Wei-Yin

Chen

Chen hasn’t appeared in the majors since the 2019 campaign and didn’t pitch anywhere last season after spending the previous three years gobbling up innings in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. The 38-year-old lefty will keep his career going with a stint in the independent American Association.

Chen’s five-year, $80 million contract with the Marlins was a major flop and they released him last November. He caught on with the Mariners on a minor league contract but was cut loose by them in June, at which point he signed with Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines. The 2021 season will be his first full one back in Japan since 2011.

The Mariners signed Chen to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training in February. He was released by the Marlins in December despite still being owed $22 million after posting an ugly 6.59 ERA in 68 1/3 relief innings for Miami the previous season. He’s now free to sign with another club, but interest will likely be limited.

Chen was cut loose by the Marlins this past November following a dreary 2019 campaign in which he posted a 6.59 ERA across 68 1/3 innings of relief work. The veteran southpaw will look to rebuild himself with the M’s this spring. Just don’t expect a ton.

It’ll be a minor league contract once it’s made official, per MLB.com’s Greg Johns. Chen was released by the Marlins back in November, despite still being owed $22 million, after he posted a wretched 6.59 ERA over 68 1/3 innings of relief in 2019. The 34-year-old left-hander had a 4.79 ERA in 26 starts (133 1/3 innings) with Miami in 2018. He’s a dart throw at this point for the rebuilding Mariners.

The Marlins will pay the 34-year-old southpaw $22 million not to pitch for them during the 2020 season. That’s after he registered a horrifying 6.59 ERA and 1.54 WHIP across 68 1/3 innings during the 2019 campaign. If he latches on elsewhere -- which is far from a certainty -- it will be on a minor league contract.

Chen is due $22 million next season, a huge sum of money for a club like the Marlins, but they’ll eat that cash after watching the veteran left-hander struggle to a 6.59 ERA over 68 1/3 innings of relief in 2019. Chen, 34, will surely clear waivers and then be officially released.

Chen is the team’s highest-paid player by a long shot, but the Marlins have more intriguing rotation options at this point. The club hasn’t officially announced who will be in the rotation other than Jose Urena.

With Caleb Smith and Pablo Lopez pitching so well, it’s starting to look like there’s a real chance Chen will get demoted to the bullpen to begin the year. It’s the right move if the Marlins think the youngsters are ready; Chen is nothing more than a stopgap these days.

After Pablo Lopez delivered four perfect innings, Chen threw three perfect innings of his own before Pedro Severino singled with one out in the eighth inning. History denied. The southpaw fanned three batters in a strong bounceback outing for him. He’s set to begin the year with a rotation spot after posting a 4.79 ERA over 26 starts last season. He was basically as a disaster outside of Miami.