- Speaking of those two teams, Marlins right-hander Elieser Hernandez exited his start against Toronto on Tuesday with a sore lat muscle, the Fish announced. He’s listed as day to day, but manager Don Mattingly revealed Hernandez will undergo an MRI, Craig Mish of Sports Grid relays. Any kind of absence for Hernandez over the season’s last month would be an unwelcome development for the surprising Marlins, who are in playoff contention thanks in part to his contributions. With a 2.81 ERA and 11.92 K/9 against 1.75 BB/9, the 25-year-old Hernandez has given Miami front-line production across 25 2/3 innings.
Marlins Rumors
Marlins Promote Jazz Chisholm
One of the Marlins’ key acquisitions of the 2019 trade deadline is now set to make his Major League debut just after the 2020 trade deadline. The Marlins have called up star shortstop prospect Jazz Chisholm in time for tonight’s game against the Blue Jays, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports (Twitter link). The club has officially announced the promotion as well as some other transactions, including outfielder Jesus Sanchez being optioned to the Marlins’ alternate training site and left-hander Josh D. Smith being outrighted to the training site.
Chisholm came to Miami from the Diamondbacks in a one-for-one deal for right-hander Zac Gallen on July 31, 2019. With Gallen already looking like a very solid starter at the MLB level, there will certainly be some extra expectation placed on Chisholm, though the 22-year-old has shown a lot of promise in his pro career.
Signed out of the Bahamas during the 2015-16 international signing window, Chisholm has gained attention on top-100 prospect lists in recent years, though his pre-2020 rankings covered rather a wide range. The Athletic’s Keith Law (who ranked Chisholm 15th) and Fangraphs (33rd) were the most bullish, with Baseball Prospectus (52nd), MLB.com (66th), and Baseball America (88th) not quite as enthusiastic.
Law was impressed at how Chisholm’s strikeout rate dropped after some adjustments made once he joined the Marlins’ farm system, and noted Chisholm’s “elite tool package at a premium position right now,” with “the hands, footwork, and arm to” remain at shortstop over the long term. To provide slight contrast, BA’s scouting report feels Chisholm is too “overly aggressive” at the plate, and won’t be a solid hitter unless he “improves his approach, uses the entire field and puts the ball in play more often.”
Chisholm hasn’t played above the Double-A level, where he combined for 458 plate appearances for the Diamondbacks and Marlins affiliates in 2019. As noted earlier, Chisholm improved once coming to Miami’s farm system — Chisholm hit .284/.383/.494 with three homers in 94 PA with Double-A Jacksonville, as opposed to .204/.305/.427 over 364 PA for Arizona’s affiliate in Jackson. While a small sample size in a Marlins uniform, it does show promise that Chisholm has unlocked something in a new environment.
He will now add some infield depth to what is suddenly a revamped Marlins infield in the wake of Jonathan Villar’s trade to the Blue Jays. Chisholm has played shortstop almost exclusively in his career, though Miami manager Don Mattingly told McPherson and other reporters that Chisholm has been playing second base at the team’s alternate training site. Chisholm could handle second base until Isan Diaz is fully ready to return to the Fish, and then some combination of Chisholm, Diaz, and utilityman Jon Berti (who is a right-handed hitter, unlike the two youngsters) could conceivably juggle second base duties for the remainder of the season.
Isan Diaz To Return To Marlins After Opting Out Of Season
Isan Diaz opted out of the 2020 season at the start of August, but will now be rejoining the Marlins for the stretch run. Craig Mish of SportsGrid reports that both the league and the players union have each agreed to let Diaz return. News broke yesterday that Diaz was exploring reinstatement, and Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill told reporters that Diaz was already at the team’s alternate training complex in Jupiter, Florida.
Diaz played in two games for Miami at the start of the season before deciding to step away, saying “This has been a decision that I have discussed with my family, and I feel it’s the best one for me and my overall well-being” in a statement released on Instagram. Diaz will surely soon reveal the reasons behind his change of heart, though on the surface, it is completely understandable why he would have chosen to not play (given that the Marlins were embroiled in a team-wide coronavirus outbreak in late July/early August) and why he would be eager to come back, given that the club’s health situation seems to be back on track.
Diaz will naturally need some time to ramp up before he is ready to return to action, though his presence was likely a factor in Miami’s decision to trade Jonathan Villar to the Blue Jays yesterday. While the former top prospect hasn’t shown much (.560 career OPS) over 210 Major League plate appearances, Diaz will provide added second base depth and a left-handed platoon partner for Jon Berti, who is slated to handle second base with Villar gone. Utilityman Berti has a .244/.341/.308 slash line over 91 PA this season.
A second-round pick for the Diamondbacks in the 2014 draft, Diaz was part of the prospect package acquired from the Brewers in January 2018 in exchange for Christian Yelich. Diaz crushed Triple-A pitching in 2019, hitting .305/.395/.578 slash line and 26 homers in 435 PA before being called up to the majors.
NL East Trade Deadline Recap
With the deadline in the rearview mirror, we’ll look back at each NL East team’s trade activity over the past month.
Atlanta Braves
- Acquired cash considerations from Padres for 1B Yonder Alonso
- Acquired LHP Tommy Milone from Orioles for two players to be named later
Miami Marlins
- Acquired RHP James Hoyt from Indians for cash considerations
- Acquired RHP Jesús Tinoco from Rockies for RHP Chad Smith
- Acquired a player to be named later (reportedly OF Griffin Conine) from Blue Jays for INF/OF Jonathan Villar
- Acquired OF Starling Marte from Diamondbacks for LHP Caleb Smith, RHP Humberto Mejia and a player to be named later (reportedly LHP Julio Frias)
New York Mets
- Acquired cash considerations from Pirates for RHP Tyler Bashlor
- Acquired OF Billy Hamilton from Giants for RHP Jordan Humphreys
- Acquired RHP Ariel Jurado from Rangers for a player to be named later and cash considerations
- Acquired RHP Miguel Castro from Orioles for LHP Kevin Smith and a player to be named later or cash considerations
- Acquired C Robinson Chirinos from Rangers for a player to be named later
- Acquired INF Todd Frazier from Rangers for a player to be named later
Philadelphia Phillies
- Acquired a player to be named later from Rays for RHP Edgar García
- Acquired RHP David Hale from Yankees for RHP Addison Russ
- Acquired RHP Heath Hembree and RHP Brandon Workman from Red Sox for RHP Nick Pivetta and RHP Connor Seabold
- Acquired a player to be named later and cash considerations from Pirates for LHP Austin Davis
- Acquired RHP David Phelps from Brewers for three players to be named later (reportedly RHP Brandon Ramey, RHP Israel Puello and RHP Juan Geraldo)
Washington Nationals
- None
Deadline Day DFAs: Phillies, White Sox, Cubs, Marlins
Given the flurry of transactions around the deadline, a number of players have been designated for assignment. This is, of course, the natural consequence of such a dramatic amount of shuffling to the roster via trade. These players will be available to the 29 other teams via waiver claim. We’ll use this post to track some of the more recent DFAs around baseball.
Latest Updates
- The Marlins have designated left-hander Adam Conley for assignment, MLBTR has learned. The 30-year-old hasn’t pitched this season after going on the injured list in the wake of Miami’s clubhouse COVID-19 outbreak. Conley was a prominent member of the pitching staff, recently as a pure reliever, from 2015-19. He struggled to a miserable 6.53 ERA/5.19 FIP last season, although he posted much more palatable 4.09/3.60 marks the year prior.
Earlier Today
- In perhaps the most surprising DFA of the day, the Phillies designated catcher Deivy Grullón for assignment, per the team. Grullon had been the Phillies presumptive third catcher after J.T. Realmuto and backup Andrew Knapp. The 24-year-old has long appeared on Philly prospect boards, making his first big-league appearance last season, going 1 for 9 in limited action. Rafael Marchan and Logan O’Hoppe are the other catchers in the Phillies’ 60-man player pool.
- Philadelphia also DFA’ed right-hander Reggie McClain. The 27-year-old McClain had appeared in 5 games this season with a 5.06 ERA across 5 1/3 innings. These moves came as a consequence not of trades, necessarily, but because Jay Bruce and Ranger Suárez both were reinstated from the injured list.
- The White Sox designated infielder Ryan Goins for assignment after activating Yolmer Sanchez, per Scott Merkin of MLB.com. Goings, 32, is a veteran of the Blue Jays and Royals. He appeared in 14 games for the White Sox this season, often as a pinch-runner. At the plate, he was 0 for 9 with a walk and a strikeout. Sanchez rejoins the White Sox after being designated for assignment by the Giants. Sanchez spent 2014 to 2019 with the White Sox.
- The Cubs DFA’ed Ian Miller and Hernan Perez, per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter links). Miller and Perez are making room for Andrew Chafin and Josh Osich, respectively, the pair of lefties acquired from the Diamondbacks and Red Sox. Miller, 28, is a speed specialist who appeared in just one game for the Cubs as a pinch-runner. Perez never cracked the rotation in Chicago after several years of regular reps with the Brewers. He appeared in just 3 games for the Cubs, going 1 for 6.
Marlins Acquire Starling Marte For Caleb Smith, Humberto Mejia
In a major deadline swap that no one could’ve foreseen a month ago, the Marlins announced Monday that they’ve acquired All-Star center fielder Starling Marte from the D-backs. Heading to Arizona are lefty Caleb Smith, right-hander Humberto Mejia and a player to be named later (reportedly Class-A lefty Julio Frias).
Not long before the trade was agreed upon, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that the D-backs throughout the day had been signaling to other teams that they don’t expect to pick up their $12.5MM club option on Starling Marte.
The aversion to picking up the option on Marte registers as a major surprise. It’s certainly not for any lack of production; Marte has been flat-out excellent in Arizona, hitting at a .311/.384/.443 clip with a pair of homers, eight doubles, a triple and five steals. His defense in center has graded out as +0.5, per Ultimate Zone Rating, and -2 per Defensive Runs Saved. Through 33 games, FanGraphs has Marte at 1.1 WAR, while Baseball-Reference has him at 0.9 — a pace that is roughly in line with Mate’s characteristic 3-4 WAR output.
Of course, the 2020 season has brought about some pressing revenue losses for all 30 clubs, and D-backs owner Ken Kendrick was among the most outspoken owners about the hardships faced by teams with fans unable to attend games. Kendrick pined for revenue sharing with players, placing the blame on them for the difficult negotiations and steadfastly expressing that owners would not green-light any scenario that saw games played into November.
As surprising as the fact that the D-backs are moving on from Marte is the fact that the Marlins are the team that will acquire him. Miami entered the season expected to be a cellar-dwelling outfit in the NL East, and those expectations only grew when more than half their active roster was sidelined by a team-wide Covid-19 outbreak. But Miami has continued to persevere, hovering around the .500 mark and now sitting in a tie for a postseason bid in the National League. Some exciting young players, Sixto Sanchez perhaps chief among them, have made their big league debuts in 2020, as other young talents like Pablo Lopez have taken substantial steps forward.
Miami’s move to add Marte comes in simultaneous conjuncture with another trade shipping the versatile Jonathan Villar to the Blue Jays. Marte will now step into his roster spot while making up for some of the speed lost with the Villar trade (and more overall offensive output). He’ll cost the Marlins an additional $1.71MM in 2020 — the remainder of this year’s prorated $11.5MM salary — and they’ll surely be picking up that $12.5MM option, given the price they paid to acquire him.
Moving forward, that’ll position the Marlins to trot out an outfield with Corey Dickerson in left field, Marte in center and some combination of Harold Ramirez, Monte Harrison, Lewis Brinson, Jesus Sanchez, Garrett Cooper or an outside addition to patrol right field. Alternatively, the Fish could push Brian Anderson back to right field and pursue a new third base option, though their abundance of in-house outfield options makes that seem less likely. Assuming that the options on both Marte and Brandon Kintzler are picked up, the Marlins will have $35.85MM on the 2021 books before arbitration raises to Anderson, Jorge Alfaro, Jesus Aguilar, Ryne Stanek and Yimi Garcia, among others.
The 29-year-old Smith, controlled through 2023, has missed bats in droves since being acquired from the Yankees prior to the 2018 season (259 punchouts in 233 2/3 innings). He’s also been plagued by injuries in that time, though, including a brutal Grade 3 lat strain in 2018 and a hip injury that cost him just shy of a month last year. Smith was placed on the injured list earlier this month after the Marlins’ Covid-19 outbreak and has pitched just three innings so far. He looked rusty, issuing six free passes in that time. Overall, he has a 4.39 ERA and 10.0 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 in his time with Miami.
But Smith also fits the modus operandi we frequently see under general manager Mike Hazen in Arizona. Rather than moving Marte for well-regarded but unproven prospects, he’s instead added a big league arm who can step immediately onto the roster and help this year and for years to come. Smith, in many ways, gives the Snakes a replacement for the recently traded Robbie Ray — one who bears some stark similarities to Ray, as a high-strikeout lefty with occasional control difficulties.
Also able to provide help in the very near future will be the 23-year-old Mejia, who made his big league debut earlier this season. He’s allowed six earned runs on 13 hits and six walks with 11 strikeouts in eight MLB innings. His promotion to the big leagues was in some ways necessitated by the aforementioned outbreak, as he’d yet to even pitch at Double-A when he was promoted. The Diamondbacks may well want to get Mejia some additional development time before bringing him to Chase Field, but he’s already on the 40-man roster and has gotten his feet wet in the bigs, so he’s a viable option anytime moving forward.
As for Frias, he’ll give Arizona a 22-year-old southpaw who shined as a 21-year-old in short-season Class-A last year, when he pitched to a 2.83 ERA with a 73-to-23 K/BB ratio in 70 innings. Frias isn’t considered among the Marlins’ best prospects, but Miami has a relatively deep system after years of rebuilding moves. FanGraphs called Frias a “low-slot lefty” whose heater touches 97 mph but who has battled poor command at times. He’s a much further-off piece, but any club would welcome the opportunity to add a power-armed, left-handed lottery ticket.
SportsGrid’s Craig Mish broke the news that the two sides were close to a deal (Twitter link). Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported (on Twitter) that a deal had been reached. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand and The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported various aspects of the return (all Twitter links).
Blue Jays Acquire Jonathan Villar
The Blue Jays have acquired infielder Jonathan Villar from the Marlins, tweets Jon Heyman of MLB Network and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Villar was pulled from this afternoon’s game against the Mets at Citi Field. In return, the Marlins will receive right fielder Griffin Conine from Toronto, according to Craig Mish. Given that Conine is not part of the Jays’ 60-man player pool, he’s considered a player to be named later in this deal, according to Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. The move comes on the heels of the Marlins acquiring Starling Marte from the Diamondbacks as the Miami club attempts to return to the playoffs for the first time since their 2003 championship.
Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette was placed on the IL on August 16th with a knee sprain, which is expected to keep him out until at least mid-September. Rosenthal had previously reported the Jays’ interest in the versatile Villar, and Toronto was also said to have checked in on the Angels’ Andrelton Simmons. The Blue Jays have already stocked up with trades for Robbie Ray, Taijuan Walker, and Dan Vogelbach. Should Bichette return within a few weeks, Villar can help out around the diamond.
Villar, 29, had an excellent 2019 season for the Orioles. But with the infielder headed for an $8.2MM salary through arbitration (of which about $1.2MM is still owed this season), the O’s saw fit to ship him to Miami in a December trade. Due to the shortened season, Villar wound up playing just 29 games for the Marlins. According to Craig Mish, the Marlins “felt Villar is still an extremely talented player but played reckless at times, and never fully bought in to what they are trying to do.” According to Mish, Villar was expendable due to Isan Diaz’s return to the club. Diaz had opted out and is awaiting approval on returning, according to Rosenthal.
The speedy Villar has a few above-average offensive seasons on his record, most recently with a 107 wRC+ last year. He’s generally not been lauded for his infield defense, however. He’ll be eligible for free agency after the season, with the Jays serving as his fifth organization.
Griffin Conine, the son of Mr. Marlin Jeff Conine, chose not to sign after the Marlins drafted him in the 31st round out of high school. He then went to Duke and was drafted by the Jays in the second round, most recently playing A ball in the Midwest League. Part of the Jays’ run on sons of popular Major Leaguers, Conine was ranked as the club’s #15 prospect prior to the 2019 season by Baseball America. BA praised his plus power and arm, though Conine did serve a 50-game suspension for testing positive for ritalinic acid.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Marlins Have Shown Interest In Archie Bradley, Starling Marte
1:21pm: The Marlins are also interested in Arizona center fielder Starling Marte, tweets Heyman. Like Bradley, he’s controlled through 2021 and would give the Fish an upgrade this year and next. Numerous clubs figure to have interest in Marte, should the D-backs ultimately move him, although as Heyman rightly notes, Miami has plenty of young pitching to offer. And it’s worth noting, at least tangentially, that the two sides lined up on last year’s Zac Gallen-for-Jazz Chisholm swap.
9:50am: The Marlins are reportedly getting calls asking about their own closer, but they’re more focused on adding to the ’pen than subtracting and have reached out to the D-backs on closer Archie Bradley, tweets MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro. The Diamondbacks have fallen into a miserable slump and, at 14-21, could very well sell off some shorter-term pieces in advance of today’s 3pm CT trade deadline. They’re said to be open to offers for Bradley.
Bradley, 28, is in his second season as Arizona’s primary closing option and has been a quality member of the ’pen for the past four years now. The former No. 7 overall pick was long one of the game’s most highly regarded pitching prospects, but he struggled in 34 big league starts before finding a home in the D-backs’ relief corp. Dating back to 2017, Bradley has pitched to a strong 2.98 ERA and 3.17 FIP with averages of 10.1 strikeouts, 3.2 walks and 0.7 homers per nine innings (despite pitching in a hitter-friendly home park).
Controlled through the 2021 season, Bradley agreed to a $4.1MM salary in arbitration this past winter. That’s been prorated to about $1.48MM in this year’s shortened schedule, and roughly $617K of that sum remains to be paid out. He’ll be eligible for arbitration once more this winter.
Frisaro notes that the Fish have expressed interest in “many” relievers around the league as they look to take advantage of a surprising start to the season and the emergence of some well-regarded youngsters who have helped thrust them into contention in a lackluster NL East division. Miami is just 14-15 on the season, but that’s good for a second-place tie in the East. And with the National League as a whole playing at pretty substandard levels — only four of the 15 teams have a winning record — there’s ample opportunity for some surprise clubs to find themselves in this year’s expanded playoff field.
Blue Jays Among Teams Interested In Jonathan Villar
Miami and Toronto are in discussions regarding Marlins infielder/outfielder Jonathan Villar, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. It’s unclear whether the two teams are progressing toward a deal, per Rosenthal, though Jon Heyman of MLB Network writes that Villar’s “definitely out there.”
Villar’s the second shortstop-capable player the Blue Jays have been connected to since the weekend, joining the Angels’ Andrelton Simmons. However, Simmons is not an option right now for Toronto, according to Rosenthal. The club’s in the market for help at the position after losing Bo Bichette to a knee sprain two weeks ago. Even if Bichette comes back this year, Villar’s versatile enough to slide to other positions, including second base and the outfield.
Since Bichette went down, the Blue Jays haven’t received much production from fill-ins Brandon Drury, Joe Panik and Santiago Espinal, but they’re still 18-14 and in the thick of the AL playoff hunt. In Villar, they’d be getting a switch-hitting 29-year-old whose offense has hovered around the league-average mark throughout his career. He’s off to a .272/.328/.360 start with two home runs and nine stolen bases in 126 plate appearances this season.
Villar, who’s on a prorated $8.2MM salary, is a pending free agent, so it may make sense for Miami to at least explore parting with him and other veteran trade chips. But even though the Marlins are just 14-15, they’re very much in the playoff race and will enter Monday tied for the final wild-card spot in the NL.
Brandon Kintzler Drawing Trade Interest
Marlins closer Brandon Kintzler is drawing trade interest, tweets MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, but with Miami still vying for a surprise postseason bid, it’s unlikely that he’ll be moved at this point. More likely candidates to be dealt by the Marlins are lefty Caleb Smith and righty Jose Urena, per Heyman. MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro also lists Urena and Smith as players who “possibly could” be moved, adding outfielder Harold Ramirez to that tier.
The 36-year-old Kintzler is having a fairly typical season: tons of grounders, few strikeouts and very few walks. In 12 1/3 frames with Miami, he’s posted a 2.92 ERA with seven punchouts (5.1 K/9), three walks (2.2 BB/9) and a huge 59.5 percent ground-ball rate. Since establishing himself as a big leaguer back in 2013, Kintzler has only turned in a grounder rate south of 54 percent in one season, when he put up a 49.7 percent mark in 2018. His career 56.3 percent rate is tied for 37th among 499 qualified relievers since his MLB debut.
Kintzler is playing out the 2020 season on a one-year, $3.25MM contract, but that pact contains a reasonable $4MM option for the 2021 season, so he’s not a strict rental. This year’s $3MM base salary — the option has a $250K buyout — is prorated to about $1.08MM, and he’s still owed roughly $452K of that sum over the remaining four weeks.
Urena, meanwhile, has been a rumored trade candidate for a year or so now. He’s yet to pitch in 2020 after being among the team’s 18 players to test positive for the coronavirus, and he didn’t throw especially well in 2019, when he turned in a 5.21 ERA and 4.74 FIP in 84 2/3 frames. Urena, though, has had success as a starter — 3.90 ERA in 343 2/3 innings from 2017-18 — and is controllable through the 2021 season. He’s a non-tender candidate with the Marlins this winter, so perhaps another club could get a month-long look at him for a relatively negligible return.
The 29-year-old Smith is controlled all the way through 2023 and is a more interesting target for pitching-hungry clubs. He’s missed bats in droves since being acquired from the Yankees prior to the 2018 season, fanning 259 hitters in 233 2/3 innings as a Marlin. He’s also been plagued by injuries in that time, though, including a brutal Grade 3 lat strain in 2018 and a hip injury that cost him just shy of a month last year. Smith was placed on the injured list earlier this month after the Marlins’ Covid-19 outbreak and has pitched just three innings so far. He looked rusty, issuing six free passes in that time. Overall, he has a 4.39 ERA and 10.0 K/9 against 3.8 BB/9 in his time with Miami.
Ramirez, 25, has yet to return since the team’s outbreak but posted a solid .276/.312/.416 batting line with 11 homers, 20 doubles and three triples in 446 plate appearances with the Fish a year ago. He’s controlled all the way through the 2025 season, leaving no urgency to move him, but Miami has quite a few corner-outfield alternatives. Corey Dickerson is signed through 2021, while Brian Anderson has proven capable of oscillating between right field and third base. The Marlins have gotten initial looks at Monte Harrison and Jesus Sanchez this year, and they still have Garrett Cooper, Lewis Brinson and Magneuris Sierra in the outfield picture as well.
