It’s never a good sign when one offseason’s big need is still the biggest need next winter, as the Marlins continue to look for quality hitters.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Sandy Alcantara, SP: $51MM through 2026 (includes $2MM buyout of $21MM club option for 2027)
- Avisail Garcia, OF: $41MM through 2025 (includes $5MM buyout of $12MM club option for 2026)
- Jorge Soler, OF: $24MM through 2024 (Soler has opt-out clauses after both the 2022 and 2023 seasons)
- Miguel Rojas, SS: $4.5MM through 2023
- Richard Bleier, RP: $3.75MM through 2023 (includes $250K buyout of $3.75MM club option for 2024)
Total 2023 commitments: $41.8MM
Total future commitments: $125.95MM
Option Decisions
- Joey Wendle, IF: $6.3MM mutual option for 2023, $75K buyout if Marlins decline (Wendle is still under arbitration control)
Arbitration-Eligible Players (projected 2023 salaries via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Joey Wendle (5.088): $5.4MM (if mutual option is declined)
- Garrett Cooper (5.053): $4.1MM
- Dylan Floro (5.053): $4.2MM
- Brian Anderson (5.031): $5.2MM
- Jacob Stallings (4.149): $3.3MM
- Pablo Lopez (4.093): $5.6MM
- Tanner Scott (4.059): $2.7MM
- Elieser Hernandez (4.051): $1.8MM
- Jon Berti (3.168): $2.4MM
- Cole Sulser (3.028): $1MM
- Jeff Brigham (3.010): $800K
- Jesus Luzardo (2.165): $2MM
- Non-tender candidates: Anderson, Brigham
Other Financial Commitments
- $30MM owed to the Yankees as part of the Giancarlo Stanton trade (money to be paid out in 2026-28)
Free Agents
- None
Derek Jeter’s surprise departure as the Marlins’ CEO back in February ended up being a bad omen for the team’s season, as Miami stayed on the outskirts of the playoff race until July, before struggling to a 69-93 record and fourth place in the NL East. Along the way, some other front office personnel (largely Jeter’s hires) also left the organization, and news broke at the end of the season that Don Mattingly wouldn’t be returning for an eighth year as the manager.
The search for Mattingly’s replacement is ongoing, with such names as Astros bench coach Joe Espada and Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol cited as two of an unknown number of candidates. It remains to be seen what direction Miami’s search might take, though Espada or Grifol would both present a fresh voice from outside the organization, which might be just what the Marlins need to help get things on track.
In fairness to Mattingly, however, he was far from the root problem with the club, as the Marlins again had one of the league’s worst offenses. Miami’s team batting average, OBP, slugging percentage, home runs, runs scored, and RBI total were all lower in 2022 than in 2021, despite how the Fish tried to upgrade their lineup last winter. Unfortunately for the Marlins, Avisail Garcia, Jorge Soler, Joey Wendle, and Jacob Stallings all hit poorly, with Soler (98 wRC+) the only one even close to league-average offensive production. With Garcia and Stallings delivering negative-fWAR production, the quartet combined for only 0.6 fWAR, with that number further impacted by Garcia, Soler, and Wendle all missing significant time on the injured list.
Injuries were a problem in general for Miami, most notably the stress fracture in Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s back that ended up halting the second baseman’s season on June 28. Chisholm was playing some excellent baseball at the time of his injury, hitting .254/.325/.535 with 14 homers over 241 plate appearances. Though he already has a pretty lengthy injury history during his short MLB career, Chisholm will return as the centerpiece of Miami’s lineup in 2023, and is one of only a few Marlins seemingly assured of a spot on the team.
Beyond Chisholm at second base, Garcia looks to be the regular right fielder and Soler will get time as both a left fielder and DH. The Marlins can only hope that Garcia and Soler can bounce back next year, as neither player is a realistic trade candidate (barring a swap for another team’s undesirable contract) in the wake of their poor seasons. Soler can opt out of the remaining two years of his contract, but there’s no chance he’ll walk away from his remaining $24MM owed this offseason, as he wouldn’t be able to match that salary on the open market.
It also doesn’t look like Stallings is going anywhere, as it seems probable that Stallings and Nick Fortes will be the primary catching duo. Fortes’ .230/.304/.392 slash line over 240 PA wasn’t extraordinary, but it was still markedly better than Stallings’ production, so the Marlins might end up deploying more of a timeshare behind the plate than a strict starter/backup situation.
2022 was such a rough year both offensively and defensively for Stallings that it’s easy to forget he was a sought-after trade chip at this time last year, and the Marlins had to surrender a notable package of three young players to acquire him from the Pirates in November. It would take even more of a trade haul to land, say, Sean Murphy from the A’s or any of Alejandro Kirk/Gabriel Moreno/Danny Jansen away from the Blue Jays this winter, so another splashy deal might not be in the works if the Marlins do want a catching upgrade. Free agent Willson Contreras would seem to be out of their price range, but someone like Gary Sanchez might be feasible, or perhaps an Omar Narvaez or Mike Zunino if the Marlins wanted to take a shot on catchers who have been good hitters in the past but are coming off poor seasons.
Catcher is one of many positions that are in a state of flux for the Marlins. While the team has pretty much the entire 2022 position-player core under team control for 2023, most of those options simply weren’t good enough last year, and the Marlins may just be ready to move on from some players who have been in the organization for some time.
It’s possible that general manager Kim Ng might approach this group as a collective backup plan. Any of Stallings, Fortes, Garrett Cooper, Miguel Rojas, Brian Anderson, or even youngsters Bryan De La Cruz or Jesus Sanchez could feasibly be in Miami’s Opening Day lineup….or on another team’s roster via trade, should Ng find a quality upgrade at any of these positions who brings better speed or contact. While the Marlins aren’t going to unload this entire group, it also doesn’t seem likely that all of the aforementioned seven players will still be in Miami next season.
De La Cruz and Sanchez are the most likely to return, given their youth, years of team control, and the lack of certainty over Soler and Garcia in the outfield. Center field also isn’t an easy position to fill, so since Sanchez can at least play passable defense at the position, the Marlins may be inclined to give him another shot at establishing himself at the MLB level.
Having both Wendle and versatile speedster Jon Berti gives Ng some flexibility in how she addresses the position player side of the roster, even if Wendle and Berti might both be best suited for super-sub roles than as true everyday players. The Marlins will decline their end of Wendle’s mutual option, yet the utilityman would still be arbitration-eligible through 2023 and will likely again be part of the infield picture despite his struggles last year. If the Fish did want to move on from Wendle, youngsters Jordan Groshans or Charles Leblanc could take on bigger roles in the infield mix.
Cooper, Rojas, and Anderson are all free agents after the 2023 season, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Fish non-tender Anderson this winter after two consecutive injury-plagued and non-productive seasons. This could make third base a particular target area, if the Marlins wanted to go beyond a Wendle/Berti/Groshans fallback plan.
Rojas has been a team leader for years, and was still an excellent defensive shortstop despite playing with a significant wrist injury for over two months. It should be noted the Marlins were at least open to the idea of dealing the shortstop last summer since Rojas’ name was floated in trade talks with the Yankees, but since shortstop is a harder position to fill, Miami might just count on Rojas regaining some hitting stroke once healthy.
Cooper has also been a speculated name in trade rumors in the past, yet his checkered injury history likely played some role in why he has remained with the Marlins. It could be that the first baseman again stays put just because the Marlins need hitting, and Cooper has been a pretty consistent bat when healthy — he was even an All-Star in 2022 before being waylaid by injuries and a lengthy slump in the second half. With Lewin Diaz reportedly no longer seen as a viable regular, retaining Cooper might be the easiest way for Miami to address first base.
Gauging the size of the Marlins’ overhaul will also depend on how much Ng has to spend this winter. Owner Bruce Sherman bumped the payroll from around $57MM in 2021 to just under $80MM in Opening Day payroll in 2022, though this increase was rather modest (perhaps too modest for Jeter’s liking, according to some reports) and still left the Marlins among the sport’s lowest spenders. Sherman is apparently willing to boost the payroll a little more this winter, though the size of that increase isn’t known, and it’s probably safe to assume that Miami isn’t suddenly going to be making nine-figure contract bids.
If the Garcia/Soler signings have made ownership wary of free-agent spending, that again leaves the trade market as perhaps Miami’s best route for significant roster help. Since the Fish still possess one of baseball’s more enviable collections of young pitchers, Miami is reportedly open to discussing anyone besides Sandy Alcantara or top prospect Eury Perez.
It is safe to assume that the Marlins would prefer to deal more unproven arms than, say, frequent trade target Pablo Lopez, even if Lopez would bring back a nice return. Selling high on Edward Cabrera or Jesus Luzardo might be more feasible, as both pitchers have a lot of talent but have also already had injury problems early in their careers. Moving either Trevor Rogers or Elieser Hernandez would be more of a sell-low, but Rogers in particular still has trade value despite a rough 2022 performance.
There is a bottom to this pitching depth, as the Marlins aren’t going to start offloading too many arms that are ticketed for spots in their own rotation. The “you can never have too much pitching” mantra also applies, considering that Miami’s depth took some injury hits with Max Meyer’s Tommy John surgery and Sixto Sanchez’s ongoing shoulder troubles. In general, however, Ng has plenty of options to weigh in considering pitching trades, as Miami’s variety of arms could bring back anything from All-Star caliber bats to more building blocks for the future.
It also helps to have an ace like Alcantara on hand as the rotation’s stabilizing force. The right-hander was the Marlins’ other big expenditure of the 2021-22 offseason, as Miami inked Alcantara to a five-year, $56MM extension that covered his three arbitration-eligible years and at least his first two free agent years. Alcantara responded to his security by delivering the best season of his career, posting a 2.28 ERA over a league-high 228 2/3 innings.
Extensions probably don’t figure to be a big part of Miami’s offseason business until the later stages of Spring Training, though it is possible the Fish could try to lock up Lopez if he isn’t dealt. Extending Chisholm is another possibility, yet the Marlins might prefer to see the second baseman get at least one healthy year on his record before making a long-term commitment.
While the Marlins got good results from their rotation last year, the bullpen was much more inconsistent. Major additions might not be in the offing, however, due to cost, the number of young starters in the system who could be eased into the majors via bullpen work, and because the Marlins could just count on some injured arms having healthier years. Dylan Floro is the incumbent favorite for the closer’s job, as Tanner Scott held the job for much of 2022 but had too much trouble avoiding walks.
With the Braves, Mets, and Phillies all still looking like contenders, it will be tough for Miami to make a lot of headway in the NL East. The Marlins’ pitching corps will always give them a chance, and getting even closer to league-average hitting might help the club make some noise next year. With this in mind, expect the Marlins to be one of the league leaders in trade speculation this winter, linked to any number of notable bats on the rumor mill. More clarity on the payroll situation would also help, as the ability to add even a Soler-sized contract would help expand the options available to the front office.
what happened to Victor Victor and his brother Victor Cruz? Weren’t they supposed to be the next superstars in MIA ?
Victor Victor got promoted to triple a near the end of this season so don’t be surprised if you see him up in the majors next year. Idk what happened to mesa Jr
Not sure why we’d see Victor Victor. He didn’t hit a lick last year.
Mesa Jr. at least showed a pulise in High-A.
Victor Victor is doo doo. If he’s in the majors next year I’ll be surprised.
More overhyped teenagers that have failed to live up to expectations. At least so far.. Maybe early, nut likely to add them to the list. Lazaro Armenteros, Michel Ynoa, Gilbert Lara, Dermis Garcia, Lucius Fox., Kevin Maitan, Yadier Alvarez, Jairo Beras. LOTS of high priced free agents have done little to nothing. There have been lots of successes in the lower price range too. Just goes to show how difficult it is to accurately project the future for a 16 year old kid.
Stateside or overseas
I was only referring to some of the highest priced international FAs of the past decade or so. But there is no way to really accurately project 16 year old kids in any country.
I’d like to see the Marlins of past where management goes all in and buys a WS and then has a fire sale. What happened to those good ol’days?
They never bought a WS where do you people come up with this crap?
Maybe Jeter was not the entire problem.
He wasn’t the entire problem, but he was part of the problem. The situation that he was upset over adding Castellanos instead of being upset about not getting a Closer, shows bad decision making. Castellanos wasn’t going to be a difference-maker for the Marlins when their bullpen keeps blowing leads all over the place.
But Ng hasn’t shown me with any of her moves that she’s part of a solution either.
She hadn’t worked in a front office in nearly a decade before taking over the Marlins. Player valuation & analytics has changed drastically in that time period. Trades and signings like she made last year would lead me to believe she isn’t up to speed.
Has a lot to prove and this HAS to be the last opportunity to prove she’s capable.
It was bad all-around. Garcia & Soler under-performed, as expected, but I can’t imagine Jeter thinking Castellanos was going to be a good signing. All three were the definition of mediocrity, outside of their walk years.
1 year into that Soler contract and they are already looking to insert him into a salary dump trade…..what a garbage franchise. Move the whole damn thing to Montreal with new ownership and management and don’t look back.
I got news for you, Montreal isn’t going to operate anything other than a smart small market club ala Oakland or Cleveland.
Priority number one trade Pablo Lopez to the O’s. Off-season complete.
Nice match ! Mullins for Lopez, Sanchez, and Watson for mullins ?? Might not be enough
O’s fan. Agreed. Two teams here that seem like logical trade partners. You have pitching depth, we have position player depth.
Not sure what the packages would look like but Ramon Urias may become a casualty of the numbers game in Baltimore. Defensively, a gold glove nominee at 3rd base and offensively improves ever year and at the major league level. And just as important, looks like he meets the payroll constraints of your owner.
By the way, I hope Elias sees Mullins as untouchable. A cerebral defender who had an off year offensively. Lock him up long term on the cheap … now.
Nah man lol Santander is the perfect match. Could be straight up.
I picture two O’s with major league experience for Lopez. Ng and Elias will be in agreement on Urias. The other one will either be Hays or Santander. Elias wants to trade Hays. Ng wants Santander. Who gives in?
Lopez is too close to free agency for that trade to ever happen.
@holden Pablo has two years and Santander has three years, no? I’d make that trade. @cyards I don’t think Hays goes and where did you get that Elias wants to trade him? Santander just had probably the peak season of his career. I think 3 years of him for two years of Pablo straight up no Urias is pretty even. Fills needs for both teams. Makes a ton of sense to me.
Too me Santander looks exactly like the type of hitter who would severely regress in Miami. He has improved as Baltimore’s coaching/support structure has improved. Absent that, I think he craters. He doesn’t really fill a void for the Marlins anyway. They need a CF. Period. Garcia and Soler aren’t going anywhere.
Urias doesn’t really have a role with the O’s moving forward. He’s a gold glove 3B but that’s Henderson’s role now.
I’d love to package Urias+ a prospect for someone like Lopez. Lopez dipped a bit at seasons end for them. Elias could try to swoop in and get him cheaper. he’s a much better GM than NG so I think he’d wind up on the right side of whatever swap.
I’d try to send them Stowers honestly. He could play CF. Never will on the O’s though. Same deal with Hays. I could probably move him too in a deal for Lopez. We are lefty heavy which would be the only concern on moving Hays. But grabbing a RH corner outfield bat isn’t the most challenging thing.
Im operating under the assumption that Austin Hays has significantly more value on another team where he can play CF.
His value is capped to me as a corner OF. But a guy who can provide plus offense in CF with the D is valuable.
Hays & Urias aren’t going to put the Marlins in the playoff next season though.
They really should be targeting guys like Colton Cowser, Westburg. Stowers etc. I’d be totally fine with shipping some of those guys out for a couple Marlins arms.
I love Luzardo. If his health holds up—I think he’s a real front line arm. Lopez is a good one but with 2 years of control—The price tag has to be lower.
We managed to draft Jud Fabian with the pick stole from Miami last year for Sulser and the completely unsurprisingly unreliable Tanner Scott. That’s a W. Full confidence in Elias to get the better of Ng again.
Hays and Urias have major league experience. The story, to me, reads that Ng is looking for MLB level players. And they fit the bill in regards to the owners payroll constraints … which is also mentioned in this story.
I mention Hays because I think Ng wants Santander. To get Lopez, Hays is the compromise Elias would go with.
All said, I like the thought of Ng going for only Urias and a prospect to get Lopez. I hope this would be the case. It’s fun to spectulate fellas. Cheers!
Trade proposal with the Dbacks:
Soler and Lopez to the Dbacks for
Bumgarner and McCarthy
Bad contracts exchange Soler for Bumgarner
Marlins get Jake McCarthy for CF answer
Dbacks get Pablo Lopez
Going to go out on a limb and say you’re a Diamondbacks fan.
Going to go out on a limb and say you’re a Diamondbacks fan.
==============================
I’m not sure why you would say that. Breaking the trade into two components, is 5 years of McCarthy not worth more than 2 years of Lopez? IMO, McCarthy is worth a fair bit more.
After that, it’s a comparison of Bumgarner’s negative value v Soler’s negative value.
It’s more situational, but given that AZ is unlikely to compete in 2023, maybe not in 2024, imho, I think this would be a bad trade for AZ.
I didn’t realize that the Marlins were in the business of helping the D-Backs. Or did we all of the sudden bring Mike Hill back?
That trade concept isn’t that bad. It probably needs to be Alek Thomas instead of McCarthy, but it does solve some problems for each team.
MadBum should be a reliever for the Dbacks next year they have other better starting options and their bullpen sucked. Floor is good enough for the fish. Rogers and Hernandez for Lawlar.
Floro
Leave out the Soler/Bumgarner part and McCarthy for Lopez is a fair deal for both teams. D-Backs don’t need Soler and Bumgarner isn’t gonna do any better pitching against the NL East than he does vs. the NL West. Fact is, NL East is tougher.
McCarthy for Lopez isn’t even close. Lopez and Soler for McCarthy is fair but Soler only has two years left and would just be better off releasing him then packaging him with a asset. Fans just need to realize once you have a bad contract your stuck with it basically. That’s why you all should be pissed everytime your team signs a free agent, congrats you got a bad contract immediately on day one.
Are Bonita fish big?
Bobby Bonita?
Bobby Bonita fishes off the coast of Florida…only coming to shore to either visit family, say hi to reporters on Bobby Bonita Day, or when he wants a free meal from Florida businesses just wanting to hear stories about 1997.
Apparently both the Marlins and White Sox are considering Joe Espada for their manager. This is sort of strange….
Like A.J. Hinch that has had little success in his time with the Tigers, the value both had was in using the advanced analytics that the Astros organization produced during their time there. The White Sox and Marlins are hardly analytically oriented. I’m not aware of them hiring people in upper level FO positions that are, along with investing large amount of monies in hardware, software, video equipment, etc.
With the hiring of Scott Harris in Detroit I assume that A.J. will be working with the people doing analytics to bring them closer to the state-of-the-art. But Joe is doomed if he takes one of those two jobs (Sox and Marlins). Astros fans say he’s heir apparent if Dusty retires in Houston. That would work well.
Lmao one of the worst run franchises of all time, I guess hiring a gm just for publicity didn’t work out too well. Absolutely horrible free agent contracts given out
Yeah, considering that they are 1 of only 5 MLB teams to win multiple World Series championships over the last 25 seasons, I think you may be off by a little bit.
Yeah I mean the Marlins haven’t been relevant in 19 seasons.
If the pandemic season wasn’t so crazy they’d be the longest active postseason drought in baseball bc there’s no way in hell they would’ve made the playoffs over 162.
The organization has talent. But honestly that’s not talent that NG has really brought in. For the most part—she’s inherited these pitchers from the last FO. They really need to go poach an AGM from Tampa or Cleveland & upgrade their analytic systems so they don’t waste the young guys they have. & the young guys they could acquire with the arms they have.
Ancient history!
A GM who worked themselves up through the most successful franchise of the last ten years? Yeah, just publicity. Fool.
Ng has a career of more than 20 years in MLB.. what makes you say it was a publicity move? If it was just overt sexism, feel free to just say it.
Ng has a career of more than 20 years in MLB
============================
She’s certainly a name, but it feels like more teams are going with young people these days. Ng is 53 and hadn’t been in a FO in 11 years. Very little of what was relevant 11 years ago, is relevant now.
NG was solid with a big payroll but failed to work magic with a small one
I thought Kim only had two mistakes. First she traded Adam Duvall to Atlanta last year for nothing in return. Second, She did not see that the change of home ballparks would have a huge impact on Avisail. I actually think Soler will have a good enough year in 2023 so that he will opt out after the season.
“It could be that the first baseman [Cooper] again stays put just because the Marlins need hitting…”
The statement is accurate, and exactly the problem with the Marlins….
That team isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Are they really a few players away from competing with the the Phillies, Mets and Braves?
They need to do what the Nationals are doing – tear it down. Keep their young controlled players (at least 4 years remaining) and trade everyone else that’s a semi-veteran for whatever prospects you can get. And I mean EVERYONE – Alcantara, Lopez, Jazz included. By the time any sort of team is assembled those guys will be leaving in free agency anyway. They’ll bring back a haul!
To make this work spend money on the organizational infrastructure. When trading their marketable players go after prospects in A and A+ ball. Those prospects are bigger risks so the Marlins can get back better quality and quantity of prospects – but to succeed they’ll need to have top-tier talent evaluator’s and excellent coaching throughout the organization.
This team continues in circles. If they’re going to fight the Nationals for 4th place, at least do what they did and being in a load of talented prospects that may amount to something.
Garrett Cooper is the position player version of Tom Keohler…a waste of time and roster spot that the Marlins keep telling everyone is good, but the results are not there for one excuse or other. It’s time to move on from Cooper.
Yeah, Alcantara and Jazz being traded make zero sense. Lopez might make sense because we have other pitchers with higher potential.
MarlinsFanBase;
You don’t remotely have enough decent players to be a serious contender. Nor are there many (if any) on the horizon.
Alcantara is arguably the best pitcher in MLB (he’s a Bob Gibson clone). There’s no way he spends his career with the Marlins. Right now he brings back more than Soto did.
And if he wakes up one morning with a sore arm…..
Marlins Outlook is simple for me.
Move on from Cooper. See about moving Wendle. See about moving Rojas.
Keep Bryan Anderson in a 3B/OF. Make him earn playing time.
Add a Closer. If there is any area that we should spend on is for a Closer. I’d go all in on Edwin Nunez. He’s the right Closer and the right age for us. In the very least, make the Mets spend more to re-sign him. Dump off wasted salary from the bullpen pieces that have failed.
Offensively, go after infielders (1B and 3B options). No more OFs unless a sure-thing CF.
Catching: Status quo, but with Fortes getting the bulk of the time. Move Stallings at the deadline once Fortes looks like he can handle the job full-time.
MarlinsFanBase;
I agree with your that those players should be moved.
Exactly who do you see teams giving up for them? Enough to be a major part of a contending team?
The Marlins have the most valuable assets in baseball though.
Good young pitching. that could do a lot to infuse young hitting talent in the system even without dealing alcantara.
Lopez would bring quality back. Edward Cabrera is another arm teams would love to have. Same deal with Luzardo. I don’t trust that NG is the right GM to do it but that job would be very attractive to be me as a GM. Not only that but they have Sixto Sanchez & a stud 19 year old sitting in the system as reinforcements. (Max Meyer as well when he comes back from surgery)
You have to see where the other teams in the division are positioned. Only the Braves look to be sustainably good. 2 years from now the Marlins or Nats could be up there.
Orioles_Magic;
Agree with you.
But MarlinsFanBase wants to keep those players and move the filler. Then he wants to upgrade at multiple positions.
How does one do that with a small budget and using Cooper, Wendle (who I love and is an asset to any contending team as a utility player), maybe 87 year-old Rojas, and perhaps “Stallings at the deadline”.
Another thing….
Worse yet, the Marlins are playing some of their younger players out of position due to expediency. This is nonsense. It only hurts them and takes their attention away from developing what they do best. Those younger payers are their future core. Whether they finish 4th or 5th in the NL East in 2022-23-24 means nothing.
Agreed.
Don’t think the Marlins have to go down to the studs to successfully rebuild this thing though.
You have to concede that 2023 isn’t going to be a winning season. Trade a couple of your arms and infuse positional player talent.
I’d trust that this rebuild could be done fairly quick if they had an Elias/Sig in the FO.
Their starting point is light years ahead of what the O’s had when Elias rolled in. He had 3 fringe starting OFers and 2 young highly regarded pitching prospects that were years off.
The Marlins have good young ML pitching right now. They have young OF’s that might be able to be developed with the right FO/coaching in place. (much like the O’s did with their trio of OFers) A young stud in Chisholm. And more interesting arms in the minor leagues.
.
I wouldn’t say the Nationals are in a better place. The Mets will have to keep a 350 million dollar payroll to stay competitive for years. The Phils have lots of huge deals on the books & pitchers going to or approaching FA. Braves look rock solid for quite awhile but you can’t escape that.
That’s not a terrible base to work from with the right GM
@Samuel
Also, with my mention of moving Cooper, Wendle and Rojas, I see those moves as just taking anything for them to clear out the roster and wasted salary to make room for younger or better pieces.
@Samuel
I could see Lopez getting us a bat that is a decent age. Perhaps revisiting the Yankees trade, especially since they’ll be a little more in urgency mode now after losing to the Astros. Pull in Torres, and finish the deal this time…unless someone jumps in with a better offer. I would even see what the Dodgers would think about a trade the is centered around Lopez for Bellinger considering that Bellinger may need a change of scenery to get himself back on his original career track.
Other than a trade there, I would look to free agency. The Marlins are going to have to put some money out there if they are to be serious about winning from this rebuild. They have a major need in a Closer. If they want to go big, as I mentioned, I would go big with Edwin Diaz. In the very least, they should be able to get one of the vets – Chapman or Kimbrel who may not be in too much demand after this year’s results. Either, in the very least, can be good mentors if the Marlins go with a young arm at Closer…if those two can’t close themselves. But Diaz is my guy.
As for this season with free agent hitters, I’d look at the possibility of luring the cheapest of the big SS free agents (if we don’t use the funds for Closer) or, if that’s too unrealistic, look at guys like Drury or Josh Bell for bats. The accumulation of guys could help the offense.
To summarize my thoughts on how the team could look in the very least if they put in the work, I see as follows:
Trade Lopez – at least get Gleyber Torres
Sign Drury
Sign Josh Bell
New starting players:
C – Fortes splitting with Stallings
1B – Josh Bell
2B – Jazz
SS – Torres
3B – Drury
LF – Sanchez/Bleday
CF – de la Cruz/Burdick
RF – Garcia
DH – Soler
Super UT – Brian Anderson, Berti, LeBlanc, Groshan
SPs
Alcantara, Cabrera, Luzardo, Rogers, Garrett
Closer: Edwin Diaz (long shot); Kimbrel (possible); or Chapman (very possible and likely)
Pivot pitchers: Sixto or Elieser (if Elieser isn’t not traded)
A contender? Not likely, but close enough to sneak into that 6th spot if they get health and solid years from these guys…with the young arms continuing to progress.
Let Anderson go and sign Adam Duvall or Will Myers for one year at six million
Let Abderson to go sign Duvall or Myers? What!?!?!?
Why move on from Anderson to go get those two other stiffs?
Marlins should sign Yuli Gurriel. He’ll be a free agent and even though he’s an aging player coming off of his worst season of his career, Marlins should get him on a 1 yr deal. If he hits .300 again, it’ll be a bargain for the Fish and would help out their offense by a lot. Jose Abreu could be another good addition to that lineup as well.
Describing Gary Sanchez as a catcher seems like a mistatement. He’s more of a DH who sometimes cosplays as a catcher.
They should be looking at what the Guardians just did. go speed and defense first to back up that great pitching, those kind of players are generally cheaper/easier to acquire.
It’s worked for the Rays the last 15 years
Well written article, though I would say non-tender candidates are Hernández and Sulser instead of Brigham.
My two cents about trading Pablo: Kim Ng should focus possible trades with the O’s (Mullins) or even better, the D’backs (McCarthy, Thomas or Fletcher).