Wei-Yin Chen is halfway there. Per the terms of his Marlins contract, the veteran left-hander received an $8 million payment on Saturday, the remainder of his deferred signing bonus. The timing of the transaction represents the approximate midpoint of his five-year deal.
Below is a more detailed breakdown of Jeffrey Loria’s $80 million investment from back in January 2016.
- 2016: $6 million salary
- 2017: $9 million salary; $5 million signing bonus (Nov. 30)
- 2018: $10 million salary; $8 million signing bonus (Jun. 30)
- 2019: $20 million salary
- 2020: $22 million salary
- 2021: $16 million vesting option; Chen qualifies with 180 innings pitched in 2020 or 360 total innings pitched from 2019-2020
Chen had the right to opt out and become a free agent this past offseason, but made the obvious decision not to, considering the lack of demand for 30-something pitchers.