Marlins To Decline Fernando Rodney’s Option
The Marlins will decline reliever Fernando Rodney‘s 2017 option, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter) — and as various reporters, including MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro, have previously suggested would occur. Previous reporting had indicated the Marlins were interested in trading Rodney, but it appears they couldn’t find a deal they like, and Rodney will become a free agent. The Marlins will pay Rodney a $400K buyout.
Rodney’s contract, originally signed with the Padres, called for the option to carry a base salary of $2MM, but he cleared bonuses in 2016 that brought the value of the option to $4.5MM. That was, evidently, more than the Marlins were willing to pay, which perhaps is understandable — Rodney will be 40 before the start of the 2017 season, and he struggled in Miami, posting a 5.89 ERA, 10.1 K/9 and 6.1 BB/9 in 36 2/3 innings there after arriving in a June trade for prospect Chris Paddack. He eventually lost the closer role to A.J. Ramos, the same pitcher he had originally displaced.
Nonetheless, Rodney pitched very well for the Padres at the start of the season, and his overall numbers for the year (3.44 ERA, 10.2 K/9 and 5.1 BB/9 in 65 1/3 innings) suggest he’ll attract real interest on the open market this winter, particularly given his experience closing. He still gets grounders, too, with a 55.2% groundball rate on the year. If teams believe that the veteran can tamp down his home run susceptibility — 16.1% HR/FB rate in 2015, 13.5% last year — then he ought to hold quite a bit of appeal, particularly with his average fastball still averaging better then 95 mph.
Pat Neshek, Fernando Rodney, Carlos Ruiz Available In Trades
While most of the baseball world has its focus on Game 6 of the World Series in Cleveland tomorrow night, there are still of course trade talks going on behind the scenes, and Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that three players who are currently available on the trade market are Astros right-hander Pat Neshek, Marlins right-hander Fernando Rodney and Dodgers catcher Carlos Ruiz. Each of the three players has a club option, and their teams appear open to trading them in the days immediately following the postseason before option decisions are made. Fan Rag’s Jon Heyman wrote last night that teams are already showing interest in Ruiz, who could be moved even if his option is picked up by the Dodgers. (In that scenario, Austin Barnes would get the nod as the backup to Yasmani Grandal.)
Neshek, 36, has a $6.5MM club option on his deal that comes with a $500K buyout. He’s coming off a 3.06 ERA with 8.2 K/9, 2.1 BB/9 and a 33.3 percent ground-ball rate in 47 innings out of the Houston bullpen this season — solid across-the-board numbers that are largely similar to the numbers he posted during his first season with the Astros in 2015. However, Neshek’s role was diminished in 2016, as manager A.J. Hinch frequently shielded him from facing left-handed opponents.
Hinch’s reasoning is easy to see; Neshek has held opposing right-handers to a woeful .193/.235/.336 batting line across the past two seasons, but lefties have knocked him around at a .256/.328/.516 clip. The problem was more glaring in 2016, when lefties had little trouble squaring up against Neshek’s sidearm delivery and slashed .250/.321/.646 against him. Neshek faced 130 right-handed batters and just 55 lefties in 2016, so he’s probably looked at as more of a righty specialist by many clubs, though he did hold left-handed opponents to a .541 OPS as recently as 2014. Getting him at one year and $6.5MM may be more preferable to some teams than exploring the free-agent market and issuing a multi-year deal to one of the many setup men available.
Rodney, who will turn 40 next March, has a more affordable $4.5MM club option but is coming off a worse season on the mound. The veteran righty opened the year as the Padres’ closer and posted a preposterous 0.31 ERA through his first 28 2/3 innings with San Diego. Along the way, he averaged 10.4 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 to go along with an enormous 59 percent ground-ball rate, but his season crumbled upon being traded to the Marlins. Rodney still averaged 10 strikeouts per nine innings and posted a solid-but-diminished 52 percent ground-ball rate in Miami, but his BB/9 rate spiked to 6.8 and he was tagged for a 5.89 ERA in 36 2/3 innings with the Fish. There’s a $400K buyout on his option that the Marlins would pay him if they’re unable to find a trade partner. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald has recently reported that the Marlins don’t have any intentions of exercising the option, so if another club values Rodney at $4.5MM on a one-year commitment, they could probably have him for a minimal cost.
As for Ruiz, the 37-year-old (38 in January) spent his entire career with the Phillies before an August trade saw him trade in his red pinstripes for Dodger blue. His contract contains a $4.5MM option for the 2017 season that comes with a $500K buyout for the Dodgers. While he didn’t have a great season at the plate, Ruiz did bat a very respectable .264/.365/.348 with three homers in 233 plate appearances. He also threw out an NL-best 42 percent of opposing base-stealers, though Baseball Prospectus wasn’t much of a fan of his work when it came to framing pitches. Nonetheless, Ruiz is revered as a clubhouse presence and for his work with pitchers, and he hit .271/.407/.386 against lefties this year, suggesting that he could be plenty effective as a backup who sees many of his starts against opposing southpaws. A one-year commitment at $4.5MM is hardly an exorbitant commitment, though it might be a bit steeper than many clubs would prefer to pay for a backup catcher.
Offseason Outlook: Miami Marlins
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It feels wrong — not only in a moral and emotional sense, but also in pure baseball terms — to suggest that the Marlins can or should try to replace dearly departed ace Jose Fernandez. His sobering loss leaves gaping voids in the game writ large; in the Marlins organization, generally; and in the team’s pitching staff — none of which can be filled.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Giancarlo Stanton, OF: $285.5MM through 2027 (including $10MM buyout on 2028 club option; may opt out after 2020, with $218MM left on contract)
- Wei-Yin Chen, SP: $61MM through 2020 (may opt out after 2017, with $52MM left on contract; 2021 conditional player option)
- Christian Yelich, OF: $48MM through 2021 (including $1.25MM buyout on 2022 club option)
- Dee Gordon, 2B: $45.5MM through 2020 (including $1MM buyout on 2021 club option)
- Martin Prado, 3B: $40MM through 2019
- Ichiro Suzuki, OF: $2MM through 2017 (includes club option for 2018)
Arbitration-Eligible Players (service time in parentheses; projections via MLB Trade Rumors)
- David Phelps, SP/RP (4.156) – $5.2MM
- Adeiny Hechavarria, SS (4.060) – $3.7MM
- A.J. Ramos, RP (4.030) – $6.8MM
- Tom Koehler, SP (4.016) – $6.2MM
- Marcell Ozuna, OF (3.124) – $4.5MM
- Derek Dietrich, IF (2.151) – $1.8MM
Options
- Fernando Rodney, RP: $4.1MM club option ($400K buyout)
Free Agents
[Marlins Depth Chart; Marlins Payroll Information]
Fernandez was the beating heart of the Miami franchise, its best and most passionate player. We may never truly be able to take full stock of the effects of his death — not just on the organization, but also on the Miami and broader baseball communities — but the heartrending reaction of the organization in its aftermath suggests that they will be profound.
From a roster perspective, the loss of Fernandez is mercilessly easy to assess: the Marlins had one of the most valuable pitchers in baseball. Now, they don’t. Teams wait for decades to unearth a single player of his talents in the draft. Without Fernandez racking up strikeouts at a prodigious rate, while earning a bargain salary during his arbitration years, the Marlins look like a decidedly less promising team.
The team already had plenty of limitations, and plenty of needs, when looking ahead to 2017. Coming into 2016, the Fish carried an Opening Day payroll of just over $74MM — second only in franchise history to the ill-fated, $100MM+ 2012 roster. Once guaranteed salaries and the approximate arb obligations are tallied, Miami already has about $70MM committed for the season to come. While some payroll increases are anticipated, it would require a rather significant step northward to accomodate the addition of multiple quality veterans.
Trades are always possible, of course, but Miami is short in prospect capital. The organization already parted with top first base prospect Josh Naylor, as well as bounceback-candidate MLB pitchers Jarred Cosart and Carter Capps, in the failed deal to acquire rental starter Andrew Cashner. The Marlins did recover youngster Luis Castillo after unwinding the portion of that trade involving injured starter Colin Rea, so he could again be cashed in. Fellow young starters like Jarlin Garcia, recent first-round draft pick Braxton Garrett, and the TJ-recovering Tyler Kolek, could all be flipped. But the Fish will need to be judicious in parting with young arms after shipping out pitchers like Anthony DeSclafani and Andrew Heaney in recent years. Corner infielder Brian Anderson has shown promise and is nearing major league readiness, so he’s another asset that could hold appeal.
Miami did take steps forward in the win-loss department last year, and the team does feature a talented core even without its young ace. But there are many areas in need of improvement if the club hopes to return to the postseason for the first time since a 2003 World Series run. Catching the Nationals and Mets would be no small feat.
Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, and Marcell Ozuna make up one of the very best young, controlled outfield units in baseball. Most of the infield mix is settled, too. Second baseman Dee Gordon will look to bounce back from a suspension-marred 2016, and the club will hope that double-play partner Adeiny Hechavarria can at least return to hitting at a near-average rate while continuing to provide quality glovework at short. (There has been some chatter that the team would consider dealing Hechavarria for starting pitching, but he may not have enough value and the team doesn’t really have an alternative barring a surprise move of Gordon back to short.) The Marlins kept veteran third baseman Martin Prado off the market by inking a reasonable, but hardly bargain-priced extension in September. At first, Justin Bour has continued to provide power and a strong overall batting line against right-handed pitching, though he’s in need of a platoon partner. And behind the plate, J.T. Realmuto turned in a strong campaign and looks to be one of the better young catchers in the game.
The supporting cast could use some work, but the Marlins can fill out those ranks with the kinds of cheap, veteran additions the team has pursued in recent years. The venerable Ichiro Suzuki will return in the fourth outfielder’s role. Chris Johnson didn’t perform well as the right-handed-hitting complement to Bour, so Miami will look into a market that includes options such as Steve Pearce, Dae-ho Lee, and Ryan Raburn. The light-hitting Miguel Rojas remains on hand as an affordable utility option, though perhaps the club could look to bring in a veteran such as Erick Aybar or Alexei Ramirez to push Hechavarria and step in as needed elsewhere. A move to bring back defensive specialist Jeff Mathis as the reserve receiver wouldn’t be surprising, and there are a wide variety of other veteran backup types available.
That brings us to a player who is perhaps the biggest wild card on the Marlins’ roster: left-handed-hitting infielder/outfielder Derek Dietrich. Though he fell off after a big start to the year and is much better against right-handed pitching, Dietrich’s overall offensive performance has been plenty promising. Dating back to the start of 2015, he has posted a .270/.362/.438 batting line with 17 home runs over 701 plate appearances. Better still, defensive metrics have come around on him, rating him as an approximately average defender at second, third, and (briefly) the corner outfield in 2016.
It’s possible that the Marlins will find it hard to maximize Dietrich’s value with their current roster. He can’t play short or center. Second and third are largely occupied. And Dietrich won’t be of much utility at first since he swings from the same side of the plate as Bour.
As the Marlins look to build out their depleted rotation, then, Dietrich could be a key asset. Certainly, he could be traded if there’s another organization willing to give up a useful arm to add him — though with such limitations in his game, trade partners would likely also be looking for some of the above-mentioned pitching prospects to give up a quality starter. More intriguingly, perhaps, the Marlins could explore the possibility of moving one of their young outfielders — Ozuna seems most likely, though Yelich could also be considered — to add an impact arm. In that scenario, Dietrich could pair with a righty bat in left field.
Just what does Miami need in the rotation? Three spots are clearly accounted for, with the inconsistent-but-talented Adam Conley, steady-but-unspectacular Tom Koehler, and veteran Wei-Yin Chen (who’s looking to make amends for a miserable first year with the team) all more or less locked in. Righty David Phelps certainly made his case late in the year, turning in five outstanding starts after breaking out in the pen earlier in the year. He will have a prominent job of some kind in 2017, and the club seems to have quite a lot to gain by stretching him out next spring. And there are some possibilities for a fifth arm, including Justin Nicolino (who managed just 3.8 K/9 last year), Jose Urena (a low-K pitcher who has had good results in the minors), Jake Esch, Kendry Flores (if he can return to health), and perhaps Jarlin Garcia.
You could squint at that group and see a complete staff, but the Marlins obviously aren’t content. The real question at this point is just how big they’ll look to go in adding another starter (if not two). Miami is reportedly willing to consider moving Ozuna, Gordon, Hechavarria, or Dietrich — but not Stanton, Yelich, or Realmuto — to facilitate the addition of an arm. Ozuna likely has the most appeal after a strong 2016 season, and the Marlins have indicated a willingness to move him in the past. Garrett, an exciting power lefty, is the real prize in the prospect pool and would surely draw significant interest.
Even if Miami doesn’t gun for the biggest names (Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, Chris Archer) that could be available, rival teams with quality, controllable arms — think Jake Odorizzi — will have high asking prices. If the Marlins can’t stomach the sticker shock, it’s conceivable that they could take on part of a veteran’s deal, perhaps even becoming the third team to own a part of James Shields‘s contract. They could also look to take a shot at adding a bounceback arm in the mold of Jaime Garcia of the Cardinals, or aim somewhat higher for his teammate Michael Wacha. In recent years, the Fish have shown a predilection for taking some risks in trades for young-ish, higher-upside starters (e.g., Cosart, Cashner, Mat Latos), so a reasonably bold move could be in the offing.
Free agency isn’t without its options in the rotation department. While the premium talent just isn’t there, that’s not typically where Miami goes shopping anyway. A play for the best-available arms — Rich Hill, Jeremy Hellickson, and Ivan Nova — can’t be ruled out, but doesn’t seem particularly likely. They could seek some functional innings from a pitcher in the mold of Doug Fister, Jorge De La Rosa, Charlie Morton, or (for a budget option) Tommy Milone, though it’s fair to wonder whether that’s really what the team needs. A calculated gamble on Cashner would make quite a bit of sense — were it not for the fact that he struggled badly in Miami (and really doesn’t like its no-beard policy). Edinson Volquez is a workhorse who still has pretty good velocity, so he’d look to be a reasonable fit.
Assuming that Phelps remains in the rotation, the top two pen options will remain A.J. Ramos and Kyle Barraclough. Recent trade addition Hunter Cervenka looks to be the primary southpaw set-up man, but he’ll likely be joined by another lefty. A new deal with Mike Dunn could make sense. Nick Wittgren probably has a job secured after a strong season. Brian Ellington has posted a sub-3.00 ERA in each of the last two years, and could take a job even if his peripherals don’t quite support the results. There are a variety of other internal options, including some of the youngsters noted above who are being developed as starters, but there’s plenty of room for improvement and good reason to think the Fish will look to add one or two useful veteran righties. Dustin McGowan had a successful season and could return, and the free agent market contains a wide variety of veteran performers with late-inning experience (including Sergio Romo, Joaquin Benoit, Santiago Casilla, and the hard-throwing Daniel Hudson).
All told, there’s quite a bit of variability for the Marlins this winter, especially if they go hunting for a high-quality rotation piece. What does seem clear is that the organization won’t stop trying to contend. The team dealt some intriguing assets for Cashner despite a mediocre postseason outlook. And even after the disheartening loss of Fernandez, Miami struck a new deal with the veteran Prado. While it’s probably optimistic to expect a division title even with a fairly aggressive offseason, the Marlins could certainly profile as a solid Wild Card contender if they manage to bolster the pitching staff and make a few good calls on role players.
Marlins Looking To Acquire Starting Pitching
The Marlins’ main objective is to upgrade their rotation during the offseason, but their limited budget will likely prevent them from chasing either of the best impending free agent starters, Rich Hill or Jeremy Hellickson, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
The upcoming free agent market is largely devoid of quality starters, which means the Marlins could go the trade route to bolster their rotation. The team doesn’t plan to shop its two best outfielders – Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich – or catcher J.T. Realmuto in an attempt to acquire pitching, though it’s willing to listen to potential offers for outfielder Marcell Ozuna, second baseman Dee Gordon, shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria and utilityman Derek Dietrich, Jackson reports.
In the wake of former ace Jose Fernandez‘s tragic death last month, the Marlins are down to Adam Conley, Wei-Yin Chen and Tom Koehler as their top starters heading into the winter. That’s an uninspiring trio on paper, but president of baseball operations Michael Hill believes Conley possesses “top of the rotation talent.” Since debuting in 2015, the 26-year-old has posted a 3.82 ERA, 8.22 K/9 and 3.73 BB/9 in 200 1/3 innings. The Marlins are also optimistic about Chen, who was a letdown this season after signing a five-year, $80MM deal with them last winter. Chen recorded the best K-BB percentage of his career (14.6), but he logged a bloated 4.96 ERA – up from a personal-best 3.34 with Baltimore in 2015. The 31-year-old also totaled just 123 1/3 innings because of an elbow injury that kept him out from late July until the end of September.
Three of the Marlins’ four potential trade chips (Ozuna, Hechavarria and Dietrich) are on track to receive raises via arbitration during the winter, while Gordon is controllable through 2021 on the five-year, $50MM extension he signed last January. The speedy Gordon inked that deal off two straight terrific seasons, but his value has since taken hits from an 80-game suspension for performance-enhancing drugs and a stark decline in offensive production in the 79 contests he played this year.
Ozuna, who MLBTR projects will net $4.5MM in his first of three potential arbitration trips, was also on the block last offseason. The Mariners, Rangers and Reds were among the teams in on Ozuna, who was coming off a subpar season that included a demotion to Triple-A New Orleans. That 33-game minor league stint drew the ire of both Ozuna and agent Scott Boras, but in spite of the bad blood between them and the Marlins, no trade materialized. Ozuna then slashed .266/.321/.452 with 23 home runs in 608 plate appearances in a bounce-back 2016, which could put the soon-to-be 26-year-old on the radar of outfielder-needy teams. Ozuna has typically fared better in right field than center, where he ranked toward the bottom of the majors in Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating this year.
While Hechavarria has been among the league’s premier defensive shortstops since last season, his below-average offense cratered this year (.238/.283/.311 in 547 PAs) and somewhat cancelled out his fielding prowess. MLBTR’s arbitration forecast for Hechavarria calls for a $3.7MM salary in 2017, which will be his penultimate year of club control. The fact that there are no starting-caliber shortstops set to hit the free agent market could help the Marlins’ cause if they shop him, though it’s certainly poor timing for them that Hechavarria had such a dreadful season at the plate.
Dietrich is in his first of four arbitration years, and he should make in the eminently affordable $1.8MM neighborhood in 2017. The 27-year-old spent time at first, second and third base this season, with the vast majority of his work coming at the keystone as a result of Gordon’s suspension. Dietrich also has experience in left field, but unless the Marlins deal Ozuna or Gordon, playing time could be difficult to come by for him in Miami. In addition to Gordon at second, the Marlins already have Justin Bour and Martin Prado locked in as their starting first and third basemen, thus limiting Dietrich to a bench role if the team’s lineup remains intact. Nevertheless, the Marlins regard Dietrich as someone who’s capable of starting, Jackson writes, and he made his case this season with a .279/.374/.425 line in 412 trips to the plate.
If the Marlins aren’t able to pick up a pair of starting pitchers from outside the organization during the offseason, swingman David Phelps could end up in the rotation next season, Hill told Jackson. Phelps, who was outstanding as both a reliever and starter this year, has made 64 starts with the Yankees and Marlins since cracking the major leagues in 2012. The Marlins also have Justin Nicolino and Jose Urena on hand as somewhat experienced options, but neither has been effective in the big leagues.
Quick Hits: Fernandez, Pillar, Tanaka, Yankees, M’s
Some news from around baseball…
- According to toxicology reports released today, Jose Fernandez had cocaine in his system and a blood-alcohol level that was twice the legal limit during the boat crash that took the lives of the Marlins ace, Eduardo Rivero and Emilio Jesus Macias on September 25, David Ovalle of the Miami Herald reports. Authorities have yet to determine who was driving the boat at the time of the crash — neither Rivero or Macias were legally drunk, though they both had alcohol in their systems. (Rivero was also found to have cocaine in his system.)
- Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Pillar underwent surgery this week to repair a torn thumb ligament, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reports. The defensive standout is expected to be fine by Spring Training. Pillar hurt his thumb while stealing a base on August 6 and spent some time on the DL before playing through the injury throughout the rest of the regular season and Toronto’s postseason run.
- The Yankees should listen to offers for Masahiro Tanaka this winter, Mike Axisa of the River Ave Blues blog opines, though obviously it would take a big haul for New York to actually trade its ace away when the Bombers are themselves looking for quality pitching. Tanaka can opt out of his contract after the 2017 season, which seems like a very likely possibility assuming he stays healthy and keeps delivering his usual strong performance. Tanaka would be hitting the free agent market heading into his age-29 season and would score well beyond the three years/$67MM owed on his Yankees deal through 2020. If New York only has one year left of control of Tanaka, it makes sense for the club to see what it could potentially get back for the right-hander in a deal. Axisa’s mailbag piece covers other several Yankees-related topics, including how the Yankees’ prospect return in the Aroldis Chapman trade was better for the club than if they had swung the rumored Andrew Miller-for-Kyle Schwarber deal at the deadilne.
- The Mariners aren’t likely to make a big splash in free agency, MLB.com’s Greg Johns opines as part of a reader mailbag. Seattle already has $88.5MM locked up in just five players (Robinson Cano, Felix Hernandez, Nelson Cruz, Kyle Seager and Hisashi Iwakuma) so there isn’t much remaining payroll room for another big contract. Johns thinks GM Jerry Dipoto will instead spread funds around to address several needs, improve depth and continue to raise the Mariners’ talent floor.
NL East Notes: Marlins, Mets, Cespedes, Fowler, Ruf
Here’s the latest from around the NL East…
- If the Marlins make a “big splash free agent push,” MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro believes it could be for a top closer like Aroldis Chapman or Kenley Jansen rather than a starting pitcher. While the Fish are in major need of rotation help, the lack of appealing free agent starters this year could lead the team to spend what dollars they may have on a reliable stopper. Miami could sign a free agent starter at the right price, and Frisaro believes the club could both make a signing as well as acquire another arm by trading a position player.
- Trades also could be necessary for the Marlins due to payroll concerns, Frisaro writes elsewhere in his mailbag piece. He thinks Miami’s payroll will rise to around the $90MM range next year, though the Marlins already have roughly $76.3MM earmarked for just 12 players due to salary commitments and arbitration projections.
- Dexter Fowler could be a fit for the Mets if Yoenis Cespedes leaves in free agency, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. The Mets could add Fowler and re-sign Neil Walker for the money it would take to land Cespedes, and having those two switch-hitters would give the Mets greater depth and versatility. Fowler also brings defensive value as a center fielder, which would help New York since neither Curtis Granderson or Michael Conforto are good fits for the position. Signing Fowler would be an alternative to the Mets’ plan to wait out the Cespedes market, which Sherman believes is risky since the team could be left wanting for a big bat if other free sluggers have signed elsewhere once Cespedes makes his decision.
- In another MLB.com mailbag piece, Todd Zolecki “wouldn’t be surprised” if the Phillies part ways with Darin Ruf. Tommy Joseph has supplanted Ruf on the first base depth chart, and Zolecki writes that the Phils now see Ruf as “anything more than insurance” for Joseph or in left field. Ruf spent much of 2016 posting big numbers in Triple-A but hit just .205/.236/.337 in 89 PA for Philadelphia. Ruf’s next opportunity might not come in the big leagues, as Zolecki reports that Ruf has received interest from Japanese teams.
Indy Ball Signings: 10/28/16
Here are the day’s minor signings, featuring three independent league additions:
- The Marlins added third baseman David Vidal on a minor league deal, per an announcement from the Somerset Patriots. Vidal, 27, never made it past Double-A with the Reds, but had a big year for Somerset in 2016. Over 370 plate appearances, he slashed .320/.413/.633 and added 26 long balls. Vidal also showed quality plate discipline, with 45 walks to go with 68 strikeouts.
- First baseman Art Charles is heading to the Reds on a minors pact, Matt Eddy of Baseball America tweets. He earned BA’s indy ball player of the year honors after washing out of the Phillies system. Charles posted a ridiculous .352/.461/.699 batting line with 29 homers in 436 plate appearances. J.J. Cooper of Baseball America recently took an interesting look at his journey.
- The Brewers have purchased the contract of righty Chad Nading, the Wichita Wingnuts announced. Nading re-emerged in his age-28 season after a long layoff, throwing 39 1/3 innings of 1.83 ERA ball with 6.9 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9. The right-hander’s only affiliated experience came with the Padres’ rookie affiliate way back in 2010, when he coughed up nine earned runs on 13 hits in just 5 2/3 innings.
Rockies To Interview Tim Wallach For Managerial Opening
The Rockies will interview Marlins bench coach Tim Wallach for the team’s open managerial job, according to reports from Chris Cotillo of SB Nation (Twitter links) and MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro (via Twitter). Miami has already granted permission for the sides to speak.
Wallach, 59, has long been the right-hand man of Marlins’ skipper Don Mattingly, dating back to when both led the Dodgers’ dugout. He served as the third base coach and then bench coach in Los Angeles before following Mattingly to Miami. Long before that, Wallach enjoyed a productive, 17-year MLB career as a corner infielder — most notably with the Expos.
Last we checked in on the Rockies’ managerial search, the team was continuing to expand its list of potential candidates. A wide variety of names have been mentioned, many with experience leading a dugout — or, if not, then plenty of time spent in senior coaching positions. GM Jeff Bridich is looking to hire a skipper for the first time after the team parted ways with Walt Weiss (who was hired by predecessor Dan O’Dowd) over the winter.
As things stand, the Rockies are competing only with the division-rival Diamondbacks on the managerial market. All other major league teams appear to be content with their current options.
Miami is already looking to add a third base coach after declining to renew the contract of Lenny Harris this offseason. Former Marlins and Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez has been in talks with the Fish about that post for several weeks, and Frisaro reports that he’s now “a clear front-runner” to take the job.
Minor MLB Transactions: 10/24/16
Here are the latest minor moves, via Matt Eddy of Baseball America:
- The Marlins outrighted first baseman/outfielder Xavier Scruggs off of the team’s 40-man roster. He has seen brief time in each of the last three seasons at the major league level, hitting just .227/.292/.303 in his 130 total plate appearances. This year was his first with an organization other than the Cardinals. While Scruggs didn’t perform in his 24-game run with Miami, he did post an excellent .290/.408/.565 slash with 21 long balls over 382 plate appearances at Triple-A while walking in 15.2% of his trips to the dish (against a 23.6% strikeout rate).
- The Mariners re-signed lefty Brad Mills to a minor league pact. The 31-year-old has seen action in parts of six major league seasons, though he has compiled just 79 total MLB innings with a 7.97 ERA. Mills made nine starts at Triple-A in 2016, pitching to a 5.28 ERA with 6.5 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9 over 44 1/3 frames.
- Catcher Jhonatan Solano will return to the Nationals on a minor league deal. The 31-year-old had cracked the bigs in each of the four preceding campaigns, but spent all of 2016 at Triple-A. He continued to struggle at the plate, as his .225/.286/.260 slash attests. With sturdy glovework behind the dish, though, he’ll function as organizational depth once again for the Nats — the only organization he has played for apart from a 2015 run with the Marlins.
NL East Links: Cespedes, Drew, Phillies, Marlins
Here’s the latest from around the NL East…
- “There is no urgency” for the Mets to chase Yoenis Cespedes, a source tells ESPN’s Buster Olney (subscription required) since the team already has some outfield depth on hand and can pursue more on the open market for a lower price than Cespedes will command. That said, the Mets would like to have Cespedes back and they’re willing to wait him out this offseason, perhaps if Cespedes is open to accepting another front-loaded contract with an opt-out clause from the team.
- Despite a slow start and seven weeks on the DL with an inner-ear problem, Stephen Drew still hit an impressive .266/.339/.524 over 165 PA with the Nationals in 2016. Between Drew’s performance and good clubhouse presence, MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman believes there could be mutual interest between Drew and the Nats for a new contract. Drew’s future in D.C. could hinge on how the Nationals plan to use Trea Turner next year, as if Turner is moved to short, Danny Espinosa could be kept over Drew as the backup infielder.
- In response to a reader’s mailbag question, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki said he wouldn’t be surprised if the Phillies explored trading Vince Velasquez again this winter, given that the club seems “willing to consider anything” in their rebuilding process. Velasquez spent some time on the DL with a right biceps strain but otherwise enjoyed a successful first year in Philadelphia, posting a 4.12 ERA, 10.4 K/9 and 3.38 K/BB rate over 131 innings. The Rangers inquired about Velasquez at the trade deadline but the Phils put a high price tag on the 24-year-old righty. You’d have to expect the Phillies would again require a huge offer to consider moving a young, talented arm.
- The Marlins may have to be creative to address their pitching needs this offseason, and MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro suggests that Miami could be one of many teams looking to develop their own version of a multi-role reliever like Andrew Miller. David Phelps, Justin Nicolino, Jose Urena, Nick Wittgren or Austin Brice are current Marlins who could be adapted into such a role, though Nicolino and Urena may yet catch on as starting pitchers.