What contracts did the Miami Marlins offer free agents?
It took the Miami Marlins a while before signing the first Major League free agent of the off-season. The off-season was very frustrating for the fans until that point, with nothing seemingly happening and Kim Ng asking for patience. There were however reports of the Miami Marlins pursuing multiple free agents, and it's interesting to look at who was offered what. I'm specifically going to be looking at Justin Turner, Brandon Drury and José Abreu. What were they offered?
The Miami Marlins offered some interesting contracts to some free agents during this off-season.
The Miami Marlins were very interested in 1B José Abreu and offered him 2 years/$40 million, which is basically $20 million a year. I would say that was a pretty fair offer actually, and it's good to see that The Fish were willing to pay a $20 million annual salary to a good hitter this off-season. Abreu ended up rejecting that offer and taking a 3 year/$60 million offer from the Houston Astros instead. Turning 36 years old before next season starts, Abreu is a bit old to be receiving a 3 year deal. He's also coming off the worst power year of his career. Houston overpaid and The Fish's offer was surprisingly competitive.
The Miami Marlins offered Justin Turner 1 year/$15 million. That was a more than fair offer, considering his age (38) and decline. He ended up signing the same deal with the Boston Red Sox, but with a $7.5 million player option attached. Per haps The Fish should've topped that option? Still, I think that even offering him $15 million was a bit high, considering he's best suited for DH duty at this point.
The final free agent hitter that the Miami Marlins had a known offer for was 3B Brandon Drury. Drury is coming off a career year, and was offered 2 years/$19 million. He ended up signing for 2 years/$17 million with the Los Angeles Angels. The Fish actually had the higher offer here, but he grew up a Los Angeles Angels fan and had connections on the team.
The Miami Marlins surprisingly offered competitive contracts to multiple hitters. It seems that in the end it was up to different factors as to why they didn't sign. The Houston Astros gave Abreu an extra year, the Boston Red Sox gave Justin Turner an option and offered Brandon Drury more money. The Miami Marlins actually tried!