Updated

Right-handed pitcher Ricky Nolasco has signed a three-year, $26.5 million contract with the Florida Marlins.

The team announced the signing Friday. In a statement from the team, Marlins owner and CEO Jeffrey Loria called Nolasco "an outstanding competitor."

Nolasco is expected to earn $6 million in 2011, $9 million in 2012 and $11.5 in 2013.

He made $3.8 million last season, when he went 14-9 with a 4.51 ERA. The 28-year-old missed the final month after undergoing arthroscopic right knee surgery.

In a conference call with reporters, Nolasco said he has been running and exercising without any setbacks. "I should be 100 percent by spring training," he said.

He said he was grateful for the job security the deal give him and his family.

"I couldn't ask for anything else from these guys," Nolasco said. "It helps to just go out there and not worry about the arbitration process."

Nolasco is 54-39 with a 4.45 ERA in five years with the Marlins, and his strikeout-walk ratio of 638-169 over that time is among the best in baseball.