James Shields Rumors: Zero Percent Chance Shields ends up in Miami

The James Shields market has been a tough one to figure out. The Marlins interest in Shields has been just as hard to gauge. The team has been in and out of the James Shields sweepstakes since the beginning of the off-season.

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Now we have a report stating that there is a “zero percent” chance of Shields landing in Miami, per Jonah Keri of Grantland and ESPN.

With Shields looking for a 5-year deal in excess of $100 million, it would be hard to see the Marlins ponying that kind of money up. So it’s not surprising the team seems to be out of the Shields derby. For the Fish to be able to land James Shields, he’d need to be near a 5-year $85 million mark, and that could be hard to fit into the team’s $65 million budget.

Shields, who has thrown at least 200 innings in all but his first two stints in the major leagues, is coming off posting a 3.21 ERA and a 3.59 FIP for the American League Champion Kansas City Royals. Shields, the long time Tampa Bay Ray, will be entering his age 33 season in 2015.

If the Marlins were to have had signed Shields, he would have likely slotted ahead of off-season acquisition Mat Latos and incumbent Marlin Henderson Alvarez. That at least until young phenom Jose Fernandez returned from his bout with Tommy John surgery.

With a Shields signing being unlikely for the Marlins, the status of Dan Haren becomes more important. Haren has told the Marlins he wants a trade to the west coast, but has told the team he will still report to Spring Training if he isn’t traded. The team’s options behind Haren are not that great, as they have Brad Hand and David Phelps to compete for the final spot during the Spring if Haren is indeed dealt.

If the Marlins are out on Shields, there’s a really great chance the Marlins are not in, or more likely were never in, on fellow free agent ace, Max Scherzer.

As the team is out on Shields, it will be interesting to see if the Marlins allocate the money they could have used on Shields on the latest Cuban sensation, Yoan Moncada. Moncada, like Shields, is expected to receive a hefty contract, but he is just 19-years of age.

Next: Marlins avoid Arbitration with Cishek, Gordon, & Alvarez