2023 Marlins arbitration deadline coverage

We got a much clearer understanding of the 2023 Miami Marlins payroll on Friday. The club settled on salaries with six arbitration-eligible players: JT Chargois, Garrett Cooper, Pablo López, Tanner Scott, Jacob Stallings and Joey Wendle. Meanwhile, Jon Berti and Jesús Luzardo will likely head to arbitration hearings.

The Marlins had eight remaining arb-eligible players entering the salary figure exchange deadline. They were projected to earn approximately $26.5 million in combined salaries, according to MLB Trade Rumors. That projection was, no pun intended, on the money.

In alphabetical order (with their agencies in parentheses, if applicable):

• Jon Berti (Ball Players Agency)—projected for $2.4M | Berti filed at $2.3M, Marlins filed at $1.9M^
• JT Chargois—projected for $1.0M | settled at unspecified amount
• Garrett Cooper (Ballengee Group)—projected for $4.1M | settled at $4.2M*
• Pablo López (Excel Sports Management)—projected for $5.6M | settled at $5.45M*
• Jesús Luzardo (MVP Sports Group)—projected for $2.0M | Luzardo filed at $2.45M, Marlins filed at $2.1M^
• Tanner Scott (MVP Sports Group)—projected for $2.7M | settled at $2.825M^
• Jacob Stallings (Bo McKinnis)—projected for $3.3M | settled at $3.35M*
• Joey Wendle (Excel Sports Management)—projected for $5.4M | settled at $6.0M*

*Reported by Craig Mish of SportsGrid

^Reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Post

There’s a $400k gap between Berti and the Marlins and a $350k gap between Luzardo and the Marlins. As I mentioned on Friday morning, Luzardo’s injury history and low 2022 win total make him severely undervalued by the arbitration system, similar to López at this time a year ago (who went to a hearing and lost). It’s not surprising that he is fighting the system for fairer compensation. In Berti’s case, there’s seemingly a difference of opinion in how to handle his MLB-leading stolen base total.

Chargois and Luzardo were arb-eligible for the first time. Berti, López, Scott and Stallings were eligible for the second time. Cooper and Wendle were eligible for the third and final time—they’ll be MLB free agents next winter unless they agree to contract extensions beforehand. Dylan Floro and the Marlins settled at $3.9 million much earlier in the offseason.

A reminder that even after determining a dollar amount, any of these players can be traded by the Marlins.

Arbitration hearings for Berti and Luzardo will be held in St. Petersburg, Florida between January 30-February 17. They’re just two of the 33 players league-wide who haven’t reached compromises with their teams yet.