MLB · C · Lehigh Valley IronPigs (PHI)
Rafael Marchán
B/T S/R · 5' 9" · 170 lb · born San Cristobal, Venezuela · age 27 · played C 39, DH 4 · MLB debut 2020-09-14
Last 14 days (through 2026-08-31): 9 G · .152 AVG · 0 HR · 1 RBI · .368 OPS
136 plate appearances scored this season His season card →
Scout’s note
Rafael Marchán is a 27-year-old switch-hitting catcher from San Cristobal, Venezuela, with 114 MLB games and a career .204 average. His last six games at AAA produced a .286 average and four walks against three strikeouts — no power, but the eye held.
Note written · FVR scout (GLM-5.2)
What he’s paid
ArbitrationA market fact, not an engine read: what a club decided about him, on the season before this one. Figures from Cot’s, as of .
- 2026 salary
- $0.86M
- Tax hit
- $0.86M
- Service time
- 3 yr 6 d
- Options left
- 0 / 4
The deal 1 year $0.9M (2026)
On the sheet: 1 y/$860,000 (26)
After this season, as the sheet has it
| Season | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | Arb 2 | Arb 3 | Free agent |
| Tax hit | — | — | — |
Cash and the tax hit are two different rulebooks and are never subtracted from one another — see the payroll board for his club, Philadelphia Phillies.
A second set of books
The same contract, read by MLB Spreadsheets (Ethan Hullihen), as of . We keep two sources on this because one source cannot check itself.
- Tax AAV
- $0.86M
- Guaranteed
- $0.86M
- Term
- 1 yr
- His class
- Arb
What the sheet prices each season at
| Season | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salary | Arb 1 | Arb 2 | Arb 3 |
A base salary under his own reading, and never subtracted from the cash figure above: a signing bonus lands in one and not the other, so the two disagree on most men without either being wrong. And the sheet does not mark which future seasons are GUARANTEED — a club option and a projected arbitration award are both just a number here, so read past the end of the deal as his forecast rather than as money owed.
Two sources, read a month apart, put this guarantee at the same dollar. That is the check, and it passed.
The tax AAV above is his number under the CBA’s own rulebook, not the average we work out from Cot’s total. On a contract with deferred money the two come apart on purpose — and neither is subtracted from the other.
Collect Rafael Marchán
If the signal is right, the cardboard usually finds out later. Current listings:
Rafael Marchán cards on eBay →Paid link — as an eBay Partner, FVR earns from qualifying purchases.
Not financial advice. We take positions only after publication — never before. Misses stay on the record.
Umpire favor
-0.4 net runs over 14 graded games — the zone cost the umpire more than it gave, on balance.
The line
Bio & season lines: MLB StatsAPI · refreshed nightly · abbreviations →