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Marlins Place Jorge Alfaro On IL, Select Sean Rodriguez

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The Marlins announced that they’ve placed catcher Jorge Alfaro on the injured list, meaning he’s out of action for Opening Day. A reason was not given for the surprise move.

Replacing him on the active roster will be veteran utilityman Sean Rodriguez, whose contract was selected. The Fish also announced the signing of outfielder Travis Snider to a minor-league pact. He’ll head to the team’s alternate training site.

It’s obviously disappointing to see Alfaro hit the shelf right at the start of the season. The 27-year-old has established himself as a solid MLB backstop, though he’s hoping to take another step forward after posting consecutive 95 OPS+ efforts at the plate. Alfaro is also playing to set himself up for his first run at the arbitration process.

Marlins, Brian Anderson Have Discussed Extension

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The Marlins and third baseman/outfielder Brian Anderson have discussed a contract extension in the five-year, $30MM range, Craig Mish of Sports Grid reports. Those talks mostly came before the coronavirus shutdown, per Mish, who adds that the two sides’ negotiations will likely pick up again during the upcoming winter.

Once next offseason rolls around, the 27-year-old Anderson will be on track to make his first of three potential trips through arbitration. Having collected league-minimum salaries since he debuted in 2017, Anderson has been a bargain performer and one of the few bright spots for the Marlins during his short career.

Going back to 2018, Anderson has accounted for 6.5 fWAR, slashed .268/.350/.430 (113 wRC+) with 31 home runs in 1,190 plate appearances, and logged a substantial amount of action at the hot corner and in right field. All things considered, it’s no surprise even a small-budget team like Miami would be interested in locking up Anderson for millions per annum. But if Anderson and the Marlins are unable to find common ground in contract talks over the next couple years, he should carry a solid amount of value on the trade market.

Marlins To Select Contract Of Brad Boxberger

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The Marlins will carry Brad Boxberger on their Opening Day roster, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports on Twitter. He’ll have to be added to the 40-man roster.

Boxberger joined the Miami organization on a minor-league deal right at the outset of Spring Training. The veteran reliever impressed in Grapefruit League action, allowing just one earned run and two baserunners while striking out eight in 6 1/3 innings.

This time last year, the 32-year-old Boxberger was pitching in the upper minors after a disappointing early showing led the Royals to cut him loose. He wasn’t able to force his way back up last summer but obviously impressed the Marlins brass this time around. Through 311 total MLB innings over his eight-year career, Boxberger owns a 3.59 ERA and has registered 77 saves.

Alex Vesia, Sterling Sharp Make Marlins’ Roster

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Left-handed reliever Alex Vesia and righty Sterling Sharp have made the Marlins’ Opening Day roster, per reports from Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald and Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter links). Vesia is not on the team’s 40-man roster, so his contract will be selected before the season kicks off. The Marlins’ 40-man roster is technically full, but they have a few players who appear to be on the Covid-19 injured list, and those players won’t count against the 40-man until they’re activated. A corresponding move or moves from the club may yet come, depending on other additions Miami wishes to make.

It seems safe to say that the 24-year-old Vesia has exceeded expectations set for him when he was a 17th-round pick just two summers ago. A product of Division-II Cal State East Bay, Vesia skyrocketed across three levels last year, pitching to a combined 1.76 ERA with a ridiculous 100-to-19 K/BB ratio in 66 2/3 innings of relief. He’s a pure bullpen prospect, but Vesia has a career 1.62 ERA since being drafted.

He ranks 21st among Miami prospects, per FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen, and checks in 27th at MLB.com. Vesia’s innings in 2020 will obviously be limited, given expanded rosters and the shortened season, but he’ll get his first look at MLB opponents in the near future and could potentially be a piece of the Miami bullpen for years to come.

Sharp spent the first few years of his professional career with the division-rival Nationals, who used a 22nd-round pick on him in 2016. The Marlins plucked Sharp from the Nats with the No. 3 overall selection in last December’s Rule 5 Draft after he turned in a productive season among the rookie, Low-A and Double-A levels in 2019. Sharp totaled 58 2/3 frames of 3.53 ERA pitching and 8.0 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9. FanGraphs (No. 30) and MLB.com (28th) regard the 25-year-old Sharp as a prospect of note in the Marlins’ system, with Longenhagen writing he could turn into a back-end starter in MLB.

Amateur Draft Signings: 7/21/20

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Here are the game’s latest draft signings, courtesy of Jim Callis of MLB.com (Twitter links):

  • The Cubs have signed third-round outfielder and No. 88 overall pick Jordan Nwogu for the full slot value of $678,600. Nwogu played college ball at Michigan, where he slashed .334/.430/.545 with 20 home runs in 525 plate appearances. Prior to the draft, Keith Law of The Athletic ranked Nwogu as the 68th-best prospect available, calling him “a plus runner with plus raw power” and declaring he could be a 20-20 type in the majors if everything comes together.
  • The Marlins have inked fifth-round right-hander Kyle Hurt for $300K, way down from the $418,200 slot value of the 134th overall selection. Hurt posted uninspiring results at USC, where he pitched to a 5.06 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 5.6 BB/9 in 172 2/3 innings. But Law rated Hurt as the No. 96 prospect in the draft, thanks to a repertoire that includes a 96 mph fastball, an “above-average changeup” and a “12/6 curveball.”

Marlins Finalizing Deals With Second- And Third-Round Picks

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2:00pm: Miami has signed McCambley for a $775K bonus, Mish tweets, which comes in a bit shy of hi $831K slot.

6:23am: The Marlins had lagged the rest of the league in draft signings but now appear to be making progress. Second-rounder Dax Fulton and third-rounder Zach McCambley are putting the finishing touches on agreements, Craig Mish of Sports Grid reports (Twitter links).

Fulton’s deal comes in at a hefty $2.4MM, over half a million over-slot, so the Fish will be applying savings from other selections to make the bonus pool allocation math work. The high-school southpaw had been destined for the University of Oklahoma.

There’s a chance the Miami organization has come away with a steal in Fulton, whose risk profile changed after recently undergoing Tommy John surgery. Even given the added uncertainty, he placed 29th on the ESPN.com board and drew lofty grades from other pundits.

Getting Fulton to his ceiling will require some careful developmental work. Keith Law of The Athletic, who ranked Fulton lowest of the major outlets (#67), says the left needs to clean up his mechanics. Per Law: “There’s definite upside here, assuming his stuff returns, but also real risk if his arm action stays the same.”

As for McCambley, a Coastal Carolina product, the bonus value isn’t yet known. He was taken 75th overall, a pick that came with a $831,100 allocation. That’s precisely the range where most prognosticators expected him to be taken.

Like Fulton, McCambley is a potentially explosive lefty. In this case, the questions surround his ability to develop a third offering. Baseball America explains that McCambley features a plus heater and curve, but needs to re-work his change if he’s to progress towards a big-league rotation.

Marlins Release Ryan Cook

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The Marlins have released righty Ryan Cook, per a club announcement. He had been in camp on a minor-league deal.

Additionally, the team announced that fellow righty relievers Josh Smith and Nick Vincent have been reassigned to the club’s alternative training site. It appears that they’ll both remain with the organization but fall shy of making the Opening Day roster.

Cook hooked on with the Fish in January after pitching in Japan for the 2019 season. The 33-year-old is a six-year MLB veteran but has only made 28 total appearances since the start of the 2015 campaign.

Marlins Place Matt Joyce, Lewis Brinson On IL

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The Marlins have placed outfielders Matt Joyce and Lewis Brinson on the 10-day injured list, Craig Mish of Sports Grid relays. Neither player has appeared in Summer Camp yet.

The left-handed-hitting Joyce, a proven threat against righty pitchers, joined the Marlins on a one-year, $1.5MM deal over the winter. Joyce enjoyed a strong 2019 in a limited role as a member of the Braves, with whom the 35-year-old slashed .295/.408/.450 (128 wRC+) with seven home runs and 38 walks against 45 strikeouts in 238 plate appearances.

Brinson, 26, was a former top prospect who has struggled mightily in the majors. Since the Marlins acquired him from the Brewers in January 2018 in the Fish’s regrettable Christian Yelich trade, Brinson has hit an unsightly .189/.238/.294 (44 wRC+) with 11 HRs and minus-2.7 fWAR in 654 PA as a major leaguer. Brinson was much better than that last year at the Triple-A level, though, as he batted .270/.361/.510 and totaled 16 homers over 338 attempts.

The absences of Joyce and Brinson weaken Miami’s depth, but it still has several more outfield-capable players on hand, including Corey Dickerson, Jonathan Villar, Harold Ramirez, Monte Harrison, Magneuris Sierra, Sean Rodriguez, Jon Berti, Brian Anderson and Garrett Cooper. Dickerson, Villar and Ramirez may make up the Marlins’ season-opening outfield.

Marlins Sign Supplemental 2nd-Rounder Kyle Nicolas

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The Marlins have signed supplemental second-rounder Kyle Nicolas for $1,129,700, Jim Callis of MLB.com tweets. That’s the full slot value of Nicolas’ pick, No. 61 overall.

The 21-year-old Nicolas attended college at Ball State, where he struggled to keep runs off the board in his first two seasons before coming into his own during a shortened 2020 campaign. Across 23 innings last season, he logged a 2.74 ERA with 14.5 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9. He subsequently entered the draft as a top 70 prospect according to FanGraphs (53), MLB.com (60), ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel (64) and Baseball America (No. 68). FanGraphs, the most bullish of those outlets, calls Nicolas a relief-only prospect and writes that he brings a high-90s fastball and a promising slider/curveball mix to the table.

Nicolas joins first-rounder Max Meyer as the only 2020 draft picks the Marlins have signed so far. Second-rounder Dax Fulton, third-rounder Zach McCambley, fourth-rounder Jake Eder and fifth-rounder Kyle Hurt are still without the deals. The Marlins went into the draft with a $12,016,900 bonus pool. Between Nicolas and Meyer, they’ve spent just over $7.8MM.

Marlins Add Santiago Chavez To Player Pool

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The Marlins announced this morning that they’ve added catcher Santiago Chavez to their 60-man player pool and placed catcher Will Banfield on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to July 6). No reason for the IL placement was listed.

Miami’s pool had previously been full, and teams can only exceed 60 players when players are put on the injured list due to COVID-19-related situations. Marlins general manager Michael Hill had previously revealed that four players have tested positive for the coronavirus, though he did not specify which players. Banfield’s IL placement doesn’t guarantee that he was one of the four. Players can be placed on the COVID-19 injured list if they exhibit symptoms but have yet to test positive or if they come into contact with someone who has tested positive.

The 24-year-old Chavez isn’t on the 40-man roster. The longtime Athletics farmhand spent his entire career with the Oakland organization prior to signing a minor league deal with Miami in the 2018-19 offseason. He re-signed a similar deal this past winter and will give the club some depth behind Jorge Alfaro, Francisco Cervelli, Chad Wallach, Ryan Lavarnway and Brian Navarreto. Chavez has never hit in the minors — 2018’s .635 OPS between Class-A Advanced and Double-A was a career-high — but he’s thrown out a ridiculous 48 percent of attempted base thieves in eight professional seasons.

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