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Marlins Notes: Payroll, Oviedo, Vazquez

Marlins president of baseball operations Larry Beinfest spoke with reporters yesterday; here are the hot stove highlights.

• The Marlins will raise their payroll to at least $85MM in 2012, writes Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post.  By my calculations they should have over $20MM to spend on '12 salaries, if Juan Carlos Oviedo does not remain with the team.
• Oviedo, the former Leo Nunez, is in the Dominican Republic working through identity-related legal issues.  Beinfest hopes for clarity on the situation as soon as possible, but has "contingencies in place."  Beinfest noted that there are dates that are sensitive to Oviedo's situation, namely the December 12th non-tender deadline.
• Beinfest told reporters the Marlins' top priority is to add rotation depth.  In regard to Javier Vazquez, he said, "I haven't talked with Javy since the season ended.  What a great job he did for us, and we will check in with him and his agent.  We'll see where his head is, and where his thoughts are. That door was left open when the season ended to at least explore. Javy's mind is wherever Javy's mind is. He's a veteran guy. We'll at least explore and keep and touch, and we'll see." 
• Beinfest seems more open to trading young players, saying, "I think we need to become a little more open, just in general.  I think we've been very protective of our zero to three [years of experience] players because we've had to be, given our payroll challenges. I think we can open up a little more now."
• This is an important offseason for center fielder Chris Coghlan, says Beinfest, after two disappointing seasons.
• To read my offseason outlook for the new Miami Marlins, click here.

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