The Chicago Cubs have announced that they’ve successfully avoided arbitration with Matt Garza and Sean Marshall, in addition to Geovany Soto (reported a few days ago) and Tom Gorzelanny (not long for the Cubs).
Garza, recently acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays, was in his second year of arbitration (though, as a Super Two player, he still has another two years after 2011), and he’ll reportedly receive $5.95 million, a raise on the $3.35 million he made last year. He was expected to get right around $6 million, so the signing isn’t much of a surprise.
As for Marshall, the Cubs bought out his two remaining arbitration years, but terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed. He made $950,000 last year, and then proceeded to be one of the most effective setup men in all of baseball, so you can expect to see him getting around $3 or 4 million per year (UPDATE: actually, he’s getting just around $5 million total – more on that later).
Having already settled with Jeff Baker and Koyie Hill, the Cubs have knocked out their arbitration-eligibles early this year, with the exception of Carlos Marmol, a guy the Cubs are looking to lock-up long-term – a welcome change over last year, when Ryan Theriot took the Cubs all the way to arbitration (and lost).