The Marlins have won their arbitration hearing against right-hander Pablo Lopez, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports (via Twitter). Lopez had been seeking a $3MM salary in his first year of arbitration eligibility, but the arbiter ruled in favor of the $2.45MM salary figure submitted by the club.
One of the many intriguing young arms in Miami’s organization, Lopez could be in the midst of a breakout season, with an outstanding 1.57 ERA, 27% strikeout rate, and 6.2% walk rate over his first 46 innings of the 2022 campaign. Statcast and fielding-independent metrics are also loving his work, though after shoulder problems limited Lopez in both 2019 and 2021, the biggest question down the stretch could be whether or not Lopez can last something close to a full season of work.
It could be that Lopez’s limited track record hampered his arbitration case, as he tossed only 102 2/3 innings last year due to a rotator cuff strain that sidelined him for virtually the entire second half. Needless to say, he’ll be lined up for a big raise in his second arb year if he stays healthy and effective. Since there is still some question about how much the Marlins are able or willing to spend on payroll, it’s possible that Lopez’s rising price tag might make him more of a trade chip, yet Miami didn’t have any interest in moving Lopez last winter despite plenty of interest from opposing teams.
With Lopez’s case completed, the Marlins are still slated for a hearing with Jacob Stallings unless they can reach an agreement to avoid arbitration. You can monitor all of the completed and still-pending arb situations around baseball via MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker.
i know it’s early in the season, but he is the NL Cy Young front runner, posted an era of 3 last season and it’s getting paid under $3 mil? kinda dumb if you ask me
No one is a Cy Young frontrunner this early in the season.
The arbiter can only consider stats from 2021 and earlier. What Lopez has done this year (for better or worse) isn’t a factor in the ruling. Granted, the lockout pushing these arb hearings into the actual season makes things very awkward.
It’s based on last year
Harsh arbitrator. This is one of the best young arms in the league.
would not say that if last couple of years.
you been putting other above him.
We are pleased to have demolished one of our bright young stars in arbitration. No need to pay our players fairly because we won’t ever resign them in free agency anyway.
That’s still 3 years away….plenty more of these arb battles to come.
which mean he get paid through arbitration or they sign him . . his year number dont count in arbitration.. till the next one
Indeed, why these teams won’t step up and just accept his number is beyond me –
700k {could potentially} cost you a top 5 arm in the NL down the line
Absurd…..the Marlins are by No means the only ones guilty tho
joke of a saying jeter
Exactly. This is an embarrassment for the Marlins that they even went this far to not pay him 3 mil
which mean he get paid through arbitration or they sign him . . this year number dont count in arbitration.. till the next one
This organization is just plain stupid. Great…they won arb. Now when they try to sign him to a deal you think he’s not gonna remember this over a few hundred thousand? Yet they pay Jorge Garbage Soler like 15 million per year. Idiots.
depend on the timing of it and cost two marlins. . plus you forget marlins and rays still have a state tax advantage over 98% of teams
no you dont get paid more in miami like you would la cause taxes.