Miami Marlins Concerned About Keeping Jose Fernandez
By Ron Juckett
The Miami Marlins are worried Jose Fernandez‘s contract demands may be too much to afford in the future.
The Miami Marlins are concerned that they will lose ace pitcher Jose Fernandez to free agency.
Although he will not reach free agency until after the 2018 season, the miserly Marlins believe his contract demands will be too high to keep the Cuban in South Florida.
Miami is correct Fernandez will want a deal in line of David Price’s contract with the Boston Red Sox and above Stephen Strasburg’s recent extension with the Washington Nationals. Strasburg’s record contract for a pitcher who underwent Tommy John surgery will net him $175 million over the next seven years.
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Fernandez, in his first full season coming off his surgery, is on a roll. As the Marlins hang around in third place in the National League East, he is 9-2 with an ERA of 2.29 (ninth in the NL) and an Adjusted ERA+ of 173 (10th). Leading the league in strikeouts with 110 and racking up a K/9 rate of 13.3, potentially the best ever, Miami has every right to be excited and worried about his future.
The Marlins have a payroll this year of $66.7 million. In two years Giancarlo Stanton, who is in the second season of a 13-year deal worth $325 million, will see his salary jump from $9 million to $25 million in 2018. By 2020, it hits $29 million and peaks at $32 million in 2024. May we remind you Stanton is hitting .197 currently. When they moved from Miami Gardens to their new stadium downtown, they gambled with a higher payroll to draw fans and make the playoffs.
That gamble failed. The team conducted another fire sale and Miami has the worst attendance in the National League. They are right in thinking Stanton and Fernandez cannot have franchise deals together.
The good news for Marlins fans is they still have two years to figure out a plan. They can trade Stanton if he struggles next year and hope some team will offer a package of prospects while eating that contract. Miami may string Fernandez through his upcoming arbitration years, hoping he continues to love the city and take a hometown discount.
Did we mention his agent is Scott Boras? So much for that discount.
Fernandez would be silly not to pursue free agency if Miami fails to offer him a huge deal. At the start of the 2019 season, he will be 26. Perhaps the biggest free agent of all-time with his prime years ahead for the team willing to pay his price.
The other notion for Fernandez to consider is the quality of the team. If the Marlins somehow budget both Stanton and Fernandez into their long-term plans, is there enough money left to field a credible team around them? Between now and 2018, will Fernandez feel the itch of pitching in the World Series and test the free agent waters?
Talent like his, even with his injury history, is impossible to replace. The leverage is all his.