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Miguel Rojas

Marlins Extend Miguel Rojas

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Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas will be reaching free agency a bit later than initially projected, as the organization formally announced a two-year contract extension for the 30-year-old defensive standout Friday. Rojas, a client of the Beverly Hills Sports Council, will reportedly be guaranteed $10.25MM in total. The contract also comes with a vesting option that’d take the deal north of $15MM, if triggered.

Miguel Rojas | Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The new contract buys out Rojas’ final season of arbitration, guarantees one free-agent season and gives Miami an option for what would be the second free-agent season for Rojas, who’ll turn 31 in February. Rojas earned a $3.155MM salary in 2019 and would’ve been eligible for arbitration for the final time this winter — although his relatively timid offensive profile would’ve prevented him from cashing in on a substantial raise.

The timing of the contract talks are a bit unusual, but the Miami organization is no stranger to September extensions. The Marlins previously worked out a three-year, $40MM extension for Martin Prado as well as a much smaller one-year extension with Greg Dobbs in the final month of a season (not that either deal panned out particularly well for them). Beyond that, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro tweeted this week that Rojas has “made it clear” to the Marlins that he wants to stay in Miami. The two sides apparently preferred to skip the potentially contentious arbitration process and proactively work out a multi-year arrangement.

Rojas has quietly become a versatile and fairly valuable player in South Florida, logging time at all four infield positions over the past few seasons while proving to be a difficult strikeout at the plate. He’s currently hitting .288/338/.388 with five homers, 27 doubles, a triple and eight steals in 2019, and he’s put together a serviceable (albeit still below average) .274/.327/.368 slash through 1316 plate appearances dating back to 2017. In that time, he’s punched out in only 12 percent of his plate appearances.

Though he’s spent the bulk of his time at shortstop over the past two seasons, Rojas grades out as an above-average defender all over the diamond. He’s generated elite numbers at the shortstop position, where he’s been credited with +26 Defensive Runs Saved and a +14 Ultimate Zone Rating dating back to 2017, which has helped to offset his lack of power and limited on-base skills.

Looking ahead, Rojas now appears poised to serve as the Marlins’ primary shortstop in both 2020 and 2021 — depending on the timeline of prospect Jazz Chisholm. For now, Rojas will likely be joined on the left side of the diamond by continually improving Brian Anderson, with well-regarded prospect Isan Diaz the favorite at second base. Garrett Cooper will likely round out the 2020 infield, although trades and free-agent acquisitions can certainly impact that composition. Rojas had previously been a somewhat under-the-radar trade asset, but a multi-year deal quite likely takes him off the market — at least in the short term.

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman first reported the deal (Twitter links). Barry Jackson and Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald added some financial context, and Heyman tweeted final details.

Marlins Select Contract Of Deven Marrero

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The Marlins announced today that they’ve selected the contract of infielder Deven Marrero. He’ll take the roster spot of fellow infielder Miguel Rojas, who is heading to the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain.

Marrero, 29, is a former first-round pick who has yet to show he has the stick to hang in the big leagues. The shortstop owns a .197/.250/.283 slash line through 343 plate appearances at the game’s highest level.

There has been a notable change for Marrero this year at Triple-A, where he has cracked 14 long balls in 380 plate appearances after never previously finishing a season with even a double-digit tally. Of course, that’s the sort of thing we’ve seen from quite a few other players in the homer-friendly International League, so it’s hard to put too much stock in this particular development.

The Marlins’ Sneaky Trade Chip

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Apart from a few scattered signs of promise dotting the South Florida tank, it’s been another year to forget for the Fish. The Marlins currently sit at 32-54, 19.5 games back of the Braves in a tough NL East, a mark that all but assures the club of a decade-long losing-season sweep.

The club’s heaviest assets of yesteryear have all been pawned, leaving an assortment of pre-arb castoffs, up-and-comers, and journeymen hangers-on. Still, it’s baseball, and where playing time awaits, new assets will emerge. The club has steadily rebuilt its once-barren farm, stolen a couple names from regimes with which new club personnel were familiar, and allowed previously cast aside young talent to flourish. Even Zac Gallen and Sandy Alcantara, the bulk of the oft-pilloried return for Marcell Ozuna, have spread their wings this season, with the former vaulting into top-100 territory and the latter notching the club’s lone ’19 All-Star appearance despite shaky peripherals.

Can the club add to its array of projected big leaguers on the farm?  Many of its top performers this season – Brian Anderson, Pablo Lopez, Garrett Cooper, Caleb Smith – figure to comprise the core of Miami’s next contending club, and are thus unlikely to move. Veterans Martin Prado, Starlin Castro, Wei-Yin Chen, Adam Conley, and Sergio Romo have done little to boost their respective values, and high-octane hurler Jose Urena hasn’t take the step forward the team hoped. But one former throw-in from a long-ago deal has remained steady as always.

Enter Miguel Rojas. Acquired in the head-scratching deal that sent Andrew Heaney, Kiké Hernandez, and Austin Barnes to LA in exchange for Dee Gordon and an aging Dan Haren, Rojas was used sparingly in his first couple seasons with the club. He opened eyes with a 1.4 fWAR performance in just 90 games in 2017, pairing strong contact ability with above-average defense at multiple positions. The gutting of 2018’s roster left near-full-time opportunity at shortstop for Rojas, a position at which he sparkled defensively, notching 10 defensive runs saved in nearly half the innings of NL-leader Nick Ahmed, who posted 21, and a UZR/150 that ranked among MLB’s best.

The 30-year-old Venezuelan has vaulted up a notch this season, pacing the big leagues in both UZR/150 and the range component of the stat, with a striking 13 Defensive Runs Saved to boot. With Andrelton Simmons on the shelf, and Brandon Crawford looking a shell of his former shelf all across the diamond, Rojas has staked a legitimate claim to the league’s best defender at the most difficult defensive position on the field.

His bat, too, has taken off: his 97 wRC+ has the one-time utility man on pace for nearly 3.0 fWAR this season, an easily above-average mark, and his second such offensive campaign in three years. His hard-hit rate has jumped to a career-high 35.5%, and the righty’s chasing pitches outside the zone at a career-low pace. Rojas’ 12.8 K% (paired with a respectable 7.8% BB) ranks among the league’s lowest.

In short, he’s as solid as they come. But where will he fit? Unlike other positions – catcher, second base – shortstop is rife with talent, and nearly every contender has a good one. Milwaukee, who’s seen Orlando Arcia reprise his poor performance from a season ago, could be a fit, as might Tampa or perhaps Pittsburgh or Cincinnati. Washington could again shift its shortstop, Trea Turner, around the diamond – he’s been awful defensively in limited action so far this season – as could the Cubs, whose second-base hole might simply be plugged by the displacement of one-time incumbent Javier Baez.

Given the propensity of new-wave front offices to acquire pieces without a clear fit, it stands to reason that Rojas’ market may be wider than it first appears. He’s arbitration-eligible for the final time in 2020, so Miami’s return won’t be negligible; the one-time throw-in may soon find himself a centerpiece.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: National League

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The deadline for players and teams to exchange arbitration figures passed yesterday at 1pm ET, and there has been a landslide of settlements on one-year deals to avoid an arbitration hearing. We’ll track those settlements from the National League in this post. Once all of the day’s settlements have filtered in, I’ll organize them by division to make them a bit easier to parse.

It’s worth mentioning that the vast majority of teams have adopted a “file and trial” approach to arbitration, meaning that once arbitration figures are exchanged with a player, negotiations on a one-year deal will cease. The two parties may still discuss a multi-year deal after that point, but the majority of players who exchange figures with their team today will head to an arbitration hearing.

As always, all salary projections referenced within this post are courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz, and we’ll also be updating our 2019 Arbitration Tracker throughout the day…

Today’s Updates

  • Rounding out contract numbers for the St. Louis Cardinals, Dominic Leone will take home $1.26MM, Chasen Shreve will make $900K, and outfielder Marcell Ozuna will earn $12.25MM in his last season before free agency, per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter). Ozuna has the most high-impact potential as he looks to rebound from a still-productive season in 2018 that saw his power output hindered at times by a balky shoulder. He still managed 23 home runs and a .280/.325/.433 slash line while playing just about every day outside of a 10-day DL stint late in August.
  • The Diamondbacks came to terms with a slew of players, per Feinsand (via Twitter), including Matt Andriese for $920K, Steven Souza Jr. for $4.125MM, shortstop Nick Ahmed for $3.6625MM, and potential closer Archie Bradley for $1.83MM.
  • The Rockies and starting pitcher Jon Gray have come to an agreement on a $2.935MM deal, per Feinsand (via Twitter). Gray had an up-and-down 2018 that is generally considered to be more promising than the optics of his 5.12 ERA make it seem.
  • The Pirates have come to terms on one-year deals with both of their arbitration eligible players, per Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Left fielder Corey Dickerson signs for $8.5MM, and reliever Keone Kela takes home $3.175MM. It’s a small arb class for the Pirates, whose list will grow next season as players like Josh Bell, Jameson Taillon, and Joe Musgrove, among others, reach their first season of eligibility.
  • The Dodgers signed a couple of their remaining arbitration-eligible players yesterday, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter links). Utility man Chris Taylor has a $3.5MM deal, while outfield Joc Pederson settled at $5MM.

Earlier Updates

Read more

NL East Notes: Asdrubal, Amaro, Marlins

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Asdrubal Cabrera’s strong start for the Mets is building an interesting test case in free agency, writes Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. The 32-year-old is the type of player who was immensely devalued last offseason — a longtime solid but not star-caliber regular on the wrong side of 30 — but is also in the midst of perhaps his best start to any season. Cabrera is batting .329/.376/.552, and I’d add that dating back to last September, he’s actually slashing .345/.398/.573 in 260 PAs. Cabrera has upped his line-drive rate quite a bit in 2018, but his fly-ball, ground-ball, strikeout and walk rates are all in line with his career marks. The uptick in liners and hard contact does prompt xwOBA to view his early work favorably, but it’s not clear he can maintain that pace. A .383 average on balls in play is a huge factor in Cabrera’s surge, and that doesn’t appear especially sustainable.

That said, Cabrera looks to have plenty left in the tank after a solid two-plus years with the Mets. Davidoff, though, points to peers like Neil Walker and Eduardo Nunez in suggesting that the market hasn’t been favorable to Cabrera’s skill set and wonders if he’ll be able to top the two-year, $18.25MM deal he initially landed from the Mets.

More from the division…

  • Former Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro (now the Mets’ first base coach) chatted with current Phillies GM Matt Klentak when the Mets played the Phils at Citizens Bank Park over the weekend, Amaro tells Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia. Amaro notes that he already knew Klentak somewhat from Klentak’s days with the Orioles and Angels as well as in the Commissioner’s Office, and the former GM expresses some appreciation for Klentak’s acknowledgment of the trades he made before being dismissed. As Salisbury notes, a significant portion of the Phils’ roster was drafted or acquired under Amaro’s watch near the end of his run. Amaro also caught up with rookie manager Gabe Kapler and discussed Kapler’s rough first week on the job. “I told him, ‘Hey, just like any other place, and maybe more so than others, if you guys keep playing well the fans will really appreciate it and things will turn around,'” says Amaro. The former GM speaks fondly of the city and of Citizens Bank Park, noting that Philadelphia will always feel like a home to him.
  • The Marlins had some injury scares on Sunday when both Brian Anderson and Miguel Rojas exited the game early, but Joe Frisaro of MLB.com writes that X-rays on each player came back negative. Anderson felt some discomfort in his right middle finger when hitting a fly-out in the sixth inning, he revealed, while the source of Rojas’ injury was far more obvious: he was plunked on the left wrist by a 93.9 mph fastball from lefty Sam Freeman. Skipper Don Mattingly acknowledged that there’s no guarantee either will immediately rejoin the lineup Tuesday following today’s off-day, but it doesn’t sound at present as if either will require a trip to the disabled list.

Players Avoiding Arbitration: National League

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The deadline for MLB teams to exchange salary arbitration figures with their arbitration-eligible players is today at 1pm ET. As such, there will be a veritable flood of arb agreements piling up in the next few hours — especially in light of a more universal approach to the “file and trial” method for teams. (That is to say, those teams will no longer negotiate one-year deals after arb figures are exchanged and will instead head to a hearing with those players, barring an agreemenr on a multi-year deal.)

Note that you can keep an eye on all of today’s deals using MLBTR’s 2018 Arbitration Tracker, which can be filtered to show only the results of the team you follow and is also sortable by service time and dollar value of the agreement. All projections that are referenced come from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz’s annual compilation of projected arbitration salaries.

Onto today’s landslide of deals…

National League West

  • The Rockies have agreed to a $2MM salary with righty Chad Bettis, MLBTR has learned (Twitter link). That’s a fair sight more than his $1.5MM projection. Bettis surely would have had an opportunity to set a bigger platform for himself, but had to battle through testicular cancer before returning to the hill in 2017. Meanwhile, second baseman DJ LeMahieu has settled for a $8.5MM payday in his final year of arbitration, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. That’s just a hair short of the $8.8MM he was pegged for in MLBTR’s projections.
  • Giants second baseman Joe Panik is slated to earn $3.45MM in his first season of arb eligibility, Devan Fink of SB Nation was first to tweet. That’s just a hair shy of the $3.5MM that MLBTR projected. Lefty Will Smith has settled at $2.5MM, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). The club has also announced deals with its remaining arb-eligible players, right-handed relievers Sam Dyson ($4.6MM projection), Hunter Strickland ($1.7MM projection), and Cory Gearrin ($1.6MM projection). (H/t John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, on Twitter). Strickland earns $1.55MM, Nightengale tweets.
  • The Padres and Freddy Galvis agreed to a $6.825MM deal for his lone season of team control in San Diego, tweets Robert Murray of FanRag Sports. Galvis, who spent the first several seasons of his career in Philadelphia before being traded this winter, had been projected to make $7.4MM. Infielder Cory Spangenberg settled at $1.7MM, Heyman tweets, falling below a $2.0MM projection. San Diego has also reached agreements with righty Kirby Yates and outfielder Matt Szczur, the team announced. Yates will earn $1,062,500, Heyman tweets, which is just shy of his $1.1MM projection. Szczur, meanwhile, will get $950K, a healthy boost over his $800K projection, per Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link).
  • The Diamondbacks agreed to a $7.75MM deal with center fielder A.J. Pollock, Murray tweets. Pollock was projected to earn $8.4MM in his final year of eligibility before free agency. Murray also notes that Brad Boxberger is set to earn $1.85MM next year (Twitter link). Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic adds that lefty Andrew Chafin ($1.2MM projection) and the D-backs have a $1.195MM deal in place. Third baseman Jake Lamb, meanwhile, agreed to a $4.275MM deal with the Diamondbacks, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale (Twitter link). Lamb, eligible for arbitration for the first time, was projected to earn $4.7MM. He’s controllable through 2020. And ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick tweets that Chris Herrmann ($1.4MM projection) landed a $1.3MM deal. Righty Taijuan Walker has settled for $4.825MM, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter), which is within range but shy of the $5.0MM he projected for. Lefty Robbie Ray has settled at $3.95MM, per Nightengale (Twitter link), which falls short of his $4.2MM projection. Infielder Nick Ahmed will $1.275MM, per Heyman (via Twitter), which tops the projected figure of $1.1MM. Arizona has also announced that Chris Owings and David Peralta have agreed to terms.
  • The Dodgers are in agreement on a $6MM deal with lefty Alex Wood, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). He had projected at $6.4MM. Meanwhile, righty Josh Fields agreed to a $2.2MM deal, tweets Murray. Heyman tweets that Enrique Hernandez will earn $1.6MM. Fields’ projection of $2.2MM was on the money, whereas Hernandez topped his mark by $300K. Fields is controlled through 2019, while Hernandez is controllable through 2020. Southpaw Tony Cingrani gets $2.3MM, Murray tweets, which is just a shade over his $2.2MM projection. Outfielder Joc Pederson has also settled, per J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group (via Twitter), with Beth Harris of the Associated Press reporting a $2.6MM salary that rather handily tops the $2.0MM that MLBTR projected.

National League Central

  • All three remaining Cardinals arb-eligibles have agreed to deals, MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch tweets. Marcell Ozuna will earn $9MM after drawin a much larger $10.9MM projection, Heyman tweets. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had explained that Ozuna likely wouldn’t quite reach the amount the algorithm suggested, though the actual salary still comes in a bit shy of expectations. Lefty Tyler Lyons ($1.3MM projection) receives $1.2MM, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). The Cards have also reached agreement with Michael Wacha for $5.3MM, per Nightengale (via Twitter); he was projected to earn $5.9MM.
  • The Reds agreed to a $860K salary with Anthony DeSclafani, tweets Murray. DeSclafani missed the 2017 season due to arm troubles and had been projected to earn $1.1MM. He’ll remain under Reds control through 2020. Billy Hamilton and the Reds have settled on a one-year deal worth $4.6MM, tweets Murray. A popular trade candidate this offseason, Hamilton was projected to earn $5MM and comes with another two seasons of team control. Murray also conveys that Michael Lorenzen agreed to a $1.3125MM deal, which lines up fairly well with his $1.4MM projection.
  • The Cubs have struck a deal with lefty Justin Wilson, agreeing to a one-year, $4.25MM pact, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link). Wilson, who had been projected at $4.3MM, will be a free agent next winter. The Cubs alsoagreed to a $950K salary with infielder Tommy La Stella, tweets MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat. La Stella was projected to make $1MM in his first offseason of arbitration eligiblity and can be controlled through 2020. Right-hander Kyle Hendricks and the Cubs have agreed to a $4.175MM salary, per Nightengale (on Twitter). That sum comes in a fair bit shy of his projected $4.9MM projection as a first-time eligible player. The Cubs control Hendricks through the 2020 season. Chicago also agreed with Addison Russell, per Wittenmyer (Twitter link). The shortstop will receive $3.2MM for the coming season.
  • Nightengale reports (on Twitter) that the Brewers and breakout closer Corey Knebel settled at $3.65MM. As a Super Two player, Knebel can be controlled through the 2021 season and will be arb-eligible thrice more. He was projected at $4.1MM. MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy tweets that the Brewers and right-hander Jimmy Nelson settled at $3.7MM, which falls $1MM shy of his $4.7MM projection (though some of that discrepancy may be due to Nelson’s shoulder injury). Milwaukee also announced a deal for infielders Jonathan Villar (projected at $3MM) and Hernan Perez (projected at $2.2MM). McCalvy reports that Villar will earn $2.55MM, while terms of Perez’s deal are not yet available.
  • The Pirates have avoided arbitration with shortstop Jordy Mercer by settling on a $6.75MM salary for 2018, tweets Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Mercer, who’d been projected to earn $6.5MM, is entering his final year of team control and will be a free agent next winter. Biertempfel also reports that Gerrit Cole will earn that same $6.75MM salary in 2018 — a $3MM raise over last year (Twitter link). He has two years of control remaining and had been projected to earn $7.4MM. Righty George Kontos has also agreed to terms, per Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (via Twitter). He had projected for $2.7MM and will receive a smidge more, at $2,725,000, per Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link).

National League East

  • The Braves reached a $3.4MM deal with righty Arodys Vizcaino, per Jon Heyman of FanRag (Twitter link). He’d been projected at $3.7MM. The Braves and righty Dan Winkler agreed to a $610K salary for the upcoming season, tweets Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Winkler tossed just 14 1/3 innings in the Majors this year as he made his way back from elbow surgery. He’d projected at $800K.
  • The Marlins and Miguel Rojas agreed to a $1.18MM deal for 2018, Heyman tweets, placing him north of his $1.1MM projection. Rojas should see additional playing time following the Marlins’ wave of trades this offseason. He’s controlled through 2020. Miami also has a deal in place with infielder Derek Dietrich for $2.9MM, Heyman tweets, after projecting at $3.2MM.
  • The Mets were able to settle perhaps their most notable arb case, agreeing to a $7.4MM deal with righty Jacob deGrom, per James Wagner of the New York Times (via Twitter). That’s well shy of his $9.2MM projection, though MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had explained the formula likely overestimated deGrom’s earning power by quite a wide margin. Fellow top righty Noah Syndergaard gets $2.975MM, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter), which goes a fair sight past the $1.9MM projection for the outstanding young starter, whose 2017 season was limited by injury. And reliever AJ Ramos will take home $9.225MM, according to Wagner (via Twitter). That’s just barely past the $9.2MM projection.  Wilmer Flores has also avoided arbitration with the Mets, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports (on Twitter). He’ll receive a $3.4MM salary, which falls within $300K of his projected rate. The Mets control Flores through the 2019 campaign. The Mets and right-hander Matt Harvey agreed to a one-year deal worth $5.625MM, tweets Nightengale. Harvey, who is a free agent next winter, had been projected to earn $5.9MM. Meanwhile, Marc Carig of Newsday tweets that Jeurys Familia will earn $7.925MM for the upcoming year, while Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reports that catcher Travis d’Arnaud will earn $3.475MM in 2018 (Twitter link). Familia, a free agent next winter, was projected at $7.4MM. The Mets control d’Arnaud through 2019, and his projection was $3.4MM. Righty Hansel Robles gets $900K, Heyman tweets.
  • Also via Nightengale (Twitter link), the Nationals agreed to a $6.475MM salary for 2018 with right-hander Tanner Roark. That falls about $1MM shy of his $7.5MM projection but still represents a noted raise of $4.315MM for Roark, whom the Nats control through 2019. Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post adds that Michael Taylor will earn $2.525MM next year. Taylor is controlled through 2020 and was projected at $2.3MM.
  • The Phillies and Maikel Franco settled on a $2.95MM salary for the 2018 season, reports Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com (Twitter link). Franco, a Super Two player who’d been projected at $3.6MM, remains under club control with the Phils through the 2021 season. Second bagger Cesar Hernandez will earn at a $5.1MM rate in 2018, per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki (via Twitter). That beats his $4.7MM projection and wraps up this year’s arb business for the Phillies.

Marlins Place Martin Prado On 10-Day DL

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The Marlins have placed third baseman Martin Prado on the 10-day DL with a right knee sprain, per a team announcement. He’ll be replaced by infielder Miguel Rojas on the active roster.

That’s a new malady for Prado, who has hit the DL twice previously with hamstring problems. And it comes at a poor moment for Miami, which has reportedly been working on potential trade scenarios for the veteran.

Prado, 33, has struggled when healthy this year. Through 145 trips to the plate, he owns a .254/.283/.362 slash with a pair of home runs. And he’s hardly cheap, with an $11.5MM salary this year and $28.5MM still to go over the coming two seasons.

Still, it’s not surprising to see interest from organizations such as the Red Sox and Yankees. The respected veteran has long provided solid production, with a slightly above-average bat and quality glovework. He also has some defensive versatility, with plenty of time at second and left field in his past — though he has played third almost exclusively over the past several campaigns.

Prado is a clear August trade candidate given his contract. But teams hunting a third baseman will be motivated to explore all their options before the non-waiver deadline on July 31st. Whether Prado can return to the active roster before that date remains to be seen, though he’d only have a few potential games of action to show he’s back at full health.

The injury could help boost the market for the remaining third basemen that could be available. There are quite a few possibilities, though several may or may not be available. Pending free agents Todd Frazier and Eduardo Nunez both still appear to be the likeliest candidates to end up on the move.

Marlins Notes: Jeter, Cruz, Gordon, Ziegler, Ichiro, Rojas, Riddle

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Here are a handful of notes on the Marlins, via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

  • Marlins bidders Jorge Mas and Derek Jeter won’t be joining forces, Jackson writes. Mas, the Miami billionaire, contacted Jeter weeks ago and asked him to join Mas’ ownership group (as Fan Rag’s Jon Heyman also recently noted). Jeter refused, however, because he wants to control both the baseball and business sides of the team despite only contributing a relatively modest $25MM of his own money (as Heyman also previously noted). Jeter’s desire to control all parts of the team’s operations were also an issue when Jeter was previously part of a bidding group that included Jeb Bush.
  • An earlier report indicated union executive (and former big-league outfielder) Jose Cruz Jr. would be part of the Mas group. Jackson indicates that no specific role has been outlined for Cruz, but that Mas and his group do favor him.
  • The Marlins aren’t actively looking to trade Dee Gordon, but might deal him for the right return, Jackson suggests. A recent report from Heyman named the Royals, Angels and Blue Jays as potential bidders for Gordon, but indicated that the $41MM left on Gordon’s current deal might be a sticking point. Gordon is batting .291/.338/.353 in 380 plate appearances this season.
  • Neither righty Brad Ziegler nor outfielder Ichiro Suzuki plan to retire after the season, Jackson writes. Ziegler considered retiring before signing with Miami last winter, Jackson indicates. It’s not surprising that those retirement plans are no more, however, since he’s signed for $9MM next season. The 37-year-old is, however, in the midst of a terrible year, with a 6.52 ERA, 5.3 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 over 29 innings. Ichiro would play in 2018 at the age of 44 and has a .220/.267/.294 line this year; Jackson suggests that Ichiro is unlikely to return to the Marlins next season, despite his plans to play.
  • Infielder Miguel Rojas is set to return soon from a thumb injury, and manager Don Mattingly says he’s open to having Rojas compete with rookie JT Riddle for the starting shortstop job. Mattingly indicates, though, that he liked using Rojas in a utility role instead. Rojas has played all four infield positions with the Marlins this season.

Miguel Rojas Diagnosed With Broken Thumb

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The Marlins will be without utility infielder Miguel Rojas for several months, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports on Twitter. He has been diagnosed with a broken thumb that will require a cast.

That news comes at a particularly inopportune time for the Fish, who also just lost third baseman Martin Prado to the DL. It’s likely that Rojas would have helped cover at the hot corner along with Derek Dietrich, while continuing to fill in at short and second base. Instead, the club will be forced to lean on rookie J.T. Riddle for quite a bit longer than had been hoped when Rojas was hurt yesterday.

Rojas has somewhat quietly played a notable reserve role for Miami over the past few years. But his importance to the club has grown substantially early in the current season. Rojas has already taken 73 plate appearances — more than both Dietrich and shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria — and provided a useful .338/.389/.400 slash line with just eight strikeouts.

While there’s not much reason to think that Rojas’s high-contact, power-less approach will ever allow him to be even an average hitter over the long haul, that doesn’t mean he can’t be a useful player. Metrics have graded him as a positive around the infield, and perhaps he can do enough offensively to hang on as a solid utility piece if he can hold onto his current increase in walk rate (up to 8.2%).

NL Notes: Braun, Harvey, Marlins, Giants

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Outfielder Ryan Braun will gain 10-and-5 rights next Sunday, theoretically making it more difficult for the Brewers to trade him. That doesn’t matter to either Braun or Brewers general manager David Stearns, both of whom told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the six-time All-Star’s forthcoming 10-and-5 status is irrelevant. As Braun noted in his discussion with Haudricourt, he already has a no-trade clause that can prevent him from vetoing a deal to all but six teams – most of which are conveniently based in his home state of California. “There’s only a couple of teams that would be any possibility now, and there’s only a couple of teams that would be any possibility after, so it’s not going to really change anything,” said Braun. “I don’t think it will play much of a role or have any significance.” If the Brewers do shop the 33-year-old Braun, they’re not going to eat a significant portion of the ~$75MM remaining on a contract that runs through 2020 (there’s a $4MM buyout for 2021) or deal him without receiving quality prospects, per Haudricourt, whose piece contains more quotes from Braun and is worth a full read.

More from the National League:

  • Suspended Mets right-hander Matt Harvey is facing a career crossroads, opines Buster Olney of ESPN. Harvey’s days as a dominant starter are likely over, posits Olney, though he contends that the 28-year-old still has time to turn back into a reliable option. Aside from improving on the mound, Harvey will have to restore a reputation that’s at an all-time low among rival evaluators, according to Olney. There are questions about the hurler’s conditioning and dedication, which, along with his on-field struggles, are red flags as his first foray into free agency nears. Harvey is scheduled to hit the open market after the 2018 season, but he could end up in a different uniform as early as this year if the Mets are out of contention around the deadline and elect to cut ties with the erstwhile ace via trade, Olney writes.
  • Marlins third baseman Martin Prado missed a sizable portion of April with a right hamstring strain, and he left the team’s game Sunday with a similar issue. As a result, Marlins manager Don Mattingly expects Prado to head back to the disabled list, tweets Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. What’s more, another of the Marlins’ third base choices, Miguel Rojas, suffered a right thumb injury Sunday and could also require a DL stint. Fortunately for the Fish, they have another capable hot corner option in Derek Dietrich, though he has started slowly this year (.224/.348/.293 in 69 plate appearances).
  • Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford, on the DL since April 26 with a right groin strain, could rejoin the team as early as Tuesday, relays John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle. Crawford will play a Double-A rehab game Monday, and if he gets through it unscathed, his first career DL stint will end.
  • The Mets are debating whether to put shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera on the DL, manager Terry Collins told reporters, including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, on Sunday (Twitter link). Cabrera “jammed up” his left thumb Saturday, per Collins, but an MRI taken Sunday didn’t reveal any ligament damage, GM Sandy Alderson told MLB Network Radio (via DiComo). Given that Cabrera’s unlikely to miss a lot of time, the Mets won’t use his injury to promote top prospect Amed Rosario, a source informed DiComo.

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