Miami Marlins caused a potential issue with Luis Arraez in arbitration

The Miami Marlins won a major arbitration case against CF Jazz Chisholm Jr. It wasn't the only unresolved arbitration case however, which brings us to second baseman Luis Arraez. Arraez wanted $12 million for this upcoming season, The Fish filed for $10.6 million instead. We now have a resolution on the arbitration hearing. Did the Miami Marlins win?

Luis Arraez had an unproductive arbitration hearing against the Miami Marlins.

Luis Arraez is one of the best pure hitters in the game. He's so good, that he challenged Ted Williams for his batting average record for the season. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Arraez challenges the milestone during the upcoming season. It's also important than Arraez is likely to bat leadoff for The Fish this season, which means that he'll be a run scoring machine!

Arraez batted .354/.393/.469, with 10 home runs and 69 RBI in 147 games and 574 AB in 2023. He even finished eighth in National League MVP voting for the season. Can he contend for the MVP award in 2024 as well? Well, he finished thirteenth in AL MVP voting in 2022. That season, he batted .316/.375/.420, with 8 home runs and 49 RBI in 144 games and 547 AB.

Being one of the most important hitters on the team, it stands to reason that Arraez is worth quite a bit to the team. It's hard to blame him for wanting a bigger raise on his $6.1 million salary in 2023. That was in itself a raise from his $2.125 million salary in 2022. This is of course why he was looking for a raise to $12 million. The Fish were looking to pay him $10.6 million, which would be a more standard perhaps $4 million raise, compared to his expected $6 million raise.

The Miami Marlins won the arbitration hearing, with the panel deciding in favor of the team. The question is will Luis Arraez hold it against the team? Will it affect potential extension talks? Will he prefer to hit free agency when he's eligible in a few years instead? Time will tell.