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Poll: Who Will Win The NL East?

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Opening Day has finally arrived, and teams all around the league are gearing up for another pennant chase in hopes of being crowned this year’s World Series champion. Of course, there’s still another seven months to go before someone raises the Commissioner’s Trophy. Until the playoffs begin, teams will be focused on a smaller goal: winning their division. We’ll be conducting a series of polls to gauge who MLBTR readers believe is the favorite in each division. That series already covered the NL West, where the Dodgers were viewed as an overwhelming favorite, and the NL Central, where the Cubs narrowly beat out the reigning division champs in Milwaukee. Now, the series continues with a look at the NL East. Teams are listed in order of their 2024 record.

Philadelphia Phillies (95-67)

After the Phillies fell to their division-rival Mets during the NLDS, it appeared the club may consider making some considerable changes as they put Alec Bohm on the market and searched for outfield help rather than rely on internal options like Brandon Marsh and Josh Rojas. Ultimately, however, the club’s additions this winter were fairly modest. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski swung a trade for a big-name pitcher in need of a bounce-back in Jesus Luzardo. The signings of Jordan Romano and Max Kepler should help out as well but both are coming off down seasons due to injuries. With Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez departing, the bullpen is arguably weaker than last season.

The Phillies will mostly rely on the same core players they trotted out last year. Fortunately, that’s the same core that allowed them to sail into the postseason with a bye through the Wild Card series last year. Zack Wheeler remains one of the very best pitchers in the entire sport, and a rotation featuring Luzardo as the likely fifth starter behind Cristopher Sanchez, Aaron Nola, and Ranger Suarez when fully healthy is in the conversation for the sport’s best. In the lineup, meanwhile, Bryce Harper returns as one of the sport’s most talented hitters, and his supporting cast of battle-tested veterans like Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and J.T. Realmuto all figure to contribute with the same consistency they’ve offered in previous years. It was more than enough to win the division last year, but will the same be true in 2025?

Atlanta Braves (89-73)

This past offseason was a relatively quiet one in Atlanta, as the club’s winter was defined more by the departures of franchise stalwarts like Max Fried, Charlie Morton, and Travis d’Arnaud than any major additions, even as Jurickson Profar profiles as a substantial upgrade over last year’s platoon of Jarred Kelenic and Adam Duvall in left field. Other relatively marginal additions like Alex Verdugo, Nick Allen, and Hector Neris should help out somewhat as well, but the main thing Atlanta has going for it in 2025 is hope for better health. The Braves’ core was ravaged by injuries last year, with Ronald Acuna Jr. and Spencer Strider both missing virtually the entire season while Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies, Sean Murphy and Michael Harris II all also missed significant time.

While health is never guaranteed, the club is all but certain to get more out of its two superstars in Acuna and Strider this year, and is overall unlikely to run into the same rash of injuries on the positional side even as Murphy is already out for the start of the season due to a cracked rib. The team that led baseball in runs scored in 2023 has brought in even more talent on offense since then while also building an impressive bullpen anchored by Raisel Iglesias and Aaron Bummer. All of that is before even considering that the club will once again enjoy the services of reigning NL Cy Young award winner Chris Sale, as well as Reynaldo Lopez as he tries to follow up on a 1.99 ERA campaign in 2025. In some ways, 2024 looked like a floor for the Braves’ talented floor. Will a bounce back be enough to win a tough division in 2025?

New York Mets (89-73)

For as talented as the Phillies and Braves are, it was the Mets who made the deepest run into the 2024 postseason of the NL East, getting all the way to Game 6 of the NLCS before falling to the eventual World Series champion Dodgers. Steve Cohen and David Stearns weren’t content to rest on their laurels this winter and made the biggest splash of any team when they signed Juan Soto to a record-shattering $765MM deal that will land him in Queens for the next 15 years. None of the club’s other moves matched that level of flash, but the returns of Sean Manaea, Jesse Winker, and Pete Alonso as well as more modest additions like Clay Holmes and A.J. Minter leave the Mets looking like a stronger club overall than they were this time last year.

Impactful as pairing Soto with Francisco Lindor at the top of the lineup figures to be, however, that won’t necessarily make the club a clear division favorite with many of the issues that made the Mets such underdogs last season still lingering. A rotation that featured little certainty on paper entering Spring Training is already getting tested by a number of injuries, and the club will rely on Mark Vientos avoiding a sophomore slump in order to lengthen a lineup that looks softer at the bottom than its counterparts in Atlanta and Philadelphia. Still, a lineup featuring two MVP finalists, two other 30-homer sluggers, and Brandon Nimmo looks impressive on paper, and a late-inning mix of Edwin Diaz, Minter, and Jose Butto should be able to preserve late leads. Will that be enough to overtake their rivals?

Washington Nationals (71-91)

The Nationals showed some signs of development last year, but ultimately sold at the trade deadline and fell well short of playoff contention when all was said and done. Still, an emerging core of James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, Dylan Crews, and CJ Abrams inspired enough confidence for the Nationals to make some modest buy-side additions this winter. Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Bell should provide a notable upgrade over Joey Meneses and Joey Gallo at first base, while Paul DeJong and Amed Rosario offer the sort of depth on the infield that was sorely lacking last year.

With three juggernauts at the top of the division, the path to a division title in D.C. is a murky one. With that being said, every member of that aforementioned core is young, talented, and capable of breaking out before even considering the potential impact other young pieces like Brady House, Cade Cavalli, and Robert Hassell III could offer at some point in the year. The addition of Michael Soroka to a rotation that already featured solid youngsters like Gore and Jake Irvin should also offer plenty of upside. Steep as the climb to the summit of the NL East would be, it’s certainly not impossible to imagine the Nationals being the surprise of the NL this year.

Miami Marlins (62-100)

Things were bleak in Miami last year as they lost 100 games for the first time since 2019. And unfortunately for fans, there’s little reason for optimism about the potential for better days in 2025. The club made virtually no additions this winter, and moves to ship out solid pieces like Luzardo and Jake Burger figure to be far more notable than the additions of minor pieces like Matt Mervis and Cal Quantrill. The return of stalwart ace Sandy Alcantara from Tommy John surgery provides a nice story early in the year, and young phenom Eury Perez could return later this season as well. Even the club’s vaunted collection of arms seems unlikely to be enough to get them back to the playoffs given a lineup that will rely on players like Jesus Sanchez and Connor Norby to carry its run production this year, and it would likely take a miracle for them to actually come out on top in such a tough division.

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The Phillies, Braves, and Mets all have strong cases to be the NL East’s best team after making the postseason last year. Philadelphia stands as the reigning champion, while Atlanta featured the best team in all of baseball just two years ago. New York, meanwhile, made a deep run in the postseason just last year and added arguably the most talented pure hitter in baseball over the winter. Meanwhile, D.C. is continuing to quietly assemble a young core that could break out and compete in its own right. Even with Miami deep in the trenches of a rebuild, it figures to be a deeply competitive division in 2025. Who do you think will come out on top? Have your say in the poll below:

Marlins Designate Seth Martinez For Assignment

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The Marlins announced Wednesday that right-hander Seth Martinez has been designated for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to righty Tyler Phillips, whom Miami acquired from the Phillies in exchange for cash today.

It’s another DFA in a whirlwind season for Martinez, who spent the 2021-24 seasons with the Astros organization but has now changed hands four times this offseason alone — and potentially now a fifth. The D-backs claimed Martinez off waivers back in November, and he’s since bounced to Miami, Seattle and back to Miami via waiver claims. The Marlins will have five days to trade Martinez or place him on outright waivers. If placed on waivers, that’d be another 48-hour process. His DFA will be resolved within a week’s time.

Martinez is a soft-tossing righty with a decent, if unspectacular track record as a multi-inning reliever. Over the past three seasons, he’s worked to a combined 3.68 ERA in 134 1/3 innings. The path to that cumulative earned run average was a bit uneven, as Martinez logged a 2.08 mark in 2022 but a 5.23 and a 3.29 in the two subsequent seasons. Collectively, Martinez has posted a 20.8% strikeout rate, 8.9% walk rate and 39.8% grounder rate while averaging 90-91 mph on his sinker and four-seamer during that time.

On top of the solid big league work, Martinez carries a 2.66 ERA in 105 frames across parts of four Triple-A seasons. He’s fanned more than 31% of his opponents in Triple-A over the years. That strong minor league track record, coupled with his recent major league work, could earn him a look from another team. However, Martinez is also out of minor league options, so any team claiming him or acquiring him via trade would need to plug him directly into its big league bullpen.

Marlins Acquire Tyler Phillips

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1:42pm: The Phillies announced that Phillips was traded to the Marlins for cash.

11:31am: The Marlins are set to acquire righty Tyler Phillips from the division-rival Phillies, reports Robert Murray of Fansided. Philadelphia designated Phillips for assignment on Sunday. It’s not clear if Miami has agreed to a small trade or is simply claiming the right-hander off waivers, but he’ll join the Marlins’ big league roster either way, as he’s out of minor league options.

Phillips, 27, made his MLB debut with the Phillies last year, appearing in eight games (seven starts) and logging a 6.87 ERA in 36 2/3 innings. He averaged 93.7 mph on his sinker, fanned 17.5% of his opponents, issued walks at a minuscule 4.4% clip and kept a solid 42.3% of his batted balls on the ground. He’s whiffed 14 of the 50 hitters he’s faced this spring (28%) and notched a massive 63% ground-ball rate, but he’s also been tagged for nine runs and walked seven batters in 10 2/3 innings.

Though Phillips had a tough first look in the majors and a shaky 5.08 ERA in Triple-A, he’ll come to the Marlins having logged 122 2/3 minor league innings in 2023 and 155 1/3 innings between Triple-A and the big leagues last year. For a Marlins club that has seen a large swath of injuries this spring, he’ll add some needed rotation depth and a potential long man in the bullpen.

Miami lost Braxton Garrett to UCL surgery early in camp. Ryan Weathers went down with a forearm strain just last week. Edward Cabrera struggled in camp while pitching through a series of blisters on his right hand. Ballyhooed prospect Eury Perez is still on the mend from last April’s Tommy John surgery.

At present, the Marlins project to open with a rotation including Sandy Alcantara, Cal Quantrill, Max Meyer, Connor Gillispie and Valente Bellozo. The first three are locked into place, but neither Gillispie nor Bellozo has a long big league track record or Meyer’s prospect status. Phillips provides length in the ’pen and a possible alternative in the event that the Fish opt to send Gillispie or Bellozo to Triple-A Jacksonville for further minor league work.

Connor Norby To Begin Season On Marlins’ Injured List

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The Marlins suffered a tough blow today, with the news that promising young infielder Connor Norby will miss approximately four weeks with a Grade 1 left oblique strain. Manager Clayton McCullough broke the news to reporters, including Christina De Nicola of MLB.com, this morning. Norby, 24, suffered the injury while taking a swing on Saturday evening.

The Marlins acquired Norby and outfielder Kyle Stowers from the Orioles ahead of the trade deadline last summer, in exchange for left-hander Trevor Rogers. Both Baseball America and Keith Law of The Athletic ranked Norby as one of Baltimore’s top 10 prospects heading into the 2024 season, but with players like Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holliday, and Coby Mayo ahead of him on the infield depth chart, it was never clear if he had a future with the club. Conversely, he has a clear path to playing time in Miami (once healthy). After the Fish called him up last August, he appeared in 36 games over the final six weeks of the season, mostly splitting his time between second and third base. He hit seven home runs, drew 15 walks, and produced a 108 wRC+ across 162 trips to the plate.

Norby was in line for an everyday third base role with the rebuilding Marlins in 2025. That job should still be his to lose upon his return, but the Marlins will have to get by without one of their better projected hitters for the first month of the season. The fact that Norby looks like one of the better offensive players on Miami’s roster says far more about the pitiful state the Marlins are in right now than it does about Norby himself. Still, this is a tough loss for a team that already has so little to look forward to in 2025, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Jesús Sánchez is also set to miss at least the first two weeks with an oblique injury.

Earlier today, De Nicola reported that Graham Pauley would earn the final spot on the Opening Day roster if Norby did indeed start the season on the IL. Pauley, another 24-year-old third baseman, joined the Marlins from the Padres as part of the Tanner Scott trade last summer. He played 13 games with San Diego at the big league level in 2024, going 4-for-32 with 15 strikeouts and no walks. Once a relatively well-regarded prospect, his stock fell last year as he struggled to hit at Triple-A or in the majors. Nonetheless, as one of this team’s few options to play third base, he could see a good amount of playing time while Norby is out.

Another option to cover at third base for the Fish is Eric Wagaman. Like Pauley, Wagaman made his MLB debut last year and struggled to make much of an impact in a handful of games. He is also three years older than Pauley and comes with less of a prospect pedigree. The Marlins clearly saw something they liked in Wagaman when they signed him to a major league contract this offseason, but Pauley seems to be the better upside play. Jonah Bride, 29, is expected to take most of his reps at first base or DH, but he has 61 games of MLB experience at the hot corner and could fill in there temporarily. In addition, utility player Javier Sanoja, 22, has played third base in the minors, though he has not suited up there regularly since 2021.

Marlins To Carry Rule 5 Picks Liam Hicks On Opening Day Roster

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The Marlins announced today that catcher/first baseman Liam Hicks has made the Opening Day roster, in the form of a video of manager Clayton McCullough telling the Rule 5 pick that he made the team.

Hicks, 26 in June, was drafted by the Rangers in 2021. However, he was flipped to the Tigers in July as part of the deal that sent catcher Carson Kelly to Texas. But the Tigers left Hicks unprotected in the Rule 5 draft, which allowed the Marlins to nab him.

His minor league track record has pluses and minuses. His defense isn’t considered especially strong, which is why he’s played a bit of first base in addition to his work behind the plate. Offensively, he has strong plate discipline but minimal power. He has stepped to the plate 1,097 times over various minor league levels with just 13 home runs. But his 15.1% walk rate and 13.4% strikeout rate are both excellent numbers. The overall result is a humpbacked slash line of .274/.405/.374, which translates to a 124 wRC+.

He came into camp with a fairly wide open path to a big league job. The Marlins only have two other catchers on their 40-man roster. Nick Fortes has hit just .222/.275/.344 in his career but should get a big league job based on his solid glovework. The other backstop on the roster is Agustín Ramírez. He’s a top 100 prospect with a strong bat but questionable defense, so the Fish presumably want him getting regular reps in Triple-A. He was optioned earlier this week.

Hicks has stepped to the plate 33 times in Grapefruit League action, with his numbers resembling his previous minor league work. He has six walks compared to just five strikeouts. His only extra-base hit is a double, leading to a .208/.424/.250 line.

That’s enough for him to get an Opening Day roster spot. The Marlins will roll with a Fortes/Hicks duo behind the plate. The club isn’t expecting to compete this year, so Hicks should get a decent amount of rope to prove himself. If he struggles, as a Rule 5 pick, he can’t be optioned to the minors this year. If the Marlins want him off the active roster, they would have to put him on waivers before offering him back to the Tigers. Any claiming club would be bound by the same Rule 5 parameters as the Marlins currently are.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images

Ryan Weathers Out At Least Four To Six Weeks With Forearm Strain

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The Marlins announced Thursday that left-hander Ryan Weathers will begin the season on the injured list due to a left forearm strain. He’s expected to be sidelined for at least the next four to six weeks, per Isaac Azout of Fish on First.

Weathers, 25, came to Miami in the 2023 Garrett Cooper trade with the Padres and quickly looked to be an outstanding low-cost pickup. The former first-rounder had run out of chances with the Friars and struggled in three appearances with the Fish in the second half of the 2023 season. However, he came roaring out of the gate in 2024, relying less on his four-seamer and leaning more heavily on his sinker, slider and changeup.

The results were excellent. Through his first 13 starts, Weathers notched a 3.55 ERA with an average 22.5% strikeout rate, a strong 6.5% walk rate and a terrific 51.5% ground-ball rate in 71 innings. Unfortunately, a strain in his pitching hand wound up sending him to the injured list for the next three months. Weathers was hit hard by the Dodgers in his return outing but wrapped up the season with a pair of one-run performances against the Twins and Blue Jays. Overall, he finished the year with a 3.63 earned run average, 21.8% strikeout rate, 6.5% walk rate and 46.6% grounder rate.

That strong performance locked Weathers in as a set member of the Marlins’ rotation. He’d likely have taken the ball in the season’s second or third game, but his debut will be pushed until at least late April, if not mid-to-late May — depending on how his rehab progresses. For the time being, it seems there’s no expectation of a truly long-term absence, though forearm injuries come with a broad range of outcomes.

With Weathers joining fellow starters Braxton Garrett (internal brace surgery), Eury Perez (April 2024 Tommy John surgery) and Edward Cabrera (blisters) on the injured list to begin the season, Miami’s rotation is far from full strength. Sandy Alcantara, Cal Quantrill and Max Meyer are assured spots. Connor Gillispie seemed to have a leg up on what was the fifth spot (now the fourth). Weathers’ injury now likely pushes Valente Bellozo or Adam Mazur back into the mix for a spot on the big league staff.

MLBTR Podcast: The Rays’ Stadium Deal Is Dead, Rangers’ Rotation Issues, And More!

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Who is a more likely trade acquisition for the Mets, Sandy Alcántara of the Marlins or Dylan Cease of the Padres? And who would command a larger trade package? (20:50)
  • Should the Pirates trade one of their catchers? (24:20)
  • How realistic is it that the Mariners have better offense than last year and are in position to use their prospects for deadline upgrades? (28:40)
  • Should the Yankees try to plug holes with veterans or give playing time to younger guys? (34:25)
  • The Tigers are trying Javier Báez and Spencer Torkelson at different positions. Are they trying to increase the trade appeal of these players or delude themselves into thinking they could actually provide value? (38:25)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy Bill Streicher, Imagn Images

Braves To Return Rule 5 Pick Anderson Pilar To Marlins

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The Braves are returning Rule 5 pick Anderson Pilar to the Marlins, reports Jesse Rogers of ESPN. Neither club has made an official announcement related to Pilar. Atlanta’s 40-man roster count will drop from 39 to 38. Rule 5 picks have to be put on waivers before being returned to their original club. It’s unclear if that has already taken place with Pilar. Assuming he winds up back with Miami, he won’t need to take up a 40-man spot with that organization.

Pilar, 27, has spent most of his career in the Rockies organization but signed with the Marlins prior to 2024. He then had a good year across three levels, tossing 58 innings with a 2.64 earned run average. He struck out 30.6% of batters faced while issuing walks just 5.6% of the time and getting grounders at a 46.9% clip.

That prompted Atlanta to grab him in the Rule 5, which allowed them to bring him into camp and get a close-up look at him. Unfortunately, Pilar wasn’t able to make the most of the opportunity. In six spring outings, he punched out 12 opponents but also issued six walks and ten hits, leading to nine earned runs.

Players selected in the Rule 5 draft cannot be optioned to the minor leagues. Given that spring performance, a contending club like Atlanta can’t really afford to have him figure it out in meaningful games, so they’ll let him go. As mentioned, Rule 5 players need to be put on waivers if the selecting club is relinquishing them. Any claiming club would need to operate under the same parameters, not sending Pilar to the minors. If he clears waivers, he will no longer have Rule 5 status and then he’ll be offered back to the Marlins, who can keep him as non-roster depth.

Atlanta started camp with two Rule 5 picks, the other being infielder Christian Cairo. Taken from Cleveland, Cairo is hitting .179/.294/.250 in camp, which doesn’t bode well for his chances of sticking with Atlanta.

Turning back to the Atlanta bullpen, the club has tried to bolster the group on the cheap. They have kept their payroll just south of the competitive balance tax while signing various veterans to minor league deals, including Craig Kimbrel, Héctor Neris, Enyel De Los Santos, Buck Farmer, Chasen Shreve and many more. That’s a situation that could potentially lead to some tough roster choices, but the club has seemingly been making those in recent days. They traded Angel Perdomo to the Angels recently, opening up one spot. Returning Pilar opens a second. Cairo would open a third. They also released Jake Diekman, subtracting one guy from the NRI pile.

Marlins Notes: Payroll, Practice Squad, Cabrera, Gillispie

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One of the key storylines of this offseason has been the aggression coming from the nomadic Athletics. They have given out three of the largest contracts in franchise history, signing free agent Luis Severino and giving extensions to Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler.

That has at least partly been motivated by a desire to keep their revenue-sharing status away from risk. As has been reported by The Athletic through the winter, that club needed to get their competitive balance tax number up to 150% of what they receive in revenue-sharing funds. Falling short of that would leave them subject to a potential grievance from the MLB Players Association. Understandably, the MLBPA wants to be assured that the funds are being spend on player salaries.

Since the A’s will reportedly receive about $70MM in revenue-sharing funds this year, they seemingly need to get their CBT number above $105MM, give or take. Thanks in part to those aforementioned deals and others, RosterResource projects them at about $115MM.

Back in December, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Marlins were in the same situation as the A’s. Rosenthal took a look at the situation in a follow-up piece today, noting that the Marlins have not taken the same aggressive approach. RosterResource has the Marlins’ CBT number just below $87MM, more than $18MM shy of the $105MM target. As noted by Rosenthal, a midseason trade of Sandy Alcántara would drop them even further away from that line.

It seems the Marlins are far more willing to live dangerously with the situation. Rosenthal notes that the MLBPA brought revenue-sharing grievances against several clubs, including the Marlins, in 2018 and 2019. The report adds that many of those grievances were dropped but the ones against the Marlins remain active.

For the A’s, they understandably don’t want to be playing chicken with the union right now. The A’s had their revenue-sharing status revoked gradually over the course of the 2016-2021 collective bargaining agreement, with their payouts dropping by 25% annually. They only got 75% of their funds in the first year, 50% in the second, 25% in the third and none at all in the final two years. They are gradually getting their revenue-sharing status back up in the current CBA, reversing that previous plan, adding 25% per year. As they incur the costs of moving to West Sacramento and then Las Vegas, building a new stadium in the latter city, they surely don’t want to lose their payments again.

The Marlins are seemingly more cavalier. As noted by Rosenthal, the CBA runs through 2026 and these matters are collectively bargained. If the MLBPA wants to fight to strip the Marlins of their revenue-sharing payments, they will have to wait almost two years and will also have to weigh that against other CBA priorities. Rosenthal also adds that owner Bruce Sherman is likely to tout the club’s non-payroll spending, on things such as technology and infrastructure, though that’s unlikely to satisfy a union focused on player compensation. Perhaps the situation will be worth monitoring between now and the fall of 2026.

Elsewhere, the club also attracted some more negative attention from players for a different reason. As noted in a piece from Andy McCullough and Sam Blum of The Athletic, the Fish recently ran an ad on LinkedIn offering players $150 a day to be part of a practice squad, which would play against Low-A players.

The posting garnered the attention of MLB officials and players as it seemed to circumvent some existing rules. In April of 2023, the first ever CBA for minor leaguers was agreed to. That CBA established minimum salaries for minor leaguers but also gave each club a tight limit of how many minor leaguers they could have. The Domestic Reserve List, which is each club’s list of minor leaguers outside of Latin America, was dropped from 180 to 165.

The practice squad plan seemingly had the chance to skirt both the player limit and the minimum salary rules, which is why it raised flags around baseball. The Marlins pulled the ad and scuttled the plan, claiming that the ad was run before it had received proper internal vetting.

Turning to the major league roster, right-hander Edward Cabrera will start the season on the injured list, reports Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. The righty has been battling a blister on the middle finger of his throwing hand. That may seem like a minor issue but it’s a persistent one for Cabrera, since he’s had blister problems on that finger dating back all the way to 2021.

Without Cabrera, the Marlins project to have a front four of Alcántara, Ryan Weathers, Max Meyer and Cal Quantrill in the rotation. Per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, righty Connor Gillispie could have the inside track on taking Cabrera’s spot.

Gillispie, 27, made his major league debut with Cleveland last year. He tossed eight innings over three relief appearances, allowing 2.25 earned runs per nine. He also posted a 4.05 ERA over 113 1/3 Triple-A innings, working in a swing role there. His 10.1% walk rate at that level was a bit high but he also struck out 25% of opponents. After the season, he was non-tendered and signed a major league deal with Atlanta. He was put on waivers when that club signed Jurickson Profar, getting claimed by Miami.

In camp so far, he has thrown eight scoreless. That will seemingly get him a shot to open the season in the rotation. He still has options and can be sent back down when Cabrera gets healthy. The Marlins will also have Eury Pérez coming back around the All-Star break, though a midseason trade of Alcántara could also open up some starts. Other optionable starters on the roster include Adam Mazur and Valente Bellozo.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images

Marlins Claim Seth Martinez

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The Marlins have claimed right-hander Seth Martinez off the Seattle waiver wire, as announced by the Mariners.  It wasn’t known that Martinez had been designated for assignment, and Martinez only joined the Mariners on another waiver claim from Miami less than two weeks ago. The Marlins went on to announce that left-hander Andrew Nardi was placed on the 60-day injured list with low back inflammation to make room for Martinez’s return to the 40-man roster.

Martinez, 30, was drafted by the Athletics in the 17th round of the 2016 draft but has spent his entire MLB career in an Astros uniform. The right-hander made his big league debut in 2021 for an ill-fated cup of coffee where he surrendered five runs across three innings of work, but provided solid middle relief work for the Astros since then. Martinez’s 2022 season was particularly impressive, as he dominated to the tune of a 2.09 ERA across 38 2/3 innings of work with a 24.5% strikeout rate against a 9.0% walk rate. That production wasn’t entirely supported by more advanced metrics, but his 3.32 FIP and 3.56 SIERA still suggested even his underlying performance was that of a quality relief arm.

Unfortunately, Martinez has not been able to maintain that level of success in the years since. The right-hander’s 2023 campaign was something of a disaster, as he struggled to a 5.23 ERA with a 4.42 FIP in 43 innings of work. While his ERA was inflated by a below-average strand rate and a more than 100-point jump in BABIP, his walk and home run rates both crept upwards as well to make the struggles more than simple bad luck. While the luck-based factors in Martinez’s 2023 season reversed in 2024, allowing him to post a solid 3.59 ERA in 52 2/3 frames for Houston last year, his skills took a major step backward as his strikeout rate plummeted to just 16.2% while he surrendered the most home runs of his career.

Those struggles led the Astros to designate Martinez for assignment back in November, and he’s been riding the waiver wire ever since. The right-hander was first claimed by the Diamondbacks and spent most of the offseason with Arizona, but was DFA’d once again to make room for veteran hurler Kendall Graveman on the Snakes’ 40-man. He was picked up by Miami shortly thereafter and since then has been shipped to Seattle, and now will land back in Miami as a potential bullpen arm for a Marlins club with plenty of interesting rotation arms but very little certainty in their relief corps.

Things are even more unsettled in the Miami bullpen due to Nardi’s placement on the shelf. The southpaw entered camp behind schedule but the club provided little information about his situation, instead only noting that he had “some stuff flare up in the offseason.” Evidently, Nardi’s back issues are serious enough that the club does not anticipate him being ready to pitch before the end of May, an unfortunate development regarding one of the club’s better relief arms. The lefty posted an ugly 5.07 ERA in 2024, but underlying metrics suggested his performance was much stronger than that. He struck out a whopping 33.3% of opponents faced, walked just 8.6%, and kept hard contact to a minimum en route to a 2.76 xERA, a 2.77 SIERA, and a 3.33 FIP.

All of those figures were much more in line with the production Nardi posted in 2023, when he pitched to a 2.67 ERA in 57 1/3 innings of work. Given his excellent peripherals last year and previous success, Nardi seemed to be a likely candidate for a late-inning role with the Marlins this year. This injury will put that on hold for at least the season’s first couple of months, and perhaps longer depending on Nardi’s timetable for a return to action.

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