Marlins agreed to terms with right-handed starting pitcher Edinson Volquez on a two-year, $22 million contract, pending a physical, according to multiple reports.
The former Royal will fill one of the two holes the Marlins have in their rotation, joining Adam Conley, Tom Koehler and Wei-Yin Chen as arms the team can pencil in to open the season. Miami has several options to plug the No. 5 spot, including in-house candidates David Phelps, Jose Urena or Justin Nicolino.
The 33-year-old Volquez joins the Marlins after one of the worst seasons of his major league career. He posted a 5.37 ERA and 1.55 WHIP while striking out fewer and walking more batters than he did the season prior. Volquez did, however, make 34 starts and throw 189 1/3 innings.
In 2015, Volquez was the No. 1 starter for the World Series-winning Kansas City Royals. He had a 3.55 ERA and 1.31 WHIP in the regular season, then held opposing hitters to a .186 average and .299 slugging mark in five postseason games.
Volquez benefited that year from a dynamic the Marlins could look to mirror in 2017: a relatively thin starting rotation backed up by a lock-down bullpen. The Royals had Greg Holland (who did not pitch in the playoffs due to injury), Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera and Ryan Madson. Heading into 2017, the back end of Miami's relief corps looks strong, if not 2015 Kansas City strong, with A.J. Ramos, Kyle Barraclough, Nick Wittgren and David Phelps (if he doesn't re-join the rotation).
The Marlins have also been linked to free-agent closer Kenley Jansen, who played for manager Don Mattingly with the Los Angeles Dodgers, though the payday Jansen will command will likely be greater than the kind usually associated with Miami.
