Here's the latest from South Beach…
- Once Albert Pujols was off the market, the Marlins told Gaby Sanchez and his agent that rumors about Miami pursuing Prince Fielder were false and that the club wasn't looking for another first baseman, reports MLB.com's Joe Frisaro. Sanchez said he wasn't offended that the Marlins were pursuing Pujols: "He's proven what he can do for 10 straight years. I still have so much time to go."
- Anibal Sanchez told reporters (including MLB.com's David Villavicencio) says the Marlins haven't approached him about a contract extension but he'd be open to signing such a deal. MLBTR's Ben Nicholson-Smith recently examined Sanchez as an extension candidate.
- Sanchez also didn't mind his recent arbitration hearing with the Marlins, where he won his case and earned an $8MM salary for 2012. "I think everybody thought they were going to say a lot of things that were bad about me. But I didn't think they said anything bad or that I didn't know. It's part of the business," Sanchez said.
- Jose Reyes understands that the Mets didn't have the finances to re-sign him, but he wished his former team would've at least made some kind of offer, reports Dan Martin of the New York Post.
- The Marlins offered Yoenis Cespedes a six-year, $36MM contract, reports Frisaro. The team wanted a six-year deal since they felt Cespedes would need minor league seasoning and didn't want to pay him a large salary if he'd be spending time in the minors. Cespedes instead agreed to sign with the A's for $36MM over four years.
- With Cespedes gone, Frisaro says the Fish aren't expected to add any more players before Spring Training, though they could look for veteran starting pitching later in camp. The Marlins aren't interested in Ivan Rodriguez for the backup catching job.
As far as value is concerned, I’d rather have Gaby Sanchez. Considering the Marlins financial restrictions (this Winter’s spending spree aside), their starting pitching depth in the minors (or lack thereof), and impending extensions likely due to Mike Stanton and Anibal Sanchez, the Marlins will need to find value somewhere. Gaby Sanchez might not be close to Pujols, but he is at least half as good for a quarter of the cost. Not to mention he’s entering the prime of his career while Pujols is exiting his.
Of course Anibal wouldn’t mind, he got $8MM out of it. Plus, Anibal is not the type of guy to get worked up.
Marlins goals for 2012 off season…
Re-Sign Anibal Sanchez
Extend Mike Stanton
Declare an existing player to be, or sign a FA true center fielder
Re-Evaulate JJ future as your staff ace based on 2k12 performance, extend if possible and fit.
Blow up center field home run feature
I am pretty sure Cole Hamels fits in on their goals.
So along with extending Sanchez/Stanton(and maybe Johnson) and acquiring an impact center-fielder, they’ll also be going after Hamels…..who’s likely to command $120m+?
Geez, and here I was thinking this off season was busy for them…
BJ Upton???
Reyes needs to quiet up, he was well aware what the Mets could have offered him, he’s being disingenuous. It was well out there what the mets’ ceiling was, When the Marlins exceeded the Mets’ limit there was zero point in the Mets giving him an offer. He just wanted them to give him a bid so he could have driven his price up.
youre really wrong dude…
I’d like to know how? Reyes is just upset he didn’t get the crawford money.
you told him
And he’s being humble about it instead of being a jerk.
Way to take a comment from a class act guy and bash him…Gaby is a great young talent, and at just a nick over league minimum salary, he is a great alternative to AP for the fish.
Emilio Bonifacio was one of the best leadoff men in all of baseball over the second half of the season. They signed Aaron Rowand to a minor league deal, and still have Coghlan and Bryan Peterson. Their CF woes are extremely exaggerated. Cespedes would have been an unecessary gamble.
Have you seen Bonifacio in the outfield? He can cover a lot of ground, but he takes some hilarious routes. His career BAbip before the 2011 season was .329 and his career AVG was .251(.302 OBP). His BAbip last year? .372, he’s due for some regression.