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Rangers Acquire Jake Burger

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10:15am: Both clubs announced the deal today.

12:21am: The Rangers and Marlins have reportedly agreed to a deal that’ll send corner infielder Jake Burger to Texas for a trio of prospects. Miami receives infielders Max Acosta and Echedry Vargas as well as pitching prospect Brayan Mendoza.

Burger adds an affordable bat to deepen the Texas lineup. The Rangers surprisingly struggled to produce offense this year. Texas had a .238/.305/.380 team batting line that slotted in the bottom third of the league. They finished 18th in scoring. It was a far cry from the 2023 lineup that mashed its way to a championship.

The 28-year-old Burger can step into the middle of the order. He popped 29 home runs with a .250/.306/.460 slash line over 579 plate appearances. The former first-round pick combined for 34 longballs between the White Sox and Marlins in 2023. His 63 homers over the past two seasons ties him with José Ramírez and Corey Seager for 15th in MLB.

Burger, a righty hitter, is more of a one-dimensional slugger than many of his peers at the top of the home run leaderboard. He’s a .250/.305/.488 hitter over the last two years. Burger strikes out a higher than average rate and doesn’t draw many walks, but he has gotten to his huge power against pitchers of either handedness. He’s a career .244/.298/.496 hitter against lefty pitching and carries a .253/.308/.478 slash versus right-handers.

A third baseman for most of his career, Burger divided his time fairly evenly between the infield corners in 2024. He’s a poor defender at the hot corner, where his 6’2″, 230-pound frame limits his mobility. Burger posted roughly average defensive marks at first base in nearly 500 innings. While he doesn’t project as the starter at either position in Arlington, he’s insurance at both spots. Third baseman Josh Jung has battled a litany of injuries. Nathaniel Lowe has a strong durability track record, but he’s not guaranteed to stick on the roster all year. The Rangers could think about trading Lowe, who is projected for a hefty $10.7MM arbitration salary, if they’re working with a tight budget after committing to a $25MM annual salary to retain Nathan Eovaldi.

If they hold Lowe, Burger would project as the top option at designated hitter. That’d allow the Rangers to keep Wyatt Langford in left field, while Evan Carter could slide to center field and push Leody Taveras to the bench. That’s seemingly a goal for GM Chris Young and his staff. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News wrote on Tuesday evening that Texas had been in contact with free agent DH Joc Pederson. That’s a far less likely fit now that Burger is in the fold.

Burger is under team control for four seasons. He finished five days shy of the cutoff to qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player. He’ll be paid close to the league minimum for one more season before getting his first salary of significance next offseason. That’s of clear appeal to a Texas team that has a projected luxury tax number around $219MM (courtesy of RosterResource), a little more than $20MM shy of the base threshold. With a reported desire to avoid the tax and multiple holes in the bullpen they still need to address, Burger’s affordability is a big plus.

From Miami’s perspective, it’s another move to shape the roster more to the liking of second-year baseball operations leader Peter Bendix. Former general manager Kim Ng made the move to acquire Burger at the ’23 deadline. It’s possible Bendix was never enamored with the profile, as he comes from a Rays front office that placed a lot of emphasis on infield defense and versatility.

Acosta, 22, steps onto Miami’s 40-man roster. Texas selected his contract last month to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. The Venezuelan-born infielder hit .288/.353/.425 with eight homers over 434 plate appearances at Double-A Frisco. He’s an advanced contact hitter with minimal power. Acosta has experience at both middle infield positions and could be a utility option in the near future.

Vargas, who turns 20 in February, spent the entire season at Low-A Down East. He popped 14 homers and stole 29 bases in 97 games with a .276/.321/.454 slash line. Vargas has a very aggressive plate approach but there’s a fair amount of upside in the power-speed combination for a player who has played shortstop thus far in his career.

Mendoza, a 6’0″ lefty from Venezuela, had a nice year in the low minors. The 20-year-old combined for a 2.32 earned run average through 101 innings. He struck out 26.3% of batters faced while limiting his walks to a 6.4% clip. While Mendoza hasn’t gotten much public prospect fanfare, he has the look of a potential pichability lefty.

Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported the Rangers were acquiring Burger for three prospects. Robert Murray of FanSided was first with Acsota’s inclusion. Christina De Nicola of MLB.com had the Vargas element, while Alden González of ESPN was first on Mendoza. Image courtesy of Imagn.

Nationals Win Draft Lottery

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Major League Baseball conducted its third annual draft lottery this afternoon at the Winter Meetings. The Nationals won the lottery and will pick first overall. They’ll be followed by the Angels and Mariners. Washington had just above a 10% chance of securing the top pick, the fourth-highest odds.

Here’s the first round order:

  1. Nationals
  2. Angels
  3. Mariners
  4. Rockies
  5. Cardinals
  6. Pirates
  7. Marlins
  8. Blue Jays
  9. Reds
  10. White Sox
  11. Athletics
  12. Rangers
  13. Giants
  14. Rays
  15. Red Sox
  16. Twins
  17. Cubs
  18. Diamondbacks
  19. Astros
  20. Braves
  21. Orioles
  22. Brewers
  23. Royals
  24. Tigers
  25. Padres
  26. Phillies
  27. Mets
  28. Guardians
  29. Yankees
  30. Dodgers

As part of the Players Association’s efforts to reduce the incentive for non-competitive teams to lose games, the latest collective bargaining agreement introduced a lottery to determine the top six overall selections. A team’s odds of landing a higher pick are still weighted in favor of the clubs with the worst records, although the Rockies and Marlins had identical chances (22.5% apiece) of landing the top selection.

All non-playoff teams ostensibly have a chance to win the lottery. However, the CBA also prevents a team that is not a revenue sharing recipient from landing within the top six in consecutive seasons. No team can get a lottery pick more than two years in a row. That ruled out the White Sox and Athletics this year. Chicago is not a revenue sharing recipient and picked fifth last year, while the A’s were in the top six in both 2023 and ’24.

The Sox were not allowed to pick higher than 10th, while the A’s were capped at 11th. That’s despite the White Sox having the worst season of all time that would’ve placed them among the three likeliest teams to pick first. That increased the odds for every team but was especially beneficial to Colorado and Miami (from a probability perspective) by pushing their chances of the #1 pick north of 20%. Unfortunately for those teams, the balls didn’t bounce their way. The Angels and Nationals were the other teams with at least a 10% shot.

Seattle and St. Louis come away as big winners. The Mariners went 85-77 and had the second-best record of any non-playoff team. St. Louis had the fourth-best mark for clubs that didn’t get to the postseason. They nevertheless were fortunate to spring into the top five. It’s a particularly disappointing outcome for Miami, who didn’t land a lottery pick at all despite sharing the best shot at the first selection. The only silver lining is that they’ll remain eligible for lottery picks for at least 2026 and ’27 if they don’t make the playoffs.

Teams that exceeded the third tier of luxury penalization have their top picks dropped by 10 spots unless that selection lands within the top six. (In that instance, the club’s second-highest pick would move back.) MLB has yet to officially announce the 2024 tax data, but it is believed that the Mets, Dodgers and Yankees are the only clubs that surpassed the $277MM threshold for the pick to be dropped. All those teams made the playoffs and weren’t eligible for the lottery anyhow.

The lottery only comes into play for the first round of the draft. From the second round onwards, pick order is determined in inverse order of the prior season’s standings, aside from compensatory and competitive balance selections.

Baseball America published its most recent Top 100 draft prospects in September. As always, that’s worth a full read. Texas A&M outfielder Jace LaViolette topped BA’s list, though there’ll obviously be plenty of changes to the board as next spring’s amateur baseball season gets underway.

Marlins Fielding Interest In Jesus Luzardo

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The Marlins are getting calls on starter Jesús Luzardo, reports Jon Morosi of the MLB Network (X link). Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of the Athletic write that the Fish are willing to entertain trade talks on the talented southpaw.

On the one hand, a team in a full rebuild like Miami is going to be open to discussing essentially every veteran player. Luzardo is a tough trade candidate, though, as the Marlins are shopping him while his value is at a low point. His ’24 campaign was more or less decimated by injury. Luzardo went on the injured list in the middle of April with elbow inflammation. He returned in May but was shelved again five weeks later by back issues. That not only took him off the table as a deadline trade candidate, it ended his season. Luzardo was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his lower back and couldn’t return to the mound.

Neither injury required surgery and Luzardo was able to begin non-throwing baseball activities by the end of the regular season. There’s no indication he won’t be full go for Spring Training. Still, there’s little doubt that acquiring teams are going to account for the injury risk as they weigh what to offer Miami.

Luzardo has spent a lot of time on the IL over his career. He fractured his throwing hand in 2021 and lost a good portion of the ’22 season to a forearm strain. He also has a Tommy John surgery on his medical chart dating back to high school in 2016. He has only topped 100 1/3 innings in an MLB season once.

That lone healthy campaign offered tantalizing upside. Luzardo took a full 32 turns through the rotation in 2023. He fired 178 2/3 frames of 3.58 ERA ball while punching out 28.1% of opposing hitters. He averaged nearly 97 MPH on his fastball, missed bats with both his slider and changeup, and limited his walks to a solid 7.4% clip.

That version of Luzardo was a #2 or high-end #3 starter, the kind of pitcher a team would happily plug into their playoff rotation. Luzardo didn’t show that form last year even when he was able to take the mound. He allowed five earned runs per nine with a diminished 21.2% strikeout rate in 66 2/3 frames. He still posted plus whiff rates on his secondary pitches, but his average fastball velocity dipped to 95.2 MPH and opponents teed off on it.

There’s obvious appeal for contenders to attempt to buy low. Luzardo is under arbitration control for two seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $6MM salary. That’s a bargain in comparison to a free agent market where a rebound candidate like Frankie Montas signed for $17MM annually and mid-rotation arms Yusei Kikuchi and Luis Severino landed more than $20MM per season on three-year deals.

Miami doesn’t have as much urgency to make a sell-low trade. Luzardo won’t make the difference between them contending for a postseason spot or not, but a strong first half could rehabilitate his value. If he demonstrates his 2023 form for three months, Luzardo would arguably be the biggest trade chip of the ’25 deadline. In the best case scenario, Miami could realistically seek multiple Top 100 type prospects next summer. If he struggles or suffers another significant injury, of course, whatever trade value he currently has would basically evaporate.

It’s largely a matter of risk tolerance for president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and his staff. The Fish have very little on the books for next season, so they’re not under any financial pressure to move Luzardo. He’ll be the highest-paid member of their otherwise modest arbitration class. They’re still on the hook for $17MM (including an option buyout) to released outfielder Avisaíl García. The only other player on a guaranteed deal is ace Sandy Alcantara, who’ll make $17MM next year. The Marlins reportedly informed Alcantara in August that they had no intention of trading him this offseason.

Marlins Release Mike Baumann To Pursue NPB Opportunity

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7:22pm: Baumann is actually headed to Japan. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN reports (on X) that the CAA client has agreed to a deal with the Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball.

7:13pm: The Marlins released reliever Mike Baumann, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction tracker. Miami’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.

Baumann landed with the Fish on a waiver claim in late August. They were rather incredibly his fifth team of the season. The out-of-options righty bounced around as the last man in the bullpen for each of the Orioles, Mariners, Giants and Angels as well. Baumann didn’t pitch especially well for any of those clubs. He finished the year with a 5.55 earned run average over 58 1/3 innings. His 22% strikeout percentage wasn’t far off the MLB average, but he walked an elevated 10.6% of opponents while giving up plenty of hard contact.

The 29-year-old was a capable middle reliever for the Orioles as recently as 2023. He worked to a 3.76 ERA in a career-high 64 2/3 innings with Baltimore two seasons ago. Assuming he clears release waivers, Baumann will become a free agent. He’s probably looking at minor league deals but won’t have any issue getting a non-roster invite to MLB camp.

As for Miami, the move appears to be related to Wednesday’s Rule 5 draft. The Fish could not have made a selection if they went into the draft with a full 40-man roster. Miami picks third behind the White Sox and Rockies. The Marlins could have a target of their own in mind or try to work out a draft-and-trade with a team that sits lower in the order.

NL East Notes: Phillies, Harper, Finnegan, Alcantara

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The Phillies are known to be looking for outfield help this winter, though moving Bryce Harper from first base back into the outfield doesn’t appear to be a consideration.  Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer wonders if the Phils could possibly re-evaluate this stance, as Lauber feels the first base market (for both free agents and trade possibilities) is much deeper than this winter’s outfield market.  Of the top outfielders in free agency, Juan Soto seems likely to be going to one of the other big-market clubs, while Teoscar Hernandez and Anthony Santander each have the strikeout or chase rate issues that the Phillies are already looking to correct within their current lineup.  Philadelphia did have interest in Hernandez back at the 2023 trade deadline when the slugger was still a member of the Mariners, but Lauber notes that the Phils passed on Hernandez under the similar logic that Hernandez’s power wouldn’t offset his tendency to swing and miss.

Harper’s first full season as a first baseman was a success, as he posted strong defensive numbers and kept up his usual high standards at the plate.  These results have understandably left all parties satisfied with just keeping Harper at the cold corner, though Harper has expressed an openness to playing the outfield again and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski didn’t entirely close the door on the possibility (“I can’t say that we’d never do it, but it’s not something that we are thinking of or wanting to do“) when discussing the subject at the GM Meetings last month.

If Harper did return to his old spot in right field, Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas would likely become the Phillies’ new center field platoon, and Nick Castellanos would presumably be shifted over to left field.  This arrangement wouldn’t exactly make for the strongest defensive outfield, even if the Phillies tried to balance out the situation by adding a stronger defender at first base.  Trading Castellanos to clear space in the outfield might be the ideal outcome, though that is obviously easier said than done considering the two years and $40MM remaining on the veteran’s contract.

More from the NL East…

  • Before the Nationals parted ways with Kyle Finnegan, the two parties at least had some talks about a new contract prior to the non-tender deadline, but the Washington Post’s Andrew Golden hears from a source that “the sides were not close to making a deal to avoid arbitration.”  Finnegan was projected by MLBTR’s Matt Swartz to earn $8.6MM in his final year of arb eligibility, as traditional counting stats like saves (Finnegan had 28 saves in 2023 and 38 saves in 2024) tend to boost a reliever’s arbitration salaries by a significant degree, regardless of Finnegan’s otherwise rather shaky secondary metrics.  It seems as though the Nationals would’ve been open to retaining the closer at a lower number, but ultimately weren’t comfortable retaining Finnegan and possibly facing a higher salary via arbitration hearing if the Nats couldn’t have potentially traded Finnegan at some later date this offseason.
  • Sandy Alcantara underwent Tommy John surgery in October 2023, and after over a year of recovery and rehab, the Marlins ace appears to be making good progress towards a return.  In a recent appearance on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (link to X), manager Clayton McCullough said he met with Alcantara within the last week and “he looked great, he sounded great, felt like he was really right on track at this point….All signs point to things looking very positive for the start of the season.”  The winner of the 2022 NL Cy Young Award, Alcantara threw more innings than any other pitcher in baseball over the 2019-2022 seasons as the anchor of the Marlins’ pitching staff, before that workload seemingly caught up to him late in the 2023 campaign.  Since Alcantara is owed at least $36MM over the last two years of his contract, some trade buzz will be inevitable if he looks like his old self at the start of 2025, though the rebuilding Marlins already told Alcantara last summer that they likely weren’t trading him this offseason.

Marlins To Hire Daniel Moskos As Pitching Coach

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The Marlins intend to hire Daniel Moskos as pitching coach, as first revealed by Kyle Sielaff and Stephen Strom of the team’s radio network (X link). It’ll be the first lead pitching coach job for the 38-year-old.

Selected fourth overall by the Pirates in the 2007 draft, Moskos reached the majors for 31 relief appearances four years later. That was the extent of his big league playing experience. The Clemson product pitched in the upper minors and in Mexico through 2018 before moving into the coaching ranks. He worked in the Yankees’ system for a couple seasons before joining the Cubs as an assistant pitching coach over the 2021-22 offseason.

Moskos has spent the past three seasons on staff in Chicago. He worked under David Ross and kept that position for Craig Counsell’s first year on the North Side. Tommy Hottovy has held the top pitching coach role in Chicago for the last six seasons.

Miami has begun to build out the staff under first-year manager Clayton McCullough. The Marlins have reportedly tabbed Seattle field coordinator Carson Vitale as bench coach and are naming Giants’ assistant hitting coach Pedro Guerrero as their top hitting instructor.

Marlins To Hire Carson Vitale As Bench Coach

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The Marlins are set to hire Carson Vitale away from the Mariners to serve as new manager Clayton McCullough’s bench coach, reports Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. Vitale has spent the past seven seasons with Seattle, including five as their major league field coordinator.

Vitale, 36, was Seattle’s minor league field coordinator before joining the big league staff in 2020. Prior to that, he was the Dodgers’ international field coordinator for two seasons (2016-17) and spent several years as a hitting coach and manager in the Angels’ minor league system. The Victoria, British Columbia native was drafted in the 38th round as a catcher out of Creighton University by the Rangers back in 2010 and played parts of two minor league seasons before setting a course down a coaching path.

Miami still has a ways to go in terms of filling out its coaching staff. The Marlins gutted their entire coaching staff after Skip Schumaker’s departure as manager, and McCullough’s hiring has only been official for two weeks. Miami has also reportedly hired former Giants assistant hitting coach Pedro Guerrero to serve as their new hitting coach, but he and Vitale are the only known hires to date. Both coaches have ties to Marlins assistant GM Gabe Kapler; Vitale worked with both Kapler and McCullough in Los Angeles, while Guerrero was on Kapler’s coaching staff in San Francisco and in Philadelphia when he managed the Giants and Phillies.

National League Non-Tenders: 11/22/24

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The deadline to tender a contract to arbitration-eligible players is tonight at 7pm CT. Here’s a rundown of the players on National League teams that have been non-tendered today. This post will be updated as more decisions are revealed. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected salaries for all players eligible for arbitration last month. All players who are non-tendered before this evening’s deadline go directly into free agency, where they’re eligible to sign with any of MLB’s 30 clubs.

Onto the transactions…

  • The Braves non-tendered outfielder Ramón Laureano, left-hander Ray Kerr, as well as right-handers Griffin Canning, Huascar Ynoa and Royber Salinas, which you can read more about here.
  • The Brewers parted ways with lefty reliever Hoby Milner, who’d been projected at $2.7MM for his final arbitration season. The typically reliable southpaw was tagged for a 4.73 ERA in 64 2/3 innings this year.
  • The Cardinals have non-tendered right-hander Adam Kloffenstein, per Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat (Bluesky link). The righty only just made his major league debut in 2024 and was not yet arb-eligible. He immediately becomes a free agent without being exposed to waivers.
  • The Cubs have non-tendered infielder Nick Madrigal, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN (X link). Madrigal has hit .251/.304/.312 for a 76 wRC+ over the last three seasons with the Cubs and was projected for a $1.9MM salary next year. Chicago also announced they non-tendered outfielder Mike Tauchman, which comes as a bit of a surprise after he reached base at a .357 clip this year. Patrick Wisdom, Adbert Alzolay, Brennen Davis and Trey Wingenter — all of whom were designated for assignment earlier this week — were also dropped.
  • The Diamondbacks non-tendered lefty reliever Brandon Hughes, per a club announcement. The 28-year-old southpaw allowed 16 runs over 17 2/3 big league innings this year. He wasn’t eligible for arbitration but would’ve occupied a 40-man roster spot if offered a contract.
  • The Dodgers are non-tendering right-hander Brent Honeywell Jr. and left-hander Zach Logue, per Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times (X link). Both pitchers are still in their pre-arbitration years, so this was more about the Dodgers sending them to free agency without exposing them to waivers, as opposed to cost cutting. Perhaps the club will look to re-sign them on minor league deals.
  • The Giants only made two non-tenders, parting with lefty Ethan Small and righty Kai-Wei Teng. Teng had been designated for assignment earlier in the week. Small, who was in his pre-arbitration years, spent the season in the minors or on the injured list.
  • The Marlins had zero non-tenders. They offered contracts to everyone on the 40-man roster.
  • The Mets dropped a trio of players from the 40-man roster: relievers Grant Hartwig and Alex Young and outfield prospect Alex Ramirez. Young was the only member of that group who’d been eligible for arbitration. The southpaw pitched well in a depth role, but the Mets didn’t want to keep him around at a $1.4MM projection. Hartwig made four appearances this year, while the 21-year-old Ramirez (a former top prospect) had a .210/.291/.299 showing in Double-A.
  • The Nationals announced that they have non-tendered right-hander Kyle Finnegan and Tanner Rainey, which you can read more about here.
  • The Padres dropped four players from the roster: righties Luis Patino and Logan Gillaspie, outfielder Bryce Johnson and infielder Mason McCoy. Patino, who underwent Tommy John surgery last summer, was the only member of the group who’d been eligible for arbitration. The other three cuts are simply about roster maintenance. The Padres could try to bring anyone from that group back on minor league deals.
  • The Phillies will not be tendering a contract to outfielder Austin Hays, which MLBTR covered earlier today.
  • The Pirates are expected to non-tender first baseman/outfielder Connor Joe and outfielder Bryan De La Cruz, per Alex Stumpf of MLB.com (Bluesky link). They are also non-tendering right-hander Hunter Stratton, per Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (X link). Joe was projected for a salary of $3.2MM next year and De La Cruz $4MM. Stratton had not yet qualified for arbitration. Joe has been around league average at the plate in his career but doing more damage against lefties. De La Cruz has hit .253/.297/.407 in his career for a wRC+ of 90. Startton had a 3.58 ERA this year but his season was ended by knee surgery, giving him an uncertain path forward.
  • The Reds have non-tendered right-hander Ian Gibaut, per Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Bluesky link). The righty was projected for a salary of $800K. He spent the vast majority of 2024 on the injured list due to arm trouble and only made two appearances on the season.
  • The Rockies moved on from starter Cal Quantrill and second baseman Brendan Rodgers, which MLBTR covered here.

Marlins To Add Three Players To 40-Man Roster

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The Marlins are going to be selecting three players to their 40-man roster ahead of today’s Rule 5 protection deadline, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com on X. They are infielders Deyvison De Los Santos and Jared Serna as well as left-hander Dax Fulton. The 40-man roster will be full when the moves are official.

De Los Santos, 22 in June, just arrived with the Marlins at the trade deadline. He was one of two young players that the Fish received when trading lefty A.J. Puk to the Snakes in July. He went on to hit .240/.284/.459 while striking out in 28.4% of his plate appearances after the deal, leading to an 85 wRC+.

The Marlins are undoubtedly hoping that he can get back to the form he showed prior to the trade. In 87 contests this year ahead to the deal, he produced a robust .325/.376/.635 slash line while launching 28 home runs, leading to a 159 wRC+.

De Los Santos is a divisive prospect because the power is exciting but most of his other tools are considered weak. He has played both infield corners but isn’t well regarded for his glovework. He doesn’t take walks or provide much on the basepaths.

Still, a rebuilding club like the Marlins could give him some at-bats and see if the homers make him valuable regardless. The Fish have guys like Jake Burger, Jonah Bride and Connor Norby in their corner infield rotation but De Los Santos will give them some depth there. He already had 99 games of Triple-A experience and could make his major league debut at any time.

Serna, 23 in June, is also a new Marlin. He was one of three players to come from the Yankees as part of the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade from this summer. He has slashed .265/.358/.435 over his four minor league seasons, walking at a solid 10.8% clip while keeping his strikeouts down to a 16.6% level, production leads to a 123 wRC+.

He may be ticketed for a utility role down the line, as he has played shortstop, second base, third base and a bit of right field as well. His shortstop defense isn’t considered especially strong, so he may end up playing those other positions a bit more. Prior to the trade, he had never played above High-A, so a major league debut might not be imminent. The Marlins did put him into 39 Double-A games and 6 Triple-A games after the swap, but he’s probably ticketed for more time in the upper levels of the minors next year.

Fulton, 23, is unlike the other two in that he was actually drafted and developed by the Marlins. A second-round pick from 2020, he has posted some strong numbers but hasn’t pitched since undergoing surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament in June of 2023. Prior to that surgery, he posted a 4.27 ERA in 229 2/3 innings across multiple levels from 2021 to 2023. His 10% walk rate was a bit high but he punched out 27.6% of batters faced. He will presumably need some time to get back into game shape after missing all of 2024, but he will eventually provide the Marlins with some pitching depth when he is back to full strength.

Marlins Outright Christian Roa

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The Marlins sent right-hander Christian Roa outright to Triple-A Jacksonville, according to the MLB.com transaction log. That drops the team’s 40-man roster count to 37. Teams need to decide by Tuesday which prospects they want to add to the 40-man to keep out of the Rule 5 draft.

Miami just grabbed Roa off waivers from the Reds two weeks ago. They presumably did so with the hope of getting him through waivers themselves. They succeeded in that bid and can retain him as non-roster depth (assuming he goes unselected in the Rule 5). Roa had never previously been outrighted and does not have the requisite service time to elect free agency.

Roa was Cincinnati’s second-round pick in 2020. The Texas A&M product has yet to make his major league debut. The Reds selected his contract last offseason to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. They kept him on optional assignment to Triple-A Louisville for most of the season. Roa struggled to a 5.55 earned run average in 48 2/3 innings across 23 appearances. His season ended with a shoulder strain.

That clearly wasn’t a great showing, but Roa ranked among the Reds’ top 30 prospects at Baseball America entering 2024. He’d been a starter for most of his career before moving to the bullpen this year. Prospect evaluators have raised that possibility for a while because of his subpar control. Entering the season, BA credited Roa with a decent four-pitch mix headlined by an above-average slider. He’ll probably get a non-roster invite to big league Spring Training.

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