Two months after acquiring him from the Cubs the Reds have signed Sean Marshall to a three-year contract extension, which keeps the 29-year-old reliever from hitting the open market as a free agent next offseason.
Marshall was already under contract for $3.1 million this season, which is his final year of arbitration eligibility, so the extension will buy out his first three years of free agency and keep him in Cincinnati through 2015. Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reports that it’s worth $16.5 million.
Marshall has somewhat quietly been one of the best left-handed relievers in baseball since shifting to the bullpen full time in mid-2009 and has a 2.67 ERA with 228 strikeouts in 219 career innings as a reliever.
