Marlins Rumors

Twins Designate Tyler Kinley

By Jeff Todd | April 25, 2018 at 10:12pm CDT

The Twins announced after tonight’s game that they will designate righty Tyler Kinley for assignment, as Phil Miller of the Star Tribune was among those to report on Twitter. A corresponding move has yet to be announced.

Kinley, 27, received his first shot at the majors after being plucked from the Marlins in the Rule 5 draft over the offseason. He’ll now be offered back to the Miami organization if he clears waivers.

The Twins have not utilized Kinley much to open the year, and for good reason. In his 3 1/3 innings, he has allowed nine earned runs on nine hits while recording as many walks as strikeouts (four apiece).

Though he’s sitting at nearly 97 mph with his average fastball and keeping a decent 10.8% swinging-strike rate, Kinley has surrendered a .538 batting average on balls in play. While that would surely have trended down over time, it’s also not a complete aberration given that he has allowed hard contact at a whopping 73.3% clip.

Wei-Yin Chen, Dan Straily Nearing Return To Marlins’ Rotation

By Steve Adams | April 25, 2018 at 8:41am CDT

The Marlins could soon be installing a pair of veteran arms into their struggling young rotation. Craig Mish of SiriusXM reports that lefty Wei-Yin Chen will be activated to start Saturday’s game against the Rockies (Twitter link), and it seems that right-hander Dan Straily won’t be far behind (link via Doug Padilla at MLB.com). Straily tossed 88 pitches in yesterday’s rehab assignment and, so long as his arm feels good today, his next outing will likely be at the big league level.

Late last season, the Marlins organization expressed uncertainty as to whether Chen, who had a minor tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow, would be able to pitch at all in 2018. However, he’s made multiple rehab starts in extended spring camp and Class-A Advanced and is now set for his 2018 debut. MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets that a scout who was at Chen’s most recent start felt he looked ready to return to the big leagues. Chen allowed one run on five hits and a walk with 11 strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings in his two Class-A rehab appearances.

A healthy Chen would have to be considered a huge bonus for the Marlins, who have routinely trotted out a collection of inexperienced arms thus far in the season. Jose Urena is the most seasoned arm in the Marlins’ rotation at present, with rookies Caleb Smith, Trevor Richards and Dillon Peters following him up. Lefty Jarlin Garcia technically isn’t a rookie, but this is his first big league season as a starter and just his second year in the Majors overall.

The 32-year-old Chen, unsurprisingly, forwent the opt-out clause in his five-year, $80MM contract this offseason, as opting out would’ve meant leaving $52MM on the table. That enormous financial commitment remains immovable for a Miami team that tore down the vast majority of its roster this offseason, and that’s highly unlikely to change regardless of how Chen performs. If Chen rounds into form, though, perhaps we’ll see Miami offer to eat a notable chunk of the remaining salary on his contract this July in an effort to at least partially unburden themselves — though a lot will need to go their way for that to even be possible.

Miami inked Chen prior to the 2016 season in large part due to the durability he displayed with the Orioles. While he never cleared the 200-inning mark in the regular season, Chen averaged 29 starts per year (30 if you count his postseason work). Since signing in Miami, however, he’s pitched a total of just 156 1/3 innings over two seasons combined, due to the previously mentioned elbow issues.

Straily, on the disabled list for the first time in his big league career, has also been working his way back via minor league rehab appearances after his 2018 debut was delayed by a forearm injury. Unlike Chen, he’ll immediately become a relatively desirable trade asset, assuming good health. Controlled for two seasons beyond 2018 and earning a modest $3.375MM this season, Straily has made 64 starts and pitched to a combined 4.01 ERA over the past two seasons combined. Straily drew plenty of interest on the trade market last summer, and it stands to reason that he’ll be in demand again as one of the few controllable starters available in trade.

Injury Notes: Zobrist, Despaigne, Ohtani

By Kyle Downing | April 21, 2018 at 9:24am CDT

Ben Zobrist says he’s headed to the DL to tend to a minor back injury, via Jesse Rogers of ESPN. There doesn’t seem to be any serious concern, but Zobrist has missed the past few games due to the injury, so the Cubs appear to be proceeding with caution. They’ll be able to make the move retroactive by a few days, so it seems unlikely he’ll be out for very long. The versatile Zobrist is in the third year of a four-year, $56MM contract with Chicago. He’s certainly off to an impressive start; in 49 plate appearances so far this season, the veteran has hit .326/.408/.465 with more walks (six) than strikeouts (5). For the time being, players like Kyle Schwarber, Albert Almora Jr. and Ian Happ will likely continue to get an extra game here and there to plug the gaps created by Zobrist’s absence

A pair of additional injury notes elsewhere in MLB…

The Marlins officially placed 31-year-old righty Odrisamer Despaigne on the DL last night (along with fellow reliever Chris O’Grady), as we noted in our daily roster roundup. The reason was a strained forearm, which is always a concerning injury when it comes to pitchers. According to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com, Despaigne had the following to say about his injury: “I first felt it tight when I was warming up in the bullpen. I tried to keep going with it. When the game started, it’s when I started to feel the pain.” For the Marlins, it’s yet another development that thins out an already-shaky pitching staff.
Two-way Angels phenom Shohei Ohtani appears to be making progress in regards to his blister issues. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register tweets that Ohtani feels his blister is “recovering”, and that he’s on schedule to make a start on Tuesday in Houston. Fletcher also notes that Ohtani worked with pitching coach Charlie Nagy in a bullpen session, and came away with some things he can use (presumably to prevent a re-aggravation of the injury).

Quick Hits: Towers, Portland, Stanton, Draft

By Jeff Todd | April 20, 2018 at 11:15pm CDT

Before tonight’s tilt between the Diamondbacks and Padres, the Arizona organization honored the late Kevin Towers, who previously served as general manager with both clubs. The D-Backs dedicated his former Chase Field suite as “Kevin’s Tower.” The widely-loved executive passed away this January at 56 years of age.

As we join once more in a tip of the cap to Towers, here are some worthwhile links from around the game:

The effort to bring a MLB team to Portland appears to be growing in seriousness, as Gordon Friedman of The Oregonian recently reported. Portland Diamond Project, the entity spearheading the effort, has submitted bids on two parcels that could potentially house 32,000-seat ballparks. Clearly, there’s still a long ways to go before anybody will be watching a major-league contest in Portland, but it’ll certainly be interesting to see whether that municipality (and a few others) end up as serious suitors for existing or expansion franchises.
It wasn’t long ago that the Giancarlo Stanton trade drama, rather than his scuffles at the plate, was the hot topic in baseball. If you recall, before the Yankees got involved heavily, the Marlins had set deals with both the Giants and Cardinals in hopes that Stanton would waive his no-trade clause to join one of those blue-blood organizations. There were varying reports at the time as to just what package would have been headed from San Francisco to Miami had Stanton approved, but Robert Murray of Fan Rag now claims to have discovered the true offer. Lefty Andrew Suarez and third baseman Jacob Gonzalez were the prospect pieces in the deal, says Murray, while the Fish also would have taken on Denard Span and his contract. Otherwise, the Giants were said to be prepared to take on all (or substantially all) of the Stanton contract.
Draft season is upon us, and we’re starting to see some early mocks and rankings. We’ll try to pass along worthwhile links as they come in. Those interested in seeing how things are shaping up will want to check out the top-fifty list of ESPN.com’s Keith Law (Insider link), who tabs Auburn righty Casey Mize as an easy choice as the top overall draft asset as things stand. That seems to be the consensus; Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel of Fangraphs say the same.

NL Roster Notes: Bautista, Perdomo, Gonzalez, Mac/Pence

By Jeff Todd | April 19, 2018 at 9:38pm CDT

The Braves don’t intend to take a long time deciding whether to bring up recent signee Jose Bautista, Michael Hoad of Sportsnet.ca writes. GM Alex Anthopoulos says that the club is “optimistic [Bautista is] going to have an opportunity to come up,” so it seems the expectation is that the former star will indeed get a shot. He’ll be looking for a return to form at the plate even as he makes a surprising return to third base after nearly a decade spent mostly in the outfield. But Anthopoulos did note that he hasn’t made any promises of a MLB promotion, so it seems that Bautista will at least have to show something to get a crack at boosting a Braves team that is off to a nice start.

Here are a few notes on some National League players who are already slated to move onto or off of a major league roster:

The Padres have optioned righty Luis Perdomo, per a club announcement, with reliever Kirby Yates being activated from the DL to take his roster spot. Though he showed a good bit of promise last year, Perdomo has been tagged for 13 earned runs in 14 innings in his first four starts of the 2018 campaign. Though he has given up quite a lot of hard contact, the resulting .510 batting average on balls in play surely seems like an outlier. Beyond the performance considerations, the move helps the team manage a roster that has quite a few moving parts.
Marlins pitching prospect Merandy Gonzalez is heading to the majors for the first time, as MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro writes. Skipper Don Mattingly says he’ll use his new hurler as a long relief option for the time being. Gonzalez is a starter by trade, and has some long-term hopes of working in a big-league rotation, but at the moment is appealing mostly because he offers the possibility of filling some innings and is already on the 40-man. Miami added Gonzalez in the trade that sent reliever A.J. Ramos to the Mets last summer.
There’s nothing official yet, but Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic tweeted the “informed speculation” that outfielder Mac Williamson will join the Giants tomorrow. There are still some complications, but the 27-year-old has clearly played his way to a call-up. In fifty trips to the plate at Triple-A, he’s hitting a ridiculous .487/.600/1.026 with six home runs. Meanwhile, veteran Hunter Pence has managed only one extra-base hit, nine singles, and two walks in his 61 MLB plate appearances. It seems he will be headed to the DL with a thumb issue.

Marlins Activate J.T. Realmuto

By Steve Adams | April 17, 2018 at 2:05pm CDT

The Marlins announced today that they’ve activated catcher J.T. Realmuto from the 10-day disabled list. Realmuto, who opened the season on the shelf due to a lower back contusion, went 3-for-3 with a homer in his lone rehab game and will jump right into the mix in Miami, as he’s in the lineup tonight. Fellow catcher Chad Wallach was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans to clear a spot on the roster.

Realmuto, 27, was the subject of a cavalcade of trade rumors this offseason as the Marlins tore down the majority of their roster, trading away stars Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Dee Gordon and Marcell Ozuna. Realmuto’s agent reportedly made it clear to the club that he, too, would prefer a trade, but he instead remains on hand as perhaps the lone star left on a new-look roster.

Miami is off to a 4-12 start to the season, though the return of Realmuto should help to bolster the lineup. The 27-year-old has steadily improved in each of his seasons at the big league level and is now widely considered to be one of the game’s top all-around backstops. Last year, in a career-high 579 plate appearances, Realmuto hit .278/.332/.451 with 17 homers and eight steals while also controlling the running game well (32 percent caught-stealing) and delivering strong pitch-framing marks.

The Marlins control Realmuto through the 2020 season, and given the turnover elsewhere on the roster, it stands to reason that he could once again come up in trade talks this summer. MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reported the other day that the Fish don’t have any current desire to shop Realmuto, though that could change, of course, if enough contending clubs are in need of catching help this summer. At the very least, one has to imagine that Miami president of baseball ops Michael Hill and the rest of the Marlins’ front office will be open-minded about the possibility of a trade — especially given the team’s poor start and their likely status as the NL East’s cellar dweller in 2018.

Rosenthal’s Latest: Realmuto, Moustakas, Machado, Donaldson

By Kyle Downing | April 15, 2018 at 11:45pm CDT

The Mets made repeated inquiries on Marlins catcher J.T. Realmuto during the offseason, says Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic in a video tweet. They also asked the Marlins about Starlin Castro. However, at that point in the winter, the club had just traded Christian Yelich to the Brewers, and they had also unloaded the contracts of Dee Gordon, Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna; they weren’t looking to cut any more salary at that moment in time. While the Mets are prepared to roll with Tomas Nido and Jose Lobaton for now, Rosenthal suggests that the club could attempt to revisit Realmuto discussions at some point.

Marlins Notes: Realmuto, Prado

By Connor Byrne | April 15, 2018 at 2:33pm CDT

The Marlins’ best player, catcher J.T. Realmuto, is closing in on his 2018 debut. Realmuto, out since late March with a lower back injury, could rejoin the Marlins at the start of their nine-game road trip Monday, manager Don Mattingly informed Steve Dorsey of MLB.com and other reporters. And third baseman Martin Prado is “progressing” in his recovery from a left hamstring strain, per Mattingly, who added that the veteran could begin a rehab assignment soon. Prado, like Realmuto, hasn’t played yet this season.

Marlins Select Contract Of J.B. Shuck, Place Garrett Cooper On 60-Day DL

By Steve Adams | April 13, 2018 at 2:27pm CDT

The Marlins announced on Friday that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder J.B. Shuck from Triple-A New Orleans. To clear room on the 40-man roster, first baseman/outfielder Garrett Cooper has been moved from the 10-day DL to the 60-day DL. Outfielder Braxton Lee was optioned to New Orleans to create a 25-man spot for the veteran Shuck.

Cooper recently landed on the disabled list when he was hit on the wrist by a pitch, and while the initial injury report out of Miami was a contusion, it seems that the injury is likely worse than that given today’s shuffle. Indeed, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweets that Cooper has been diagnosed with a partially torn wrist tendon sheath.

That’s obviously unfortunate news for the 27-year-old, who had a clear path to a full-season showcase with the Fish. The rebuilding Marlins organization acquired Cooper over the winter from the Yankees and had planned to give him a shot at earning time in the corner outfield while also backing up Justin Bour at first base.

Cooper put himself on the map with a surprising minor-league breakout last year, leading to his acquisition by the Yankees and first crack at the majors. In his first 54 plate appearances at the game’s highest level, nine of which came early this season, he carries a .300/.333/.440 batting line.

The 30-year-old Shuck, meanwhile, will help fill in for at least the time being. He failed to spend any time in the majors last year, instead turning in 475 plate appearances of .259/.325/.368 hitting at Triple-A with the Twins organization. In just over a thousand trips to the plate in the majors, Shuck carries a .251/.299/.328 batting line with eight home runs.

Wei-Yin Chen Pitches In Extended Spring Game

By Steve Adams | April 13, 2018 at 12:04pm CDT

The Marlins announced last night that left-hander Wei-Yin Chen was able to throw three shutout innings in an extended Spring Training game. Chen didn’t allow a hit or a walk and picked up one strikeout as he tossed 35 pitches in the rehab outing. The results, of course, are largely inconsequential. The key takeaway, rather, is simply that Chen is throwing at all. The southpaw suffered a partial tear of the UCL in his left elbow back in 2016 and was limited to just 33 frames by injury in 2017. Late last season, skipper Don Mattingly revealed that the organization wasn’t sure whether Chen would be able to pitch in 2018 at all. The Marlins owe the veteran lefty more than $50MM over the next three seasons, so any progress toward a return to the hill is significant plus for the team. It’s also worth noting that J.T. Realmuto caught three innings and took three at-bats in an extended spring game, per the team. He’s reportedly eyeing a return to action next week.

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