Though the Marlins fielded a $115MM payroll last season in Jeffrey Loria’s final year of ownership, the financial plan of the Bruce Sherman/Derek Jeter ownership group doesn’t call for payroll to return to those heights until 2021, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Jackson cites a pair of copies of the financial plan provided to potential investors, entitled Project Wolverine, in providing a number of details on the Marlins’ upcoming year-to-year payrolls as well as some aggressive revenue and attendance projections.
Notably, while the Marlins are aiming for a payroll around $90MM in 2018, the plan projects even lower payrolls in 2019-20 ($81MM and $84.8MM, respectively), before jumping back into the nine-figure range. Part of the reason for the healthier number in 2018 could be the one-time $50MM payout that all 30 MLB teams are receiving after Disney’s acquisition of BAMTech, per Jackson. (Beyond that, Edinson Volquez, Brad Ziegler and Junichi Tazawa will be off the books after 2018.) It’s unclear whether trades of additional MLB assets will significantly alter those projections, though Jackson notes that Christian Yelich, J.T. Realmuto and Starlin Castro are available “for the right price,” while the team is (unsurprisingly) amenable to trading Tazawa ($7MM in 2018) and Ziegler ($9MM in ’18).
A bit more out of Miami…
- If the Marlins do hang onto Yelich, he could once again be ticketed for left field duty, reports MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro. Yelich and Marcell Ozuna flipped positions this past season, with Yelich moving from left field to center field, but the acquisition of Magneuris Sierra (in the trade that sent Ozuna to St. Louis) gives Miami a center field option with elite speed. Miami could line up an outfield with Yelich in left, Sierra in center and speedy Braxton Lee in right field, giving the Fish a rangy trio that is lacking in the power department. However, Frisaro notes that Miami is still open to adding another right field option (be it via trade or a presumably low-cost option on the free agent market).
- At least 15 teams have called the Marlins on Yelich, per Frisaro, while another dozen or so are showing interest in Realmuto. Miami isn’t willing to move either player for anything less than a substantial overpay in terms of prospects and young talent, though. Frisaro lists the Cardinals, Phillies, Braves and D-backs as teams that have spoken to Miami about Yelich.
- Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel takes a look at the Marlins’ growing analytics department, reporting that former Yankees executive Dan Greenlee will now oversee the department. Former analytics head Jason Pare recently took a job as an assistant general manager with the Braves under new GM Alex Anthopoulos, and while Greenlee was initially tabbed as an interim head of the department, he’ll now oversee those operations on a permanent basis. Miami has also hired a new senior analyst (Myles Lewis), promoted analyst Michael Lord to analytics coordinator and is still seeking to hire another developer and another data analyst.
“Project Wolverine” is such a lame name
It shows that the new ownership was already planning to slice and dice the team just like the X-Men character the project is named after!!!!
You’re probably not far off, I would bet they picked the name because they were going to SLASH payroll…
The name has nothing to do with the X-Men. Jeter is from Michigan and is a big fan of the Michigan Wolverines.
Or it’s because of jeter’s michigan roots.
Nope it’s because of X-Men.
From the MLBTR article yesterday…”Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald has obtained two versions of Project Wolverine – the operational plan of new Marlins owners Derek Jeter and Bruce Sherman – one of which is from August and the other from a couple months before. According to the document, whose name stems from Jeter’s home state of Michigan (the Wolverine State),…”
mlbtraderumors.com/2018/01/nl-notes-marlins-dodger…
I was joking…I read that article.
Than may I suggest a “/s” or “J/K”. I only say that because when you take your comment combined with “redsox4…” & “adam…” combined with the down-votes for those who pointed out the MI connection it doesn’t read as sarcasm or a joke.
Sorry, I didn’t actually think anyone could think that it was named after X-Men, especially considering there was just an article explaining it.
Nope. It’s only about the x-men.
What idiots didn’t read it as sarcasm. That was the epitome of sarcasm. I found it pretty dang funny actually. Kudos 24.
Marlins would be silly to not trade Yelich and Realmuto. They aren’t going to win for a while
Yeah but there’s no reason why they have to trade them this winter.
They don’t have to trade either, they just need to clear another $14 million of payroll. Chen is untradeable. Zeigler, Tazawa, and Prado would have to be included with a player with a positive trade value in order to be moved.
So basically the only way to meet their payroll goals is to move one of them with one or more of those 3 bad contract players.
They’ve already met their payroll goals.
If their demands are not going to be met, there is no reason to trade them. They are both young, good players that are cost controlled for a few years. That type of player can demand a bounty.
I’d think that the potential return for Yelich and Realmuto would probably never be higher than it is now. You’d also face the possibility of injuries to either/both. Miami should absolutely trade both of them for the best package they can before spring training.
they may get more at trade deadline if a contender loses a catcher or OF. doesn’t hurt to wait if offers now underwhelm
They have a great reason to trade them this off-season. Injuries.
If they happen, to either player next year, it could significantly alter their perspective markets.
very true. but you can’t predict injuries. I could just as easily predict that Yelich gets super hot the first half and is on pace for 30+ HRs. That could increase his trade value.
Injuries are another reason why their trade value could go up, say the Yankees, Cubs, Astros etc have season ending injuries hit their team they could be willing to overpay at the deadline for a bat
You are absolutely correct in the fact that you can’t predict injuries, which is exactly what fuels my argument even more. There is always a non zero chance of injury.
I agree that if they get their asking price met now they should trade them. however, if their price isn’t met, and the best offer is say 75% of their asking price, it is probably worth it to hold and trade at deadline. both players have enough control that even an injury can be overcome and still yield a good package next winter or the following trade deadline.
What kind of argument is this? you’re arguing that they absolutely have to trade then now because they might get injured…? That’s the dumbest argument for trading these players I’ve ever heard. So, basically that applies to every player in MLB and every prospect. “Now is the best time to trade him- he might get hurt”….neither has an injury history, and both are so affordable that if they got hurt it’s not going to set the franchise back financially….what they NEED to do is prove they can run a baseball team and get back a serious return of top tier prospects for these guys….certainly not panic and take whats out there because they fear “injury”
Finally somebody gets it
Maybe the Marlins don’t have a chose, I don’t know but Sierra isn’t ready for the Bigs…he might prove me wrong but he was only in single A to begin last season and moved up to AA…yes he did do well when the Cardinals called him up but you could tell he wasn’t ready…I still wish him the best of luck and also I think he will be a great player
Breaking Blue Jays news: Toronto continues to look for minor league signings with camp invites, but promise and swear that they are still all in this season! All these assets will make 2019 and beyond fun, but this season has a clear path….rebuild trade value and dump all expiring contracts… JD, Marco, Happ, on and on. ZERO chance they add anything significant for 2018!
You got that right. Now we’re seeing the real Mark Shapiro in action.
With all that young Pitching they
Will need Realmuto to train them.
He will become the captain of the
Team
Is this a poem, or is your formatting just crazy?
i wonder what all it would take for the Braves to get Yelich. he would be a terrific add imo
It would cost way too much for my liking. Only way I see it happening is if the Marlins value some Braves prospects (not named Acuna) more than the Braves do. Otherwise let another team mortgage their future instead.
Personally I don’t think that the Marlins want their best prospects (or the ones they hope to receive) to be ready immediately. I think that they’d be quite satisfied to get the higher ceiling prospects that shouldn’t be ready until 2020 or so. Because of that I’d think that they wouldn’t mind getting higher quantity of high upside but younger prospects than many other rebuilding teams. It just doesn’t seem (especially with the “wolverine plan”) that they plan on being competitive soon so why would they necessarily want their better prospects wasting service time. In other words something along the lines of four younger guys with high upside in A ball than two close to the major guys in AAA with only 50 grades.
No they want the Elite/best prospects.
So that pursuit of elite/best prospects is what drove the almost universally described weak package the Marlins received for Ozuna?
In all seriousness I would have thought if it what you said was true then the Marlins would perhaps have Flaherty in their system instead of Alcantara.
Agree with you to a certain extent. Fish should’ve gotten more for ozuna and his 2 additional years of arb control. Which would be at a cost of $20-25 million for those two years.
However, Marlins can certainly demand and should be expect to receive Yelich, controlled for 5 yrs at 44million, who’s just as good and has been more consistent than Ozuna.
But these are the Marlins, I wouldn’t put them past them to f*** it up.
The Marlins need 2 MLB or at least MLB ready OF if they trade Yelich.
No they don’t need that in return, because if they purposely choose to stink the Marlins can just sign very cheap free agents to patrol the grass. What Miami needs to do is to get a larger influx of long term high upside talent. Obviously the Marlins aren’t going to win the next two or three years so aim for guys who will be just starting their careers in two or three years with an eye towards being much improved in four years or five.
I am with outinleftfield here. Marlins should take the best prospects they can get. If they don’t plan on contending for 3-4 years then getting prospects they can call up this summer and next summer along with some higher upside guys that are 3-5 years away is the best way. that way you have guys with experience to help groom the 2nd wave of callups. if your goal is to contend in 4 or so years you don’t want only prospects that will be ready in 3-5 years.
I never said that they shouldn’t take the “best prospects they could get”. What I was referring to is that if given the choice between a guy who is almost major league ready and multiple high upside prospects that should be ready down the road that because of the situation in Miami they should choose the multiple prospects with high upsides.
You should always (notice I said SHOULD because some teams interrupt or disrupt their own stream) have a steady stream of guys coming up to the majors, of various levels of talent. Just remember that prospects closer to the majors don’t always mean that they are a better long term prospect. It isn’t all about top 100 prospect lists.
In MOST cases, yes, teams like prospects that are near ready, but with the “wolverine plan” out now it is pretty apparent Miami isn’t planning on being competitive for awhile. Yes, that stinks for the Marlins fans, but if you going to go down that road then go all the way. Target when you want to get better and then target prospects that maximize that particular window.
Look I’ll be honest and say that I don’t have a clue how good Miami’s scouting of prospects actually is. But there are often gems who are young and toolsy in the low minors. You absolutely will miss on identifying many of them, but you mitigate much of that risk when you obtain a larger number of those young high upside prospects.
I just don’t see that Miami is traveling down the same path as everyone else and to get back to contention they might have to do some unconventional things.
that was not a weak package the marlins got for Ozuna…for two years of Ozuna who really only had a breakout year last year…the marlins received a CF for their future and a possible 2-3 guy (if not number 1) for their future rotation…give me a break
fair point. I just think if you have the choice of Acuna or Pache, Riley, Muller and a few 17 year old prospects you take Acuna. But we know the Braves won’t trade him so that package won’t be on the table.
Take on Zeiger, Prado and maybe even Tazawa with their contracts and give up an MLB ready OF and at least two other good prospects.
Somebody has been drinking too much of Jeter’s hand sanitizer.
It’s time to trade them in my opinion, with no protection their numbers are going to drop. if you can get a couple high level prospects and a couple serviceable arms in the mix it will make things alot easier. then times that by 2 trades their future will look alot better.
The Fish still have a decent 1-4 in their lineup with Yelich, Castro, Realmuto, Bour. I doubt CY and JT see their production drop a ton, maybe runs scored will drop but they will still see quality pitches.
The Commissioner & MLB owners allowed this rip-off to happen. Meanwhile… the sucker taxpayers are paying for their stadium. Votes matter.
Just brutal. Sorry Marlins fans.
every team is getting $50 million and the mets payroll is still going down? awesome
I’m reasonably sure the Marlins had no intentions of the public seeing that report. Now that fans know in advance that they have no plan to spend to be competitive for three full seasons, good luck putting fannies in seats…
To add to WazBazbo’s comment about the Marlins “putting fannies in the seats”………Many of us who live 1 hr+ North of Miami will probably prefer to spend our “Annual Baseball Budget” watching Spring Training, rather than drive to Miami.
WPB hosts the Nationals & Astros in a brand new stadium…….(15 mins south of me)
Jupiter hosts the Cardinals (along with the Marlins)…..(10 mins north of me)
What a great opportunity to see the World Champs, and 2 other teams that should be in the thick of the 2018 Pennant Race!!!
So you prefer to watch minor leaguers and players that are not at their best to MLB games? Says volumes about you. Even if my team stinks, I would rather watch MLB games.
You think the Marlins are going to roll out a roster not made of AAAA type players the next couple of years?
Spring Training is great to watch. Fun atmosphere, good mix of current and future players. Way cheaper, and way more convenient for kbarr, apparently.
Thinking the only baseball worth watching is that branded with MLB says volumes about you.
amen dookie
Guess scouts aren’t true baseball experts since they spend the bulk of their time watching minor leaguers who suck at baseball
sounds like outinleftfield would rather watch the Cleveland Browns vs the Indianapolis Colts instead of watching that awesome Oklahoma vs Georgia game
Finally started watching game of thrones. It’s actually pretty good so far
Orioles need a lefty, bring back Chen for Trumbo’s contract. Maybe Miami throws in a marginal prospect to help alleviate the extra years and $ on Chen’s contract. Trumbo can play right and give them a shot of power and the $ goes off the books quicker than the albatross of a contract that they gave Chen…
Marlins probably do that deal in a heartbeat. I’d love to see Trumbo in Miami
With Britton out for a while, maybe the O’s want Ziegler to go along with Chen….adds am arm in the pen that “has closing experience”, rather than a prospect. If Britton comes back mid-season, O’s can flip Ziegler at the deadline.
Chen wouldn’t pass the physical. Their doctors would be licking their chops. I’d say there is zero chance. I’d also say Trumbo can play RF at Camden. Beyond that he can’t play RF, although he can probably find his way around 1b.
Agreed…….but in my defense…..”It Was HIS Idea”…..LOL
Trumbo could be a RHB platoon with Bour at 1B when not in the OF
Not until the O’s are absolutely certain that Chen will pitch in 2018. According to the Miami Herald, he will not start a throwing program until March and may be ready to pitch in the major by the end of May if everything goes right. If not, he will have Tommy John surgery and miss all of 2018 and part of 2019.
Maybe if he comes back and shows he is effective the Marlins can move Chen in July, but there is no way Angelos takes on the $54 million he is owed without knowing he can still pitch. Have you noticed how many times the O’s have shut down trades or signings because of medicals? Chen couldn’t pass the medical today.
Was in a class in college with Michael Lord last year, so cool that he’s already an analytics coordinator only 6 months out of school. Good for him
Somebody put on their analytics cap and explain how Chris Archer is a more valuable trade chip than Dan Straily. Straily is younger, cheaper, and has outperformed Archer over the last two years (the relevant years). Why aren’t we reading about a bidding war for Straily?
Im a Marlins fan and in what world do you think Strailey has outperformed Archer? Strailey’s stat line last two years:
ERA: 3.76/4.26…Innings: 191/181…FIP: 4.88/4.58…SO9: 7.6/8.4
Archers. ERA: 4.02/4.07….Innings: 201/201…FIP: 3.81/3.40…. SO9: 10.4/11.1
FIP is a more true figure of a pitchers ERA, basically taking bad defense out of it. Pretty commonly used to see a pitchers true value/talent and how well he truly pitched in any given season.
SO9 is strikeouts per 9 innings.
Archer has pretty much dominated in every category. Those stats reflect Archer as a near frontline or #2 starter on any rotation and Strailey as a solid back of the rotation pitcher. Strailey had good defense behind him.
Archer also has an additional year of control at an insane bargain rate. If Strailey improves he could cost more than Archer by year 3. Also, Archer has done this in the AL and some AL teams are wary of trading for NL pitchers that lack lights out stuff. Strailey also had Realmuto catching his games. Archer had a not 100 percent Ramos.
Strailey is good and he has lots of value but he isn’t on Archer’s level as a pitcher or as a contract piece.
I wouldn’t mind the over pay to see Yelich in the Cardinals line up! But what do you do with Fowler or Pham. Unfortunately, because of the no trade contract, it looks like Pham would then be the odd man out. Maybe Grichuk.
i would think that Pham would be part of the package for Yelich? which would be weird considering Pham had better #s last year
Phils have a chubby for Yelich for 2 years