The Marlins announced a big series of roster moves today. Right-hander Edward Cabrera has been reinstated from the 15-day day injured list and outfielder Griffin Conine from the 60-day IL. To open active roster spots, right-hander Adam Mazur and outfielder Joey Wiemer have each been optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville. To open a 40-man spot for Conine, outfielder Derek Hill has been returned from his rehab assignment, reinstated from the 10-day injured list and designated for assignment.
Hill, 29, was claimed off waivers from the Giants in August of last year. Since that claim, he has generally continued to have roughly the same level of production before he came to Miami. Though he can make some nice catches and steal a few bases, he has generally been a guy with subpar offense, thanks to poor strikeout and walk numbers.
He has made a few trips to the injured list this year, two due to a left wrist sprain, another due to a left middle finger sprain, and most recently a right hamstring strain. Around those IL trips, he has appeared in 53 games for the Marlins. In his 141 trips to the plate, just 6.4% of those have resulted in him taking a walk while 32.6% of them ended in strike three. His .213/.275/.331 batting line translates to a 68 wRC+.
Though he has seven stolen bases on the year and strong defensive grades, the bat was dragging him down. He is out of options and can’t be easily sent to the minors. He has crossed three years of big league service time this year, meaning he was going to qualify for arbitration this winter. It seems the Marlins weren’t planning to tender him a contract, so they have cut him early in order to open a roster spot for their other moves today.
Since the trade deadline has passed, he will be on waivers in the coming days. There wouldn’t be much short-term appeal for other clubs, since the season is almost over and he wouldn’t be postseason eligible for any claiming team. He can be controlled for three seasons after this one, but a club would only grab him if they thought he was worth an arbitration raise for 2026. If he clears waivers, he will have the right to elect free agency.
The returns of Cabrera and Conine are also potentially notable here, as the Marlins are clinging to a tiny hope of a miracle run to finish the season. They are four games back of the Reds and Mets with six games left to play. Both players were performing well earlier this year, so perhaps they can give Miami a boost for an incredible sprint to the finish line.
Cabrera’s return is also notable for the upcoming offseason. He has had something of a breakout here in 2025, as his results have kicked up a notch. He has always been able to get strikeouts and ground balls, but his stock has been held back by poor control and some injury concerns.
He has softened both of those worries a bit here in 2025. He came into this year with a 13.3% walk rate but has managed to limit the free passes to a 7.7% clip this season. He has also stayed healthy enough to log 128 2/3 innings. He had never before hit the century mark, so that’s easily a career high.
An elbow sprain did put him out of action at the start of this month, but he has managed to return three weeks later. If he can stay healthy and effective in the final week, that could give him and the Marlins some peace of mind about him going into 2026.
The Fish will are theoretical candidates to trade a starting pitcher this winter. Rumors surrounding Cabrera and Sandy Alcantara were common this summer but the Marlins held both beyond the trade deadline. Going into next season, their rotation mix includes those two as well as Eury Pérez, Ryan Weathers, Janson Junk, Braxton Garrett, Max Meyer, Ryan Gusto, Mazur, Dax Fulton and Freddy Tarnok, with prospects Thomas White and Robby Snelling currently lurking in Triple-A. It’s possible to imagine the Marlins revisiting the possibility of trading Alcantara or Cabrera this winter, which could give Cabrera’s return today a bit of extra intrigue.
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Hui, Imagn Images
I remember Derek Hill on the Steelers back in the day. I think he died young of a heart attack.
Hill at least provides great defense, but Myers is just an average glove.
There is a longjam in RF for next season, with Conine having the edge as of today. It’s time to move on from both Hill and Myers… give some chances to VMJr to show what he can do.
I’m surprised that Hill is let go before Myers. While both are RH bats that can’t hit, Hill has a glove and better speed and baserunning ability. I thought he’d compete for the 4th OF spot in Spring.
Maybe Myers is non-tendered this offseason.
A lot of LH bats in the Marlins OF with Stowers, Marsee, Conine, and even Victor Mesa Jr. whoe could be a backup. The only RH bat in the OF that probably is looked at next year for the roster is Heriberto Hernandez, but his defense is not so good.
Don’t forget Joey Wiemer…. Dude just had a .750+OPS over what about 25 games for the marlins and he plays great defense and runs like a deer, just a few years ago he hit 30+ hr in a single season in AA…. They’ll tender him
Yeah, Weimer is an option, but I’m not sure how optimistic to be about him.
From a pure talent standpoint it’s hard to say because I’m not sure his bat speed but defensively he’s going to play well, he runs like a deer and has tons of power, of course what makes it hard to be overly optimistic is his ability to hit for power/get on base against major league pitching, I will say to his credit he seems well liked and comes off as “coachable” and the Crew won a central title with him starting the majority of games somewhere in the outfield in ‘23, it also helps his defense/speed nearly always makes him “playable” but the potential for him to hit for power makes him much more intriguing, he’s a guy with a fairly low floor but a surprisingly high ceiling if he can cut down the strikeouts
If your team is rebuilding/looking for future talent he’s exactly the guy I want on the 40 man, he’s still quite young overall and could just be a bit of a late bloomer in the end ha
Marlins are currently 77-80 at the moment. I’m not sure that they are still fully rebuilding going into next year.
But point taken about Weimer. As for 2023, he, like Avi Garcia before him, looked great in Milwaukee’s park. The Marlins home field is a different monster that hitters have to show they’re legit in.