Miami Marlins sign Mark Buehrle
The Miami Marlins continue their crusade, as they have signed one of the best pitching options on the free agent market; Mark Buehrle. The solid lefty was given $58 million over four seasons, and this is actually only $1 million less than what ace C.J. Wilson is making. While he isn’t as good or as young as Wilson, it isn’t the Marlins nor Buehrle’s fault that the Marlins and Wilson were able to get to such a cheap deal. Buehrle is actually getting market value, as he has been worth over 3 WAR for the past five seasons and has shown no signs of legitimate decline.
It is impossible for a player who is about to play out a contract between the ages of 33-37 to not visibly decline over the life of the deal, but the effects of this decline will be mitigated by inflation. However, the Marlins did overpay for Buehrle when one brings up the name of another free agent starter who used to pitch for the White Sox; Edwin Jackson. The mercurial World Series winner will likely be paid less than the $14.5 per year Buehrle is making, but he is younger and has been more valuable over the past three seasons. Buehrle’s insane consistency has made him an attractive option, until the Marlins signed him, but his eventual decline, age, and overall skill level indicates that the Marlins would have been better off going after the undervalued Edwin Jackson.
The Marlins need for a starting pitcher has been overvalued, because the team really only needed a league-average pitcher who would be more cost-effective. It’s not that signing Buehrle was bad, because $14.5 million is where is WAR/$ is at. He should produce anywhere from 2.5 WAR to 3.3 WAR, which means that the deal is about fair. However, it favors Buerhle a little more, in that he was given just a little bit too much money per year. Combine that with the relative lack of need and a better option out there, and you have another subpar move made by the Marlins. I understand that any move is a good move for this fan base, because all this excitement is important for a team wasting away in the doldrums (as far as the fan base goes).
However, neither the Heath Bell deal nor the Mark Buehrle deal were really worth it overall. The problems in the bullpen and rotation could have been best solved by signing a solid reliever- think Octavio Dotel– and a cheaper pitcher- maybe Edwin Jackson- or, better yet, a league-average starter- Hiroki Kuroda, if possible. Although the Marlins did a great job in signing superstar Jose Reyes, I am not enthralled with the deal given to Buehrle. I don’t think he’s going to bust out of this deal at all and should continue to be an above-average starter, but I really don’t see how the need and money given correlate with the overall skill level and age of Buehrle. And four years? Really? I think the Marlins should have saved their money and went with a pitcher who wasn’t in heavy talks with other teams, but at least the Marlins are getting better talent-wise; I guess that’s what counts for a formerly dull franchise in the end. It’s all about the fans and the hope of an increase in interest and revenue. So far, it’s working with respect to the former; now to see if this translates into revenue (though Loria has been pocketing the revenue sharing money for far too long).