Headlines

  • Anthony Volpe Undergoes Shoulder Surgery
  • Alex Bregman Will Opt Out Of Red Sox Contract
  • Mike Shildt Steps Down As Padres Manager
  • Tigers Extended Manager A.J. Hinch Earlier This Season
  • Munetaka Murakami To Be Posted This Offseason
  • Cody Bellinger To Opt Out Of Contract With Yankees
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Athletics
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2026
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Marlins To Acquire Burch Smith, Select Him To 40-Man Roster

By Steve Adams | March 27, 2024 at 8:39am CDT

Right-hander Burch Smith has exercised an upward mobility clause in his minor league contract with the Rays and will sign a major league contract with the Marlins, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Upward mobility clauses allow players on minor league deals to gauge interest from other teams on a set date. If there’s interest from another club in adding said player to the 40-man roster, his current club must either add him to its own 40-man roster or allow him to join that new team. In this instance, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Smith is being traded to the Marlins in exchange for what are surely nominal cash considerations.

It seems the Rays weren’t willing to add to Smith to their own 40-man at this time, so he’ll instead join the Miami organization. The Fish already have an open spot on their 40-man roster at the moment after placing righty Huascar Brazoban on the restricted list yesterday while he works through a visa issue. Smith does have a minor league option remaining, so while he’ll go on Miami’s 40-man, it’s not a given that he’ll begin the season in the majors. He’ll earn at a $1MM rate in the big leagues with the Marlins and can pick up another $250K of incentives, per Sherman.

Smith, 34 next month, has more than four years of MLB service time and has also spent time pitching in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and in the Korea Baseball Organization. He last appeared in the majors in 2021, when he tossed 43 1/3 innings for the A’s but scuffled to a 5.40 ERA. The right-hander has at times shown flashes of potential in the big leagues but has yet to establish himself as a consistent contributor despite stints with the Padres, Royals, Brewers, Giants and A’s. He carries a 6.03 ERA in 191 MLB frames.

Lack of MLB success notwithstanding, Smith has drawn interest from clubs throughout his career due to strong minor league numbers and encouraging traits on several of his pitches. Even though his career 21.3% strikeout rate is a bit shy of league-average, he’s previously posted above-average swinging-strike rates that could be viewed as a portent for more punchouts. Smith yielded five runs in 5 1/3 spring frames with Tampa Bay, but he notched a huge 17.6% swinging-strike rate in camp, which perhaps piqued Miami’s interest.

Though Smith has never thrown an MLB pitch for the Rays, this spring marked his second stint with the club. He went from the Padres to the Rays back 2014 as part of the three-team blockbuster that more famously sent Wil Myers to San Diego and Trea Turner to Washington. The Rays lost him in the Rule 5 Draft the following year, but current Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix was part of Tampa Bay’s front office at the time the Rays originally acquired Smith.

Smith will give the Marlins some optionable depth to step into Brazoban’s recently vacated spot on the 40-man roster. Miami also has righty JT Chargois and nearly an entire rotation’s worth of quality starting pitchers — Sandy Alcantara, Eury Perez, Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera — on the injured list to begin the season.

Share Repost Send via email

Miami Marlins Tampa Bay Rays Transactions Burch Smith

The Opener: D-backs, Orioles, Opening Day Rosters
Main
Rays To Acquire Niko Goodrum, Select Him To 40-Man Roster
View Comments (9)
Post a Comment

9 Comments

  1. Canuckleball

    2 years ago

    Little surprised he was able to get a major league deal. His career and spring numbers don’t really suggest a major league caliber arm at this point.

    I might have rather gone with Oak Williams or Spruce Johnson.

    5
    Reply
    • Hammerin' Hank

      2 years ago

      son of a burch!

      1
      Reply
    • King123

      2 years ago

      “Sycamore Legs” O’Rourke has also looked good this spring.

      2
      Reply
    • Gwynning

      2 years ago

      Woody Williams sprouted a smile…

      2
      Reply
  2. Troy Percival's iPad

    2 years ago

    Does anyone know if Huascar Brazoban has legal troubles? His agent/the team knew he needed to be in the U.S. starting Feb 14th for work, and knew that last November. That he hasn’t gotten a Visa between then and now seems like a very firable offense

    1
    Reply
    • UKPhil

      2 years ago

      @ 16
      He missed the entirety of the 2019 season and was late to Spring Training last year due to visa issues. What they are I’ve no idea.

      1
      Reply
  3. MARLIN POWER 18

    2 years ago

    Burch Smith, is it? Where exactly do we find these guys? His numbers are less than stellar, but I guess you can never have enough depth, either in Miami or AAA Jacksonville.

    Reply
  4. UKPhil

    2 years ago

    Is this guy worth a spot on the 40 man roster? I would think we have better internal candidates.

    2
    Reply
  5. BannedMarlinsFanBase

    2 years ago

    Man, Bendix sure is picking that Rays system of anything they are willing to let him get. It’s comforting if he knows something, but considering it’s the Rays, somehow I want to look at these gift horses in the mouth first.

    2
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Anthony Volpe Undergoes Shoulder Surgery

    Alex Bregman Will Opt Out Of Red Sox Contract

    Mike Shildt Steps Down As Padres Manager

    Tigers Extended Manager A.J. Hinch Earlier This Season

    Munetaka Murakami To Be Posted This Offseason

    Cody Bellinger To Opt Out Of Contract With Yankees

    Angels, Albert Pujols Discussing Managerial Deal

    Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2026

    Rangers Hire Skip Schumaker As Manager

    Albert Pujols To Interview For Angels’ Managerial Vacancy, May Be “Leading Choice”

    Bill Schmidt Will Not Return As Rockies’ GM

    Brian Snitker Will Not Return As Braves’ Manager In 2026

    Angels To Have New Manager In 2026

    Rays Sale To Patrick Zalupski’s Group Officially Completed

    Guardians Promote Chase DeLauter For Wild Card Series

    Bruce Bochy Will Not Return As Rangers Manager Amid Financial Uncertainty

    Liam Hendriks Undergoes Ulnar Nerve Transposition Surgery

    Twins Fire Rocco Baldelli

    Giants Fire Bob Melvin

    Pirates Sign Manager Don Kelly To Extension

    Recent

    A.J. Preller Discusses Padres’ Rotation

    Latest On Mike Shildt’s Resignation As Padres Manager

    Diamondbacks Hire J.R. House As Third Base Coach

    Albert Pujols Expected To Interview For Orioles’ Managerial Opening

    Rocco Baldelli Interested In Managing Again

    Devin Williams: Open To Reunion With Yankees

    Nine Players Elect Free Agency

    Twins Claim Ryan Kreidler

    Twins To Interview Nick Punto About Managerial Vacancy

    NPB’s Rakuten Eagles Re-Sign Luke Voit

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Every MLB Trade In July
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Tim Dierkes' MLB Mailbag
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2026-27 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2026
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version