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Co-hosting last Tuesday’s episode of The Chris Rose Rotation, Miguel Rojas revealed that he and the Marlins are discussing a contract extension. The veteran shortstop was on track to hit free agency after the 2022 season under the terms of his existing deal.
From Rojas:
“I’m happy that they approached me the same way that I was thinking early in the year in spring training and then during the year. I always wanted to be here in Miami and I want to continue to be here and be part of this organization when we actually take that step towards the part where we want to be which is a winning team, winning franchise.
“I’ve been here for the ups and downs—a lot of downs—but I want to be here for the ups, too. We’re getting really close.”
Rojas slashed .265/.322/.392 with a 97 wRC+ and 2.8 fWAR in the 132 games he played in 2021. Very quietly, he’s been one of MLB’s top producers against left-handed pitching—a 170 wRC+ since 2020 puts him between José Ramírez and Nelson Cruz. He is owed a $5.5 million salary for his upcoming age-33 season, which would be a bargain for the team barring significant injury.
As first reported by Craig Mish and confirmed by MLB Network’s Jon Heyman on Wednesday, the total value of the deal is $10 million over the next two seasons. MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola clarifies that this is simply one additional year on top of his 2022 salary.
What a bargain for the Marlins. In the original version of this article, I cited Jonathan Schoop (2 YR/$15M from Tigers) and Kolten Wong (2/$18M from Brewers) as potential comps for the new Rojas contract. Due to his slightly older age, it’s unsurprising that he was willing to settle for a smaller guarantee, but only $4.5 million of new money? He should have had leverage to get more from them.
Rojas is the Marlins’ longest-tenured player after arriving from the Dodgers via trade in December 2014. With this extension, he’ll be able to join Luis Castillo as the only Marlins in history to play at least nine major league seasons for the franchise.