Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that the Marlins are “close to signing” John Buck to a three-year contract believed to be worth more than $15 million, which is pretty remarkable for a catcher who was available to the Blue Jays for a one-year, $2 million deal last offseason.
Buck obviously boosted his value significantly with a career-year, hitting .281 with 20 homers and an .802 OPS in 118 games, but there’s little reason to think he’s capable of duplicating those numbers again consistently.
He’s always had 20-homer power, but prior to this season Buck was a career .235 hitter with a lowly .298 on-base percentage and .407 slugging percentage in 2,116 plate appearances. And while posting career-best numbers at age 29 he also had the worst strikeout-to-walk ratio in all of baseball at 111-to-16.
Buck is a solid enough catcher, but by giving him a three-year contract the Marlins are clearly paying for a repeat of 2010 and the odds are stacked against that happening.
UPDATE: Rosenthal reports that Buck will get $18 million for three years.
