Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Marlins Rumors

Marlins Decline Brandon Kintzler’s Option

By | at

The Marlins have declined their $4MM option over right-handed reliever Brandon Kintzler, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets. Kintzler will receive a $225K buyout, but the Marlins remain interested in bringing him back at a lesser rate than he would have gotten had they exercised his option.

After a solid season with the Cubs in 2019, Kintzler joined the Marlins on a $3.25MM guarantee last winter. Although their bullpen ended up as one of the worst in the league in 2020, Kintzler was a good contributor. Across 24 2/3 innings, the 36-year-old managed a stingy 2.22 ERA, a 57.3 percent groundball rate and 12 saves in 14 chances, thus helping the Marlins to their first playoff berth since 2003.

On the downside, Kintzler recorded one of the game’s worst K/BB ratios (1.27), posting 5.18 K/9 against 4.07 BB/9. In fairness to Kintzler, though, he hasn’t been a high-strikeout pitcher throughout his career, and his ability to keep the ball on the ground has led to a quality 3.31 ERA with several different teams over 448 2/3 major league innings.

Phillies Decline David Phelps’ Option

By | at

The Phillies announced they’ve declined their $4.5MM club option on right-hander David Phelps. He’ll receive a $250K buyout and hit free agency. The Phillies also declined their $7MM option on fellow reliever Héctor Neris, although he remains on the roster as an arbitration-eligible player. Philadelphia also confirmed the previously-reported declination of David Robertson’s club option.

Additionally, utilityman Phil Gosselin, right-handers Heath Hembree and Blake Parker and southpaw Adam Morgan have all cleared outright waivers and elected free agency. Right-hander Johan Quezada, meanwhile, was claimed off waivers from the Marlins.

Phelps came over from the Brewers in a midseason swap for three low-level prospects. The hope was that he’d help salvage a bullpen that had been the club’s weak point. Unfortunately, he was tattooed for eleven runs in 7.2 innings down the stretch. Phelps’ overall strikeout and walk numbers were stellar, but massive home run problems led to a 6.53 ERA.

Neris is projected for a salary between $4.8MM and $6.4MM in arbitration if tendered. That made declining the option an easy call, and it’s possible Neris ultimately winds up non-tendered.

Marlins Outright Pat Venditte, Mike Morin, Josh A. Smith

By | at

The Marlins have reinstated pitchers Pat Venditte, Mike Morin and Josh A. Smith from the 60-day injured list and outrighted the trio to Triple-A, leaving the club with a 40-man roster, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald tweets. All three are expected to elect free agency, according to McPherson.

Because of a team-wide coronavirus outbreak early in the season, the Marlins had to scramble to assemble a bullpen, which helps explain why their relievers posted the majors’ fifth-worst ERA (5.50). Venditte and Morin were not part of the problem, though, albeit over a small number of innings.

The ambidextrous Venditte gave the Marlins 4 1/3 frames of one-run ball (unearned), allowed one hit, didn’t walk a batter and struck out 10. Morin was similarly effective, as he threw four scoreless innings with one hit and one walk, though he only posted two strikeouts.

On the other hand, Smith (not to be confused with Josh D. Smith, who was also a Marlins reliever in 2020) had immense difficulty keeping runs off the board. The right-hander recorded an ugly 6.84 ERA (with a more encouraging 4.67 FIP) and 6.15 K/9 against 3.76 BB/9 across 26 1/3 innings.

Marlins Outright 3 Pitchers

By | at

The Marlins have reinstated three pitchers – Drew Steckenrider, Brian Moran and Brandon Leibrandt – from the 60-day injured list and outrighted them, the team announced. Steckenrider and Moran have elected free agency.

Now 29 years old, the right-handed Steckenreider was a very promising part of the Marlins’ bullpen from 2017-18. However, he limped to a 6.28 ERA/7.96 FIP during the next season and hasn’t pitched since May 6, 2019, owing to arm problems.

Meanwhile, lefties Moran and Liebrandt have had minor roles with the Marlins. The 32-year-old Moran has thrown just 11 innings (10 with the Marlins, one with the Blue Jays) since making his major league debut in 2019. He has given up eight earned runs at the game’s top level. Liebrandt, the son of former MLB pitcher Charlie Liebrandt, yielded just two earned runs in nine frames with the Marlins in 2020, but he also posted seven walks against three strikeouts in the process.

Marlins Exercise Club Option On Starling Marte

By | at

TODAY: The Marlins have officially exercised Marte’s option, according to The Associated Press.

OCTOBER 18: During a conference call with reporters (including Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald) to discuss the departure of president of baseball operations Michael Hill, Marlins CEO Derek Jeter noted that the club is planning to exercise its $12.5MM club option on outfielder Starling Marte for the 2021 season.  The option contained a $1MM buyout.

Miami acquired Marte in a trade deadline blockbuster with the Diamondbacks that sent southpaw Caleb Smith, right-hander Humberto Mejia and minor league left-hander Julio Frias to Arizona.  Given the substantial trade return, it always seemed pretty likely that the Marlins would pick up Marte’s option rather than see him only as a rental player for the rest of 2020.

Still, with all of the economic uncertainty around baseball, there are only a few contract options that could be seen as 100 percent sure things this winter.  It is also noteworthy that the Marlins are the team making this decision, given their history of low payrolls.  Marte immediately becomes their highest-paid player and a symbol that the rebuilding in Miami could be coming to an end, even though if it’s probably safe to assume that the Marlins won’t be going on a spending spree just yet.

Marte’s first month in a Marlins uniform had mixed results, as he only hit .245/.286/.415 in 112 regular-season plate appearances.  The Fish did end up reaching the postseason, however, and Marte went 2-for-4 in the Marlins’ Game 1 victory over the Cubs in the wild card series.  Unfortunately for Marte, he was also hit by a pitch and suffered a hand fracture, sidelining him for the rest of the postseason.

Assuming no long-term effects from the injured hand, Marte will be ready to roll as Miami’s everyday center fielder in 2021.  The 32-year-old hit a combined .281/.340/.430 over 250 PA with the D’Backs and Marlins last season, and has been a consistently steady performer over his nine-year career, spent entirely in Pittsburgh prior to the 2020 campaign.

Marte’s original six-year, $31MM extension with the Pirates signed in 2014 contained club options for both 2020 and 2021, so with both options exercised, that contract will end up as an eight-year, $53MM pact.  Marte forfeited roughly $2.4MM of that sum during his 80-game suspension for a positive PED test in 2017, and the shortened 2020 season reduced Marte’s salary from $11.5MM to a little under $4.26MM.

East Notes: Phillies, Andujar, Marlins

By | at

Let’s check in on a few East Coast clubs…

  • The Phillies will not retain bullpen coach Jim Gott, per Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Gott held the role for three years, but the Phillies elected not to renew the former big league right-hander’s contract. The move comes on the heels of a disastrous season for the Phillies’ bullpen, which posted a bloated 7.06 ERA en route to a last-place finish in the league. The unit’s struggles played a major part in the Phillies’ failure to earn a playoff berth. Now, with Gott gone and pitching coach Bryan Price having retired, that aspect of Philly’s coaching staff is in for a shakeup.
  • After a second straight abbreviated season, Yankees third baseman/outfielder Miguel Andujar will report to the Dominican Winter League, Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes tweets. Andujar looked like a budding star as a rookie in 2018, but he has played just 33 games since then, owing in part to a serious shoulder injury he suffered in his second season. While Andujar did come back this year, he was unable to unseat Gio Urshela as the Yankees’ No. 1 option at third base. Andujar wound up slumping to a .242/.277/.355 line with one home run in 65 plate appearances.
  • The Yankees have lost a pair of minor league coaches to the Marlins, as George A. King III of the New York Post reports that Tommy Phelps and Phil Plantier are headed to Miami. Phelps would have been the Yankees’ Triple-A pitching coach had a minor league season taken place, while Plantier was in line to serve as their hitting coach. Phelps will now work as the Marlins’ assistant pitching coordinator, though Plantier’s role is unclear. These hirings continue a deep Yankees connection for the Marlins, who are co-owned by Derek Jeter, managed by Don Mattingly, and employ Gary Denbo as their director of player development and scouting.

Marlins Hope To Keep Brandon Kintzler

By | at

The Marlins are interested in retaining right-handed reliever Brandon Kintzler heading into next season, Craig Mish of Sportsgrid tweets. The team has a $4MM option for next year, or it could buy Kintzler out for $250K and see him return to the open market.

The 36-year-old Kintzler isn’t far from his latest trip to free agency, where he signed a $3.25MM with the Marlins last offseason. Kintzler then pitched to a sterling 2.22 ERA, converted 12 of 14 save opportunities and posted 5.18 K/9 against 4.07 BB/9, albeit with a 5.00 FIP, over 24 1/3 innings.

In fairness to Kintzler, fielding-independent pitching metrics have leaned against him throughout his career, though his results have been good, as his sterling 56.2 percent groundball rate has helped him to a 3.31 ERA since he debuted in 2010. Kintzler has teamed that with a 3.80 FIP and 6.28 K/9 and 2.43 BB/9 over 448 2/3 frames during his time in the majors.

Red Sox Interview Luis Urueta, Don Kelly, Skip Schumaker, James Rowson

By | at

6:15pm: The Red Sox have also interviewed Marlins bench coach James Rowson, Speier tweets.

5:46pm: The Red Sox have asked the Twins for permission to interview their bench coach, Mike Bell, according to Speier.

3:33pm: Boston has also interviewed Padres associate manager Skip Schumaker, Kevin Acee of the San Diego-Union Tribune tweets.

10:45am: The Red Sox interviewed Diamondbacks bench coach Luis Urueta for their vacant managerial post last week, ESPN’s Enrique Rojas reports. It’s the second time in the past year that Urueta has interviewed for the position. He was also a candidate after Alex Cora was let go, although the team opted to instead stick with an internal option in Ron Roenicke, who won’t return as skipper in 2021. Meanwhile, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link) reports that the Sox interviewed Pirates bench coach Don Kelly as well.

Urueta, 40 in January, has held his current position in Arizona for three seasons. He’s previously served as Arizona’s minor league field coordinator in addition to managing the Diamondbacks’ Rookie-level affiliate, managing in the Dominican Winter League and managing Team Colombia in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

The 40-year-old Kelly has fast risen as a popular managerial candidate after retiring as a player following the 2016 season. The longtime Tigers utilityman began working in Detroit’s player development part upon retiring and moved to their scouting staff the next year. He was hired as Houston’s first base coach for the 2018 season and hired as the Pirates’ bench coach under rookie skipper Derek Shelton last offseason.

There’s considerable speculation that Cora could return to Boston after his suspension for his role in the Astros’ 2017 cheating scandal has been served. That ban runs through the current postseason. However, the Red Sox have also reportedly interviewed Cubs third base coach Will Venable and, per Heyman, could talk to Dodgers first base coach George Lombard.

Front Office/Coaching Notes: Red Sox, Venable, Marlins, Denbo, Cubs, Epstein, Hoyer

By | at

The Red Sox are beginning the process of bringing in candidates for their managerial opening. Cubs coach Will Venable has already come in to interview, while George Lombard of the Dodgers and Don Kelly of the Pirates are likely on the list of incoming interviewees, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). Venable has been a popular managerial candidate recently. He interviewed for openings with the Astros and Giants last season, ultimately returning to the Cubs to serve as their third base coach in 2020. The former player moved back into the dugout for the 2018 season after being hired by the Cubs as a special assistant. For the Red Sox opening, however, Alex Cora continues to be seen as the favorite, though he will not be able to interview for the role until his suspension lifts after the conclusion of the World Series.

  • The Marlins are looking to hire a Team President that can complete their upper leadership group in the player ops department. That means augmenting and supplementing the work of Gary Denbo, their Director of Player Development and Scouting. Derek Jeter and Denbo are close, making it easy to presume that he could be a candidate to fill Michael Hill’s Team President role, but that’s not the case, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Jackson provides a quote from Jeter that shines some light on his thinking for the position, as Jeter said, “Gary has done a great job where he is right now. You look at how you build an organization; you have to have a great scouting department and a great player development department. Gary deserves a lot of credit for what we’ve been able to do to this point. Where he is right now is where he is most important.”
  • The Cubs and Theo Epstein remain aligned on the current plan for Epstein to play out the last year of his contract before likely departing after 2021. Executive VP and General Manager Jed Hoyer does not share Theo’s exit strategy, however, and it seems right now as if he’ll stay on to fully take control of the Cubs’ baseball ops department after Theo departs, writes The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney. Hoyer has served as Theo’s partner in the front office for many years, but Theo still steers the ship, as was the case specifically with the Cubs’ rigorous approach to COVID-19 testing this year when they were the only team in the majors without a positive test. Hoyer will preserve a healthy dose of continuity when Theo leaves, but there will be change when the buck officially stops with him.

Mattingly On Marlins’ 2021 Rotation Plans

By | at

The Marlins turned in a strong 2020 campaign, raising expectations for the immediate future. To compete over a 162-game season, and to deliver a multi-year window of contention, the organization will need several promising young starters to settle in as top-quality rotation pieces.

Compiling a 2021 rotation will be the ultimate responsibility of a new baseball operations leader, but now-entrenched skipper Don Mattingly will likely have a significant say in the matter. Mattingly discussed the outlook for the pitching staff recently, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald covers.

While it stands to reason that high-profile youngster Sixto Sanchez will occupy a major role, Mattingly made clear that a the righty will have to earn a rotation spot. Though Sanchez “showed what he’s capable of,” Mattingly says there’s also “some downside to that and some areas where he needs to grow.”

Sanchez’s rookie showing was impressive by most any measure. Over 39 frames, he limited the long ball and racked up a 58.0% groundball rate to support a sturdy 3.46 ERA. The 22-year-old averaged 99 mph with his four-seam heater.

Despite that effort, Mattingly says Sanchez will enter camp in the same boat as fellow newcomer Trevor Rogers, who posted eyepopping strikeout numbers but carried a 6.11 ERA. Both hurlers will need to “continue to develop,” Mattingly said.

So, who is assured of a rotation job, presuming good health? Mattingly explains that he’s penciling in Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez, and Elieser Hernandez at this early point.

It’d be hard to argue with that assessment. Hernandez has the thinnest track record of the trio, but it’s hard not to be impressed by his compilation of 11.9 K/9 against just 1.8 BB/9 in a six-start run. Mattingly expressed confidence in Hernandez’s health after his season was cut short by a lat injury.

The Fish could have the makings of a strong unit, but plenty of variables remain. Full health can’t be presumed, so there’ll be a need for more arms even if Sanchez ultimately takes a rotation slot. Mattingly also tabbed Nick Neidert and Jose Urena as possibilities, though the former has yet to make a MLB start and the latter seems to be a potential non-tender candidate.

Show all

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