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When the Miami Marlins shop, they shop hard.
The Fish signed Jarrod Saltalamacchia to a three-year contract just a few days ago in the busiest offseason day ever, but Miami has remained busy since then. Rafael Furcal received a one-year deal last night, and this afternoon Miami is closing in on yet another target before the Winter Meetings arrive. The Fish are said to be close to a two-year contract with free agent first baseman Garrett Jones, first reported by FOX Sports's Ken Rosenthal.
Source: #Marlins closing in on 1B Garrett Jones. Could be two-year deal.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 6, 2013
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported that the deal is in the two-year, $7-8 million range.
Marlins will pay Garrett Jones between $7M and $8M total in the two year deal, by the way.Hit .233,15,51 in 2013 but .274,27,86 in 2012.
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) December 6, 2013
Since Jones's rookie season in 2009, his best season at the plate was in 2012, when he hit .274/.317/.516 (.352 wOBA). Jones's work at the plate, however, is hardly up to a first baseman's pedigree, as he owns a career .254/.316/.458 (.333 wOBA) batting line. He does, however, provide power in the form of 102 homers in 2529 plate appearances, a rate of 24 homers per 600 plate appearances. The Marlins may be interested in his power hitting to supplement the lineup.
This may also spell the end of Logan Morrison's time with the Fish, as there was trade interest in Morrison during the GM meetings. Miami may be able to extract value from Morrison and spend a small amount of money replacing him with Jones at first base, as both players are left-handed and a platoon would not be ideal.
Stay tuned to Fish Stripes for more coverage of this potential move.
UPDATE: Juan C. Rodrgiguez of the Sun-Sentinel has the potential contract details, with the two sides still working out the final parts of the deal.
#Marlins close on a two-year, $7.5M deal with 1Bman Garrett Jones. He would make $2.5M in '14 and $5M in '15.
— Juan C. Rodriguez (@JCRMarlinsbeat) December 6, 2013
