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Marlins “Believed” To Have Interest In Castellanos, Ozuna

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TODAY: The Marlins are also “considering” a reunion with Marcell Ozuna, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets.  Since Ozuna rejected the Cardinals’ qualifying offer, however, FNTSY Radio’s Craig Mish doesn’t believe the Marlins would give up the required draft pick compensation to sign the outfielder.

MONDAY: The Marlins are looking to add a position player to their everyday lineup, as the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson reported last week, and the team is “believed” to have interest in free agent right fielder Nicholas Castellanos, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro writes today.

Miami would presumably have to overpay in order to persuade a fairly notable free agent to sign a multi-year deal in the midst of a rebuild, but the fit makes sense for a few reasons. Beyond the sheer fact that the Marlins’ offense in 2019 was horrific, Castellanos is a Miami-area native. He attended high school a mere 25 miles from Marlins park, so signing in Miami would likely hold more appeal to him than to the standard free agent. He’s also an unusually young free agent at 27 years of age (28 in March), so he’d theoretically still be in his prime years when Miami seeks to emerge from its rebuild. Castellanos was ineligible to receive a qualifying offer, so he won’t cost the rebuilding Marlins any draft picks. (Although, notably, president of baseball ops Michael Hill suggested last week that a qualifying offer may not be the detriment most would expect.)

On the other side of the equation, Castellanos’ enthusiasm over being in a pennant race with the Cubs can’t be ignored. He’s spent most of his career on a cellar-dwelling Tigers club and was outspoken on multiple occasions about what it meant to him to play meaningful games in September. At least as far as the 2020 season goes, that’s not really a selling point the Marlins can include in their pitch (hence the previously mentioned need to overpay).

Signing Castellanos or any other corner outfielder — Avisail Garcia, Corey Dickerson and old friend Marcell Ozuna are among the alternatives — would likely mean keeping third baseman/outfielder Brian Anderson on the infield. Anderson, 26, has emerged as a potential building block himself and is the team’s clear best position player at the moment. Teaming him and Castellanos up in the heart of the order would assuredly give the Marlins improved offensive output, and the Marlins can easily afford to pursue such an arrangement. Miami has a ridiculously low $26.75MM committed to the 2020 roster $22MM to Wei-Yin Chen and $4.75MM to Miguel Rojas) and just $5MM in 2021 (plus $3MM per year to the Yankees for Giancarlo Stanton).

In fact, Miami’s payroll is so low, they’ll likely feel pressured to spend some money in the offseason. The MLBPA raised concerns about the team’s use of its revenue-sharing profits two seasons ago when payroll was substantially higher, and they’re currently on pace to have a league-low $52.79MM payroll in 2020 (including three arbitration-eligible players, 21 pre-arbitration players and the Stanton payout). Miami’s $63MM Opening Day payroll in 2019 was already the lowest in the Majors, and a further reduction could once again call the team’s allocation of its revenue-sharing funds into question.

Castellanos split the 2019 season between the Tigers and the Cubs, hitting a combined .289/.337/.525 — including a ridiculous .321/.356/.646 following his trade to Chicago. His right-field defense is regarded as well below-average, though the 2019 season was only his second year at the position after moving there from third base (and his numbers improved dramatically from 2018 to 2019).

Marlins Interested In Jose Abreu

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The Marlins aren’t known for free-agent splashes, though they could add least make a notable short-term move(s) this winter, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network.. The Marlins are interested in first baseman Jose Abreu, according to Heyman, who adds they could also try to improve their outfield via the open market.

It has long appeared unlikely that Abreu would leave the White Sox, with whom he’s a franchise icon. But while the two sides have discussed a long-term contract, no deal has come to fruition yet. The soon-to-be 33-year-old Abreu has until Thursday to decide whether to accept the White Sox’s $17.8MM qualifying offer. Of course, the fact that Abreu has a QO hanging over him arguably makes it even less likely for a contract to come together with the Marlins. After all, the Marlins probably won’t contend over the one or two years they would presumably give to Abreu. Furthermore, adding him would cost the Marlins a significant amount of money (MLBTR projects a two-year, $28MM guarantee) and their third-highest draft pick in 2020.

There is an argument it would be illogical for the Marlins to splurge, at least by their standards, on Abreu. On the other hand, he’d give the club a credible bat at first base and enable the Fish to move Garrett Cooper to the outfield. Abreu’s a four-time 30-home run hitter coming off a season in which he slashed .284/.330/.503 with 33 HRs across 693 plate appearances. He’s also a revered veteran clubhouse presence, which could appeal to a Miami team with plenty of young players, and the fact that he hails from nearby Cuba may somewhat enliven the Marlins’ alienated fan base.

Co-owner Derek Jeter has said the Marlins need to get more fans in the seats after drawing the fewest in the majors in 2019. Signing Abreu (or another quality hitter, whether it’s someone like local product Nicholas Castellanos or ex-Marlin Marcell Ozuna) may help them accomplish that.

Latest On Hensley Meulens

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WEDNESDAY: Heyman offers further clarification on the subject, via Twitter. Meulens had inked a letter of intent but not a full contract with the Marlins. The Miami club has allowed Meulens to pursue bench coach positions elsewhere. Whether or not he remains a candidate to land with the Fish remains to be seen.

TUESDAY: Meulens still hasn’t signed a contract with the Marlins, and while it’s possible he will, he could accept a bench coach job elsewhere instead, Heyman tweets.

MONDAY: Longtime Giants coach Hensley Meulens has accepted a position on the Marlins’ coaching staff, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported yesterday (Twitter link). He’ll join new bench coach and “offensive coordinator” James Rowson, recently hired away from the Twins, as another fairly high-profile coaching addition to the Miami staff. Exactly what role Meulens will fill in Miami isn’t yet clear, though SiriusXM’s Craig Mish suggested last week that Meulens could become the club’s hitting coach if hired.

Meulens, 52, has spent the past decade on the Giants’ coaching staff under the recently retired Bruce Bochy. He’s been bench coach for the past two year but previously served as the club’s hitting coach and was also responsible for outfield defense and positioning instruction. Meulens was the Giants’ hitting coach for each of their three World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014.

Beyond his experience on the Giants’ MLB staff, Meulens has spent five seasons as a minor league hitting coach and served as the manager for Team Netherlands in both the 2013 and 2017 World Baseball Classics. Able to speak five languages, the Curacao native has frequently been mentioned as a possible managerial candidate at the MLB level and has interviewed for positions in each of the past few offseasons (including with the Giants last month).

Meulens, nicknamed “Bam Bam,” enjoyed a seven-year Major League career and also played professionally in Korea, Japan and Mexico before retiring in the early 2000s. He spent 1989-93 seasons with the Yankees, meaning he and and recently extended Miami skipper Don Mattingly have a longstanding relationship dating back to their playing days.

The Giants have still yet to name a new manager — they did name a GM over the weekend — but will now be on the lookout for a new bench coach (at the very least) whenever the successor to Bruce Bochy is ultimately appointed.

NL Notes: Marlins, Raad, Mets, Regan, Amaro Jr.

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The Marlins have hired Hadi Raad to be their new director of pro scouting, according to a tweet from Lindsey Adler of The Athletic (link). Raad is a five-year veteran of the Yankees front office, most recently serving as the club’s director of minor league operations.

Raad, a collegiate player with Wheaton College from 2008 to 2010, carries scouting experience in both the Yankees and Rangers organizations. That Raad has ties with the Yankees may come as no particular surprise, considering that the Marlins have on a few occasions attracted figures connected to the old club of Miami CEO Derek Jeter. Recently, the club was said to have offered former Yankee Hensley Meulens a coaching role on the staff of manager Don Mattingly.

More notes from around the NL, mostly of the front office and coaching variety…

  • After a report indicated that the club would interview Jeremy Hefner of the Twins on Monday as part of their search for a new pitching coach, could the Mets still be considering old friend Phil Regan for the job? The club hasn’t “officially ruled out” Regan, who took over as New York’s pitching coach following Dave Eiland’s dismissal in mid-summer, as noted in a tweet from Andy Martino of SNY (link). Although references to Regan’s age (82) are applied perhaps a bit too liberally in the press, Martino rightfully points out that the club’s reported candidates–including Hefner and Michigan pitching coach Chris Fetter–are clearly of a different profile than the veteran instructor Regan.
  • Another well-traveled baseball figure, Ruben Amaro Jr., apparently still feels a deep connection with the Phillies organization for which he once served as GM, according to a profile from Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer (link). After a two-year stint with the Mets in which he served in both coaching and front office capacities, Amaro Jr. is again a professional “free agent” this offseason–and one unabashed about stating his desire to work with his old club in Philly. “I’d be lying to you if I told you I didn’t want to work in the organization in some capacity again,” Amaro Jr. said of the Phillies. “I would love to come back. It’s home for me.” The veteran baseball man and Philadelphia native also indicated to Brookover that there are currently a number of vocational paths open to him (as one would expect of someone with his resumé), but it’s still worth noting that the 54-year-old would welcome a return to the team that relieved him of his GM duties late in the 2015 season.

 

Martin Prado Appears Likely To Retire

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Veteran infielder Martin Prado appears to be preparing to call it quits, sources tell Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link). The 36-year-old reached the open market after wrapping up a three-year extension with the Marlins.

Prado was in the midst of a solid campaign when he re-upped with the Fish late in the 2016 season. It seemed at the time like a bit of a hefty guarantee, but not wildly out of whack for the value he might have commanded on the open market in the ensuing winter.

Unfortunately, that proved to be a last hurrah in an otherwise excellent career. A string of leg injuries limited Prado’s availability and his performance fell off a cliff. In the three campaigns that followed, Prado has been limited to just 616 plate appearances of .241/.276/.313 hitting.

Prado spent most of his time in 2019 at first base; clearly, there aren’t any organizations that would prefer to have that sort of offensive production occupying that position. There’s no question Prado would need to settle for a minor-league deal if he decides to play.

The rough ending doesn’t detract from Prado’s worthwhile time in the majors. He spent half of his 14 years with the Braves before stints with the Diamondbacks, Yankees, and Marlins. In total, he owns a .287/.335/.412 slash over 5,861 trips to the plate in that span.

Howie Kendrick Reportedly Drawing Early Interest

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On the heels of an outstanding bounceback campaign, veteran utilityman Howie Kendrick seems to be a popular early target. Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic reports on Twitter that at least a pair of teams are already showing interest.

The Rays and Marlins are two of the clubs knocking on the door at the outset of the open-market season, per Ghiroli, who indicates there are others as well. It’s not hard to imagine why — though for different reasons with respect to each team.

Kendrick turned in a .344/.395/.572 regular season showing over 370 plate appearances before coming up with two enormously important postseason home runs. He also hit the ball harder than just about anyone in baseball during the 2019 and remains capable of spending at least some time at second base and the corner outfield. He’s a part-time guy, but a pretty darn good one.

For the Rays, Kendrick would presumably function mostly as a right-handed-hitting component in their first base/DH mix, while appearing as needed elsewhere on the diamond. Given their numerous existing options, he’d be one nice piece of the puzzle. The Marlins, meanwhile, would like to up their offensive output while adding some veteran leadership.

Kendrick is a Florida native, Ghiroli notes, but he resides in Phoenix. That would seem to leave plenty of room for multiple possibilities, if geographical preferences will drive his decision at all. It stands to reason that the 36-year-old would like to play again for a contending outfit, all else being equal.

We noted that the Rays made for a nice possible fit in our recent Top 50 Free Agent predictions here at MLBTR, though we ultimately guessed Kendrick would land with the Twins. That prediction was based in part upon the notion that there’d be sufficient interest to drive him into a two-year deal at around $6MM annually, which might be a bit rich for the Tampa Bay org. Ghiroli notes that Kendrick is seeking a short-term arrangement, though it’s not evident whether he has a preference for a one or two-year pact.

Super Two Cutoff Set At 2.115 Years Of Service

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NOV. 5: This year’s cutoff is set at precisely 2.115 days of service, MLBTR has learned.

OCT. 10: This year’s cutoff point to determine Super Two status will be unusually low, per Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (via Twitter). While an exact cutoff point is yet unclear, McCalvy reports that Josh Hader, who has two years and 115 days of MLB service time (abbreviated as 2.115) will be eligible for arbitration this winter. In essence, that means that Hader is about to become a very well-compensated reliever. That would’ve been the case in the 2020-21 offseason anyway, but he’ll now tap into that earning power a year early. It’s also worth noting that this cutoff point will place Miami’s JT Riddle, who finished the season at 2.118 years of service, into arbitration eligibility as well.

A 2.115 cutoff would already be the lowest Super Two threshold in the past decade. The previous lowpoints in that span came in 2010 and 2013, when the cutoff was 2.122. Last year, it settled at 2.134. If the threshold is any lower this season, others could also be impacted. Arizona’s Luke Weaver (2.112) and Oakland’s Matt Chapman (2.109) are the most notable names within reasonable distance of Hader’s 2.115.

Super Two designation is one of the innumerable quirks to the ever-confounding arbitration system. For the unfamiliar, Major League players earn “service time” for every day spent on an MLB roster. One year of MLB service is defined as 172 days — despite the fact that there are more days than that in the regular season. (This year’s season was 186 days; again — hooray for quirks!)

Upon reaching three years of service time, all players become eligible for salary arbitration. Prior to that point, teams are effectively able to set (most) player salaries at any rate they wish, so long as it is north of the league minimum. Many teams have formulas they use to determine pre-arbitration salaries, and it’s quite rare for pre-arb players to earn even $1MM (barring a long-term extension). Arbitration is the first point at which players and their agents can begin negotiating with teams regarding their salary, though arbitration prices still typically fall shy of open-market value.

The “Super Two” wrinkle further complicates matters. The top 22 percent of players (in terms of total service time) with between two and three years of service also are considered eligible for arbitration and termed “Super Two” players. Any player who falls into that service bucket and spent at least 86 days of the preceding season on a 25-man roster or the Major League injured list become eligible a year early and then go through the arbitration process four times.

In the case of Hader, he’s now in line for a fairly considerable salary. He has 37 more innings, eight more saves and a whopping 116 more strikeouts than his own teammate, Corey Knebel, had when reaching arbitration as a Super Two player last season. Knebel landed a $3.65MM salary, which Hader should handily top. Beyond that, Hader’s subsequent raises in 2021, 2022 and 2023 will be built off a higher base because of his early entry into the arbitration process.

Once the exact cutoff is determined, we’ll add projections for Hader, Riddle and any other newly minted arbitration-eligible players to our just-released annual list of arbitration projections.

Marlins Offer Coaching Position To Hensley Meulens

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Nov. 4: The Marlins have made Meulens a formal offer to join their 2020 staff, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi tweets. Meulens, however, has received interest from multiple clubs since being eliminated from the Giants’ managerial search, per Morosi, so it seems he could yet have a decision on his hands.

Nov. 1: The Marlins are in talks with current Giants bench coach Hensley Meulens about a role on their staff in 2020, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweets. Meulens has been told he’s not a finalist in San Francisco’s search for a new manager, per the report, and it seems there’s now a chance the organization will lose him entirely. SiriusXM’s Craig Mish adds that Meulens would likely step into the role of hitting coach if the two sides do work out a deal. He’d pair with bench coach and “offensive coordinator” James Rowson, recently hired away from the Twins, to work on reshaping the organization’s approach at the plate.

Meulens, 52, has spent the past decade on the Giants’ coaching staff under the recently retired Bruce Bochy. He’s been bench coach for the past couple of seasons but previously served as the club’s hitting coach and is also responsible for outfield defense and positioning instruction. Meulens was the Giants’ hitting coach for each of their three World Series titles in 2010, 2012 and 2014. He also has five years of experience as a minor league hitting coach and served as the manager for Team Netherlands in both the 2013 and 2017 World Baseball Classics.

A native of Willemstad, Curacao, Meulens would bring an important bilingual presence to a Marlins club that has a number of key players from Venezuela, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Cuba both on the big league roster and rising through a rapidly improving farm system. Meulens played parts of seven seasons in the Majors — teaming with recently extended Marlins manager Don Mattingly as a Yankee from 1989-93 — and also played professionally in Japan (1994-96), Korea (2000) and Mexico (2001-02).

NL Notes: Rockies, Marlins, Mets

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The Rockies pitching staff collapsed in 2019, and it led to a myriad of attempted fixes, per The Athletic’s Nick Groke. So far, however, the Rockies remain at a loss. There is concern about the state of the baseball and how it reacts in Colorado’s altitude, but scouts around baseball also point to a habit of “careless deliveries” among Colorado hurlers as a cause for concern. Bud Black and his team are hard at work trying to diagnose the issue(s), and without payroll flexibility over the winter, identifying internal solutions might be their best chance at improvement in 2020. Still, it’s a dispiriting read for Colorado’s fans, as the Groke writes that the Rockies went so far as to “shut down their top starter, 24-year-old German Márquez, in late August, in part to save him from the bombardment.” They’ll have a clean slate in 2020, but a long road ahead as the Dodgers remain a juggernaut, while the Diamondbacks and Padres are rising contenders. Let’s check in elsewhere around the NL…

  • The Marlins feel much differently about the future of their pitching staff. This season definitely opened some eyes to the burgeoning talent in Miami’s rotation, but the best may be yet to come. Miami management believes they have a dozen or more identifiable arms in their system with big-league rotation potential, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Jose Urena has been the big name of the rotation in year’s past, but his future is uncertain with Caleb Smith, Sandy Alcantara, Jordan Yamamoto, Pablo Lopez, and Elieser Hernandez all competing for regular roles next year.
  • Managing the Mets is not the easiest job in baseball, but in tabbing Carlos Beltran for the role, New York found someone who knows what to expect and is ready to handle the unique challenge of managing in Queens, per The Athletic’s Tim Britton. Beltran is a long-respected clubhouse leader, and though he’ll be new to the managing role, he is no stranger to the New York spotlight. Ownership rarely takes a backseat for the Mets, but Beltran’s existing relationships will help him in that department as well. The biggest obstacle to a successful tenure for Beltran remains in Atlanta, DC, and Philadelphia.

Marlins To Decline Club Option On Starlin Castro

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As expected, the Marlins will decline their $16MM option on infielder Starlin Castro, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link).  Castro will instead receive a $1MM buyout and head into the free agent market for the first time in his career.

Castro’s eventual departure from Miami has been more or less forecast ever since he was acquired from the Yankees as part of the Giancarlo Stanton blockbuster in December 2017.  Castro’s inclusion in the deal was largely due to help balance out the salaries involved in the trade, and the Marlins have spent much of the last two seasons exploring trades for Castro as part of the club’s efforts to pare down payroll and move veteran talent.

Castro didn’t entirely help his trade value by posting a pair of decent but unspectacular seasons in Miami.  2018 saw him hit .278/.329/.400 over 647 PA, with a 101 wRC+ and 102 OPS+ indicating slightly above-average offense and solid glovework upping his value to 2.3 fWAR.  He took a step back to 1.3 fWAR and a 91 wRC+/94 OPS+ in 2019 largely due to a horrific opening three months of the season, as Castro hit only .230/.258/.313 over his first 345 plate appearances.

His much improved hitting from July 1 onward will help Castro’s chances in free agency, and he also boosted his versatility by playing third base for the first time in his Major League career, appearing in 45 games at the hot corner last season.  Though a ten-year veteran, Castro still doesn’t turn 30 years old until March, making him both younger and with a lot more experience as an everyday performer than several of the other second-tier options on the second base/third base market.

The Marlins will move forward with prospect Isan Diaz penciled into second base, though since Diaz only had a .566 OPS over his first 201 Major League plate appearances, Miami is likely to look for a veteran backup or multi-position player who could step into second base duty if Diaz still needs more minor league seasoning.  Re-signing Castro is “not a priority early in free agency,” Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald hears from a source, though the Marlins haven’t totally closed the door on the possibility of a Castro return.

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