The newest Phillie pitcher and the top Phillies prospect both grew up in the same region in Florida, and have been working out at the same gym together.
The Phillies avoided salary arbitration with Jesus Luzardo, Ranger Suarez, Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh and Edmundo Sosa by reaching one-year contracts on Thursday, the deadline for players and teams to exchange figures.
According to MLB.com, Luzardo's deal is worth $6.225M, Suarez' is $8.8M and Stott's is $3.2M. Bohm’s deal is worth $7.7M. Marsh and Sosa will make $3M.
The newest member of the Phillies' rotation, Luzardo was acquired from the Miami Marlins just before Christmas for shortstop prospect Starlyn Caba and outfielder Emaarion Boyd. MLB.com had ranked Caba as the Phils' No. 4 prospect before the trade and he's now third on the Marlins' list.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Luzardo expected to be dealt this offseason because of his rising salary and the Marlins' perpetual rebuild. Miami has only one player — Sandy Alcantara — with a guaranteed salary in 2025 and even after factoring in expected arbitration raises, nobody else making even $4 million. Luzardo would have been an unnecessary luxury for a team that knows it will lose 100 games in 2025 and the Phillies were able to add a high-upside pitcher without parting with Andrew Painter, Aidan Miller or Justin Crawford.
The $6.225M contract for Luzardo is not a surprise as teams and players have a good idea entering the arbitration process each year of their salary range based on past cases of players with comparable numbers. MLBTradeRumors projects arbitration salaries every year and pegged Luzardo at $6M.
This is Suarez' final year under contract. He made $5.05M and $2.95M the last two years.
Bohm’s salary nearly doubled from a season ago. He and the Phillies were unable to reach an agreement last winter, went to arbitration and Bohm won his case, being awarded $4M rather than the team's $3.4M offer.
Philadelphia Phillies
Find the latest Philadelphia Phillies news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Stott and Marsh, who each made just under $770,000 last season, will earn about four times more in 2025.
Players are eligible for arbitration when they have between 3-6 years of MLB service time and no contract for the following season. The Phillies avoided arbitration with two others earlier this offseason, signing right-handed reliever Jose Ruiz to a one-year, $1.22M deal and Garrett Stubbs for $925,000.
