Miami Marlins avoid arbitration with important player

The Miami Marlins don't have the best recent history with arbitration settlements. It didn't go very well with Luis Arraez and then another with Jesús Luzardo. The Fish now settled arbitration with key utility bench player Jon Berti. Berti led the Major Leagues in stolen bases in 2022 and could steal even more now that the rules will benefit stolen bases. The Fish will likely benefit quite a bit from having such a fast playe ron the bench. What was his arbitration settlement?

The Miami Marlins settled arbitration with Jon Berti.

Jon Berti debuted in 2018 with the Toronto Blue Jays and batted .267/.267/.467 with 0 home runs and 2 RBI in 4 games and 15 AB. A season later he was now playing for the Miami Marlins. The then 29 year old actually signed with The Fish as a free agent, after the Clevelnad Guardians bought him from them only to let him go via free agency as well. This is when the Miami Marlins stepped in and signed him.

In 2019, Jon Berti batted .273/.348/.406 with 6 home runs and 24 RBI in 73 games and 256 AB. This was a very promising performance due to the OBP and the batting average. He also had a surprisingly high (for the playing time) 17 stolen bases. It really looked like he was breaking out for sure and becoming a useful piece.

In the shortened 2020 season, Jon Berti batted .258/.388/.350 with 2 home runs and 14 RBI in 39 games and 120 AB. The OBP was very impressive, though the average and SLG both went down. He also stole 9 bases, which wa still high based on the playing time. In 2021, he batted a lowly .210/.311/.313 with 4 home runs and 19 RBI in 85 games and 233 AB. He also had 8 stolen bases.

In 2022, he batted .240/.324/.338 with 4 home runs and 28 RBI in 102 games and 358 AB. He also led the Majors with 41 stolen bases as I previously mentioned. The Miami Marlins agreed on a contract with him for $2.1 million for 2023, and a 2024 option with a base $3.5 million salary and $4.125 million maximum (if he reaches all of the incentives). I think that it could be a bargain if he keeps stealing bases the way that he did in 2022.