Otto Lopez, Xavier Edwards collect 6-figure bonuses for 2024 production

[Ely Sussman]

The Marlins middle infielders were valuable enough last season as determined by wins above replacement to receive a share of MLB's pre-arbitration bonus pool.

Miami Marlins second baseman Otto Lopez and shortstop Xavier Edwards got early Christmas presents from Major League Baseball. As confirmed by the Associated Press on Friday, they took home bonuses of $339,964 and $313,489, respectively, figures that represent approximately half of their base salaries from the 2024 season.

These payouts came from the MLB pre-arbitration bonus pool. The $50 million pool was divided among 101 pre-arb players based on a combination of where they finished in end-of-season award voting and how much wins above replacement they accumulated.

Both of Miami's bonus recipients were bright spots amid an 100-loss season. Claimed off waivers from the San Francisco Giants in April, Lopez led all Marlins position players in both the FanGraphs (2.5 fWAR) and Baseball-Reference (2.6 bWAR) versions of WAR, thanks in large part to his fielding prowess. After patiently waiting in Triple-A while Tim Anderson stunk it up at shortstop, Edwards (2.2 fWAR/2.0 bWAR) was the club's best all-around offensive player from July onward.

Combining his bonus and major league salary, Spotrac estimates that Lopez made a cash total of $1,004,290 during this past major league season. Edwards made $918,145.

Among the other pre-arb Marlins players, Ryan Weathers and Calvin Faucher came closest to qualifying for their own bonus pool payouts.

Lopez and Edwards are still two years away from arbitration eligibility. Barring contract extensions from the Marlins, their salaries will be close to the league minimum in 2025 and 2026, but they'll continue to be eligible for bonuses like this in the meantime.

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[rurrusuno]

That’s sweet. On the bright side, I think Edwards has a chance to lead the league in steals this upcoming season.

[Slacker Mills]

I see Edwards leading the league in batting average in 2025..

[rurrusuno]

1 hour ago, Slacker Mills said:

I see Edwards leading the league in batting average in 2025..

I hope so too. It would be an easier feat if Luis Arraez got traded back to the AL.

[BMK3]

It would have been too much to expect the Marlins to have done that on their own.  Better yet would be an article that the Marlins locked up Edwards for 6-7 years now when they have negotiating room. Wake me up when something like that happens.

[2qbn]

This was Edwards starting to make noise. I can see 50 bags if he plays all year. That with that batting average plays well on offense. Hope he and the team get some health luck this season so we can get a solid read on where some of these guys are in their progress. 

[Ely Sussman]

On 12/14/2024 at 3:53 PM, BMK3 said:

Better yet would be an article that the Marlins locked up Edwards for 6-7 years now when they have negotiating room.

I gave some thought to that possibility earlier in the year. The complication is coming up with past players like him who've signed extensions. Hitters this early in their career with basically zero power don't get long-term deals, even if they do other things very well. It would be difficult for the two sides to find common ground on his value given the lack of precedent.

[BMK3]

True, there is the possibility of jumping the gun (Scott Kingery for example), but it would be nice to see the Marlins trying.   

This does give me the opportunity to make one more point. I think they need to try to extend Alcantara should he demonstrate, as I expect, that he is again healthy. This guy could have hung out by the pool this summer, but instead he was at the park every day.  Not five feet away from him were Perez and Cabrera.  I think he is very important to maximize their development.  You could be getting three for the price of one.  It is so important to build around good people.  The Marlins may be trying my patience, but even they cannot kill my game.