Only seven arbitration cases in all of baseball were not settled before a hearing, but the Marlins took three cases to hearings, as they have a policy not to negotiate after the two side exchange figures. We discussed Javier Vazquez and Freddy Garcia yesterday and will cover Carlos Beltran in the future. This is the seventh consecutive off-season in which the owners have won more hearings. The owners lead 259-194 since this arbitration process began in 1974.

Florida opened with a win against Vlad Nunez, who will make $1.4M in 2003 rather than the $1.75M he was seeking. We expected Nunez to grab the closer role in Florida last season. Unfortunately Nunez performed inconsistently, particularly in the first half. Although he only blew 8 of his 28 save opportunities all season, he blew four saves in June, leading to him only receiving four more chances the rest of the year. The 27-year-old displayed both less dominance and inferior control in the first half but improved both areas after the All-Star break, particularly his control. Braden Looper will once again open the season as the Marlins' closer and Florida now seems more inclined to lean towards some of the younger candidates when considering alternatives, so Nunez won't likely see many save opportunities in 2003. However, he should provide them with strong middle relief and earn his salary, provided he draws his second half performance over the full season.

Mike Redman won his arbitration case and will make $2.15M in 2003 rather than the $1.8M the Marlins wanted to pay him. Redman was evidently able to effectively argue that he would have had a better record had the Tigers not given him the worst run support in the American League. I think Redman probably deserved the higher of the two salaries as he can be an effective innings eater. However as I mentioned when the Marlins acquired him from Detroit, I am highly concerned about his ability to remain healthy.

A.J. Burnett case was the last to be decided by the arbiters. He lost to Florida and will only make $2.5M in 2003 rather than the $3.075M he was seeking. Burnett was quite upset with the Marlins policy not to negotiate after exchanging numbers and also felt Florida should have pursued a multi-year contract with him this off-season. The 26-year-old has steadily improved over the past three seasons with both his control and dominance increasing on a yearly basis. I think he's probably peaked at close to a strikeout per inning. However if he can drop his walk rate another .5 BB/9 he'll unquestionably be one of the best aces in the game, as he's been quite good about keeping the ball on the ground and in the park and has managed a low hit rate despite a below average defense in Florida.

The sad aspect of this case is that Florida almost certainly prevailed due to Burnett's injury risk, and they are the ones who have put him at risk. Despite my belief in his upside, I'd hesitate to sign him to a multi-year deal at this point due to the likelihood he'll suffer a significant injury in the next few years due to overwork. Interestingly, the extensive commentary on Burnett's workload seems to have made at least a small impression on Manager Jeff Torborg as he's announced that while he doesn't really believe in pitch counts he plans to keep a closer eye on Burnett's workload this year. An improvement from Torborg in the area of pitcher care would be a welcome change.

Florida has signed quite a few players to minor league contracts this off-season, including LHP Juan Alvarez, RHP Sean Bergman, RHP Bryan Rekar, OF-L Al Martin, and 1B-R Sherman Obando.

Anaheim signed Alvarez as a nondrafted free agent out of St. Thomas University in 1995. Last season as a free agent, Alvarez signed with the Rangers and spent the majority of the year in their major league pen. The 29-year-old isn't atrocious but he's yet to display acceptable command at AAA let alone in the majors. Florida should have sufficient alternatives to allow them to leave Alvarez in AAA for most of the year.

Sean Bergman has spent most of the last two years playing in Japan. Bergman really needs to resign himself to a relief role as he doesn't adequately dominate as a starter but possesses decent control skills. If he has an opportunity to pitch in relief at AAA, he may catch the Marlins' eye sometime during the season, but I don't expect the 32-year-old to spend a lot of time in the majors.

Rekar split last season between AAA Omaha and Colorado Springs last season. The 30-year-old really hasn't displayed horrible skills as a starter, though his command dips when he leaves AAA for the majors. I doubt he'll break camp with the team, but he should provide them with a solid spot starting option during the season and help prevent them from reaching into AA for such pitchers as they did last year.

Al Martin has found it increasingly difficult to find work since he was accused of bigamy in 2000. He signed a minor league deal and received an invitation to Spring Training with the Cardinals last season but refused to accept a minor league assignment after failing to make the team and didn't play for the rest of the year. Prior to last season he was holding a decent walk rate and an acceptable contact rate with mild speed and power skills. However, the Marlins have superior alternatives for their major league team, and the 35-year-old is bound to be rusty after skipping a season. If he accepts a minor league assignment this year, he may receive a brief call-up during the year if he shows something at AAA, but I wouldn't count on him seeing a lot of at-bats in Florida.

Sherman Obando has spent at least the last three seasons in Japan and possibly the last four. The Yankees signed him as a nondrafted free agent out of Panama in 1987, but the Orioles grabbed him in the 1992 Rule 5 draft. Baltimore then traded him to the Expos prior to the 1996 season for Tony Tarasco. As a free agent following the 1997 season, Obando signed with the Rockies and spent a year with their AAA team. The 33-year-old has always possessed solid plate discipline and also appears to have moderate power skills. Florida doesn't have a ton of depth at first base, so it is possible that he could find some at-bats if he's performing well enough to be noticed when an injury happens. I'll be somewhat interested to see how he does at AAA this year.