The Marlins’ postseason berth and series victory over the Cubs surprised much of the baseball world, and as they take steps with the hopes of a return to October baseball, newly appointed general manager Kim Ng tells reporters in Miami that the bullpen is her team’s primary focus this winter (Twitter link via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald). While Ng acknowledged that she would “love” to add another bat to the mix, the ongoing lack of clarity with regard to a National League designated hitter in 2021 clouds such pursuits.
[Related: Miami Marlins Offseason Outlook]
Miami has already shuffled its relief mix early in the offseason, opting to decline closer Brandon Kintzler‘s $4MM option in favor of a $250K buyout, non-tendering right-hander Ryne Stanek, and acquiring righty Adam Cimber in a trade with the Indians. Cimber joins right-hander Yimi Garcia and lefty Richard Bleier as part of the team’s late-inning mix, but the Fish are lacking experienced veterans and more proven young arms alike.
Under previous president of baseball operations Michael Hill, the Marlins had done well to wait out the relief market and bring in some affordable names on low-cost deals late in the offseason. Miami landed Sergio Romo on a one-year deal in 2019 and flipped him to the Twins in a deal that netted first base prospect Lewin Diaz, and this past winter’s signing of Kintzler paid dividends when the 36-year-old tallied a dozen saves with a 2.22 ERA (albeit with much less-convincing peripheral marks).
At this point, it’s not known whether the club will take a more aggressive approach to bullpen construction under Ng’s watch, although it would be understandable if the 2020 playoff bid prompted some increased urgency. At the moment, the Marlins have $33.15MM committed to five players: Starling Marte, Corey Dickerson, Miguel Rojas, Jesus Aguilar and Garrett Cooper. That figure could jump another $9MM or so base on still-pending arbitration cases for Garcia, Bleier, Cimber, Brian Anderson and Jorge Alfaro. Even an aggressive slate of projections would only put payroll in the $60MM range.
It’s a good winter to be in the market for bullpen help, as we’ve already seen several quality names have options for the 2021 season declined. Several more who had solid 2020 seasons — Archie Bradley, Matt Wisler, Ryan Tepera among them — were cut loose prior to yesterday’s non-tender deadline. Certainly, the trade market poses countless other options, and the Marlins have a quality farm system from which to deal if they choose to go that route.
Turning to some in-house business for the Marlins, it was notable — as pointed out by Sportsgrid’s Craig Mish — to hear Ng indicate that her preference is to see third baseman Brian Anderson play for a year before engaging in long-term contract negotiations. The 27-year-old has been Miami’s best and most consistent player for several seasons, hitting at a combined .266/.350/.436 clip with 42 home runs, 74 doubles and six triples across his past three seasons (1419 plate appearances). Anderson has proven himself capable of playing quality defense at both third base and in right field.
Mish reported back in July that the two sides had been discussing a five-year deal in the range of $30MM guaranteed, but those talks took place prior to the league’s shutdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. For the time being, at least, it doesn’t appear as though they’ll resume this winter. That doesn’t rule out an eventual long-term deal for Anderson, however, as the Marlins still control him through the 2023 season.
Gotta keep up with the “best bullpen in baseball” they have out in Queens.
?
quoted from Mets fans being too high on their team as is usual
I don’t remember Mets fans saying Miguel Andujar for DeGrom being overpay.I think you are confused with Yankees fans saying they have the best pen.The same fans who think Frazier has more value than Trout
no it absolutely had been said on one of these articles in the past few days. probably the May article.
Yankees do have the best pen in New York
Mets are just trash
I’m not even a fan of either team
Comment of the year
So does this signal the Marlins are going to be spenders? Or is this just the regular dog and pony show this cheep cheep team has been doing for years?
The best bullpen in baseball is in Queens? Did MLB move another team there along with the Mets?
Lol my man it’s a joke I think he’s talking about a certain mets fan who is always acting like the Mets are a world series lock
That certain Mets fan has the Mets better than everybody in everything…not just the bullpen. Heck, according to that Mets fan, their AAA is the second best team on the planet.
It wasn’t even me who said it. Please do your research
Why don’t you go find out who it was before saying I said that. All you have to do is go to that article and read. Just bc the Mets are 10x better than marlins doesn’t mean I think they are the best team. Teams like the dodgers and Braves are clearly better. It’s not my fault the marlins are a bottom feeder team lol.
How are the mets better than the marlins? Mets came last place in 2020, 3rd place 2019, 4th place in 2018, So many “good players on that roster” yet no post season appearances since 2016, 2021 season about to start, let me guess another 3rd-4th place finish? or another year with the excuse about injuries
You really think the Mets are worse than the marlins after 60 games???? Just look at the two rosters. The Mets won 86 games in 2019 (last real season) and the Nats and Braves were both stacked. The two teams aren’t really comparable
NL east standings in 2021 rn would be
Braves
Mets
Nats
Phillies
Marlins
Ahhhh, another one of your predictions. I’m really starting to become a fan of your predictions.
Pirates definitley should shop Rich-Rod to the Marlins.
I am writing an article right now predicting some of the best underrated performances of the 2021 season, and Rich-Rod is on my list.
Cool, do you write for a blog you created yourself, or one on FanSided or SB Nation or another outlet like that? Also, Rodriguez can be really good. He gave up a lot of hard hit balls in 2020, but had workable exit velocity numbers in 2018 and 2019. Gets a lot of swings and misses and has impressive control to go along with it.
SB Nation fanpost. I’ve been reading about some of the things I can do early on if I am wanting to get into front office work, and the main takeaway is to show off your unique talent and use an outlet to get your ideas out there. So I’ll be posting some different write-ups and maybe even series over there to show off my ability. Hopefully the players I choose for my predictions do good next season though!
BTW, I have been talking about this with Ducky over here mlbtraderumors.com/2020/11/rangers-rumors-ha-seong…
I even have the list of players I am choosing from over there if you want to look. It’s a long conversation, so you’ll have to scroll down quite a bit.
If you’re trying to get into the sport industry, I’m going to tell you now, connections are one of the most important things to focus on. But good on you for getting an early start.
Yeah, aren’t you in college for sports management? I know you’re in college, but I forget if that was your major or not. Are you having any success with what you’re doing?
I wonder about how I’m going to get connections anyways. The biggest connection I have right now is Tim lmao.
Yes, I am currently in a sport management major and wrapping up my first semester of sophmore year. I’ve spoken to a handful of different people in the industry and even the Pirates’ former catcher Michael McKenry. The best thing to do is to reach out yourself. Even had an internship in my second semester of freshman year, but that came to a premature end in March because of ovbisous reasons. Best thing to do to start is create a Linkedin and just start reaching out to people in the industry. Cast a wide net, send messages to a handful of different scouts, analysts, executives, anything you can find. Someone is bound to answer. Just ask if you could have like a 10-15 minute phone call and ask about whatever you’re interested in with the position, industry, etc. Remember, the worst thing they’ll say is no or that they’re busy.
Thanks for that, I’ll have to look into it.
Do you have an idea on what position you’d like to take on, main goal ect.? I know my goal is to be GM or PoBO because I love transactions and projecting talent, but like I just said, projection talent is also a scouting thing… I’m still in high school, so I’m going to keep my options wide open lol, but if I’m able to project talent well, who knows, maybe scouting is more my route.
I want to do something in the front office as well. End goal is to be a general manager, or maybe in analytics because I’m always on Baseball Savant and learing about that kind of stuff but keep your opportunities open. Try a bunch of different things. By the time you’re in like sophmore year college, you may like something else in the sport industry more like sales or whatever.
Are you into analytics? If not, get into them. :-). Teams value that. Chaim Bloom I think published his first piece as a teen in Baseball Prospectus. Keith Law and many others in and around the game started with writing analytics-focused articles. Start with fan posts and work your way up the chain.
Good luck and let us know when it’s published!
I actually write for a Pirates blog right now as an amature writer. To anyone who wants to get into the analytical analysis of baseball, learn some type of coding or programing like python. That’s one thing I learned when talking to someon in the Pirates’ organization who does that kind of stuff.
I guess analytics could be down my path as well. I’m also going through baseball savant and fangraphs quite often trying to figure out who has the best Xbsjdftituon lol. Seriously, I do go through those and try to learn as much about those as possible.
Though I still need to learn (some) of the ins and outs of the game. Some of the more complicated stuff like Super two, Rule 5, and arb that I know, but I know just enough to get along. I want to actually have a full understanding of everything in the game so that in any conversation about anything baseball, I understand everything.
BTW, how are you contacting people on Linkedin? I know it’s for finding work, but how do you contact people there?
Linkedin is more than just for finding work. It’s a professional social media site where you can make connections with just about anyone in the industry you’re interested in. Your profile will essentially say what you’re interested in and you can send messages with your connection request. Just ask like “hey, I’m so and so. I am currently a junior/senior at this high school. I want to get into the sport industry and major in sports management. If you have 10-15 minutes out of your day, I’d love to get into a call and ask you a few questions”.
Dude, I have just learned a lot more thing all at once, thanks.
Though before I start getting my name and skills out there, I have to put something out there first lol. I’ll be writing up my fanpost this week, and I’ll share it will y’all. If you go to that Kim thread I posted above, you can see the guys I’m choosing. I already have my picks for who I’m going to write about, now it’s just time to get those ideas down onto paper.
I’d love to see some of your write-ups mlb1225, I don’t keep up with Pitt too much, but I’d still love to read some of the stuff you’ve put out.
Yea man, I’ll read it. Today, I got something out about the Pirates 2016 draft. rumbunter.com/2020/12/03/pittsburgh-pirates-2016-d…
Good read, granted it must be depressing as a Pirates fan lol. How were you able to start with Fansided? I assume you were actually hired by them.
What do you like to write about anyways? Are there guidelines on what you can make there?
I’m sorry if I’m wasting your time, it’s just interesting to talk to somebody else who is going the same route as myself.
It’s ok, I have a lot of free time (as do most peple right now lol). I just enjoy writing about anything really. I like looking at the numbers side of things and even historical parts of the Pirates. I got started about a year ago. I applied through FanSided’s springboard where anyone can apply to write for them. I’m technically not hired as a writer by them since it doesn’t pay enough for it to be a fulltime job and my title is “paid contributor”, but its nice to get some extra money from doing something I like.
Hey, I just read your article about Bryan Reynolds step back, and now I understand what you meant by analytics lol. I loved that article. It went into deep detail about his struggles, and what needs to happen for him t be successful next season. Good read. Definitely keep it up.
I had a write-up in mind that was kinda like your Reynolds article, though with Elvis Andrus in his place.
And who knows, maybe my own personal baseball career will take off. Nobody knows. I’m currently doing a throwing program as a ramp up to the season. I threw 125 throws yesterday for the first time in like a year… Lots of stretching and work to get here, but this is only day 5 of it. Today I have to throw 150 throws then I get a day off. I throw a 4-seamer, splitter, and a slider. The little bit I’ve thrown those recently, they feel good. Hopefully they play up in the season (assuming I make the team).
Well good luck in making it. Thanks for reading some of my stuff.
i am also a high school student looking to get into a front office, i actually just was accepted into ASU with sports business as my major. a big part of that decision was internship opportunities that may be available from the Tempe campus, with spring training going on there and obviously the Arizona teams in both baseball and football. Rangers, what outlet are you using for your blog? ive been interested in doing the same thing but never really knew where to start
SB Nation has a “fanpost” section you can post free write-ups on. No charge to have an account with SB Nation, and you can put out your write-up to many people.
thank you for the help and good luck with pursuing your career. wish you the best man
@Rangers29 My two cents: Listen in on Fangraphs podcast. Jeff Sullivan who now works for the Rays’ analytics dept. was just on recently. He used to be one of my favorite FG writers. Email Dan Szymborksi and he’ll most likely respond. Get a sub to The Athletics if you don’t have one already. Really quality writing over there. Spend less time arguing with the misguided on SB Nation and MLBTR comment boards. It’s a good way to waste time but won’t help you grow.
Very smart plan
Building around a pitching core seems to be a smart plan for the Marlins. They already have a handful of very young and talented starters in the majros and some notable pitching prospects throughout their system.
I hope the A’s or Giants get Kintzler. Makes sense for both teams
Archie Bradley, come on down!!!
Seriously, this is a great plan for this team. A decent lineup, with a good staff, but to go along with a great bullpen? Good idea. This is an idea that teams usually have success with, so put it to Ng to make it work. I hope she does! This team has a great passion, so hopefully that can be paired with some really good performances!
Look, their lineup over achieved last year and isn’t sustainable. Bullpen is a good place to start, but they need more to before a better team. Honestly if it wasn’t a covid year, I don’t think they are even in the playoff discussion. Lot to be excited about down in south Florida, but still a lot is needed for that team to be good again
I think the increased randomness that came with the 60-game season will now be replaced by the grind of a full, or near full, 2021 season. That won’t do the Marlins any favors. I do think they’re improved, but they should look more at making moves that will set them up for 2022 and beyond.
They were in the playoffs because they own the Phillies. Really that’s it. Good team headed in the right direction, but look at the Marlins/Phillies head to head record.
Lol not just the Phillies but look up their record in 7 inning double headers. It was outrageous like 10-2 or something.
I’m a fan and I love what they are building. They absolutely have the potential to make the playoffs in 2021. Will they? I would definitely not bet on it but if something like that happens I will not be shocked. The future is looking bright. The offensive help in the minors is sti a year away I would think which is the major negative
Bringing in Cimber doesn’t help your bullpen. Historically he has been a specialist against righties. Last he couldn’t get anybody out. Hopefully they see something they can fix because he is not the ideal guy to bolster a bullpen with.
The Diamondbacks never did figure out how/when to use Bradley. The Cards are doing the same with Carlos Martinez. Several teams should be in on Archie Bradley.
Smart move.plenty of rp available so salaries won’t be outrageous
Building a solid pitching staff
At first I misread this as “No Bullpen is Marlins Top Priority”.
Thinking they are expecting a lot out of their rotation.
LOL .. Miami would be going back to the good old days of baseball where pitching 9 innings was normal … each SP with 32 or so CG a year haha
Every team is looking to strengthen their bullpens, and likely wanted to check out the landscape post non-tenders. There are some arms out there now, but there will also be lots of competition for those arms. Could be why the Mets went in quickly on Trevor May the day before non-tenders. His price might have increased if they waited once teams looked at the middling to worse quality of the non-tendered pitchers.
Newsflash… the marlinas non-tendered their whole 40 man roster.
And they still finished ahead of the Mets in the standings this year.
They’re getting Pedro Baez and will shock people and sign a top tier FA reliever like Colome.
Seems like there will be about 10-15 million in budget available based on the current roster. Personally I want to see Archie Bradley, Kike Hernandez signings.
Those would be good, quality moves.
Pick up Luke Barker from Milwaukee in the Rule 5. They’ve been hiding him while running through their high draft picks and past trade returns, but the numbers are there with a 1.2 ERA in AAA in 2019 and was their organizational all star the year before. He’s older, but has got better each year and as one person said recently is a “high floor” guy.
Could be the next Nick Anderson for the fish then. Hopefully they have a plan like that because I believe the 40 man is at 39
I’m really surprised they didn’t add him to their 40 man roster. He certainly seems like a guy that clubs will be interested in taking a shot at. He’s put together 3 solid seasons in the minors and appears to be ready to take it to the next level.
It feels good to have an offseason when the team can just look at minor adds because the roster is more or less stabilized with vets and young talents.
We will know whats up at ss,2b,cf and catcher this season. We have alot of good prospects that played poorly but honestly, they wouldn’t have even been up without our entire roster basically getting covid lol. But we need a good pen so I like this. In 2 years this marlins team is gonna be scary!
Good plan for the Marlins but they’d better get moving soon or be prepared to pay some real money for good relievers. They are going to be up against a ton of teams looking to do the exact same thing. Philadelphia for example needs to rebuild its entire bullpen. Boston needs 2-3 relievers as well. So they’ll either need to outspend a few teams for proven talent or once again be bottom feeders in the relief market and hope they hit on a couple of lower level pitchers. The bullpen is one area that you don’t need a bunch of proven assets to be successful. Anyone with a decent pitching arsenal can get hot and become an above average reliever for a season or two. Conversely, even good relievers can have a bad season so building a bullpen takes both skill and luck. Best of luck to Ms. Ng in her first season as the Marlins GM. I hope she does well!
This sounds like a good plan for the Marlins. They are a pretty good team that will only get better once there young players develop.