Pedro Alvarez beats Pirates in arbitration case

Pedro Alvarez has defeated the Pirates in his arbitration case and will make $5.75 million next season as a result, Colin Dunlap tweets.

That means all of the Pirates' arbitration cases are complete. They won one case (against Neil Walker), lost two (against Alvarez and Vance Worley) and settled the rest. They'll pay a total of a little under $32 million to 10 tendered players.

As I noted with the Walker and Worley cases, it's hard to tell why arbitrators pick one amount rather than a slightly larger or smaller one. It's difficult to think back to Alvarez's sub-replacement-level 2014 season and imagine a fair process determining he was worth more than the $5.25 million the Bucs filed for, to be honest. But Alvarez's power, $4.2 million 2014 salary and status as an everyday player (well, for most of the season, at least) all undoubtedly helped him.

Alvarez will be eligible for arbitration again following the season, then can become a free agent after 2016, if the Bucs don't non-tender him before then.