Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Marlins Rumors

Julio Pablo Martinez Receives Clearance To Sign With MLB Organizations

By | at

Cuban outfielder Julio Pablo Martinez has been declared a free agent by Major League Baseball and will be free to sign with a Major League organization beginning on March 6, reports Ben Badler of Baseball America. The 21-year-old Martinez is subject to international bonus pools due to his age and lack of professional experience in the Cuban National Series, so he’ll now have to decide whether to sign with a team during the current signing period (when many teams have already spent the bulk or entirety of their league-allotted budget) or after the July 2 kick off the 2018-19 period.

According to Badler, the Rangers, Yankees and Marlins are the current favorites for Martinez, who is one of the more touted prospects to come out of Cuba in recent seasons. If Martinez opts to sign with the Yankees or Marlins, per Badler, he’d likely be waiting until this coming summer to sign so that both teams could tap into their 2018-19 pools. The Yankees added a pair of Venezuelan prospects back in late December and also picked up former Braves farmhand Angel Rojas for $350K, thus accounting for some of what was left over from a failed run at Shohei Ohtani.

Texas had  $3.535MM in pool allotments to spend on Ohtani before he opted to sign with the division-rival Angels. They’ve since reallocated some of their pool by signing shortstops Yenci Pena (for $675K) and Keithron Moss (for $800K) as well as outfielder D’Vaughn Knowles (for $500K). That’d still leave as much as $1.56MM to offer Martinez to begin his pro career in the current signing period (though it’s possible the pool is a bit lesser depending on whether Texas has made some smaller-scale signings that were not widely reported).

Certainly, other clubs could enter the mix for Martinez — especially if he is keen on waiting until July to sign a contract. Far more teams would be able to weigh a pursuit of the 21-year-old at that time, and given the appeal touted by Badler in his scouting reports on Martinez, several teams would figure to have interest. Badler lists Martinez at 5’10” and 180 pounds, praising a blend of power and speed, and he’s expanded on the talented young outfielder in a pair of prior columns — both of which those looking to learn more about Martinez will want to check out.

The left-handed-hitting, left-handed-throwing Martinez hit .333/.469/.498 with six homers, 11 doubles, two triples and 24 steals (in 29 attempts) during his most recent professional effort in Cuba. More impressively, he drew 52 walks that season against just 30 strikeouts in 264 plate appearances.

He also appeared in 57 games and tallied 255 plate appearances in the 2017 Can-Am Association — the same independent league that was previously home to big leaguers Chris Colabello, Andrew Albers, Craig Breslow, Steve Delabar and Tim Adleman, among others — where he hit .297/.345/.449 with seven homers and 20 steals. In today’s piece, Badler notes that Martinez is likely of an appropriate skill level to begin his path to the Majors in Class-A Advanced or in Double-A.

Bruce Sherman Discusses Marlins' Process

By | at

  • Marlins owner Bruce Sherman held a discussion with the press, with Tim Healey of the Sun-Sentinel rounding up his comments. The organization’s designated control person, Sherman has mostly stayed in the background over the initial few months since the sale was completed. But he made clear he’s on board with the approach taken thus far by the front office while emphasizing the need for patience in building a sustainable contender. Most notably, perhaps, Sherman pushed back at the notion that the new ownership group is under-capitalized. “There’s nothing further from the truth,” he said. “We are a very sophisticated, well-heeled, financially set organization, not just for this year but for many, many years to come.”

Marlins Outright Severino Gonzalez

By | at

  • The Marlins have outrighted right-hander Severino Gonzalez, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com tweets. Miami acquired Gonzalez from Philadelphia in a minor trade last month. The 25-year-old spent the 2017 season in the minors (mostly Double-A) and recorded a 4.82 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in 80 1/3 innings. Gonzalez worked out of the Phillies’ bullpen from 2015-16 and yielded a 6.68 ERA across 66 frames, despite strong strikeout and walk rates (8.45 K/9, 1.91 BB/9).

Marlins Sign Eric Campbell To Minors Deal

By | at

  • The Marlins signed Eric Campbell to a minor league deal earlier this month, MetsMerized Online’s Jacob Resnick reports (via Twitter).  Campbell signed with NPB’s Hanshin Tigers last offseason but only ended up playing 21 games in Japan.  An eighth-round pick for the Mets in the 2008 draft, Campbell spent his entire North American pro career in New York’s organization, including 196 games at the big league level in 2014-16 that saw him hit .221/.312/.311 over 505 plate appearances.

Marlins Notes: Garcia, Straily

By | at

  • Although left-hander Jarlin Garcia led Marlins relievers with 68 appearances as a rookie in 2017, the club plans to deploy him as a starter this season, manager Don Mattingly told Joe Frisaro of MLB.com and other reporters. “Jarlin will be a starter this year,” said Mattingly, who believes that moving the 25-year-old to the rotation is “probably the best for his development.” Assuming Miami sticks to that plan, Garcia will be part of a rotation that currently features just two locks (Dan Straily and Jose Urena).

Miami-Dade County To Sue Jeffrey Loria, Marlins

By | at

8:50pm: The Marlins issued a statement to Hanks indicating that the purchase agreement included language protecting the new ownership group from claims relating to the stadium agreement. “This claim has absolutely nothing to do with the [current] ownership group,” the organization says.

6:31pm: Miami-Dade County is suing the Marlins, the former ownership group led by Jeffrey Loria,and the team’s current ownership group, according to a report from Doug Hanks of the Miami Herald. The litigation will address a dispute that has arisen over the municipality’s rights to a share of profits from the sale of the organization that was wrapped up last fall.

Details of the suit are still somewhat sparse at this time. But the general parameters of the matter were laid out by Hanks a few weeks back and are touched upon in the above-linked post. The county claims “fuzzy math” was utilized to prevent it from recouping a share of the sale profits.

Generally, of course, a local government would not have a direct claim to the proceeds of the sale of a sports franchise. But Miami-Dade County forked over hundreds of millions of dollars to enable the construction of Marlins Park. As part of the 2009 agreement that led to the new stadium, the county (along with the city of Miami) is entitled to a five percent share of certain profits from the franchise sale. Loria now claims that the $1.2B sale did not leave him with any profits within the terms of the contract.

It’ll surely be interesting to see how this litigation plays out. The current ownership group (led by Derek Jeter and Bruce Sherman) will necessarily be involved, given that it now owns the entity that inked the original contracts, though its potential exposure to liability is not clear at this point. While it’s always possible that things could end up being settled out, the discovery process could lead to the airing of quite a lot of fascinating information regarding the Marlins’ finances. That possibility, no doubt, will also play a role in how things shake out.

Whether or not the team will be impacted moving forward, the suit also promises to be of quite some relevance to the ongoing debate over the public financing of stadiums. The Marlins Park episode has long been cited by opponents as a prime example of the harms the public can suffer when municipalities pay for the facilities utilized by sports teams.

Marlins Win Arbitration Hearing Over Dan Straily

By | at

The Marlins won their arbitration hearing over right-hander Dan Straily, tweets FanRag’s Jon Heyman. He’ll earn the $3.375MM sum submitted by the team rather than the $3.55MM salary that he and his agents at Sosnick, Cobbe & Karon filed (as can be seen in MLBTR’s Arbitration Tracker). Straily will still earn the first seven-figure salary of his career with today’s ruling, though, as he earned $552K last year in his final pre-arbitration season. Straily is under team control through the 2020 season.

Straily, 29, started 33 games for the Marlins in 2017, working to a 4.26 ERA with 8.4 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 1.54 HR/9 and a 34.2 percent ground-ball rate in 181 2/3 innings. Straily found himself at the center of plenty of trade rumors last summer as the Marlins underperformed, and again this offseason, but for the time being it looks like he’ll return to Miami for a second season there. (The Marlins young righty Luis Castillo to Cincinnati to acquire him last offseason in a swap that now looks regrettable, even with Straily’s solid ’17 showing.)

As it stands, Straily will return to Miami as the top starter in a largely unsettled group. Right-hander Jose Urena will join him in the rotation, and the Marlins are reportedly planning to stretch out lefty Jarlin Garcia as a starter this year as well. Other rotation options include Adam Conley, Odrisamer Despaigne, Justin Nicolino, Caleb Smith, Dillon Peters and Sandy Alcantara.

Even if the Fish hang onto Straily through the entirety of Spring Training, his name figures to once again surface in trade talks this summer; the Marlins aren’t going to compete for a division title or a Wild Card spot in 2018, barring something miraculous, and a healthy Straily will garner robust levels of interest from contending clubs that are searching for a stabilizing presence in the middle of their rotations.

Marlins Notes: Chen, Prado, Straily

By | at

  • Also from the Spencer/Fernandez piece, Dan Straily’s arbitration hearing with the Marlins will take place tomorrow.  The two sides will face the arb panel despite a rather small difference in submitted figures; Straily is asking for a $3.55MM salary in 2018, while the Fish countered with an offer of $3.37MM.  Miami has already gone to arbitration hearings twice this winter, winning one (against Realmuto) and losing the other (to Justin Bour).
  • The idea of players asking for trades is “a little radical” for Martin Prado, the veteran infielder told reporters, including Clark Spencer and Andre C. Fernandez of the Miami Herald.  Unlike several Marlins teammates who are still with the team (J.T. Realmuto, Starlin Castro) or have since been dealt (Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich), Prado said he would never request a trade, though he “respected” those players’ decisions.  While Prado may have not have asked for a deal, Miami reportedly looked into trading the infielder and $28.5MM remaining on his salary as part of the team’s latest payroll slash.
  • Wei-Yin Chen won’t be ready to be on the Marlins’ Opening Day roster, manager Don Mattingly told media, including Spencer and Fernandez.  Chen is beginning a throwing program during Spring Training as he continues to recover from the elbow problems that limited him to only 33 innings in 2017.  Mattingly didn’t put a timetable on when Chen is expected to be ready, other than to say that he expects the southpaw to be in the rotation at some point.
  • Also from the Spencer/Fernandez piece, Dan Straily’s arbitration hearing with the Marlins will take place tomorrow.  The two sides will face the arb panel despite a rather small difference in submitted figures; Straily is asking for a $3.55MM salary in 2018, while the Fish countered with an offer of $3.37MM.  Miami has already gone to arbitration hearings twice this winter, winning one (against Realmuto) and losing the other (to Justin Bour).

Marlins Hire New President Of Business Operations

By | at

  • The Marlins have settled on an executive to lead their drive to improve on the revenue side. As MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports, the club has hired Chip Bowers as its new president of business operations. CEO Derek Jeter will oversee Bowers, who comes over from a stint as the chief marketing officer of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. Elsewhere in Fish Land, Dave Hyde of the Sun Sentinel writes that Jeter ought still be given some room to operate before observers reach conclusions about his tenure atop the team’s operational hierarchy.

Marlins Have Spoken To Jon Jay, Melky Cabrera

By | at

  • The Marlins have spoken to both Melky Cabrera and Jon Jay as they look for some additional outfield certainty, tweets Craig Mish of SiriusXM. Cabrera, though, has told teams that he’s seeking a two-year contract, according to Mish, whereas the Marlins would only have interest in him at one year. It’s not the first time the Fish have been connected to either outfielder, though there’s been little to suggest to this point that Cabrera has been seeking multiple years. The 33-year-old switch-hitter logged a solid, if unspectacular .285/.324/.423 slash with 17 homers in 666 plate appearances last season, but he’s received dismal grades from defensive metrics in recent years and is no longer much of a threat on the basepaths.
Show all

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

hide arrows scroll to top