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Carlos Santana

Gold Glove Winners Announced

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Major League Baseball announced the Gold Glove winners tonight, as selected by a group of managers, coaches, and statistical analysis.  Twenty-five percent of the selection total was determined by SABR’s Defensive Index metrics, while the other 75 percent was determined by votes from all 30 managers and up to six coaches from each team.  The utility Gold Glove was determined in a separate fashion, via a defensive formula calculated by SABR and Rawlings.

National League winners….

American League winners….

Twins Notes: Kirilloff, Santana, Buxton

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Not long after the Jorge Polanco trade cleared room in the Twins’ budget, the front office added Carlos Santana on a $5.25MM free agent pact. The veteran offers an alternative at first base to Alex Kirilloff, who started 58 games there a year ago.

Minnesota has stopped short of declaring either player the starting first baseman. However, Aaron Gleeman of the Athletic opined on Monday that Santana is likely to get the bulk of the reps on the strength of his defensive reputation. Manager Rocco Baldelli indeed suggested Tuesday that defense would be a separator in divvying up playing time.

“Whoever’s the better defensive first baseman is going to play more at first base. I don’t know any other way to put that,” Baldelli said (link via Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune). “There will be a determination when the time comes, when we put our lineups together. Both are going to play a good amount of first base, but the guy who is doing the best job for us on that side of the ball is the one who’s going to play more.”

Santana should have the edge in that regard. The 14-year big league veteran consistently rates as a quality gloveman. Defensive Runs Saved graded him 11 runs above average in more than 1150 innings a year ago. Statcast rated him as more of a solid than excellent defender, estimating he was two runs above par. Kirilloff, by contrast, rated between five and eight runs below average in only 510 first base innings by those metrics.

That’s not to say that Kirilloff’s path to a regular spot in the lineup is blocked. The left-handed hitter has more offensive upside than Santana brings to the table at this stage of his career. Kirilloff is coming off a .270/.348/.445 slash with 11 homers in 88 games. He hasn’t produced much against lefty pitching but owns a .274/.328/.440 batting line in 549 career plate appearances versus right-handers.

Kirilloff should see a good bit of action at designated hitter even if Santana operates as the primary first baseman. Minnesota also isn’t completely closing the book on Kirilloff as an outfielder. The 26-year-old tells Miller that he has continued taking outfield drills and expects to soon log game action on the grass. Kirilloff came through the minors as a corner outfielder. He hasn’t seen a ton of MLB action out there, logging 64 starts over parts of three seasons. Baldelli penciled him into the starting outfield on just 12 occasions last year.

The increased action at first base reflects both Minnesota’s outfield depth and the questions that evaluators have raised about Kirilloff’s athleticism. He’s certainly an inferior defender to Max Kepler in right field. Projected left fielder Matt Wallner has below-average range, although he has as strong an arm as any outfielder in the game.

Byron Buxton has the ability to help cover for a mediocre defender in left field, assuming he stays healthy. He’s among the sport’s best center fielders at full strength, but right knee issues kept him from logging any defensive work in 2023. The Star-Tribune’s Bobby Nightengale spoke with Buxton and hitting coach David Popkins about the difficulty in even remaining in a DH role with the amount of pain through which he had to play last season.

Buxton spoke about the mental challenge of playing through the injury, which he said frequently tightened up between at-bats and made it difficult to decelerate as a baserunner. The Twins are optimistic that he’ll be able to play center field fairly regularly in 2024, although Buxton’s injury history makes it difficult to bank on him starting 100+ games. Minnesota brought in Manuel Margot to serve as a quality fourth outfielder who can spell Buxton in center field and offers a right-handed complement to Kepler, Wallner and Kirilloff in the corners.

AL Notes: Mejia, Bellinger, Yankees, Carter, Twins

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The Angels released Francisco Mejia earlier today, and the veteran catcher has already had some “initial talks” with the Rays about a return to Tampa, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.  Mejia spent the last three seasons as part of the Rays’ catching mix, having time with Mike Zunino, Christian Bethancourt, and Rene Pinto before Tampa Bay designated Mejia for assignment last August and subsequently outrighted him off their 40-man roster.  Mejia chose to remain in the organization rather than opt for free agency in the wake of that outright assignment, but he became a free agent after the season and signed with the Angels on a minor league contract.

Pinto and Alex Jackson look to be Tampa’s preferred catching combo heading into the 2024 season, but the Rays were known to be looking for more depth at the position.  Re-signing a familiar face like Mejia would seem like a logical move in that department, even if a reunion with a catcher the Rays already seemingly moved on from last summer doesn’t represent much of an upgrade on a position that had been an issue for the team for years.  Mejia has hit .239/.284/.394 over 1098 career plate appearances in the majors, as the 28-year-old has only rarely shown any of the promise that made him a top prospect during his time in the Cleveland and San Diego farm systems.

Here’s some more from the American League….

  • The Yankees were linked to Cody Bellinger’s market early in the offseason, even if the Juan Soto trade seemingly closed the door on the chances of Bellinger in the Bronx well before Bellinger left the market for good by re-signing with the Cubs.  New York’s interest in Bellinger didn’t begin this offseason, as the club looked into signing Bellinger last winter and The Athletic’s Patrick Mooney reports that the Yankees also had interest in acquiring Bellinger prior to the last trade deadline.  Bellinger was seen as a major trade chip for much of the first half until the Cubs went on a hot streak and opted against selling at the deadline, leaving suitors for several of Chicago’s veterans out of luck.  Of course, the Yankees’ own fortunes changed, as the team’s midseason slump led the front office to have a very quiet deadline, perhaps as an acknowledgement that the roster was more than one player away.
  • Evan Carter and the Rangers seemingly avoided an injury scare today when x-rays came back negative on the outfielder’s left forearm, as manager Bruce Bochy told the Dallas Morning News’ Shawn McFarland and other reporters.  Carter was hit by a Kyle Harrison during today’s Cactus League game and left the field after a visit from the team trainer, though it appears as though Carter is just day-to-day with some soreness.  One of the big favorites for AL Rookie of the Year honors heading into 2024, Carter made his MLB debut last September and immediately produced at a superstar level down the stretch and throughout the Rangers’ postseason run.
  • On paper, the pairing of Carlos Santana and Alex Kirilloff gives the Twins a platoon at first base, though manager Rocco Baldelli told The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman and other reporters that “I don’t think of it as a traditional platoon in any way because one of our guys [Santana] is a switch hitter.  You end up with different options because Santana can play pretty much any day….It just gives us a lot of flexibility.”  Since Minnesota also wants to give Kirilloff at-bats and keep him healthy, the defensively superior Santana figures to get the majority of the work at first base and Kirilloff could be DH, with both players appearing in the same lineup on a regular basis.  Two wrist surgeries and a shoulder surgery have limited Kirilloff to 192 games and 706 PA over his first three big league seasons, so adding Santana on a one-year, $5.25MM deal allowed Minnesota to bolster the first base position.

NL Central Notes: India, Ashby, Santana, Pirates

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Plantar fasciitis sidelined Jonathan India last summer, and the injury is still impacting the Reds infielder’s availability as Spring Training begins.  Manager David Bell told the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith and other reporters that India isn’t slated to appear in a game until March 7 or 8, as India’s plantar fasciitis tore during the offseason and is still causing him some discomfort.  On the plus side, the tear means that India won’t need to undergo surgery on his foot, and Bell said that India is still able to take part in baseball activity as he builds up to being game-ready.

Health is just one of many uncertainties hanging over India as he begins his fourth Major League season.  Already the subject of frequent trade rumors due to Cincinnati’s plethora of up-and-coming infield talent, India looks to be moving into a utility role if he remains with the Reds, as he could be playing all over the infield, at DH, and perhaps in left field.

Other items from around the NL Central…

  • Aaron Ashby is eager to be back after missing virtually all of the 2023 season due to arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder.  Describing the procedure to Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Ashby said “I essentially had some calcified muscle on my rotator cuff, and they went in there and clipped it right off.  Once I got out of surgery the doctor was like, ’This was best-case scenario for you.’  It’s a minimal surgery in terms of what they did, but a shoulder surgery is a shoulder surgery, and it’s tricky at times.”  The southpaw’s only game action in 2023 was seven innings of minor-league rehab work in September, but he has been making good progress in Spring Training and is hoping to win a spot in the Brewers rotation, though Rosiak notes that bullpen work could help ease Ashby back into regular activity.
  • Carlos Santana had interest in returning to the Pirates as a free agent this winter, with Santana telling Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he expressed this to the team when he was traded to the Brewers prior to last summer’s trade deadline.  The Bucs still had some interest during the offseason even after signing Rowdy Tellez to ostensibly fill the void at first base, but Santana didn’t know why an agreement wasn’t reached.  “My agent has a very good relationship with the team, but he didn’t tell me anything.  I wanted to come back, but there was nothing going on,” the first baseman said.  Santana instead joined the Twins on a one-year, $5.25MM deal, and the Pirates will head into 2024 with Tellez and Connor Joe as the first base platoon and Andrew McCutchen returning as the primary DH.
  • This could be something of a tough read for Pirates fans, but The Athletic’s Stephen J. Nesbitt and Ken Rosenthal details some of the missteps that have slowed the team’s rebuild, such as a lack of success in international signings and some instances of a disconnect between traditional baseball teachings and the more modern approach of GM Ben Cherington.  However, the largest issue is naturally the team’s lack of spending under owner Bob Nutting, as there is less margin for error for Cherington’s front office when operating within a tight budget.  Nesbitt and Rosenthal’s piece was published a day before the Pirates announced a five-year, $77MM extension with Mitch Keller, which is one instance of how the Bucs have been slightly more willing to spend in order to lock up young cornerstone players.

MLBTR Podcast: Jorge Soler, Veteran Catcher Signings and the Padres’ Payroll Crunch

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

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

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Which teams do you think have a chance to exceed expectations this year like the Diamondbacks and Reds did last year? (26:00)
  • Matt Chapman to the Cubs for one year and $27MM plus a $30MM mutual option for 2025 with a $3MM buyout, who says no? (30:40)
  • Does Carlos Santana make the Twins better? (34:00)

Check out our past episodes!

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

Twins Sign Carlos Santana

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The Twins announced they have signed Carlos Santana to a one-year contract. The veteran first baseman, an Octagon client, is guaranteed $5.25MM on a deal that also includes performance incentives.

At the start of the offseason, president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said the team was open to adding at first base. That preceded three months of a dearth of activity on both the trade and free agent fronts. With an expected payroll reduction as they anticipated a dip in their local broadcasting revenues, the Twins made essentially no acquisitions.

Things kicked into gear this week with the trade sending second baseman Jorge Polanco to the Mariners for a four-player return. Two of the players headed back to the Twin Cities — reliever Justin Topa and starter Anthony DeSclafani — addressed a portion of the pitching depth the team lost with Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda, Tyler Mahle and Emilio Pagán signing elsewhere.

The trade presaged a free agent acquisition on the position player side, as Falvey acknowledged shortly after it was finalized. Minnesota offloaded Polanco’s $10.5MM salary. They took back Topa’s $1.25MM deal and assumed $4MM of the $12MM owed to DeSclafani for the upcoming season. That netted them $5.25MM in cost savings — the exact amount they’re now committing to Santana.

Moving Polanco indirectly opened the door to a more defensively-limited hitter. Edouard Julien now has a path to everyday reps at second base. Julien will still see some action at designated hitter but won’t log nearly as many at-bats there as he would’ve had Polanco still been on the roster. Santana and Alex Kirilloff should share the majority of the playing time between DH and first base.

Even as he nears his 38th birthday, Santana is better suited to play on the infield than at the DH spot. He remains a solid defender at first base. Statcast and Defensive Runs Saved each typically grade him slightly better than average with the glove. DRS estimated he was 11 runs above par a year ago, while Statcast had him at +2 runs.

The defense accounts for a good portion of Santana’s value. He’s a solid hitter but doesn’t have the kind of offensive firepower typically associated with the position. He’s coming off a .240/.318/.429 showing across 619 plate appearances split between the Pirates and Brewers. He hit 23 home runs, 33 doubles, and picked up his first triple in four years.

That offensive output was essentially league average, as measured by wRC+. He also rated as an average hitter in 2022, when he put together a .202/.316/.376 line in 506 plate appearances between the Royals and Mariners. While his triple slash stats were quite a bit higher in ’23 than they’d been the year before, offense was up around the league. (The league OPS jumped from .707 to .734.) Milwaukee’s American Family Field, where Santana finished last season, is also a far more favorable hitting venue than are either of the parks he called home two years ago.

Park-adjusted metrics didn’t feel Santana took a major step forward at the plate. That sentiment was apparently shared by the market, which valued him fairly similarly as it did a year ago. His 2024 salary is a little below the $6.725MM he’d been guaranteed on his one-year pact with Pittsburgh.

A switch-hitter, Santana has been more effective from the right side. Over the past two seasons, he owns a .266/.370/.430 line in 303 plate appearances against left-handed pitching. That’s quite a bit better than his .208/.298/.397 showing against righties. Santana’s recent productivity versus southpaws is appealing to a club that struggled somewhat in that regard a year ago. Minnesota had a .244/.330/.432 batting line against right-handers while hitting .241/.313/.414 against lefties.

Assuming Byron Buxton can play center field most days, which is the current expectation, most of Minnesota’s in-house DH possibilities hit from the left side. The corner outfield trio of Max Kepler, Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach are all lefty bats, as is Kirilloff. Santana complements the group from a handedness perspective.

Perhaps more importantly, he has also been incredibly durable. Santana has remarkably gone on the injured list just one time since 2014 (a minimal stay for ankle bursitis in May ’22). He has played in 130+ games in every full schedule since 2011 and appeared in all 60 contests during the shortened season. That kind of reliability pairs well with Kirilloff, a talented hitter who has been bothered by various injuries to this point in his career.

Kirilloff has missed time in all three of his MLB campaigns. Right wrist injuries led to extended absences in his first two seasons, culminating in season-ending surgeries both years. He battled shoulder problems last season and underwent a labrum repair in October. While he’s expected to be ready for Spring Training, the injury history has to be of concern to the front office. Last season’s 88 MLB games represented his personal high.

Minnesota’s payroll projection jumps back to the approximate $123MM figure at which they started this week, as calculated by Roster Resource. They’re reportedly aiming for a season-opening payroll in the $125-140MM range.

Darren Wolfson of SKOR North first reported the Twins and Santana had agreed to a one-year contract. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported the $5.25MM guarantee and inclusion of performance bonuses.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Pirates, Mariners Have Shown Interest In Carlos Santana

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The Mariners and Pirates are among the teams showing interest in free agent first baseman Carlos Santana, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Both Heyman and Robert Murray of FanSided write that the Brewers also have continued interest, aligning with comments from Milwaukee GM Matt Arnold at the Winter Meetings.

As with Milwaukee, Seattle and Pittsburgh are each familiar with Santana. He has played for all three as part of a 14-year MLB career spanning six clubs. The Mariners acquired the veteran switch-hitter from the Royals at the 2022 deadline. He struggled to a .192/.293/.400 line across 294 plate appearances before hitting free agency last offseason.

That led Santana to Pittsburgh on a one-year, $6.725MM free agent pact. He hit .235/.321/.412 over 393 trips to the dish. Once the Bucs fell out of contention, he was on the move for the second straight summer. Pittsburgh dealt him to Milwaukee for a rookie ball infield prospect. At the time of the trade, the Pirates and Santana each expressed openness to revisiting talks this offseason.

Santana was a decent contributor for Milwaukee down the stretch. He connected on 11 homes in 52 games, batting .249/.314/.459. He finished the season with a .240/.318/.429 line with 23 home runs in 619 plate appearances between the NL Central rivals. While his 10.5% walk rate was a career low, it still checked in above league average. Santana takes free passes and remains difficult to strike out, although he annually posts very low averages on balls in play.

That has added up to around league average offensive production for the past four seasons. That’s not especially exciting at first base, but Santana contributes more than most at the position with the glove. Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast’s Outs Above Average have continued to grade him as a plus defender even as he moves into his late-30s. Santana has also been very durable and is widely regarded as an excellent clubhouse presence (as evidenced by interest from three of his former teams).

Of that trio, Milwaukee seems the most straightforward. The Brewers don’t have an obvious answer at first base. Milwaukee acquired Jake Bauers from the Yankees and tendered him an arbitration contract, but he’s coming off a .202/.279/.413 showing in the Bronx.

Seattle and Pittsburgh have starting options at first base, although neither is coming off a great year. Ty France slumped to a .250/.337/.366 slash with below-average defensive grades. Still, France’s cumulative .285/.355/.443 showing between 2020-22 hints at a higher offensive ceiling than Santana provides at this stage of his career. The M’s signed Mitch Garver to handle the bulk of the designated hitting duties.

Pittsburgh brought in Santana’s former Milwaukee teammate Rowdy Tellez on a $3.2MM rebound flier. They re-signed Andrew McCutchen to take the DH spot. The Pirates could bump Tellez to the bench, but they’d be committing more money than they’re typically willing to first base/DH at that point. Santana is likely limited to another one-year deal but could find a similar salary to last year’s near-$7MM pact. With McCutchen, Tellez and Connor Joe ($2MM arbitration projection) all on the roster, a reunion could be a tough fit.

Latest On Brewers’ Corner Infield Plans

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The Brewers had the worst offense of any playoff contender last year, with a 92 wRC+ that ranked seventh-worst among all major league clubs. Much of those offensive woes can be attributed to the club’s struggles to find quality offense at the infield corners. Milwaukee’s first basemen slashed a collective .237/.301/.381 in 2023, posting an 83 wRC+ that placed them in the bottom three among all clubs. They didn’t fare much better at the hot corner, where Brewers third basemen slashed .231/.315/.365 with a wRC+ of 87.

It’s worth noting that the majority of the players responsible for that production are no longer on the roster. Of the ten players to appear at first base for the Brewers in 2023, only Owen Miller remains with the organization. It’s a similar story at third base, where only Miller and Andruw Monasterio are still with Milwaukee among the seven players the club relied on at the hot corner in 2023. Both Miller and Monasterio have the look of solid, versatile bench pieces but appear miscast as regulars in the lineup with wRC+ marks of 81 and 88 respectively.

Given the club’s extreme lack of viable options at the infield corners, it’s hardly a surprise that Brewers GM Matt Arnold told reporters (including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy) that the club views both first and third base as areas of the roster in need of an upgrade, even after acquiring Jake Bauers from the Yankees ahead of last month’s tender deadline. Arnold indicated that the club would have interest in a potential reunion with veteran first baseman Carlos Santana, who slashed a solid .249/.314/.459 in 226 plate appearances after being acquired by the club in a midseason trade with the Pirates over the summer.

The veteran switch-hitter will celebrate his 38th birthday shortly after Opening Day in 2024, but has been among the most consistent and disciplined hitters in the league throughout his tenure as a big leaguer. Throughout his 14 seasons in the majors, Santana has never posted a walk rate below 10.5% or a strikeout rate above 20.2% with near-equal career marks of 14.5% and 16.8%, respectively. That excellent discipline has come at the expense of power in recent years, as Santana posted a meager .148 ISO from 2020-22. 2023 represented something of a rebound on that front, however, as Santana slugged .429 while crushing 23 home runs, the fifth-highest total of his career.

Looking at options beyond Santana, Arnold suggesting that one solution for the infield corners could come internally in the form of Tyler Black. Milwaukee’s first-round pick in the 2021 draft and #4 prospect per MLB Pipeline, Black impressed at the plate in 2023 with a .287/.413/.513 slash line in 558 trips to the plate split between the Double- and Triple-A levels. Arnold heaped praise on the lefty slugger, telling reporters (as relayed by Rosiak) that Black is “just so talented and has a lot of upside,” while confirming that Black will have the chance to earn a spot on the big league roster this spring.

One candidate for time at first base the Brewers won’t be entertaining, according to Arnold, is Christian Yelich. The club’s $215MM man has scuffled a bit in recent years following his back-to-back MVP-caliber campaigns in 2018 and 2019 but bounced back somewhat this season, slashing a solid .278/.370/.447 with a wRC+ of 122 while swiping 28 bags in 31 attempts. Despite that solid offensive production, defensive metrics were mixed on Yelich’s performance with the glove in left field. While he accumulated a solid +4 OAA in 2023, DRS wasn’t so kind as only Bryan De La Cruz posted a lower figure than Yelich’s -3 while recording as many innings in the field.

Moving Yelich to first could improve the club’s defense while thinning a logjam in the outfield that includes Jackson Chourio, Garrett Mitchell, Joey Wiemer, Sal Frelick, Blake Perkins, and Tyrone Taylor in addition to Yelich. Such a shift is evidently not in the cards for Milwaukee, however, as Arnold suggested he “wouldn’t expect” to see Yelich at first base next year, leaving him to continue patrolling left field or spending time at DH. With the Brewers listening to offers on their glut of young outfielders, it’s possible the aforementioned group of seven outfielders could be winnowed down by a trade before Spring Training rolls around in February.

NL Notes: Contreras, Pirates, Santana

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Willson Contreras’ season came to an early end when the catcher was placed on the Cardinals’ 10-day injured list last week, though the good news is that Contreras’ bout of tendinitis in his left wrist doesn’t appear to need surgery, Cards manager Oliver Marmol told MLB.com and other media.  Contreras met with a hand specialist who advised that the wrist problem can be healed through a non-surgical recovery process, though since this specialist was a second opinion, that would imply that an initial diagnosis perhaps recommended some kind of procedure.

Nevertheless, Contreras will hopefully soon be healed up from both his wrist issue and other injuries, as Marmol mentioned that the catcher had also been playing through nagging soreness in his right hand and left wrist.  The health problems didn’t appear to hamper Contreras’ bat (.264/.358/.467 with 20 homers in 495 plate appearances), but they perhaps impacted his defense, as his framing and blocking numbers were both below average and he received a career-low -9 total as per the Defensive Runs Saved metric.

More from around the National League…

  • The Braves’ success is built on a foundation of long-term contracts with core players, and Yahoo Sports’ Hannah Keyser explores the team’s strategy in getting so many of its younger stars to lock into these deals.  “The sense around the industry is that the Braves put a particular emphasis on exclusively pursuing players whose agents are amenable to extensions,” Keyser writes, which includes some smaller agencies whose own fortunes would be boosted along with their client’s.  Geography is also a factor — Matt Olson, Michael Harris II, Austin Riley, Spencer Strider, and Sean Murphy are all either from Atlanta or have some family ties to Georgia or the southeastern United States, so they were particularly open to the idea of staying close to home.  There is also the simple fact that a solid long-term core roster makes other players want to join such a roster, as players are naturally more interested in remaining part of “a good environment, a winning culture,” as Olson put it.  President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos is praised for his rapport with the team, and the fact that he tends to first broach the topic of extensions personally with the players is perhaps a reason why so many deals get done (though Scott Boras is one agent who has concerns that such contact can hamper an agent’s ability to get the best possible contract for their client).
  • Several Pirates-related topics were discussed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey in a chat with readers, including the possibility of a reunion between Carlos Santana and the Bucs this winter.  Santana signed a one-year, $6.725MM free agent deal with Pittsburgh last winter, then hit .235/.321/.412 with 12 home runs over 393 PA before being moved to the Brewers at the trade deadline.  Santana has had roughly a league-average bat or worse over the last four seasons and he turns 38 in April, so his market will likely again be limited to fairly inexpensive one-year deals.  This could fit the Pirates’ need for a veteran bat who can play at least part-time at first base/DH, and Santana was a popular mentor figure in the Pittsburgh clubhouse.  Mackey opines that the Pirates should devote the bulk of their spending this offseason towards pitching, with Santana perhaps representing a familiar, solid, and less-expensive answer for the Bucs’ first base need.

Marlins Looking To Add Starting Pitcher

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The Marlins pulled off one of the bigger moves of deadline season last night, acquiring back-end reliever David Robertson for a pair of promising low minors prospects. It’s the first of what is likely to be multiple additions for a Miami club that currently sits just outside the NL Wild Card picture.

Before the Robertson deal, Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported that adding both a starter and a reliever were Miami’s top priorities. They moved quickly on the latter front but figure to explore the rotation market over the coming days.

It’s surprising to see the Fish looking for rotation help at first glance. For a few seasons, Miami has skewed rotation-heavy and been light on offense. As a result, the Marlins dealt Pablo López to Minnesota for Luis Arraez in an effort to balance the roster.

That said, the Marlins’ rotation has been more good than exceptional in 2023. They rank 11th in starting pitching ERA, allowing 4.11 earned runs per nine innings. They’re third in strikeout rate (25.4%), 11th in walks (7.5%) and third in grounder percentage (45.9%). Starting pitching certainly hasn’t been a weakness, but it hasn’t been quite as effective as last year’s group — which ranked eighth in ERA behind a Cy Young performance from Sandy Alcantara.

Some amount of regression was probably inevitable. The López trade subtracted arguably Miami’s second-best starter. The Marlins rearranged their infield, installing Arraez at second base to push Jazz Chisholm to the outfield. They signed Jean Segura to move to third and dealt away Miguel Rojas while moving Joey Wendle to shortstop. All those transactions were designed to add offense — and the Arraez trade in particular has achieved that — but come with the expected effect of reducing the defensive efficiency behind a ground-ball heavy pitching staff.

That’s among the reasons for Alcantara’s step back, although there are myriad factors whenever a pitcher’s ERA jumps more than two runs (from 2.28 to 4.46). They’re obviously not going to displace Alcantara from the rotation, but his relative down season magnifies some of the other challenges Miami has faced.

Trevor Rogers has been on the injured list since the middle of April; a partial tear in his non-throwing shoulder leaves him with an uncertain return timetable. Free agent pickup Johnny Cueto lost a couple months to injury and was knocked around on his minor league rehab stint. Miami broke him in as a reliever before moving him back into the rotation last weekend.

Top prospect Eury Pérez has had a brilliant start to his MLB career, but he’s back in the minors temporarily as the club keeps an eye on his workload. The 20-year-old has already set a personal high with 86 2/3 innings between Double-A and the majors this season. Bryan Hoeing has gotten six starts but allowed a 6.66 ERA in 24 1/3 frames over that stretch. He’s been much better in a multi-inning relief role.

There have also been signs of promise, of course. Jesús Luzardo has taken another step forward and looks like a #2 caliber starter. Braxton Garrett, who opened the season in the minors, has stepped up with a 4.32 ERA and above-average peripherals through 100 innings. Edward Cabrera is missing plenty of bats and racking up grounders, though he’s walking over 14% of opponents and has an ERA approaching 5.00.

Miami has plenty of high-upside arms who are capable of starting a playoff game if they play into October. They don’t need to shop at the top of the rotation market. There’s some sense in adding a stable back-end starter to ease the workload on some of Miami’s younger arms — in effect playing the role the Marlins envisioned from Cueto when they signed him in January.

While rotation help now seems to be the front office’s priority, Ng and her group will also certainly remain on the lookout for ways to add to the lineup. They’ve been loosely linked to Jeimer Candelario and Tim Anderson within the past week. Rosenthal writes that Miami made a run at first baseman Carlos Santana before the Pirates dealt him to Milwaukee. The Marlins should have a few irons in the fire over the next few days as a somewhat surprising entrant into the rotation market.

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