Click here to read the transcript of today’s Marlins-related chat, in conjunction with the recently-published Marlins edition of our Offseason Outlook series.
Marlins Rumors
Marlins Managerial Rumors: Espada, Quatraro, Weiss
TODAY: Braves bench coach Walt Weiss turned down an interview request from the Marlins, according to Jon Heyman of The New York Post. Weiss posted a 283-365 record as the Rockies’ manager from 2013-16, and he just completed his fourth season as Atlanta’s bench coach. A 14-year Major League veteran best known for his time with the great Athletics teams of the late 80’s and early 90’s, Weiss spent a season with the Marlins in 1993, playing on the team’s inaugural roster.
OCTOBER 20: Astros bench coach Joe Espada and Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro have landed a second interview for the vacant Marlins managerial post, according to Craig Mish of SportsGrid. It was reported last week that Espada was interviewing for the position for the first time, but it’s the first reporting of the Marlins interest in Quatraro. Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol is the other known interviewee, although it’s unclear if he was asked back for a second time. Mish notes that a number of additional interviews have not been reported, so while there may well be a number of other candidates in play, the fact that Espada and Quatraro are interviewing a second time indicates they are starting to narrow down their search.
Both Espada and Quatraro have long been viewed as managers-in-waiting, and Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times suggests Quatraro could also be in the mix for the vacant Royals, White Sox and Rangers jobs. Espada, meanwhile, has already interviewed for the White Sox position.
It’s not the first season that Espada, 47, has drawn managerial interest. The Puerto Rico native has been a respected member of the Astros coaching staff since 2017, and has had interest from the Mets, Cubs, A’s, Twins and Giants in recent years.
Similarly, Quatraro, 48, is heading into yet another off-season where his name is heavily linked with managerial posts. The A’s, Giants and Pirates were linked with Quatraro in recent years, while it was reported he was a finalist for the Mets position last year before they opted for Buck Showalter.
Offseason Outlook: Miami Marlins
It’s never a good sign when one offseason’s big need is still the biggest need next winter, as the Marlins continue to look for quality hitters.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Sandy Alcantara, SP: $51MM through 2026 (includes $2MM buyout of $21MM club option for 2027)
- Avisail Garcia, OF: $41MM through 2025 (includes $5MM buyout of $12MM club option for 2026)
- Jorge Soler, OF: $24MM through 2024 (Soler has opt-out clauses after both the 2022 and 2023 seasons)
- Miguel Rojas, SS: $4.5MM through 2023
- Richard Bleier, RP: $3.75MM through 2023 (includes $250K buyout of $3.75MM club option for 2024)
Total 2023 commitments: $41.8MM
Total future commitments: $125.95MM
Option Decisions
- Joey Wendle, IF: $6.3MM mutual option for 2023, $75K buyout if Marlins decline (Wendle is still under arbitration control)
Arbitration-Eligible Players (projected 2023 salaries via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Joey Wendle (5.088): $5.4MM (if mutual option is declined)
- Garrett Cooper (5.053): $4.1MM
- Dylan Floro (5.053): $4.2MM
- Brian Anderson (5.031): $5.2MM
- Jacob Stallings (4.149): $3.3MM
- Pablo Lopez (4.093): $5.6MM
- Tanner Scott (4.059): $2.7MM
- Elieser Hernandez (4.051): $1.8MM
- Jon Berti (3.168): $2.4MM
- Cole Sulser (3.028): $1MM
- Jeff Brigham (3.010): $800K
- Jesus Luzardo (2.165): $2MM
- Non-tender candidates: Anderson, Brigham
Other Financial Commitments
- $30MM owed to the Yankees as part of the Giancarlo Stanton trade (money to be paid out in 2026-28)
Free Agents
- None
Derek Jeter’s surprise departure as the Marlins’ CEO back in February ended up being a bad omen for the team’s season, as Miami stayed on the outskirts of the playoff race until July, before struggling to a 69-93 record and fourth place in the NL East. Along the way, some other front office personnel (largely Jeter’s hires) also left the organization, and news broke at the end of the season that Don Mattingly wouldn’t be returning for an eighth year as the manager.
The search for Mattingly’s replacement is ongoing, with such names as Astros bench coach Joe Espada and Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol cited as two of an unknown number of candidates. It remains to be seen what direction Miami’s search might take, though Espada or Grifol would both present a fresh voice from outside the organization, which might be just what the Marlins need to help get things on track.
In fairness to Mattingly, however, he was far from the root problem with the club, as the Marlins again had one of the league’s worst offenses. Miami’s team batting average, OBP, slugging percentage, home runs, runs scored, and RBI total were all lower in 2022 than in 2021, despite how the Fish tried to upgrade their lineup last winter. Unfortunately for the Marlins, Avisail Garcia, Jorge Soler, Joey Wendle, and Jacob Stallings all hit poorly, with Soler (98 wRC+) the only one even close to league-average offensive production. With Garcia and Stallings delivering negative-fWAR production, the quartet combined for only 0.6 fWAR, with that number further impacted by Garcia, Soler, and Wendle all missing significant time on the injured list.
Injuries were a problem in general for Miami, most notably the stress fracture in Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s back that ended up halting the second baseman’s season on June 28. Chisholm was playing some excellent baseball at the time of his injury, hitting .254/.325/.535 with 14 homers over 241 plate appearances. Though he already has a pretty lengthy injury history during his short MLB career, Chisholm will return as the centerpiece of Miami’s lineup in 2023, and is one of only a few Marlins seemingly assured of a spot on the team.
Beyond Chisholm at second base, Garcia looks to be the regular right fielder and Soler will get time as both a left fielder and DH. The Marlins can only hope that Garcia and Soler can bounce back next year, as neither player is a realistic trade candidate (barring a swap for another team’s undesirable contract) in the wake of their poor seasons. Soler can opt out of the remaining two years of his contract, but there’s no chance he’ll walk away from his remaining $24MM owed this offseason, as he wouldn’t be able to match that salary on the open market.
It also doesn’t look like Stallings is going anywhere, as it seems probable that Stallings and Nick Fortes will be the primary catching duo. Fortes’ .230/.304/.392 slash line over 240 PA wasn’t extraordinary, but it was still markedly better than Stallings’ production, so the Marlins might end up deploying more of a timeshare behind the plate than a strict starter/backup situation.
2022 was such a rough year both offensively and defensively for Stallings that it’s easy to forget he was a sought-after trade chip at this time last year, and the Marlins had to surrender a notable package of three young players to acquire him from the Pirates in November. It would take even more of a trade haul to land, say, Sean Murphy from the A’s or any of Alejandro Kirk/Gabriel Moreno/Danny Jansen away from the Blue Jays this winter, so another splashy deal might not be in the works if the Marlins do want a catching upgrade. Free agent Willson Contreras would seem to be out of their price range, but someone like Gary Sanchez might be feasible, or perhaps an Omar Narvaez or Mike Zunino if the Marlins wanted to take a shot on catchers who have been good hitters in the past but are coming off poor seasons.
Catcher is one of many positions that are in a state of flux for the Marlins. While the team has pretty much the entire 2022 position-player core under team control for 2023, most of those options simply weren’t good enough last year, and the Marlins may just be ready to move on from some players who have been in the organization for some time.
It’s possible that general manager Kim Ng might approach this group as a collective backup plan. Any of Stallings, Fortes, Garrett Cooper, Miguel Rojas, Brian Anderson, or even youngsters Bryan De La Cruz or Jesus Sanchez could feasibly be in Miami’s Opening Day lineup….or on another team’s roster via trade, should Ng find a quality upgrade at any of these positions who brings better speed or contact. While the Marlins aren’t going to unload this entire group, it also doesn’t seem likely that all of the aforementioned seven players will still be in Miami next season.
De La Cruz and Sanchez are the most likely to return, given their youth, years of team control, and the lack of certainty over Soler and Garcia in the outfield. Center field also isn’t an easy position to fill, so since Sanchez can at least play passable defense at the position, the Marlins may be inclined to give him another shot at establishing himself at the MLB level.
Having both Wendle and versatile speedster Jon Berti gives Ng some flexibility in how she addresses the position player side of the roster, even if Wendle and Berti might both be best suited for super-sub roles than as true everyday players. The Marlins will decline their end of Wendle’s mutual option, yet the utilityman would still be arbitration-eligible through 2023 and will likely again be part of the infield picture despite his struggles last year. If the Fish did want to move on from Wendle, youngsters Jordan Groshans or Charles Leblanc could take on bigger roles in the infield mix.
Cooper, Rojas, and Anderson are all free agents after the 2023 season, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Fish non-tender Anderson this winter after two consecutive injury-plagued and non-productive seasons. This could make third base a particular target area, if the Marlins wanted to go beyond a Wendle/Berti/Groshans fallback plan.
Rojas has been a team leader for years, and was still an excellent defensive shortstop despite playing with a significant wrist injury for over two months. It should be noted the Marlins were at least open to the idea of dealing the shortstop last summer since Rojas’ name was floated in trade talks with the Yankees, but since shortstop is a harder position to fill, Miami might just count on Rojas regaining some hitting stroke once healthy.
Cooper has also been a speculated name in trade rumors in the past, yet his checkered injury history likely played some role in why he has remained with the Marlins. It could be that the first baseman again stays put just because the Marlins need hitting, and Cooper has been a pretty consistent bat when healthy — he was even an All-Star in 2022 before being waylaid by injuries and a lengthy slump in the second half. With Lewin Diaz reportedly no longer seen as a viable regular, retaining Cooper might be the easiest way for Miami to address first base.
Gauging the size of the Marlins’ overhaul will also depend on how much Ng has to spend this winter. Owner Bruce Sherman bumped the payroll from around $57MM in 2021 to just under $80MM in Opening Day payroll in 2022, though this increase was rather modest (perhaps too modest for Jeter’s liking, according to some reports) and still left the Marlins among the sport’s lowest spenders. Sherman is apparently willing to boost the payroll a little more this winter, though the size of that increase isn’t known, and it’s probably safe to assume that Miami isn’t suddenly going to be making nine-figure contract bids.
If the Garcia/Soler signings have made ownership wary of free-agent spending, that again leaves the trade market as perhaps Miami’s best route for significant roster help. Since the Fish still possess one of baseball’s more enviable collections of young pitchers, Miami is reportedly open to discussing anyone besides Sandy Alcantara or top prospect Eury Perez.
It is safe to assume that the Marlins would prefer to deal more unproven arms than, say, frequent trade target Pablo Lopez, even if Lopez would bring back a nice return. Selling high on Edward Cabrera or Jesus Luzardo might be more feasible, as both pitchers have a lot of talent but have also already had injury problems early in their careers. Moving either Trevor Rogers or Elieser Hernandez would be more of a sell-low, but Rogers in particular still has trade value despite a rough 2022 performance.
There is a bottom to this pitching depth, as the Marlins aren’t going to start offloading too many arms that are ticketed for spots in their own rotation. The “you can never have too much pitching” mantra also applies, considering that Miami’s depth took some injury hits with Max Meyer’s Tommy John surgery and Sixto Sanchez’s ongoing shoulder troubles. In general, however, Ng has plenty of options to weigh in considering pitching trades, as Miami’s variety of arms could bring back anything from All-Star caliber bats to more building blocks for the future.
It also helps to have an ace like Alcantara on hand as the rotation’s stabilizing force. The right-hander was the Marlins’ other big expenditure of the 2021-22 offseason, as Miami inked Alcantara to a five-year, $56MM extension that covered his three arbitration-eligible years and at least his first two free agent years. Alcantara responded to his security by delivering the best season of his career, posting a 2.28 ERA over a league-high 228 2/3 innings.
Extensions probably don’t figure to be a big part of Miami’s offseason business until the later stages of Spring Training, though it is possible the Fish could try to lock up Lopez if he isn’t dealt. Extending Chisholm is another possibility, yet the Marlins might prefer to see the second baseman get at least one healthy year on his record before making a long-term commitment.
While the Marlins got good results from their rotation last year, the bullpen was much more inconsistent. Major additions might not be in the offing, however, due to cost, the number of young starters in the system who could be eased into the majors via bullpen work, and because the Marlins could just count on some injured arms having healthier years. Dylan Floro is the incumbent favorite for the closer’s job, as Tanner Scott held the job for much of 2022 but had too much trouble avoiding walks.
With the Braves, Mets, and Phillies all still looking like contenders, it will be tough for Miami to make a lot of headway in the NL East. The Marlins’ pitching corps will always give them a chance, and getting even closer to league-average hitting might help the club make some noise next year. With this in mind, expect the Marlins to be one of the league leaders in trade speculation this winter, linked to any number of notable bats on the rumor mill. More clarity on the payroll situation would also help, as the ability to add even a Soler-sized contract would help expand the options available to the front office.
Marlins Not Interested In Trading Jacob Stallings
- Jacob Stallings’ offense declined in his first season with the Marlins, and public defensive metrics from Statcast and Fangraphs indicate that his framing and overall defense also dropped off in 2022. However, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch hears that the Marlins didn’t have any interest in moving Stallings earlier this season, though there is a possibility Miami’s feelings may have changed since Goold’s last inquiry. Nick Fortes played well in part-time action last season, and could be viewed as a candidate for a larger role if the Marlins did indeed move Stallings.
Marlins Interview Joe Espada, Pedro Grifol For Manager
The Marlins will interview Astros bench coach Joe Espada for their vacant manager position today, Jon Heyman of the New York Post tweets. He’s the second known candidate to interview, after The Athletic’s Jim Bowden tweeted that Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol had also interviewed with the Marlins.
Espada, 47, was drafted in the second round of the 1996 draft by the Athletics and spent nine seasons in the minors. He made it as high as Triple-A but never got received a call up to the major leagues. After retiring in 2007, he quickly turned to coaching and held coaching and front office positions with the Marlins and Yankees before being named Astros bench coach in 2017.
Espada is a well respected member of the Astros coaching staff and has long been considered a manager in waiting. He’s already been interviewed by numerous major league teams and was a finalist for the recent Mets and Giants vacancies.
He’ll join Grifol as the only other known candidate to have an interview. It had already been reported that his current employers, the Royals, as well as the White Sox have interest in him, but the Marlins are the first known team to have given him an interview. Grifol, 53 next month, has followed a similar career trajectory to Espada. He spent nine seasons in the Mets and Twins minor leagues systems without reaching the majors, but has found success as a coach. He’s been with the Royals since 2013 but, like Espada, has been a candidate for a number of vacant managerial posts, including the recent Tigers and Orioles positions.
The Marlins are seeking a new manager after mutually agreeing to part with Don Mattingly at the end of the 2022 season. Mattingly led the team for seven seasons, but their 31-29 finish in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season was the only time they had a winning record during his tenure.
Royals Bench Coach Pedro Grifol Getting Interest For Managerial Openings
Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol is getting interest from multiple teams with managerial openings, according to a report from Enrique Rojas of ESPN, who lists the Royals, White Sox and Marlins as those who are interested in Grifol.
Grifol, 53 next month, was drafted by the Twins and played in the minors from 1991 to 1999. He got as high as Triple-A but never got the call to the major league level in his playing days. He subsequently transitioned into other roles, such as the director of minor league operations for the Mariners and then joining the Royals’ coaching staff in 2013.
His name has frequently come up in past managerial searches, a reflection of the respect that Grifol has around the game. Prior to the 2018 season, he was a candidate to manage the Tigers, then was considered by the Orioles a year later. He was in the running for the Giants and the opening in KC prior to 2020 but lost out to Mike Matheny, who was in the chair for the past three years but got fired recently. He was then up for the job in the Tigers’ dugout again prior to 2021 but lost out to A.J. Hinch.
There’s been a lot of shakeup within the Royals after another disappointing season. In addition to Matheny, the club has also parted ways with pitching coach Cal Eldred and president of baseball operations Dayton Moore. In the case of Moore, general manager J.J. Picollo was promoted to take over, keeping some semblance of continuity despite the obvious desire for change. It’s possible that the same approach could apply for the managerial vacancy, with Grifol potentially getting the bump from the bench coach position into the manager’s chair.
It seems the Royals will have some competition for Grifol’s services, however, with the reported interest from the White Sox and Marlins. The Sox will be looking to replace Tony La Russa, who recently announced he is stepping down due to health reasons. In the case of the Fish, they and Don Mattingly announced a mutual decision to not continue their relationship beyond 2023. In addition to those clubs, there will also be others looking for new skippers. The Blue Jays and Phillies are currently in the postseason and playing with interim managers, who could potentially be retained for the future. The Rangers fired Chris Woodward midseason and replaced him with Tony Beasley on an interim basis, with Beasley recently undergoing an interview to stick around and remove the interim tag from his title.
34 Players Become Free Agents
The Wild Card round of the 2022 postseason begins today, but for the majority of teams and players, the offseason is now underway. With that will come plenty of roster formalities, including veteran players who’ve been outrighted off their respective teams’ rosters reaching minor league free agency. This week, there have been 34 such instances throughout the league, per the transactions log at MiLB.com.
None of these are a surprise, to be clear. Any player who is not on his team’s 40-man roster at season’s end but has three-plus years of Major League service time, multiple career outright assignments and/or seven-plus seasons in the minors has the right to elect free agency. Everyone in today’s group of players falls under that umbrella. The majority of the group will likely find minor league deals over the winter, although a few of the players in question could potentially find a big league deal as a bench piece or middle-inning reliever.
There will be several more waves of players of this ilk, and we’ll make note of them in bunches over the coming weeks as we await the launch of Major League free agency, when all unsigned players with at least six years of Major League service time will reach the open market. For now, here’s the first of what will likely be several waves of newly minted minor league free agents:
Catchers
- Taylor Davis (Pirates)
- Dustin Garneau (Tigers)
- Andrew Knapp (Giants)
- Pedro Severino (Brewers)
Infielders
- Willians Astudillo (Marlins)
- Johan Camargo (Phillies)
- Michael Chavis (Pirates)
- Matt Davidson (Athletics)
- Dixon Machado (Giants)
- Richie Martin (Orioles)
- Josh VanMeter (Pirates)
- Tyler Wade (Yankees)
Outfielders
- Greg Allen (Pirates)
- Lewis Brinson (Giants)
- Jaylin Davis (Red Sox)
- Jonathan Davis (Brewers)
- Jackson Frazier (Cubs)
- Brett Phillips (Orioles)
Pitchers
- Tyler Beede (Pirates)
- Austin Brice (Pirates)
- Miguel Del Pozo (Tigers)
- Jerad Eickhoff (Pirates)
- Luke Farrell (Reds)
- Paul Fry (Diamondbacks)
- Eric Hanhold (Pirates)
- Travis Lakins Sr. (Orioles)
- Mike Mayers (Angels)
- Daniel Mengden (Royals)
- Juan Minaya (Nationals)
- Sean Newcomb (Cubs)
- Dillon Peters (Pirates)
- Dereck Rodriguez (Twins)
- Cesar Valdez (Angels)
- Aneurys Zabala (Marlins)
Marlins Notes: Meyer, Pitching Staff, Mattingly, Coaches
The Marlins will likely be without top pitching prospect Max Meyer for the entire 2023 season after he underwent Tommy John surgery at the end of July. Whether it’s a return late in the ’23 season or for Opening Day 2024, the former No. 3 overall pick is still a pivotal arm for the organization’s future — but a role has yet to be determined. Scouting reports on Meyer have long suggested that he could eventually land in the bullpen, and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre tells Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald that the right-hander indeed has traits that “lean more on a bullpen guy.” Stottlemyre emphasized that Meyer will still get a look as a starter to “see how his changeup develops, see how he reacts to getting through the lineup three times” but also noted that Meyer’s elite slider, max-effort delivery and general mentality on the mound all lend themselves to potential bullpen work. “He is wired a lot like a bullpen guy,” said Stottlemyre.
Jackson’s piece also contains detailed thoughts from both Stottlemyre and outgoing skipper Don Mattingly on a number of the team’s young arms, including Edward Cabrera, Braxton Garrett, Sixto Sanchez and top prospect Eury Perez. General manager Kim Ng, meanwhile, appeared as a guest in the booth during yesterday’s game and broadly discussed the team’s rotation depth (Twitter link, with video, via Bally Sports Florida).
Some more notes out of Miami…
- Although Mattingly is on the way out as the team’s manager, he revealed yesterday that he’s at least spoken to Marlins owner Bruce Sherman about the possibility of remaining with the organization in another role (Twitter link via Jackson). The 61-year-old Mattingly stated that, while nothing has been agreed upon yet, “nothing’s off the table” either. Mattingly noted at the time of his release that he was looking forward to spending time with his family but also “to any future endeavors,” strongly suggesting that he does not plan to retire and that he’s open to opportunities both with the Marlins or with another club. There will be quite a few managerial openings this winter, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Mattingly surface as a candidate for several of them. The Rangers, Angels, Phillies, White Sox and Blue Jays all currently have “interim” managers after in-season dismissals of their Opening Day personnel, though some of those interim skippers could be moved into a full-time role for the 2023 season.
- Marlins general manager Kim Ng was a guest in the booth on yesterday’s broadcast and said that any decisions pertaining to the coaching staff will likely wait until a new manager is hired (Twitter link, with video, via Bally Sports Florida). MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola wrote recently, however, that the Marlins will likely try to retain Stottlemyre as pitching coach, though they’ll likely have competition from other clubs in that regard. “I guess fortunate thing for Mel and unfortunate thing for the organization, Mel’s probably going to have options,” Mattingly said last week when asked about Stottlemyre.
Miguel Rojas To Undergo Wrist Surgery
Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas will undergo surgery to repair a torn triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) in his right wrist on Wednesday, Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extra Base reports. (As defined by the Cleveland Clinic, the TFCC is a collection of ligaments and cartilage that “attaches your forearm bones (ulna and radius) to each other and to the small bones of your wrist.”) Rojas tells Alvarez-Montes that he originally suffered the injury back on July 21 when sliding into third base and has since been trying to play through the subsequent pain.
It’s been a tough season all-around for Rojas, who’s hitting just .237/.282/.324 in 504 plate appearances. It’s a far cry from the .273/.336/.413 batting line he posted in 682 plate appearances from 2020-21. Things have been particularly tough for Rojas since the date of the injury, as his batting average, OBP and slugging percentage have all been below .300 in that span of 208 trips to the plate. He’s still shown strong bat-to-ball skills along the way, striking out just 12.5% of the time (and 12.1% on the season as a whole), but Rojas hasn’t homered since late June and has just nine extra-base hits (eight doubles, one triple) since incurring this injury.
Defensively, you wouldn’t know Rojas has been ailing. He’s always been considered a quality defender at short but in 2022 has posted career-high marks in Defensive Runs Saved (16) and Outs Above Average (11). Rojas leads Major League shortstops in DRS and trails only Dansby Swanson (20), Nico Hoerner (13) and Francisco Lindor (13) in OAA.
It also bears mentioning that it’s the second hand-related injury to Rojas over the past two seasons. He was out to a career-best start in 2021 before breaking and dislocating his left index finger in late May. He only missed about three weeks of action, but upon returning, Rojas didn’t produce at nearly the same level he did prior to the injury. It’s difficult to determine just how heavily the pair of hand/wrist ailments have weighed on his production, but from Opening Day 2019 until the time of that 2021 finger injury, Rojas hit .285/.347/.409 in 866 plate appearances; he’s hit .249/.290/.343 in a near-identical sample of 846 plate appearances since.
The expectation is that Rojas will be ready for Spring Training, when he’ll be entering the second and final season of a two-year, $10MM contract with the Fish. The Marlins have routinely praised Rojas as the team’s unofficial captain and clubhouse leader, and he’s been vocal about his love for the city and the organization in the past. He’ll play next season at 34, though, making a rebound effort next year all the more important as his contract expires. If Rojas can put the injuries behind him and return to his 2019-21 form, it’s easy enough to see the two parties extending the relationship beyond the 2023 season.
NL East Notes: Alcantara, Marte, Strider
Sandy Alcantara’s season is officially over, as Marlins manager Don Mattingly told reporters (including the Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson) today that the star right-hander won’t be pitching in the Marlins’ season finale on Wednesday. Alcantara pitched yesterday and would’ve been lined up to make his 33rd start in Wednesday’s game against the Braves, but Miami will instead close the book on what might end up as a Cy Young Award-winning campaign for the 27-year-old righty.
Over a league-high 228 2/3 innings, Alcantara has looked like an old-school workhorse in a sport increasingly dominated by pitch counts and bullpen usage. Alcantara has a 2.28 ERA, 53.6% grounder rate, and 5.6% walk rate to go along with that big workload, and he earned his second All-Star nod. While Miami is reportedly open to trading from its pitching depth this winter, Alcantara is known be off-limits, as his five-year, $56MM extension signed last November has made him a Marlins cornerstone.
More from the NL East….
- Starling Marte is still recovering from his fractured right middle finger, as Mets manager Buck Showalter told Newsday’s Tim Healey and other reporters that Marte’s finger still hasn’t healed enough for the outfielder to start swinging or throwing. Marte hasn’t played since September 6, but his attempts at making it back before the end of New York’s season have already resulted in one cessation of baseball activities, as Marte’s continued discomfort in his finger has prevented him from being able to properly ramp up his readiness. With the regular season winding down, there must now be concern whether or not Marte will be ready when the Mets start the playoffs, whether that is on Friday (if the Mets are a wild card) or perhaps even on October 11 (if the Mets win the NL East). Naturally, that latter date would give Marte more time to heal, but the Mets and Braves might be battling for the division title until the final day of the schedule.
- The Braves are also missing a key figure from the pennant race, as Spencer Strider’s stint on the 15-day injured list will last until that 162nd and final game. Strider has been dealing with an oblique strain, and manager Brian Snitker told reporters (including Justin Toscano of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) that there isn’t any update on whether or not Strider will be able to return for that last game. The rookie right-hander has been getting treatment and doing core exercises, but while Snitker said that has been some improvement, Strider hasn’t yet started throwing.
