The Marlins reportedly bring former Rays closer Pete Fairbanks to Miami on a one-year, $13 million deal:

With a fastball that sits at 97 mph, a well-above-average slider and a cutter that was added midseason in 2025 and graded out as an elite pitch, Fairbanks was expected to draw multiyear interest.

ESPN.com

Fairbanks suffered a huge fall in his strikeout rate between 2023 and 2024. Up until 2023, he average 12.9 K per 9 IP. The last two seasons, that dropped to 8.8 K per 9 IP, with a bit of an uptick in his home run rate as well. A very low opponents BABIP may have hid the decline, so I can see where teams would be reluctant to go long-term with a contract.

The Marlins took advantage of the situation to go with big money short term to see if he works in their bullpen. They are paying him for a little more than one WAR for a season. Fairbanks will get a chance to prove he deserves more than one year, and despite the fall off in Ks, Miami gets a pretty good closer.

We are seeing this a lot with this free agent market. Teams are willing to up the price per WAR for shorter term deals, and so far, players are locking in the bigger money.