The Baltimore Orioles are interested in signing one of their starting pitchers to a contract extension while the Miami Marlins could be dealing with the departure of one of their own.
Chris Tillman has been with the Orioles for his entire six-year career and he might remain in Baltimore even longer. According to Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports, the Orioles and Tillman have expressed mutual interest in workout out a contract extension. The 26-year-old is entering his first year of arbitration eligibility after making $546,000 in 2014.
Tillman compiled a 13-6 record with a 3.34 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in a career-high 34 starts this past season. It was his second consecutive season eclipsing the 200-inning mark and he made his first postseason starts against the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals. The right-hander owns a career record of 45-31 with a 4.00 ERA and 1.30 WHIP in 118 starts.
"There are a few candidates for [contract extensions]," Orioles' executive vice president Dan Duquette said. "We haven't spent much time on that, but contract discussion is always a good time to explore that."
Tillman is under club control through the 2017 season and is projected to earn $5.4 million in 2015.
Dan Haren and the Miami Marlins face a much different situation. Haren was traded from the Los Angeles Dodgers to the Marlins during the MLB Winter Meetings, even after he told Dodgers' management he would retire unless he was pitching on the West Coast. The right-hander finally told the Marlins on Saturday that he does not intend to join the team and wants to be traded to a club out West, according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro.
Haren's $10 million vesting option kicked in when he exceeded 180 innings this past year. The Dodgers sent over his salary for 2015 to the Marlins in case he opted to retire, but now it's likely Miami will have to send the salary over to a team that is willing to trade for him. The Angels, Padres, Athletics and Giants remain potential options for Haren, although it doesn't look like the Pads or A's will need him. The Giants and Angels have some question marks in the back end of their rotations, so a trade is certainly possible to those two destinations.
We'll see how the Marlins deal with Haren's news in the near future.
