Marlins Rumors

Marlins Notes: Puk, Scott, Nance, Brazoban, Gurriel

By Darragh McDonald | February 28, 2023 at 5:29pm CDT

The Marlins are dealing with various small injuries throughout their spring camp, per a report from Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald.

The slate of injuries include three relievers. Left-hander A.J. Puk has some tightness in the adductor muscle of his left leg, fellow lefty Tanner Scott is dealing with slight discomfort in his left biceps, while Tommy Nance has discomfort in his right shoulder. Puk and Scott are playing catch today but Nance will be reevaluated in a couple of days. “I’m not too concerned,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said to Jackson and Mish. “If it was a starter who had to get built up, that’s a whole different story. But the relievers, I think that’s a little easier.”

Puk, just acquired from the A’s a few weeks ago, was once one of the top prospects in the league but has struggled to stay healthy. Shoulder issues prevented him from making an appearance in 2020 and he struggled in 2021. He bounced back nicely last year, however, posting a 3.12 ERA over 62 appearances.

Scott was acquired from the Orioles a year ago and had a solid season for Miami, despite some control issues. He walked 15.9% of batters faced but struck out 31.1% and got grounders at a 46.3% clip. Nance was claimed off waivers from the Cubs about a year ago and registered a 4.33 ERA in 43 2/3 innings last year. He struck out 29.1% of opponents while walking 10.7%, also getting grounders at a strong 46.4% rate.

There’s also one other hiccup in the club’s bullpen, as Huascar Brazobán has yet to report to camp due to a visa issue. However, the issue has been resolved and Brazobán should be leaving the Dominican Republic for the United States tomorrow. The righty was a nice story last year, making his major league debut at the age of 32. He tossed 32 innings with a 3.09 ERA, 28.4% strikeout rate, 14.9% walk rate and 49.4% ground ball rate.

All in all, it seems like a pile of minor issues scattered throughout the bullpen, but they are situations worth monitoring with only about four weeks until Opening Day.

Leaving aside the bullpen, the club has been connected to free agent Yuli Gurriel multiple times this offseason. The most recent reporting indicated they offered him a $2MM deal at one point but took that offer the table when a week went by without a response. Today, Jackson and Mish report that the club is still willing to bring Gurriel into camp as a non-roster invitee if he’s interested.

The fact that a minor league deal hasn’t yet come to fruition suggests that Gurriel is perhaps still holding out for a major league pact. Garrett Cooper is penciled in as the club’s first baseman but he’s dealt with various injuries in his career and it makes sense that the Fish would look to add some depth behind him. Gurriel was a batting champ as recently as 2021 but he’s now entering his age-39 season and is coming off a rough campaign. He hit just .242/.288/.360 last year for a wRC+ of 85, indicating he was 15% worse than the league average hitter.

If Gurriel continues to linger on the market, the Marlins could potentially contact other first base options. The free agent market still features other bounceback candidates like Miguel Sanó and Mike Moustakas.

Marlins To Sign Richard Rodríguez To Minor League Deal

By Darragh McDonald | February 28, 2023 at 3:01pm CDT

The Marlins informed reporters, including Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase, that they have agreed to terms on a minor league deal with right-hander Richard Rodríguez. The reliever will receive a non-roster invitation to camp.

Rodríguez, who turns 33 later this week, has had quite a rollercoaster experience in the past few years. With the Pirates in 2018, he seemed to break out by posting a 2.47 ERA over 69 1/3 innings, striking out 31.5% of batters faced. The next year, his strikeouts dipped to 22.1% and his ERA jumped to 3.72. He got back on track in the shortened 2020 season with an incredible 36.6% strikeout rate, helping him drop his ERA down to 2.70.

In 2021, his strikeouts dried up again, dropping down to 22.8% in his time with the Pirates. He still managed to keep runs off the board, with his ERA at 2.82 when he was dealt to Atlanta. His strikeouts got even further away from him after the jersey switch, as he only punched out 8.5% of batters with Atlanta. He managed to post a 3.12 ERA in that time, but that was largely thanks to a .200 batting average on balls in play and 97.1% strand rate, with both of those numbers being unsustainably fortunate.

Rodríguez could have been retained for a couple more seasons via arbitration, but Atlanta looked past his low ERAs and decided to non-tender him prior to the 2022 campaign. While a free agent, he was given an 80-game suspension after testing positive for the performance-enhancing substance Boldenone. Once that suspension was served, he joined the Yankees on a minor league deal. He eventually posted a 3.96 ERA in 25 minor league innings, striking out 25.5% of batters faced.

For the Marlins, this is a no-risk move since they’re bringing Rodríguez into the fold without committing a roster spot to him. The last two seasons have been up-and-down for the righty but he’s not far removed from being a dominant bullpen arm in the big leagues. If he cracks the roster at some point, he still has a full slate of options and just over four years of service time, meaning the Marlins could keep him around if he returns to form. Rodríguez will try to crack a bullpen that features intriguing hurlers such as Dylan Floro, Tanner Scott, Matt Barnes, A.J. Puk and others.

Sixto Sanchez Not Expected To Be Ready For Opening Day

By Anthony Franco | February 24, 2023 at 5:28pm CDT

The Marlins have gone without prized young righty Sixto Sánchez for the past two seasons. Shoulder injuries have thrown off course his very promising career. As he works his way back from the layoff, Sánchez looks likely to be delayed for the upcoming campaign.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that the 24-year-old isn’t expected to be ready for MLB game action until some time in the summer. The timeline remains rather vague and seems tied to a desire to give Sánchez more runway for his conditioning rather than any kind of setback. He underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery last October.

Upon entering camp, Sánchez told reporters he’d lost almost 50 pounds during the offseason (via Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El ExtraBase). Heyman writes that he is still building back arm strength, an unsurprising development for a pitcher who is two and a half years removed from his last game action. Sánchez hasn’t thrown this spring but has been in big league camp. He went through a simulated throwing motion this morning, and manager Skip Schumaker indicated the club was hopeful he’d be able to throw off a mound at some point next week (via Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald).

While things seem to be trending up, Sánchez has a ways to go to get into game shape. The Marlins have little reason to rush him back. The centerpiece of the J.T. Realmuto trade, Sánchez has twice undergone shoulder surgery since his last MLB action. Before last fall’s arthroscopic procedure, he required a July 2021 operation to repair a tear in his posterior capsule. His first rehab process, in particular, was littered with stops and starts and delayed recovery timetables.

Miami also doesn’t have a pressing need for Sánchez at the major league level. The Fish already have six MLB-caliber starting pitchers. Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara is followed by Jesús Luzardo, Trevor Rogers, Edward Cabrera, offseason signee Johnny Cueto and Braxton Garrett.

Sánchez would not have been in the Opening Day rotation anyhow. Pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. indicated this month the club had no intention of moving him to the bullpen. Once healthy, Sánchez looks likely to head to Triple-A Jacksonville to work out of the rotation there as he tries to build back toward peak form. He worked to a 3.46 ERA with an excellent 58% grounder rate over 39 innings during the shortened 2020 schedule, his only MLB action to date.

The Marlins’ Battle For Playing Time Behind The Plate

By Anthony Franco | February 23, 2023 at 11:49pm CDT

This past offseason marked the second straight winter in which the Marlins made a series of moves in hopes of upgrading the lineup. By and large, their set of transactions over the 2021-22 offseason didn’t pan out as hoped. Among those who had a tough first year in South Florida was backstop Jacob Stallings.

Stallings was a late-blooming regular for a couple seasons with the Pirates. He didn’t garner significant MLB playing time until 2019, his age-29 season. Once given the opportunity, Stallings developed into a solid primary catcher. Over a three-year stretch between 2019-21, he hit .251/.331/.374 in a little less than 800 plate appearances. That was a little better than the .233/.308/.399 line compiled by catchers overall. Stallings was a bit below-average from a power perspective but posted stronger on-base numbers than the typical backstop.

He’d paired that respectable offense with elite receiving behind the plate. Public pitch framing metrics loved Stallings’ work. He wasn’t charged with a single passed ball in 892 innings in 2021. While he wasn’t great at controlling the running game, he looked like one of the sport’s top pure receivers.

Considering those two-way contributions, it was understandable the Fish targeted Stallings to solidify their catching situation. The acquisition cost was fairly modest; they relinquished depth starter Zach Thompson and mid-level prospects Kyle Nicolas and Connor Scott for three arbitration seasons of their hopeful #1 catcher. Unfortunately for the Fish, Stallings’ production cratered on both sides of the ball.

The right-handed hitter posted a career-worst .223/.292/.292 line through 384 trips to the plate. His already modest power went backwards. Stallings managed just four home runs and posted his lowest hard contact rate (32%) since becoming a regular. That diminished contact quality also resulted in a .280 batting average on balls in play that was .025 points below the mark he carried between 2019-21. Stallings’ strike zone discipline remained intact; he made contact and continued to generally lay off pitches outside the zone. He just simply didn’t do enough damage on batted balls to make an offensive impact.

That offensive drop-off wouldn’t have been quite so alarming if it hadn’t been paired with a bizarre dip in Stallings’ pitch framing numbers. Statcast graded him as seven runs below average in that regard, his first subpar season after three consecutive years of plus marks. Stallings remarkably posted another flawless year with regards to avoid passed balls but didn’t have his typical level of success stealing strikes on the edges of the zone.

Teams also took more advantage of his middling arm strength than they had in years past. No catcher was behind the plate for more successful stolen bases than Stallings, who saw opponents swipe 61 bags in 75 attempts (an excellent 81.3% success rate). Stolen bases aren’t solely on the catcher — pitchers’ times to the plate plays a significant role — but Statcast rated Stallings’ arm strength below par.

That could take on added importance in 2023. MLB is introducing rules such as the limitation on pickoff attempts and larger bases designed to incentivize base-stealing. Stallings seems unlikely to develop above-average arm strength in his age-33 season. Keeping the running game in check figures to be a challenge yet again, which places a greater emphasis on Stallings to return to peak form in the areas of his game that have historically been his strength.

He’ll need to more closely approximate his offensive production and framing marks from his final couple seasons in Pittsburgh to serve as the caliber of upgrade Miami believed they were getting 12 months ago. To his credit, Stallings had a decent second half offensively after a terrible start to the year, though he’ll need to sustain that over a full season this time around.

General manager Kim Ng and her staff seem bullish on his chances of righting the ship. There was little indication Miami seriously looked outside the organization for catching help this offseason. They avoided arbitration with Stallings, signing him for $3.35MM. He presumably heads into Spring Training atop the depth chart for a second time, though he could face some internal pressure if he starts the season slowly.

26-year-old Nick Fortes has put himself on the radar after a quietly effective rookie season. The Ole Miss product made a 14-game cameo at the tail end of the 2021 campaign. Last season was his first extended MLB action, and Fortes impressed. He hit .230/.304/.392 with nine home runs and a modest 18.8% strikeout rate over 240 trips to the plate. Fortes demonstrated both above-average contact skills and solid batted ball metrics, showing the potential to be an interesting offensive option.

Fortes logged 441 innings behind the plate last season, rating fairly well in the eyes of public defensive metrics. Statcast pegged him as a roughly average pitch framer with above-average arm strength. Fortes threw out 28.6% of base-stealers, a solid clip. After committing four passed balls in just 44 innings in 2021, he was charged with only one passed ball last season. It was a solid all-around showing that earned the former fourth-rounder a near equal split in playing time with Stallings from the All-Star Break onwards. Still, with just 86 career games under his belt, he’ll need to prove he can continue performing over a larger sample.

The duo will continue jostling for playing time this season. Stallings and Fortes are the only two catchers on the 40-man roster, with Miami dealing Payton Henry to Milwaukee at the start of the offseason. Austin Allen is in camp as a non-roster invitee but figures to open the year in Triple-A Jacksonville barring injury. How to allocate playing time behind the dish is one of the bigger questions for first-year manager Skip Schumaker. Stallings figures to get the lion’s share of time early in hopes of a rebound, though it remains to be seen how long the leash would be if he struggles after Fortes’ solid 2022 campaign.

Marlins Notes: Gurriel, First Base, Rotation, Sanchez

By Anthony Franco | February 13, 2023 at 10:26pm CDT

The Marlins were one of the teams known to have interest in free agent first baseman Yuli Gurriel earlier this offseason. Some reports painted Miami as the favorite to land the longtime Astros infielder, though the Fish subsequently backed off their pursuit. According to Craig Mish and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Miami had made Gurriel a one-year offer worth a bit more than $2MM this winter. After a week without getting a definitive response from the former batting champion’s camp, the Fish took that proposal off the table.

Gurriel was reportedly seeking a deal in the $3MM range at one point. Whether that’s still the case isn’t known, but he continues to linger alongside Luke Voit, Miguel Sanó and Mike Moustakas as the most accomplished remaining free agent first base options. Gurriel reportedly drew some interest, the extent of which is unclear, from the Twins. Houston brass has also praised his presence in the clubhouse over the last seven years, though Astros general manager Dana Brown indicated last week there might not be room on the roster after Houston brought in José Abreu to play first base.

Meanwhile, Jackson writes that Miami could look to bring in a different first baseman on a minor league contract with a Spring Training invitation. Garrett Cooper is in line for the starting job. He’s a quality hitter but has only twice reached 400 plate appearances in a season thanks to a lengthy injury history. Cooper has had injured list stints in all five years since the Marlins acquired him from the Yankees over the 2017-18 offseason. Miami has Luis Arraez as an alternative first base option but plans to give him more consistent run at second base.

The Fish made a more significant acquisition on the other side of the ball over the weekend, bringing in reliever A.J. Puk in a trade that sent outfielder JJ Bleday to Oakland. Puk jumps into the late-inning mix, while Miami’s ample rotation depth could lead to a camp battle for starts. Sandy Alcantara headlines the staff, with Jesús Luzardo, Trevor Rogers, Braxton Garrett, Edward Cabrera and offseason signee Johnny Cueto all options for the rotation. While it’s possible one member of that group starts the year in the bullpen, pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. indicated today the team could carry them all in the rotation (link via Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald).

While the pitching coach didn’t commit to any roles at this stage of the winter, he noted that general manager Kim Ng and manager Skip Schumaker have discussed the potential for a six-man starting staff. Doing so early in the season could help manage workloads to ease into the year. Of course, it’s unlikely all six hurlers will stay healthy and perform well from Opening Day through year’s end, so injuries either in Spring Training or during the season are likely to sort things out.

On the other side of the equation, the Marlins could eventually welcome another talented young starter back from a laundry list of recent injuries. Sixto Sánchez hasn’t thrown a big league pitch in two years thanks to shoulder issues that required multiple surgeries. The most recent of those procedures came last fall. Sánchez told reporters last week he feels about 85% and has thrown a handful of bullpen sessions.

Stottlemyre declined to specify a timetable for Sánchez’s return to a big league mound but indicated the team continues to view him as a starting pitcher. The veteran coach expressed a desire to get the 24-year-old to rebuild a workload against live hitters. Once one of the sport’s top pitching prospects and the centerpiece of the J.T. Realmuto trade, Sánchez has seven MLB starts to date. He worked to a 3.46 ERA with an excellent 58% grounder rate over 39 innings during the shortened 2020 schedule.

Nic Enright Undergoing Treatment For Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

By Darragh McDonald | February 13, 2023 at 2:30pm CDT

Marlins right-hander Nic Enright announced on social media that he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in December, as relayed by Craig Mish of The Miami Herald. It’s unclear what is next for Enright, but he does state that he has already completed the first round of treatments. “My goal is to use my platform to provide hope and inspiration to others who fight their battles with cancer,” he said in his post. “I’m going to continue to tackle this challenge with the same perseverance that I do baseball – and I can’t wait to return to the mound and the game I love. I might have cancer, but cancer does not have me!”

Enright, 26, was drafted by Cleveland in the 20th round of the 2019 draft. He worked his way up the minor league ladder and spent last year split between Double-A and Triple-A. He tossed 65 2/3 innings between those two levels in 2022, posting a 2.88 ERA with a 33.7% strikeout rate and 5.4% walk rate. He was left unprotected prior to the Rule 5 draft in December, which allowed the Marlins to select him.

Enright was lined up to battle for a spot in the Miami bullpen and perhaps make his major league debut this year. But baseball will now take a backburner as he focuses on the much more important issue of his health. We at MLB Trade Rumors wish him all the best in his recovery and look forward to seeing him on the mound again in the future. He’s the second pitcher to reveal a cancer diagnosis in as many months, as Liam Hendriks of the White Sox announced in January that he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Marlins, Athletics Swap JJ Bleday For AJ Puk

By Simon Hampton | February 11, 2023 at 6:37pm CDT

The Athletics are acquiring JJ Bleday from the Marlins in a trade, according to the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Left-hander A.J. Puk is going the other way, per Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. The teams have now announced the deal.

Puk, 28 in April, had a quality year in 2022, working to a 3.12 ERA over 66 1/3 innings in Oakland’s bullpen. That came with above-average strikeout (27.1%) and walk (8.2%) rates. He was miserly against left-handed hitters, limiting them to just a .153/.250/.259 line.

That was the first full-season of work for Puk, who’d battled injuries and thrown just 24 2/3 innings at the top level since making his debut in 2019. He’d had mixed success in that time, working to a 4.74 ERA over those innings.

Puk was drafted and developed as a starter, but switched to the bullpen at Triple-A and hasn’t made a start at the big league level. With that being said, A’s GM David Forst said in December that Puk would prepare for the season as a starter and compete for a rotation spot in spring training. Given the Marlins plethora of starting options, it seems unlikely he’ll wind up anywhere other than the bullpen for his new team though.

Puk leans almost exclusively on a 97mph fastball and an 87mph slider, though he has thrown a changeup on occasion in the past. He’ll slot in as a third left-handed option in Miami’s bullpen alongside Tanner Scott and Steven Okert. Puk would’ve been close to being a Super Two player, but is under control at a pre-arbitration rate for 2023, before beginning his three seasons of arbitration in 2024.

In return, Oakland picks up Bleday, 25, a fourth overall pick by the Marlins in the 2019 draft. He had a strong year at Triple-A last year, and was rewarded with his first call up to the big leagues. Despite hitting .228/.365/.470 with 20 home runs at the top level of the minors, Bleday couldn’t continue that in the majors, hitting just .167/.277/.309 with five home runs over 238 plate appearances.

Bleday saw the majority of his time in center field last year, earning -3 Outs Above Average in 330 innings at the position. He’s generally been seen as a corner outfielder long term though, and defensive metrics liked him better in those positions.

Ramon Laureano is the only nailed-on starter in Oakland’s outfielder, and Bleday will compete with Cristian Pache and Esteury Ruiz for the other two spots. Bleday is under control for at least six more seasons, although he has all of his minor league options remaining, so the A’s could end up opting to give him a bit more time at Triple-A, which would of course delay his service time clock depending on how long he spends in the minors.

Marlins Notes: Sixto, Wendle, Advisors

By Mark Polishuk | February 11, 2023 at 2:12pm CDT

Sixto Sanchez hasn’t pitched since his breakout 2020 rookie season, and naturally, “the frustration was really high” for the right-hander as he continued to battle through shoulder injuries. “It was really hard because it was just setback after setback, and just trying to come back and see that and trying to maintain that positive energy was very difficult. But thank goodness we’re here where we’re at right now and looking forward,” Sanchez told MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola and other reporters. After two full missed seasons and a pair of shoulder surgeries, Sanchez has thrown five bullpen sessions to date, and estimates that he is around 85% readiness as he heads into what he hopes will be a healthy and uninterrupted Spring Training.

It has been just over four years since the Marlins dealt J.T. Realmuto to the Phillies for a trade package that included Sanchez as a centerpiece. The right-hander looked to be living up to the hype in 2020, yet two lost years has basically led to a reset on Sanchez’s career. As he prepared to return to action, Sanchez’s commitment to health extends beyond just shoulder rehab, as he has also lost 46 pounds since last year after adopting new diet and training methods.

Justin Bour Announces Retirement

By Mark Polishuk | February 11, 2023 at 7:28am CDT

Veteran first baseman Justin Bour announced his retirement, saying on his official Twitter feed that “there comes a time in every player’s career when they know it’s time to hang them up. Today is that day for me. Thank you baseball and everyone that helped me along the way.” Bour will hang up the cleats at age 34, and after hitting .253/.337/.457 with 92 career home runs over 1950 plate appearances and 559 big league games with the Marlins, Phillies, and Angels.

Bour’s career began as a 25th-round pick for the Cubs in the 2009 draft, though the Marlins took Bour away from Chicago in the 2013 Rule 5 draft. That selection opened the door for Bour’s MLB debut in 2014, and eventually his role as the Marlins’ new regular first baseman. Retaining his rookie eligibility into the 2015 campaign, Bour finished fifth in NL Rookie Of The Year voting that season after a 23-homer performance.

All told, Bour hit .262/.346/.470 with 83 home runs over 1726 PA with Miami from 2014-18, until the Fish dealt him to the Phillies in August 2018. Bour was one of several notable Marlins players traded around that period as the franchise went through yet another fire sale, though Bour’s offensive numbers also started to dip in 2018. As a first base-only player without much success against left-handed pitching, Bour’s limitations worked against him for salary arbitration purposes, as the Phillies chose to non-tender him following the 2018 season due to his rising price tag.

The Angels signed Bour to a free agent deal but he struggled in Anaheim, playing in only 52 games with the Halos in 2019. This marked Bour’s last stint in the majors, and apart from a 33-game stretch with the Giants’ Triple-A team in 2021, Bour spent his last three pro seasons mostly playing in foreign leagues. The first baseman saw time in Japan (with the Hanshin Tigers), South Korea (the LG Twins), and in Mexico (Diablos Rojos del México).

Bour is “looking forward to giving back to the game that has given me so much,” and his first steps in retirement will be to spend more time with his family and to finish his degree at George Mason University. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Bour on a fine career, and we wish him all the best in his next steps.

Each MLB Team’s Players On WBC Rosters

By Darragh McDonald | February 9, 2023 at 7:30pm CDT

The World Baseball Classic is returning this year, the first time since 2017. The quadrennial event was supposed to take place in 2021 but was scuttled by the pandemic, now returning after a six-year absence. Rosters for the tournament were announced today and those can be found at this link. Here is a breakdown of which players from each MLB team are set to take participate. Quick caveat that this list is fluid and might be changed as more information becomes available.

Without further ado…

Angels

Astros

Athletics

Blue Jays

Braves

Brewers

Cardinals

Cubs

Diamondbacks

Dodgers

Giants

Guardians

Marlins

Mariners

Mets

Nationals

Orioles

Padres

Phillies

Pirates

Rangers

Rays

Red Sox

Reds

Rockies

Royals

Tigers

Twins

White Sox

Yankees

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