The Marlins have called on free agent pitcher Phil Hughes and expressed interest in free agent catcher Dioner Navarro, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
It's not surprising that Miami called on Hughes, Jackson writes, because pursuing a player who had one bad year after a good one fits the club's profile. Demand for Hughes is a fraction of what it could have been before his slide in the latter part of last season and if he can replicate his 2012, he'd likely prove to be a bargain. The 27-year-old posted a 4.23 ERA with 7.8 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in '12 but followed it up with a 5.19 ERA with 7.5 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 in '13. Some peripheral stats, including xFIP (4.39) would indicate that Hughes was partially the victim of bad luck. The Royals, Mets, and Twins are also among the clubs that have expressed interest.
Navarro, 29, hit .300/.365/.492 with a career-high 13 homers in 89 games for the Cubs last season. The Marlins would like to add an offensively-gifted catcher to complement defensively-skilled backup Jeff Mathis and the switch-hitting backstop offers just that. The market for Navarro hasn't quite unfolded yet but with top catcher Brian McCann off the board, the dominos could start falling soon. The Red Sox are said to have some interest in Navarro if Jarrod Saltalamacchia, now the No. 1 available backstop, goes elsewhere.
