Not only do the Marlins have no plans to trade right-hander Ricky Nolasco, they're on the verge of making a long-term commitment.
According to a league source, the Marlins and Nolasco have agreed in principle to a three-year, $26.5 million contract. An official announcement should sometime this week. Nolasco would become the second starter in as many years to sign a long-term deal with the Marlins. Last January, the Marlins made a four-year, $39 million commitment to ace Josh Johnson.
Saturday, Foxsports.com reported Nolasco and the Marlins had reached an impasse only to come back Sunday with news the two sides were closing in on a three-year, $27 million deal. This contract will buy out Nolasco's remaining two years of arbitration-eligibility and his first year of free agency.
While I would have liked to see Nolasco don the pinstripes in 2011, I'm not too torn up about this. Nolasco certainly had his flaws, and this sort of deal from the Marlins indicates that they have a fairly high opinion of the burly right-hander - which, in turn, would have driven up his trade cost. Regardless, it's good to see the Marlins opening the coffers after dealing Uggla earlier this offseason.