Veteran free agent left-hander Wei-Yin Chen has cashed in on a substantial contract agreement, signing a five-year deal worth $80 million with the Miami Marlins on Tuesday afternoon.
The 30-year old has the option of opting out of the contract after the 2017 season, and the deal also includes a vesting option worth $16 million for the sixth year of the contract should Chen meet an innings requirement for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.
In four seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, Chen garnered a record of 46-32 in 117 starts, recording a 3.72 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP in 706.2 innings.
His strikeout-to-walk ration has been excellent, having struck out 547 batters compared to 172 walks while with Baltimore.
Chen amounted career-highs in ERA, WHIP, and WAR in the 2015 season. His ERA lessened to 3.34 (seventh-best in the American League) from his 3.54 mark in 2014, his WHIP fell to 1.22, and his WAR increased significantly from 1.8 in 2014 to 3.8 in 2015, the ninth-best mark among American League pitchers.
The Taiwan native's win-loss ratio dropped from 16-6 in 2014 to 11-7 last season, however, the decrease in wins was predicated on the drop in success that the Orioles underwent in 2015 compared with the season prior, their record falling from 96-66 to 81-81 as they missed out on postseason competition.
He started the same amount of games (31) as 2014 while pitching more innings (191.1) compared with 185.2 the season prior, exemplifying his consistent presence and reliability within the Baltimore rotation over the past few seasons.
Chen looks to assume the second slot in the Marlins rotation in 2016, positioned behind ace Jose Fernandez, a Cuban right-hander who went 6-1 with a 2.92 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in an injury-shortened 2015 season.