.
When was the last time both sides of a mutual option were exercised without amending the option year?
A lot of money for a meh player.
Jesus Aguilar isnt meh, he’s a god
A god for a second division team. Average at best for a first division winner. Marlins love other team’s scraps.
Where does the money fall in terms of luxury tax years? Does the mutual option still get counted in “this year” or is it counted as “next year” (assuming it’s not exercised, so it’s just a buyout)?
Does it matter? I think the Marlins will safely avoid going over the threshold.
I remember all the bashers that were laughing at the Marlins for snatching up Aguilar a couple of years ago. He’s no superstar, but a solid middle of the order bat that we did well in adding him when we did.
Uh oh. @MarlinsFanGirl is on her s%!t again. I was hoping she got stomped at a Trump rally. Bummer.