Marlins Looking For Catcher, Reliever

The NL East is a three-team race, with the Mets, Phillies, and Marlins all within a game of each other.  Who’d have thought the Marlins would be contending after trading Miguel Cabrera?

According to Mike Berardino of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Marlins have intensified their search for a catcher.  The targets: Bengie Molina, Ramon Hernandez, Gerald Laird, and Ryan Doumit.  Molina and Hernandez are the pricey options.  Doumit would be especially tough to pry loose; he has a .937 OPS this year as a 27 year-old.

MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro wonders if Miguel Olivo, Gregg Zaun, and Paul Lo Duca could also enter the mix.  He says it could even be a three-way possibility where the Jays acquire Olivo and move him to Florida.

The Marlins are also hunting for a lefty reliever, with Arthur Rhodes, Jack Taschner, John Grabow, Eddie Guardado, George Sherrill, Will Ohman, and Alan Embree all considered candidates.  Dejan Kovacevic rattled off five suitors for Grabow this morning, the Marlins not among them.  Also, the Marlins’ interest in Guardado is light.  The Giants and Mariners both scouted the Marlins recently, and Berardino wonders if Mike Jacobs would interest them.

Berardino says acquiring a catcher and reliever in one trade would be ideal.  The one Marlins minor leaguer considered off-limits is Sean West.