According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, the Miami Marlins "have discussed" reliever Joba Chamberlain. The team is also looking at Francisco Rodriguez and Phil Coke, Heyman reports. It seems like the right-hander is looking for a two-year deal, but at this point he may have to accept a one-year offer with incentives.
Two months ago, it was reported by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports that Chamberlain "has rejected multiple offers from teams he did not want to join." It is not clear which teams made the offer, but he would be a solid middle relief option for multiple teams.
The 29-year-old was drafted by the New York Yankees. They took him with the 41st overall pick in the 2006 MLB Draft. His agent is Hendricks Sports and he is a free agent searching for a home.
During seven years with the Yankees, Chamberlain put up a 3.85 ERA. He started 43 games, most of them in 2009. However, he is a reliever and played in 260 total games with New York.
Chamberlain signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal, plus performance incentives with the Detroit Tigers on December 12, 2013. In 69 games with Detroit, he owned a 3.57 ERA and 59 strikeouts over 63.0 innings pitched. He gave up a career-low 0.4 home runs per nine innings and a decent 8.1 hits per nine innings.
One MLB executive told Rosenthal that it alarmed him that the Tigers, for all their bullpen troubles, are not bringing Chamberlain back.
It is obvious that Chamberlain needs to find a new home as quickly as possible, especially with spring training right around the corner.