We had read some rumors that the Marlins were looking to lock up key players (namely Hanley Ramirez) but we didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

So on to the big news:

According to a high-ranking Major League Baseball source, the Marlins have reached a tentative agreement on a six-year, $70 million contract with their star shortstop. The deal is not expected to be formally announced for at least a few days.

At an average of a little over $11 million, the current Marlins ownership did something they haven’t really done before:

They normally don’t lock up players through their arbitration years, along with buying out a few years of free agency. But they did so with Ramirez, who has accepted the leadership role on a young franchise. More