Marlins ink Hanley to longterm deal

This comes as a pretty big surprise to me, mostly because of the fact they haven't signed a player to a longterm deal since signing Carlos Delgado in 2005, and perhaps most people outside of diehard Marlins fans, which I'm not sure there a lot of given the crowds they draw; it certainly isn't a bad move however. The deal is 70 million dollars over 6 years, an annual value of approximately 11.6 million. I'm not sure if all 6 years are guaranteed, but given recent contracts for guys like Fausto Carmona, Troy Tulowitzki, and other talented youngsters, I'd guess the first four years are guaranteed and the final two are option years. The deal will buyout Hanley's first two years of free agency.

Hanley is certainly worth the money, and by the third year of the deal it may be a bargain. He finished only 10th in MVP voting last year despite posting a .332 batting average, .386 OBP, .562 SLG%, .948 OPS, 29 homers, 81 RBI's, and 51 steals, all as a shortstop. He'll probably end up moving from shortstop in the near future due to his terrible defense at the position. Although I love the Marlins deciding to lock their best player up long term, I'd be surprised if he made it through the whole deal with the Marlins. This deal is going to increase the Marlins payroll exponentially and its a deal the Marlins probably won't be able to handle longterm. I think he'll end up getting traded as a deadline deal in the next 3 or 4 seasons at least.

When the trade for Beckett was made during the Marlins firesale a few seasons ago I absolutely HATED seeing Hanley go. The rumors around the deal were that we had to give up either Lester or Hanley to get him, and, looking back on it, Lester definitely would've been the more logical one to give up. With the way Buchholz has begun to develop and the belief that he could be a dominant ace Lester would've been unneeded, Hanley would've stopped the revolving door at shortstop the Red Sox have had since Nomar fell off the face of the earth and was traded, and Lester hasn't been what I think the Red Sox expected him to be. Its not real fair to look back and judge it like that, but I just think that if Jed Hoyer and Ben Cherington, knowing what they know now, could go back and make the trade again they would have traded Lester in place of Hanley.