Marlins avoid arbitration with Cishek, Gordon, Alvarez

The Marlins on Friday were able to avoid arbitration with three key players: closer Steve Cishek, second baseman Dee Gordon and pitcher Henderson Alvarez.

This is great news with today being the last day the Marlins can work out new contracts before the cases are taken to arbitration. However, it might mean Steve Cishek won’t be closing games for the Marlins for too much longer. $6.65 million is a hefty price for any reliever, and even though Cishek deserves every penny, he will likely just get more expensive each year if he sustains his lifetime numbers. Cishek owns a 148 ERA+ for his career, to go along with a 2.65 ERA and 2.59 FIP.

Cishek was reportedly seeking a multi-year deal, but the Marlins preferred to go year-to-year with their closer.

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Dee Gordon earned a handsome raise to $2.5 million, up from the $515,000 he made with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. The 26 year-old slashed .289/.326/.378 with the Dodgers and led the league in triples (12) and stolen bases (64). Gordon is first-year arbitration eligible and has super-2 status.

Henderson Alvarez had a career year in 2014, being named to his first All-Star game and posting a 2.65 ERA and 3.58 FIP over 187.0 innings. He emerged as the Marlins ace after the team lost Jose Fernandez, and is also in his first year of arbitration eligibility.

It’s been a busy Friday for the Marlins already. They also avoided arbitration with newly-acquired right hander Aaron Crow earlier today, agreeing on a one-year, $1.975 million pact.

That leaves three players left unsigned; Mat Latos, David Phelps and Mike Dunn will each have their cases heard in arbitration next month.

Miami estimates its 2015 payroll will be in the $60-65 million range. After today’s deals, they are getting pretty close to that target figure, with three players still to sign.

That makes the team signing James Shields or Max Scherzer even more of a stretch than it already was. Still, a lot can happen between now and April 6. We still don’t know where Dan Haren will ultimately end up; there’s $10 million possibly unaccounted for. The Marlins also haven’t picked up a fourth outfielder yet, but the team could look to fill the role internally.

Still, the roster continues to take shape, and we should have a good idea of what the 2015 Miami Marlins will look like very soon.

Next: Aaron Crow, Marlins Avoid Arbitration, Agree to Deal