TODAY: The Marlins have released Harrison, according to MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola (Twitter link).
MARCH 24: Harrison has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Jacksonville, the team informed reporters (including Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald). He’ll remain in the organization without requiring a 40-man roster spot.
MARCH 18: The Marlins announced a trio of roster moves Friday, designating outfielder Monte Harrison for assignment, claiming righty Yoan Lopez off waivers from the Phillies, and signing veteran outfielder Delino DeShields Jr. to a minor league contract.
Harrison, a second-round pick in 2014 and former top-100 prospect, was one of the key pieces sent from Milwaukee to Miami in the Christian Yelich blockbuster. The 26-year-old appeared in just 40 games with the Marlins over the course of his time in the organization, batting .175/.230/.263 in a tiny sample of 62 plate appearances. Of course, Harrison also never really forced his way onto the big league roster with standout performances in the minors, either. He logged a .715 OPS in an admittedly pitcher-friendly Double-A setting in 2018 — his first in the Marlins organization — and wasn’t able to push that OPS even as high as .800 in any of the three years he spent in the system.
Harrison did post a .242/.331/.446 batting line that checked in slightly above league-average production in Triple-A last year (108 wRC+), but he did so with a staggering 39.3% strikeout rate that surely didn’t give the team any confidence he was beginning to turn a corner. Now out of minor league options and squarely behind Avisail Garcia, Jesus Sanchez, Bryan De La Cruz and others on the outfield depth chart, Harrison finds himself jettisoned from the 40-man roster. The Marlins will have a week to trade Harrison, place him on outright waivers, or release him. The latter of those three scenarios seems highly unlikely; Harrison will either be traded/claimed by another club, or he’ll pass through outright waivers unclaimed and remain in the Marlins organization.
Taking Harrison’s spot on the 40-man roster, at least for now, is the 29-year-old Lopez — a former high-profile Diamondbacks signing out of Cuba. He’s spent parts of four seasons in the big leagues but, after a decent start with Arizona, has seen his numbers tank in recent years. Lopez throws hard (96.2 mph average fastball in his career) and has better-than-average marks in terms of walk rate (7.7%) and ground-ball rate (46.8%).
That said, Lopez’s 19.1% strikeout rate is well shy of the MLB average, particularly among relievers, and he’s been overwhelmingly homer-prone. In 101 2/3 innings at the MLB level, he has a 4.25 ERA but a sky-high 1.77 HR/9. Lopez’s four-seamer has above-average velocity but bottom-of-the-scale spin rate, which has allowed hitters to square it up with regularity. On 251 occasions, Lopez has finished a big league plate appearance by throwing a fastball, and opponents have posted a .280/.333/.511 batting line in those instances. Lopez’s career 5.3% swinging-strike rate on his four-seamer is one of the lower marks you’ll come across.
As for the veteran DeShields, he’ll replenish some of the center-field depth lost by designating Harrison for assignment but do so without requiring a 40-man roster spot. The 29-year-old is a generally known commodity know, having logged big league time in each of the past seven seasons (including three years as the primary center fielder in Texas). DeShields has never shown much in the way of power but has well above-average speed and is capable of playing all three outfield spots. He’s a lifetime .247/.326/.342 hitter in 2114 trips to the plate at the MLB level.
Harrison makes sense as a depth outfielder for KC. Hometown kid who went to school at Lee’s Summit West, screams a Dayton move.
Yelich trade loooking worse for the Brewers.
Ahh. I mean worse for the Marlins.
Your tired joke deserved the self-own.
Not only is Dad addled, but he’s lame, too.
Sorry everyone. I tried having Donny do timeouts when he misbehaved but it wasn’t enough.
Nice try, dummy.
Monte, go for door #3
The Marlins do need a CF, but i hope for their sakes this isn’t it…
Me too. This would be a serious let down after their pursuit of Reynolds and Mullins, and the recent mention of Laureano. I’d take them signing Soler and sticking him in CF instead of trying to stick DeShields out there. Heck, DeShields doesn’t even deserve to start over de la Cruz, unless de la Cruz completely fizzles.
Playing Soler in center field might be the equivalent of playing Albert Pujols in center field
Oh darn, Marlins got fleeced on the Yelich trade. So sad.
Pretty bold from a pirates fan!
Yes yes indeed. Between Stanton and Yelich trades, you think Marlins would be in a better position now with a very weak NL East.
Saw Harrison play in High A for the Carolina Mudcats. Had a great year there. One game I went to he made a Jim Edmonds-like catch deep in the left-center gap. Dude’s got a lot of raw talent. Someone will pick him up quickly…
Monte Harrison and who was the other CF they cut the other day? Forgot his name. They are cutting some guys who used to be some nice prospects.
Many players who are cut any given year were once nice prospects
Yeah, kinda sad. Yellich trade didn’t work out all that well.
Brinson.
@senior52.. Yup, thank you sir. That’s the one. Two guys who were projected to be some real nice talents.
Lewis Brinson.
Brinson, Harrison, Isan Diaz and Jordan Yamamoto were a combined –8 WAR.
Miami restocking that AAAA lineup…
Yeah and he’s probably not far from being DFA’d. So yeah…
End of an era. Good luck, Monte.
They barely have Monte a chance and then he got into a fight with Marte and then that seemed to seal his fate here. We had a rotating OF of bums the last month,he should have got a shot.
Of course he never really did much to show he deserved a real shot.
He was playing much better before that happened. I think the mental game got to him last season. Almost all the tools are there, and he definitely has the glove and speed to be an bench option for some teams. I do think he is worth a low risk shot somewhere.
When a player doesn’t do much to stay up, and then gets into a fight with one of the vets and the stars of the team, that guy isn’t sticking around long.
When I think back on that Yelich trade…and the many many many other failed trades by Mike Hill, I’m glad that Hill is long gone.
Good pickup by signing Lopez. Was hoping the Marlins would get him. Harrison didn’t offer a lot of upside in Miami. Maybe he gets another shot with another team. I guess Deshields is going to be the CF.
You guys have an amazingly good pitching staff, but you have to get better offensively before you can compete
Lopez is a good low risk/high reward move, but the Marlins need a Closer. We can’t afford having guys that we hope can close games continuing to try to close games. That cost us more games last year than the poor offense did because look how many games we blew in the last two innings of games last year…and it wasn’t just Anthony Bass (although he led the charge of blown leads).
And then there was one….
Isan Diaz
Haha coming to a DFA near you
I’m surprised he didn’t get shipped off before Monte.
With Monte now gone, this reminds me so much of when the Marlins fired Larry Beinfest and then proceeded to get rid of all of the prospects he drafted or acquired in trades. Yelich was the last trade that Jeter and Co. allowed Mike Hill to orchestrate on his own before they went to a committee in the front office that was led by Gary Denbo.
One more to go with Isan Diaz.
I am hoping they let Diaz go after Spring Training. It just seems to me Diaz and Harrison could not play up to the expectations. But I also could see both clearing waivers and be outrighted to AAA.
Where are all the Marlins fans who insisted they were in on Castellanos? Another one bites the dust!
If they can’t find a genuine upgrade, I hope they just go with what they have unitl the deadline. de la Cruz is okay if he can build on his offence from last season.
I have a feeling Sanchez might be sneaky good. He’s not as fast you want for Loan Depot Park, but he gets decent jumps. JJ might even muscle his way into a call up
Diaz will be the next to go unclaimed and outrighted. Nobody wants either.
So apparently the Marlins can offer a team either for a bag of popcorn and the GMs are declining. It’s never a good career indicator when you’re not even worth being traded for a bag of popcorn or team equipment.
Have they tried trading them for a plunger? Stadiums always need plungers.
Two things…
1. They will miss the postseason.
2. They will finish ahead of the Mets.
If #1 happens, #2 would ease the pain with a great laugh.
Braves: 92-70
Phillies: 86-76
Marlins: 80-82
Mets: 78-84
Nationals: 69-93
Interesting, but I don’t think anyone wins 90 in our division. I’m not sure if the Nats lose 90 either, unless they tank in the second half of the season.
Kind of a surprise that he cleared, to be honest. A guy who can play center, decent speed and power with a minor league option. it’s a shame he can’t hit for enough contact to be a regular, but he could be a decent 4th option.
Even though you and @MarlinsFanGirl are just out for a good troll, I’m perfectly okay with everyone continuing to doubt the Mets.
Brewers won the trade lol
does the NPB have any open spots at this point?
The dust up or confrontation he had last year with Marte must have been a lot more then they led on. He never got called back up after that and then he not only is DFA’d and passes thru unclaimed but he is now flat out released! Something else must be not known to the public because this flat out makes no sense
Signing with the Green Bay Packers to play wr.
I saw Harrison intentionally driving the ball to right late last season. I’d take a chance he’s figuring it out.
This has Guardians written all over it. Need an OF, and he won’t cost much.
what