Can Miami Marlins still afford to extend Jazz Chisholm?

In the wake of Corbin Caroll’s record deal with Arizona, it seems fair to ask what this means for Jazz Chisholm, the Miami Marlins’ own new center fielder.

Saturday was a great day for Miami Marlins center fielder Jazz Chisholm. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the Miami Marlins organization.

Why? Because the Arizona Diamondbacks just issued a massive contract to one of their most exciting players. A player with a similarly tantalizing blend of power and speed. A player who plays the same position as Chisholm. And, most importantly of all, a player with substantially less MLB experience.

That’s just what transpired this weekend, when Corbin Carroll signed an eight-year, $111 million dollar deal, with a club option and incentives that would push it way north of $130 million.

That would be the second-biggest extension in Miami Marlins franchise history. In fact, it would be the second-biggest contract of any kind in team history. Far and away, it would be the biggest outlay of cash on a single player from this current ownership group.

Of course, that statement was always going to be true of a Chisholm extension. This is also not intended to be a piece blasting the Marlins for not having Steve Cohen-sized pockets. Miami has added considerably to payroll over the last two seasons, and done so despite subpar attendance. While it’s probably fair to say they should spend more, it’s fairer still to say that there are limits to what Miami can spend on payroll.

Which is a real problem, given that a Jazz Chisholm extension is now almost certain to be a nine-figure deal, and significantly larger than what the Diamondbacks just paid Carroll.

Over the past couple years, the Atlanta Braves and other clubs have doled out multiple extensions, most notably for this situation an eight-year, $72 million deal to outfielder Michael Harris II. At the time, plenty of chatter started amongst Miami Marlins fans about whether that deal would be enough to land Chisholm. That didn’t seem likely at the time; Chisholm himself has indicated amusement more than once at the notion of signing one of those potentially a bargain deals.

Still, a $100 million Chisholm contract felt like it was at least in the realm of possibility. After all, Julio Rodriguez agreed to a seven-year, $105 million deal with the Seattle Mariners, after months of All-Star caliber center field play. Chisholm’s camp can make a pretty compelling case he’s as good as or better than Harris. But as confident as Chisholm is, he can’t really claim Rodriguez hasn’t had a stronger MLB season.

Carroll’s new deal throws that hope out the window though.

Obviously, every negotiation and every player is different. Maybe with Chisholm’s injury concerns, he does jump at a $90 to $100 million base deal loaded with incentives. The only person who knows the answer to that is not writing this article, but is instead busy learning the ropes in center field for Miami.

I wouldn’t bet on it though. Instead, I would bet on it now taking $150 million for the Miami Marlins to get Jazz Chisholm to agree to a long term deal.

Which could well end up meaning that Jazz Chisholm just went out of Miami’s price range.