Marlins, Nick Masset Agree To Minor League Deal

The Marlins have agreed to terms with right-hander Nick Masset on a minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (Twitter link).

Masset, a client of Jet Sports Management, struggled through 45 innings with the Rockies in 2014 — his first big league action after a two-year absence due to shoulder problems and throacic outlet syndrome. Masset’s 5.80 ERA may be a bit misleading. Metrics such as FIP (4.33) and SIERA (4.12) feel that he was the recipient of some poor fortune, and indeed, his .371 batting average on balls in play was the third-highest mark among pitchers with 40 innings thrown (per Fangraphs).

The 32-year-old Masset was formerly a solid setup man for the Reds, pitching to a 3.05 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in parts of four seasons (240 1/3 innings) with Cincinnati. However, after signing a two-year, $5.5MM extension with the Reds, he failed to throw another pitch for the organization.

Masset isn’t without his faults; his 7.2 K/9 rate and 4.8 BB/9 rate from 2014 were both a far cry from his peak with the Reds. Still, if he can regain some of his lost control and continue to post a strong ground-ball rate (51.7 percent in 2014, 50 percent for his career), he could be a nice buy-low option for the Marlins.