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Marlins Acquire Emmanuel Rivera, Designate Jacob Amaya

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The Marlins announced Tuesday that they’ve acquired infielder Emmanuel Rivera from the D-backs in exchange for cash. Shortstop Jacob Amaya was designated for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

Rivera, 28 in June, is coming off a lackluster season in 2023 but seemed on the verge of a breakout in the prior two years. In 2021, while with the Royals, he first reached Triple-A and hit .286/.348/.592 in his first 63 games at that level.

In 2022, he did well at Triple-A again, hitting .307/.388/.520. He couldn’t immediately carry that over to the big leagues, hitting .243/.294/.378 in 309 plate appearances for the Royals in 2021 and 2022, translating to a wRC+ of 85. But he was traded to the Diamondbacks at the 2022 deadline for right-hander Luke Weaver and hit .227/.304/.424 for the Snakes after the deal, producing a wRC+ of 104 in that time.

In 2023, he continued mashing in Triple-A, hitting .330/.395/.598 there. In the bigs, however, he slashed .261/.314/.358 for a wRC+ of 83. He burned his last option last year and is now out of options. He stuck with the Diamondbacks through the winter but didn’t make the Opening Day roster and got squeezed off the 40-man.

For the Marlins, they will take a shot on Rivera and hope that his continually strong Triple-A production can start to filter up to the majors. He’s considered a strong defender at third, with nine Defensive Runs Saved and two Outs Above Average, with the ability to play first as well.

The Fish have Jake Burger as their regular at the hot corner but he’s not considered great with the glove, -11 DRS and -14 OAA, so Rivera could perhaps spell him in the field on occasion. Rivera has also hit .273/.327/.410 against lefties in his big league career compared to .233/.293/.364 against righties so perhaps could be used against southpaws while Burger goes to first base or the designated hitter spot. Corner outfielders Jesús Sánchez and Nick Gordon are both lefties with notable platoon splits, so perhaps they could be shielded a bit.

As for Amaya, 25, he’s long been considered a strong defender but the big question has been how much he can hit. Acquired from the Dodgers just over a year ago in the Miguel Rojas trade, he made his major league debut last year and got two singles in his first nine plate appearances. He hit .252/.345/.407 in Triple-A last year for a wRC+ 89.

He has just one minor league option remaining so it may be something of a make-or-break year for him. The Marlins will have one week to trade him or pass him through waivers. Given his solid defensive reputation, he could appeal to clubs with questions about their shortstop depth, especially since Amaya can be kept in the minors for the rest of the season.

Marlins Select Kent Emanuel, Designate Vladimir Gutierrez

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The Marlins announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract of lefty Kent Emanuel from Triple-A Jacksonville. Right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez, who was just selected to the big league roster prior to Sunday’s game, was designated for assignment to open a roster spot.

It’s a quick turnaround for Gutierrez, who returned to the majors Sunday for the first time in two years after undergoing Tommy John surgery as a member of the Reds. He tossed four innings of long relief and was tagged for three runs on three hits and a pair of walks with four strikeouts. He’d been called up with Miami needing some length in the bullpen following a grueling first three games of the season for the relief corps, and while the right-hander filled the role that was asked, he’ll be removed from the 40-man roster to get another fresh arm up for today’s game. Gutierrez wouldn’t have been available for a couple days after that workload yesterday.

Gutierrez, 28, was a high-profile prospect out of Cuba who signed for a $4.75MM bonus (plus a 100% tax on that sum) with the Reds back in 2016. He wound up pitching just 150 2/3 innings between 2021-22 in Cincinnati, logging a 5.44 ERA with worse-than-average strikeout and walk rates of 17.3% and 10.4%, respectively. As a prospect, he was touted as having a solid heater with a potentially plus slate of secondary offerings (curve, slider, changeup) — but he’s yet to find much consistency in the majors. The Marlins will have a week to trade Gutierrez, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or release him.

Emanuel, 31, has 17 2/3 big league innings under his belt, all of which came with the 2021 Astros. Houston selected him out of UNC in the third round of the 2013 draft. The 6’4″ lefty impressed in his first MLB cup of coffee, posting a 2.55 ERA with a 19.1% strikeout rate, a 5.9% walk rate and a sizable 50% grounder rate. A UCL injury led to surgery in the summer of 2021. He didn’t require a full Tommy John procedure but had an internal brace surgery that wiped out the rest of that ’21 season.

Because he had the less invasive UCL operation, Emanuel was back on the mound for 58 1/3 minor league innings in 2022. He pitched well (2.64 ERA, 52-to-8 K/BB ratio) but didn’t get a look in the big leagues. He spent the 2023 season in the Pirates organization and posted solid K-BB marks but an ugly 6.12 ERA, working primarily as a starter, due in part to a sky-high .370 average on balls in play and some uncharacteristic susceptibility to home runs (1.39 HR/9, 18.1% HR/FB ratio).

As with Gutierrez, Emanuel will give the Marlins some more length in the ’pen — and as with Gutierrez, it could be a short stay on the MLB roster for him if he pitches multiple innings and the Fish want to get another rested arm into the bullpen.

Injury Notes: Lodolo, Cabrera, Garrett, Perez, Means, Bradish

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Nick Lodolo looked sharp today in the first of two planned Triple-A rehab starts.  The Reds southpaw allowed one run in five innings and 77 pitches of work, while striking out eight and allowing two hits and three walks.  After missing most of the 2023 season due to a stress reaction in his left tibia, Lodolo was still feeling some leg soreness this spring, so the Reds started him on the 15-day injured list in order to better ease Lodolo’s path back to action.  Assuming he is feeling healthy after today’s outing and his next rehab start, Lodolo is slated to make his season debut for the Reds on April 10.

More on other pitchers working towards getting healthy….

  • Edward Cabrera also began the season on the 15-day IL, as the Marlins righty was sidelined with an impingement in his throwing shoulder.  As noted by MLB.com, Cabrera threw 39 pitches in a intrasquad scrimmage game earlier this week and a 20-pitch bullpen session on Friday, so the next step is a minor league rehab assignment that begins with a Triple-A start today.  It isn’t yet known how many rehab outings Cabrera might need before he is activated, though of the Marlins’ multiple injured starters, he appears closest to a return.  Braxton Garrett is slated to throw a bullpen session today as he works his way back from his own shoulder impingement, and Garrett intends to be back in action before the end of April.  El Extra Base’s Daniel Alvarez-Montes (X link) notes that Eury Perez threw 20 pitches in a bullpen session today, with Perez on the road to recovery after being waylaid by elbow soreness in Spring Training.
  • While rehab starts are about getting comfortable and working out pitches rather than pure results, John Means had a shaky showing in first rehab start today with Triple-A Norfolk.  The Baltimore Sun’s Matt Weyrich was among those to relay the news that Means gave up seven runs on six hits and a walk over the 32-pitch outing.  Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters yesterday that Means’ is “going to be close to 30 days” in Norfolk, as in the maximum length for rehab assignments.  Means missed almost all of the 2022 and 2023 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery, and the O’s didn’t include him on their playoff roster due to what was reported as elbow soreness at the time.  As Kubatko notes, the Orioles are now referring to the injury as a left forearm strain, which only adds to the extreme caution Means and the O’s are taking in slowly ramping up the southpaw’s workload.
  • A sprain in Kyle Bradish’s right UCL created concerns that Bradish might also miss an extended amount of time, but the Orioles right-hander seems to be making good progress as he is also taking a careful approach to his rehab.  As relayed to Kubatko and other media, Bradish threw all of his pitches over a 35-pitch bullpen session yesterday.  While he “feels really good” in the aftermath of this bullpen, Bradish and Hyde didn’t commit to any kind of timeline about when Bradish will start building towards a return to the active roster.

Marlins Select Vladimir Gutierrez

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TODAY: The Marlins officially announced that Gutierrez’s contract has been selected, and that Cronin has been optioned to Triple-A.

MARCH 30: The Marlins will select the contract of right-hander Vladimir Gutierrez prior to Sunday’s game against the Pirates, reports Francys Romero. Miami has an open spot on the 40-man roster, so only a 26-man roster move will be necessary. Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base reports that the Fish will likely option righty Declan Cronin to Triple-A Jacksonville in Gutierrez’s place, noting that Cronin was packing up his locker following today’s game.

Now 28 years old, Gutierrez was a high-profile prospect back in 2016 after defecting from his native Cuba. The Reds signed him to a $4.75MM bonus and paid a 100% tax on that bonus under the old soft-capped international amateur free agency system.

That $9.5MM investment didn’t pan out as hoped. Gutierrez made it to the big leagues in 2021-22, pitching 150 2/3 innings with a 5.44 ERA, 17.3% strikeout rate and 10.4% walk rate. His heater sat 93.3 mph during that two-year stint, and he paired it with a slider, curveball and changeup. All of Gutierrez’s second pitches were touted as potential plus offerings on various scouting reports (FanGraphs, Baseball America, MLB.com), but he’s yet to find consistency with any of them. His curveball and changeup, in particular, have been hit hard by big league opponents.

Gutierrez underwent Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2022, all but ending his time on the mound with the Reds organization. He returned to throw 6 1/3 minor league frames late in the 2023 season and became a minor league free agent in the offseason.

Gutierrez drew a fair bit of interest on minor league deals as he showcased for MLB clubs to demonstrate his health post-surgery. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given Miami’s proximity to Cuba, he ultimately chose to sign with the Fish back in February. He had a decent showing in spring training, holding opponents to four runs on a dozen hits and four walks with nine punchouts in 10 innings of work.

The Marlins and Pirates went to 12 innings in their season opener, with the Marlins’ bullpen accounting for seven of those frames. AJ Puk last just two innings on Friday, leaving Miami relievers to pick up another seven innings of work. Ryan Weathers went four frames today, giving the relief corps another five innings to pick up. Given that huge slate of innings for Miami relievers, it’s only natural that they’re bringing up a fresh arm — particularly one that can provide some length, if needed.

Cronin’s demotion to Jacksonville is a tough pill for him to swallow. The journeyman righty made his first Opening Day roster this season and has pitched well, firing four innings (including the final three in that 12-inning contest) without allowing an earned run. But between that three-inning debut and another 22 pitches in today’s inning of work, he’d surely have been unavailable tomorrow, making him the most logical candidate to be sent down. He’ll have to be in Jacksonville for 10 days unless he’s recalled as an injury replacement. But considering the fact that he made the Opening Day roster and has thus far pitched well, Cronin stands a good chance of returning to the big leagues before too long.

Yankees Acquire Jon Berti From Marlins, Trade Ben Rortvedt To Rays In Three-Team Deal

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The Yankees, Marlins and Rays have come together on a three-team swap just 24 hours before the season is set to commence. Miami is trading infielder Jon Berti to the Yankees, who are sending catcher Ben Rortvedt to the Rays. The Marlins will pick up a pair of outfield prospects in the deal, one from each team: New York’s John Cruz and Tampa Bay’s Shane Sasaki. All three clubs have officially announced the deal.

Berti will give the Yankees an option to open the season at third base, with DJ LeMahieu (bone bruise in foot) and Oswald Peraza (shoulder strain) slated to hit the injured list, and he can back up nearly any spot on the diamond once LeMahieu returns. He’s fresh off a strong .294/.344/.405 batting line (103 wRC+) with seven homers and 16 stolen bases in a career-high 424 plate appearances with the Fish in 2023.

While Berti doesn’t bring any power to the table — last season’s seven homers were a career-high — he’s been a roughly league-average performer at the plate throughout his career thanks to an above-average walk rate, lower-than-average strikeout rate and plus speed that helps him leg out his share of infield hits (and stretch some would-be singles into doubles). Overall, Berti is a career .258/.337/.368 hitter — about 4% worse than league-average (by measure of wRC+) when weighting for the Marlins’ quite pitcher-friendly home environs.

Berti swiped 41 bags in just 102 games back in 2022, and while he ran less often in 2023, that didn’t have anything to do with a drop-off in speed. Statcast ranked Berti in the 95th percentile of MLB players with an average sprint speed of 29.3 feet per second last season.

Defensively, Berti has played every position other than catcher or first base. He’s spent more time at third base than any other position (1050 innings), but he’s also logged 792 innings at second base, 764 innings at shortstop and 577 frames in the outfield (281 in left, 231 in center and 65 in right). Both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average agree that he’s been a plus defender at each of third base, shortstop and left field.

Given Berti’s experience at the hot corner and the injuries to both LeMahieu and Peraza, there’s a strong chance that the Yankees’ newest acquisition will start tomorrow’s season opener at third base. He’ll likely be the team’s primary third baseman in the short term, and the versatility that both Berti and LeMahieu bring to the table will give manager Aaron Boone plenty of lineup options once the bone bruise in LeMahieu’s foot mends.

From a financial standpoint, Berti’s contract surely held plenty of appeal to a Yankees club that is a third-time luxury payor who’s in the top tier of penalization. They’re taking a 110% tax on any dollars added to the payroll at this point. Berti is earning $3.6MM in 2024 — the second season of what became a two-year, $5.725MM deal when the Marlins exercised a club option on him for this year. The 2022-26 CBA stipulates that only the remainder of a traded player’s contract is counted for luxury tax purposes, however, so the Yankees will pay the tax on this year’s $3.6MM salary rather than the contract’s $2.86MM AAV. That means Berti will come with $3.96MM worth of taxes, bringing his total expenditure to $7.56MM.

The Rays will get the only other player with big league experience in this three-team swap, though Rortvedt is rather limited in that regard. Formerly a second-round pick of the Twins, Rortvedt is a defensive-minded backstop who landed in the Bronx by way of the 2022 trade that sent him and Josh Donaldson to the Yankees in exchange for Gio Urshela and Gary Sanchez.

Rortvedt only appeared in 32 games with the Yankees over his two-year stint with the club, thanks to a series of injuries. An oblique strain limited him during spring training in 2022, and Rortvedt underwent knee surgery that May after beginning the season in the minors. Last spring, he underwent surgery to address an aneurysm in his shoulder that had been contributing to pain and numbness in his hand.

In all, Rortvedt only has 177 big league plate appearances between the Twins and Yankees, and he’s posted a dismal .146/.234/.255 batting line in that time. He hit well in 124 Triple-A plate appearances last year (.286/.395/.505), but Rortvedt is surely being acquired by the Rays because of their belief in his defensive chops.

The Rays tend to prioritize defense over offense at the catching position, and over the years Rortvedt has turned himself into a plus defender behind the dish. Baseball America named him the best defensive catcher in the Twins’ system from 2018-20, and the 26-year-old boasts an outstanding 34% caught-stealing rate in his career — including a 39% mark in his limited MLB action. Baseball Prospectus credits him with plus framing marks throughout his time in the minors, and he’s graded well there in the big leagues as well.

Because of all his time on the injured list, Rortvedt has more than two years of big league service time in spite of his minimal playing time. He’s out of minor league options, so he’ll have to stick on Tampa Bay’s roster this season. That means he’s all but certain to open the season splitting time with Rene Pinto behind the dish. Non-roster invitee Alex Jackson, who’d previously been the favorite for the backup job, will instead head to Triple-A Durham. If Rortvedt lasts the whole year, he’ll be eligible for arbitration for the first time in the 2024-25 offseason. The Rays can control him through the 2027 season via that process.

Turning the Marlins’ return for Berti, they’ll acquire a pair of outfield prospects — a position that’s regularly been a weakness for them in recent years. Sasaki, 23, was limited by injury to 68 games last season and hasn’t played above High-A. He went unselected in this past December’s Rule 5 Draft. Baseball America still tabbed him 21st in the Rays’ system, touting his 65-grade speed (on the 20-80 scale) and ability to play plus defense in center field or left. He’s a hit-over-power prospect who turned in a strong .301/.375/.465 batting line with seven homers and a dozen steals in 293 plate appearances at High-A last year.

Given his success in High-A last year, Sasaki seems likely to open the 2024 season in Double-A with his new organization. With a strong showing early in the year, a bump to Triple-A or perhaps even to the big leagues could be well within reach. Miami has been looking for a long-term center fielder for years now. Sasaki’s lack of power means he’ll need to continue to draw walks and hit for average in order to profile as a regular, but he at least gives Miami someone with a reasonable chance to become that everyday center fielder they’ve sought — albeit with a perhaps greater chance he settles in as more of a fourth outfielder.

As for Cruz, he’s a much further-off value add to the Marlins organization. The 18-year-old ranked 25th among Yankees prospects at Baseball America and 28th at MLB.com. He’s yet to advance to full-season ball, having spent the 2022 campaign in the Dominican Summer League and the 2023 season with the Yankees Rookie-level complex league affiliate. He’s hit well at both stops, posting a combined .260/.394/.465 batting line with 15 home runs, 19 steals, a huge 16.4% walk rate and a 24.9% strikeout rate.

Scouting reports credit the 6’3″ Cruz with above-average power and speed but raise some questions about swing mechanics and pitch selection at the plate. He’s played primarily center field to this point but could wind up moving to a corner as he continues to fill out his frame. He’s a yearslong project but one with a fair bit of ceiling — as well as a good bit of risk.

Ultimately, it’s a needs-based trade for all teams involved (rather than the more standard swap of a veteran for the best prospects available, regardless of position). The Yankees acquired an affordable and versatile infielder who checks multiple needs: everyday third base option in the short term and backup shortstop option in the long term. The Rays added some needed catching depth and defense without increasing an already franchise-record payroll. The Marlins, who didn’t have regular at-bats for Berti after signing Tim Anderson and acquiring Jake Burger, Nick Gordon and Vidal Brujan via trade over the past several months, moved him and his salary in exchange for a pair of outfield prospects who provide organizational depth and upside at a position of need. Sasaki’s relative proximity to the majors at least creates the possibility that all three clubs will see some MLB benefit from the trade before season’s end.

Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald first reported that Berti had been traded to the Yankees. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Cruz’s inclusion in the deal. Christina De Nicola of MLB.com broke the news that it was a three-team deal with the Rays and that Sasaki was headed to the Marlins as well.

Marlins To Acquire Burch Smith, Select Him To 40-Man Roster

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Right-hander Burch Smith has exercised an upward mobility clause in his minor league contract with the Rays and will sign a major league contract with the Marlins, reports Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Upward mobility clauses allow players on minor league deals to gauge interest from other teams on a set date. If there’s interest from another club in adding said player to the 40-man roster, his current club must either add him to its own 40-man roster or allow him to join that new team. In this instance, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Smith is being traded to the Marlins in exchange for what are surely nominal cash considerations.

It seems the Rays weren’t willing to add to Smith to their own 40-man at this time, so he’ll instead join the Miami organization. The Fish already have an open spot on their 40-man roster at the moment after placing righty Huascar Brazoban on the restricted list yesterday while he works through a visa issue. Smith does have a minor league option remaining, so while he’ll go on Miami’s 40-man, it’s not a given that he’ll begin the season in the majors. He’ll earn at a $1MM rate in the big leagues with the Marlins and can pick up another $250K of incentives, per Sherman.

Smith, 34 next month, has more than four years of MLB service time and has also spent time pitching in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and in the Korea Baseball Organization. He last appeared in the majors in 2021, when he tossed 43 1/3 innings for the A’s but scuffled to a 5.40 ERA. The right-hander has at times shown flashes of potential in the big leagues but has yet to establish himself as a consistent contributor despite stints with the Padres, Royals, Brewers, Giants and A’s. He carries a 6.03 ERA in 191 MLB frames.

Lack of MLB success notwithstanding, Smith has drawn interest from clubs throughout his career due to strong minor league numbers and encouraging traits on several of his pitches. Even though his career 21.3% strikeout rate is a bit shy of league-average, he’s previously posted above-average swinging-strike rates that could be viewed as a portent for more punchouts. Smith yielded five runs in 5 1/3 spring frames with Tampa Bay, but he notched a huge 17.6% swinging-strike rate in camp, which perhaps piqued Miami’s interest.

Though Smith has never thrown an MLB pitch for the Rays, this spring marked his second stint with the club. He went from the Padres to the Rays back 2014 as part of the three-team blockbuster that more famously sent Wil Myers to San Diego and Trea Turner to Washington. The Rays lost him in the Rule 5 Draft the following year, but current Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix was part of Tampa Bay’s front office at the time the Rays originally acquired Smith.

Smith will give the Marlins some optionable depth to step into Brazoban’s recently vacated spot on the 40-man roster. Miami also has righty JT Chargois and nearly an entire rotation’s worth of quality starting pitchers — Sandy Alcantara, Eury Perez, Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera — on the injured list to begin the season.

Marlins Place Huascar Brazobán On Restricted List Due To Visa Issue

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The Marlins announced to members of their beat, including Craig Mish of The Miami Herald, that right-hander Huascar Brazobán has been placed on the restricted list. The righty has not been able to secure a visa to enter the United States and missed all of Spring Training. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 39.

Brazobán, 34, has pitched 90 2/3 innings for the Marlins over the past two years with a 3.77 earned run average. He has a 26.4% strikeout rate in his career, 13.1% walk rate and 51.1% ground ball rate. He has earned 17 holds for the club in that time.

The visa issue is unfortunate for the righty, as he won’t accrue major league service time or pay for as long as he is on the restricted list. For the Marlins, it deprives them of one of their pitchers but it will give them an extra roster spot to use in the meantime.

Marlins Release Curt Casali

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The Marlins have released veteran catcher Curt Casali, reports Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extra Base. He was informed over the weekend that he wouldn’t make Miami’s roster but was said to be weighing an opt-out in his contract — presumably versus heading to Triple-A with the Marlins organization. It seems he opted for the former and will now head back to the open market in search of a new opportunity. The Fish will start the season with Christian Bethancourt and Nick Fortes as their catching tandem.

The 35-year-old Casali has batted .201/.311/.315 over the past three big league seasons — a 78 wRC+ in 503 plate appearances. He also had a rough showing in camp with the Marlins, going just 1-for-17 with a double. He drew a pair of walks and only fanned twice in 19 trips to the plate, but it’s easy to see why the Marlins went another direction.

From 2017-20, Casali was a solid hitter, turning in a combined .262/.348/.444 line in 498 plate appearances between the Rays and Reds. That marked the most productive stretch of his career. Now in his mid-30s and coming off three straight sub-par seasons at the plate, Casali can’t necessarily be expected to replicate that level of production.

Defensively, Casali remains sound. He posted a 32% caught-stealing rate (6-for-19) that was well above the league average in a 2023 season that saw stolen bases spike due to new rules limiting attempted pickoffs and slightly increasing the size of the bases. Statcast pegged Casali as above-average in terms of blocking pitches in the dirt last year, and Defensive Runs Saved credited him as a positive defender as well (+3). He drew only slightly below-average marks for his framing skills as well.

Trey Mancini Opts Out Of Marlins Contract; Curt Casali Won’t Make Roster

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Veteran first baseman/outfielder Trey Mancini has opted out of his minor league deal with the Marlins, manager Skip Schumaker told the Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson and other reporters.  Catcher Curt Casali has also been told that he isn’t making the Opening Day roster, but Casali has yet to decide on whether or not to exercise his own standard opt-out clause as an Article XX(B) free agent.

Mancini joined the Cubs on a two-year, $14MM free agent contract last offseason, and since the Cubs waived him last August, any team that uses Mancini on a big league roster is only obligated to pay him a minimum salary (with Chicago still on the hook for the rest of his $7MM salary for 2024).  This made Mancini even more of a flier than your standard minor league signing, though the Marlins didn’t see enough in Mancini’s Spring Training performance to give him a roster spot.  Mancini hit an unspectacular .257/.333/.371 over 39 plate appearances this spring.

After missing the 2020 season due to a battle with colon cancer, Mancini made a triumphant return in 2021 and won Comeback Player Of The Year honors while batting .255/.326/.432 over 616 PA with the Orioles.  His longtime tenure in Baltimore ended when the O’s dealt Mancini to the Astros at the 2022 trade deadline, and while Mancini earned a World Series ring with Houston, he didn’t contribute much at the plate during the regular season or in the playoffs.  The struggles continued with the Cubs in 2023, as Mancini hit only .234/.299/.336 over 263 PA.

Mancini just celebrated his 32nd birthday earlier this week, and now again finds himself at something of a crossroads in his career.  His track record and reputation as a clubhouse leader should land him another minor league deal in another organization, though Mancini’s most recent results aren’t particularly encouraging.

Casali was another minor league signing for the Marlins this offseason, brought in as catching depth behind Miami’s planned tandem of Christian Bethancourt and Nick Fortes.  Since that isn’t exactly a proven set of backstops, Casali might well choose to pass on his opt-out decision and stay at Triple-A in the hopes of receiving a call-up at some point.  That said, any number of teams could have catching vacancies opening up due to injuries or end-of-spring cuts, so Casali find be able to find a more preferable opportunity elsewhere.

A veteran of 10 MLB seasons, Casali has hit .220/.314/.380 in 1454 PA.  Casali has been a few impressive years at the plate as a part-timer with the Reds and Rays, but the 35-year-old hasn’t hit much in the last three seasons and is generally known more for his defense and game-calling prowess.

Marlins To Include Max Meyer On Opening Day Roster

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Right-hander Max Meyer will be part of the Marlins’ Opening Day roster, the Miami Herald’s Craig Mish reports (via X).  Meyer “has the inside track” to win the fifth starter’s job, Mish writes, which would line the rookie up to face the Angels on April 1 in what would be Meyer’s third career MLB start.

Meyer’s first two big league outings took place in July 2022, with the second appearance ending after just two-thirds of an inning due to some elbow pain.  That discomfort was revealed to be a UCL tear, and the subsequent Tommy John surgery kept Meyer sidelined for the rest of the 2022 season and the entirety of the 2023 campaign.  Returning to the mound this spring, Meyer has looked very sharp in seven scoreless Grapefruit League innings, with only four hits and a walk allowed.

While Meyer has done well to earn his return trip to the majors, it is fair to say that this opportunity wouldn’t have been available if the Marlins weren’t dealing with a spate of injuries within their projected rotation.  Eury Perez (elbow inflammation), Edward Cabrera (shoulder impingement), and Braxton Garrett (shoulder soreness) all look to be starting the season on the injured list, and ace Sandy Alcantara was already ruled out for 2024 due to a Tommy John surgery of his own.  Manager Skip Schumaker said last week that “everyone’s on the table” in terms of potential fill-in starters, including Meyer, who had already been optioned to Miami’s minor league camp.

Bryan Hoeing seemed to be the favorite for fifth starter work considering how Meyer and other pitchers were optioned out of the big league camp, yet now it seems like the Marlins will give Meyer a look.  Jesus Luzardo, A.J. Puk, Trevor Rogers, and Ryan Weathers will seemingly act as the top four in Miami’s rotation, with Meyer slotting in as the fifth man.  It seems possible that Meyer and Hoeing could be paired up in a piggyback type of scenario, if the Marlins wanted to be cautious about limiting Meyer’s innings after such a long layoff.

Despite Meyer’s lost 2023 season, Baseball Prospectus (86th) and Baseball America (89th) still included the 25-year-old on their preseason lists of the top 100 prospects in the sport.  Meyer drew a lot of hype coming out of the University of Minnesota, and he lived up to predictions that he would ready for the majors in pretty short order.  Meyer posted a 2.77 ERA over 172 career innings in the minors, along with an impressive 28.67% strikeout rate and an 8.79% walk rate that is a little on the high side.  The right-hander also had pretty strong grounder rates over his relatively brief time in the minors.

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