Cleveland Indians: Projecting Francisco Lindor’s arbitration price tag

Kris Bryant

During the last arbitration process there were only three deals that resulted in more money than Lindor’s. Those belonged to Betts, Springer and Kris Bryant. Settling on a deal of $18.6 million, Bryant is the closest we can come to an infielder that is comparable, despite him seeing time in the outfield as well.

Bryant, like Lindor, has one more year left of arbitration on his contract. However, he was still able to scrap together an extra million compared to Lindor’s last deal.

The 2019 season for Bryant heading into arbitration was one that seemed like a typical season for him. He didn’t lead the league in any categories, but did what he does best by contributing across the stat sheet. Bryant was able to slash .282/.382/.521 with 31 home runs in 2019.

Surprisingly, Lindor had a better average, a higher slugging percentage and more home runs in 2019 and still ended up with less money. That is something that Lindor most likely won’t forget this time around.

To ensure that he gets what he is worth, this difference might force Lindor to hold out through as much of the arbitration process as possible, meaning a Springer-like deal becomes more possible.