Free agent outfielder Juan Pierre has officially retired from baseball, he announced on his personal Twitter account on Friday. Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald first reported the news. The speedy outfielder notched 614 stolen bases over a 14-year career with the Rockies, Marlins, Cubs, Dodgers, White Sox, and Phillies. Pierre's best attribute was easily his speed, as his 614 stolen bases ranked 18th all-time and first amongst active players at his retirement. Pierre did not play Major League Baseball in 2014, so retirement comes as far from a shock. The 37-year-old Pierre attended the University of South Alabama and was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 13th round of the 1998 MLB Draft. He worked his way quickly through the minors, reaching the big leagues in 2000 at age 22, and never going back to the minors until rehabbing from an injury with the Dodgers in 2008. Pierre was not a home run hitter. In fact, he launched only 18 home runs during his 8000+ plate appearances. However, Pierre's speed helped him to get over five times as many triples as home runs, as he had a career 94 three-baggers. Overall, Pierre is a lifetime .295/.343/.361 hitter, mostly out of the leadoff spot, where he was slotted at in 80.6 percent of his plate appearances. As a big leaguer, Pierre earned himself $57 million, according to Baseball Reference, and was worth a total of 23.2 fWAR and 83.2 Base Running Runs (BsR). I wish Juan Pierre the best in retirement and enjoyed watching him play, especially during the ladder part of his career. It still astounds me that he could be that effective on the bases even at that age. --Devan Fink
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The Miami Marlins have agreed to terms to a two-year, $16 million deal with outfielder/first baseman Michael Morse, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald first reported. MLB.com's Joe Frisaro reported that Morse would make about $12 million with Miami. The deal includes performance incentives. The 32-year-old Morse hit .279/.336/.475 with 16 home runs and 61 runs batted in over 482 plate appearances with the Giants in 2014. He spent most of his time in the field in the outfield, but Morse does have over 1000 innings of experience at first base, where he will likely platoon with Garrett Jones (assuming Jones is not traded). Morse was average at first in 2014. The Florida native was selected in the 3rd round of the 2000 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox. He has hit .281/.335/.473 in 10 big league seasons with the Mariners, Nationals, Orioles, and Giants. Morse was worth 1.0 fWAR in 2014, and at an annual average value of $6 million, his signing makes a ton of sense for the Marlins, who have wanted to either platoon with the left-handed Jones (Morse is a righty) or perhaps replace him. If the Marlins get a good deal for Jones, there is absolutely no reason as to why they will not move him. Morse has only received over 500 plate appearances once in his career, but that was in 2011, when he hit .303/.360/.550 with 31 homers and 95 runs batted in with Washington. He can definitely start in Miami if they want him to. The Marlins have proven that they want to not only contend for the National League Wild Card in 2015, but also contend for the National League East division title. They have made a lot of moves this offseason, including the trades for Dee Gordon and Mat Latos, while now signing Michael Morse. They also extended Giancarlo Stanton to the $325 million deal. --Devan Fink The Miami Marlins have acquired Mat Latos from the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday, according to reports. The teams have since announced the trade. In return for Latos, the Reds get really promising pitching prospect Anthony DeSclafani and catching prospect Chad Wallach. DeSclafani was ranked as the Marlins' second-best prospect this offseason and will help net them Mat Latos, a really solid, young starter. Latos, who just turned 27, has already spent six seasons in the big leagues, three with the Padres and three with Cincinnati. He missed about half this past season due to arm issues, but he is a fantastic performer when healthy. In 16 starts this season, Latos tossed 102.1 innings, posting a 3.25 ERA and a 3.65 FIP, resulting in a 1.5 fWAR. This is the first season with injury troubles for Latos, as he had tossed over 180 innings in all other full seasons he spent in the bigs. Anthony DeSclafani is a great return for the Reds. The 24-year-old posted an ugly 6.27 ERA in 33 innings in the majors this past season, but that was after already spending time in both Rookie, Double- and Triple-A. DeSclafani strikes out hitters at a high rate and posted a 3.49 ERA in 59.1 innings in Triple-A this past season. He should slide right into the Reds rotation. This is an interesting deal for Miami, who have dealt their second top pitching prospect in as many days. They acquired Dee Gordon yesterday for top prospect Andrew Heaney and flipped DeSclafani to the Reds today for Mat Latos. It looks like the Marlins are getting closer to contention and I would not be surprised if they made a run at a playoff spot in 2015. As for the Reds, this deal makes sense for them. Latos will be a free agent at the end of next season, and now they get DeSclafani, who still has six years of team control ahead of him. With the Reds not being serious contenders, they were able to sell Latos on the high and get a player with a high ceiling in return. Ultimately, they made the smartest move possible for their situation. --Devan Fink The Miami Marlins have agreed to terms with outfielder Giancarlo Stanton to an extension, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The deal is over thirteen seasons and is worth $325 million, which is the largest contract in North American professional sports history. Stanton's thirteen-year, $325 million contract had been rumored to be close over this past weekend, as we waited for the official deal to be signed. However, the Marlins have not officially announced the contract. Stanton has been their top priority to extend, and now he will be in a Miami uniform perhaps through his age-38 season. That is not a guarantee. Stanton will have a possibility to opt-out following his age-30 season (or shortly thereafter), Heyman reports. The 25-year-old will guaranteed to be under contract for five, possibly six seasons. Following that, however, is still up in the air. If he decides to opt-out, Stanton could set a second contract record, similar to how Alex Rodriguez opted-out of his old deal to get his $275 million deal from the Yankees, which was the record at the time. An announcement of this deal is expected later this week, perhaps Wednesday or Thursday, reports Heyman. It is still possible that a deal is still not signed, but it is finalized and in place, while also guaranteeing that Stanton will be a Marlin for five or six seasons. It also has full no-trade rights. This is the largest contract in Marlins history, tripling Jose Reyes' $103 million deal, and represents a shocker to the team's payroll. According to Baseball-Reference.com, the Marlins just had $44.3 million in guaranteed money to their roster at the end of the 2014 season. Stanton, with his $6.5 million salary via the arbitration process, was the largest contract on their team. His new deal alone, on an average annual value basis, would increase their salary by over 50 percent. Stanton and his agents at Wasserman Media Group have struck gold with this deal. Stanton still hasn't even returned to the field following his season-ending hit by pitch from Brewers pitcher Mike Fiers. While that doesn't seem to be an issue in terms of production, this deal appears to be a risk for Miami management, even if it might just be a small one. Regardless, Stanton has been one of the most prolific sluggers in the majors since coming up to the majors in 2010. The Marlins former 2nd round pick in 2007, out of Notre Dame HS in California, hit .288/.395/.555 with 37 homers and 105 runs batted in on the season. He was named to his second All-Star team in five seasons, while finishing runner up to Clayton Kershaw in the MVP award voting. Over his career, Stanton has hit .271/.364/.540 with 154 homers and 399 runs batted in over 634 games. The potential is there, as he is one of the best young players in the majors. And at age 25, Stanton looks to only be improving. Many large contracts are signed after the players already have hit their prime, but Stanton's prime still appears to be coming. The Marlins still have a few young players that might be up for an extension soon. Jose Fernandez and Christian Yelich are two young players that are closing in on their arbitration seasons, which could be turned into extensions. An extension during Fernandez's arbitration process will likely not occur, as his agent, Scott Boras, prefers for his clients to hit free agency. Yelich's extension could come next offseason. --Devan F. The Miami Marlins announced yesterday that they have agreed upon a two-year contract extension with manager Mike Redmond to keep him in the organization through 2017. Redmond, 43, was hired to become the Marlins manager prior to the 2013 season on a three-year contract, which runs through next season. He has led the team to a 15-win improvement from '13 to '14, even with the injuries to Jose Fernandez and Giancarlo Stanton, and his style of managing is liked highly among many within the game. Overall, the Marlins have gone 139-185 over his tenure. Here is what Marlins President David Samson, including Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald, told reporters on Redmond's extension: "On this last day of the season, it’s the perfect way to start this offseason, making sure everyone realizes…our commitment to Red...We knew we were bringing him into a situation where he was going to grow with the team and we’ve watched that happen. The team and Mike have grown in lockstep." The Marlins may become closer to contention next season, as their young team is improving and the leadership of Redmond is fantastic. By keeping him under control through 2017, the Marlins are doing a great job of keeping the same voice in the clubhouse and it seems that the team could really go far under his discretion. Redmond has done a fantastic job in his position. --Devan F. |
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