Newly signed Chen sees Marlins as 'very competitive'

The Miami Marlins introduced Wei-Yin Chen on Tuesday, just a day after finalizing a five-year extension with Dee Gordon, and the newly signed left-hander made it clear that he expects his team to be more than a postseason afterthought moving forward.

"I like Miami very much, and I see this team as being very competitive," Chen told reporters from a dais at Marlins Park. "We have a lot of young players. So I will be happy to be with all of these young players. It will make me feel like I'm still young. I want to do my best and help this team win."

After finishing 71-91 last season - their sixth straight sub-.500 campaign - the Marlins may not contend for a division title as soon as Chen would like. But the 30-year-old Taiwan native should at least help stabilize a staff that had nine pitchers make at least 11 starts in 2015. (No other team in the majors had more than seven hurlers start that many times).

Chen, who's guaranteed $80 million over the next five years with another $16 million available in incentives, enjoyed the finest season of his stateside career in 2015, crafting a 3.34 ERA with a 1.22 WHIP over 191 1/3 innings for the Baltimore Orioles. Since the start of 2014, Chen has quietly fashioned the 21st-best strikeout-to-walk ratio among qualified starters (3.80), while inducing soft contact more frequently (20.2 percent) than all but 15 starters.

In Miami, Chen will take on the role of the elder statesman in a rotation that, not including the veteran southpaw, has an average age of 26.3. Only four weeks remain until the start of spring training, however, and the Marlins are still searching for a fifth starter, with David Phelps, Justin Nicolino, and Edwin Jackson representing their internal candidates.

*Fangraphs' Steamer projections

"I'm very excited to be here and to be part of this very young and talented team," Chen said. "I hope that my joining the team will make this team more competitive."