The Marlins also signed Garrett Jones to play first base and Jarrod Saltalamacchia to catch. But they commanded multiyear deals after playing for postseason teams. Furcal (for $3.5 million) and McGehee ($1.1 million), effectively, were rescued from the baseball wilderness.

Furcal, 36, had Tommy John elbow surgery — a procedure associated almost exclusively with pitchers — last March. McGehee, 31, finished 2012 on the Yankees’ bench before migrating to Japan. To make it back, he said, he had to give up his hopes of returning.

“In my mind, if I was going to go, I had to be prepared that that’s where I was going to stay,” McGehee said. “I had to because Cecil Fielder was the only one I could think of that came back and wasn’t a pitcher. In order to do my job — to not be bitter or upset that I was there — I had to kind of think of it that way, to give myself a chance to perform and not look over my shoulder and think about what’s going to happen down the road.”

What happened was a dream season in an unexpected setting. McGehee, who drove in 104 runs for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2010, hit .292, with 28 homers, helping the Rakuten Eagles to the Japan Series title. A teammate, starter Masahiro Tanaka, got $153.9 million more than McGehee to jump to the majors.

“Obviously, his stuff’s good, his stuff will play,” McGehee said. “But I think his demeanor and his makeup, that’ll be the biggest asset he has. He just doesn’t let anything bother him. He’s used to it. He’s the biggest thing over there. Everywhere he goes, he’s mobbed.”