Vidal Brujan

Cubs Option Matt Shaw

By Darragh McDonald | April 15, 2025 at 11:59pm CDT

The Cubs have optioned third baseman Matt Shaw to Triple-A Iowa, reports Keith Law of The Athletic. That’s part of a larger slate of moves, relayed by Jordan Bastian of MLB.com. Infielder Vidal Bruján has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. On the pitching side, the club recalled left-hander Luke Little and right-hander Daniel Palencia. To make room for those two, righty Nate Pearson has been optioned to Iowa as well, while righty Eli Morgan has been placed on the 15-day IL due to an elbow impingement.

Shaw, 23, came into the season as one of the top prospects in the league. The club clearly believed he was worthy of a shot at the majors, as they traded Isaac Paredes to the Astros as part of the Kyle Tucker deal in the offseason. That didn’t guarantee Shaw a spot on the Opening Day roster but it opened a door for him, which he walked through. He cracked the club’s roster ahead of the Tokyo Series and has been serving as their regular third baseman up until this point.

The results have been mixed. Across his 68 plate appearances thus far, he has drawn a walk in 14.7% of them, but he’s also been struck out at a 26.5% clip. He has a tepid .172/.294/.241 batting line, though with a .231 batting average on balls in play. That number is on the unlucky side but Shaw hasn’t been doing himself many favors in terms of putting good wood on the ball. His 82.7 mile per hour average exit velocity in the second percentile of qualified MLB hitters, per Statcast. His hard-hit rate is in the fifth percentile, his bat speed in the tenth and his barrel rate 15th. His defense has also been a bit of a question mark. In 141 innings at third base thus far, he already has four errors.

All of that is surely less than the Cubs were hoping for, as he destroyed minor league pitching. After getting selected with the 13th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Shaw got into 159 minor league games between that draft selection and the end of the 2024 season. He had solid walk and strikeout rates of 10.2% and 17.3% respectively while slashing .303/.384/.522 for a 157 wRC+. 35 of those games were at the Triple-A level last year and he hit .298/.395/.534 in those, building the case that he was ready for a major league debut.

Shaw is yet another example of a top prospect who didn’t immediately click at the major league level. While some may jump to declare Shaw a “bust”, this sort of thing is actually quite common. A classic example is Mike Trout, who hit .220/.281/.390 in his first 135 plate appearances back in 2011. It can’t be assumed that a prospect will immediately succeed when reaching the majors for the first time, nor does it mean that they won’t ever find success down the line.

Sending Shaw down is defensible in a vacuum, given his struggles. But outside the vacuum, it’s unclear who the Cubs can turn to as a better option for the hot corner. Bruján has a .189/.261/.270 batting line in his career. Justin Turner has lots of third base experience but is now 40 years old. He’s been more of a first base/designated hitter type in recent years, with just 90 innings at the hot corner since the end of the 2022 season. He’s also having his own struggles at the plate this year, with a .172/.286/.172 line thus far. Jon Berti is a 35-year-old veteran utility guy. Gage Workman is a Rule 5 guy who has received just ten plate appearances thus far this year and has been punched out in five of them.

It’s possible this is just a short-term situation and Shaw will be back up with the big league club soon. How long it takes for his return will be significant for him and the club. By cracking the Opening Day roster, he was on pace to get a full year of service time in 2025. That would have meant qualifying for arbitration after 2027 and free agency after 2030. A quick return to the majors could still make those targets viable. A major league season is 187 days long but a player needs just 172 days in the big leagues or on the injured list to get credited with a full year. It’s also possible for Shaw to qualify for arbitration after 2027 even with less than three years of service time, as he could reach Super Two status.

If Shaw doesn’t return fairly quickly, those timelines will be pushed one year into the future. It will also take off the possibility of the Cubs earning an extra draft pick via the prospect promotion incentive. Under the PPI rules, teams can earn an extra pick by carrying a top prospect on the roster long enough to earn a full service year. The Cubs put that on the table initially by giving Shaw an Opening Day job but it will no longer apply if he’s down for a few weeks.

Photo courtesy of Sergio Estrada, Imagn Images

NL Central Notes: Gorman, Reynolds, Cubs

By Mark Polishuk | April 5, 2025 at 1:15pm CDT

The Cardinals placed Nolan Gorman on the 10-day injured list yesterday (retroactive to April 2), and called up infielder Thomas Saggese from Triple-A in the corresponding roster move. Gorman is suffering from a right hamstring strain that he suffered while running the bases in last Tuesday’s game, though Gorman told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and other reporters that the strain is “super-mild.” While the injury prevents Gorman from fielding at the moment, he is still able to hit and catch, so he’ll be able to continue with baseball activities while on the IL.

Gorman has delivered four hits (including a homer and a double) in his first nine plate appearances of the season, as he enters what might be a pivot point in his young career. The former top prospect has shown flashes of his potential over his first three MLB seasons, but his production trailed off badly in 2024, to the point that the Cards optioned Gorman to Triple-A last August. The crowded nature of the Cards lineup also means that Gorman isn’t getting everyday playing time, and he’ll have to keep hitting in order to carve out more of a regular role. Missing time to an injury won’t help these endeavors, but it seems like Gorman might just miss the minimum 10 days.

Cubs Designate Cody Poteet For Assignment

By Steve Adams | March 27, 2025 at 11:14am CDT

The Cubs announced Thursday that they’ve designated right-hander Cody Poteet for assignment. His spot on the roster will go to righty Brad Keller, who has now formally been selected to the roster. The Cubs also placed righties Tyson Miller (left hip impingement), righty Ryan Brasier (groin strain) and infielder/outfielder Vidal Brujan (elbow sprain) on the injured list and recalled righty Eli Morgan from Triple-A Iowa.

Poteet, 30, was the lone player the Cubs received in the trade sending Cody Bellinger to the Yankees. That swap was always more about dumping Bellinger’s salary than adding to the system, and today’s DFA only further underscores that reality.

A fourth-rounder by the Marlins in 2015, Poteet has pitched in parts of three big league seasons between Miami and New York. He posted a 2.22 ERA in 24 1/3 frames for the Yanks last year and carries an overall 3.80 mark in 83 MLB innings. He was sharp in 53 minor league innings last year as well, recording a 3.40 ERA. Poteet isn’t a flamethrower, sitting 93.8 mph with his four-seamer and 92.6 mph with his sinker. He complements those fastballs with a slider, curveball and changeup, rounding out a five-pitch arsenal.

Poteet has punched out 20.2% of his big league opponents against a 10.2% walk rate. Both are worse than average, though not necessarily by wide margins. In parts of five Triple-A campaigns, he’s logged a 4.47 ERA with a 21.7% strikeout rate and 8.1% walk rate. Poteet still has a pair of minor league options remaining, so if a team acquires him in a trade or claims him off waivers, he can be optioned directly to Triple-A. That could make him an appealing target for clubs seeking affordable rotation depth.

The Cubs owed Bellinger $52.5MM over the next two seasons, though he can opt out of the contract this year and trim $20MM off that guarantee if he feels there are greener pastures in free agency. Chicago paid $5MM of that sum to help facilitate the swap but saved $47.5MM overall. Bellinger was seen as a poor fit on the roster, with Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki in the outfield mix and Michael Busch at first base. Time will tell whether the club is better off for it, but for the moment the only thing they have to show for the trade is salary relief and about $25MM of breathing room between the current payroll and the luxury tax threshold.

Nicky Lopez Expected To Opt Out Of Minor League Deal With Cubs

By Nick Deeds | March 9, 2025 at 4:07pm CDT

The Cubs reassigned infielder Nicky Lopez to minor league camp earlier today in a move that effectively removes the 29-year-old from consideration for the club’s roster for the Tokyo Series against the Dodgers next week. As noted by Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun Times, Lopez’s contract with the Cubs affords him an opt-out opportunity if he’s not added to the 40-man roster by the end of Spring Training, and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reports that he’s “expected” to look for opportunities elsewhere going forward, though Lee notes that it’s theoretically possible the Cubs’ infield situation could change before he can officially opt out when camp comes to a close at the end of the month.

Lopez, 30 later this month, was a fifth-round pick by the Royals back in 2016. He made it to the majors during the 2019 season and showed off an impressive glove all around the infield, but he struggled badly at the plate with a slash line of just .240/.276/.325 (56 wRC+). It was more of the same for Lopez in a regular role with the club during the shortened 2020 season, but he enjoyed something of a breakout campaign in 2021. Lopez hit .300/.365/.378, good for a 104 wRC+, but that essentially league average production combined with his elite defense at shortstop to make for a 5.5 fWAR season.

Unfortunately, that massive success appears to have been a clear outlier. He posted a .347 batting average on balls in play that year, despite never posting a figure higher than .288 in any other season of his career to this point. Lopez’s wOBA outstripped his xwOBA by nearly 50 points, putting his expected numbers more in line with his lackluster 2020 season than his actual results in 2021. Given all of that, it wasn’t exactly a surprise when Lopez came crashing back down to Earth with a 55 wRC+ the following year.

Since the start of the 2023 season, Lopez has bounced between the Royals, Braves, and White Sox in a bench role, having lost the starting job he held during his early years with Kansas City. He’s settled in as a decent glove-first utility option, offering quality defense all over the infield despite a below-average .238/.317/.299 (77 wRC+) slash line over the past two seasons. He has solid plate discipline, as evidenced by a 15.1% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate over the past two seasons, but that’s held back by his complete lack of power. Lopez has just seven home runs across 670 big league games to this point in his career, and his .061 ISO the past two seasons is the second lowest of any player with at least 700 plate appearances in that timeframe.

Given Lopez’s relative lack of offensive upside and options like Vidal Brujan and Rule 5 pick Gage Workman who are already on the club’s 40-man roster, it’s perhaps not a major surprise that the club is willing to risk Lopez departing the organization. With Justin Turner, Carson Kelly, and Jon Berti all already locked into the Cubs bench mix, the club already had just one spot left available for the aforementioned trio of utility infielders. Workman and Brujan figured to have a leg up on Lopez throughout the process due to their roster status, combined with the more flexible roster rules of the Tokyo series that figure to allow Chicago to bring both players to Japan and put off making a decision between the pair until the club’s first stateside game against the Diamondbacks on March 27.

Cubs, Marlins Swap Matt Mervis, Vidal Brujan

By Nick Deeds | December 29, 2024 at 1:28pm CDT

1:28pm: The deal is now official, per a club announcement by the Marlins.

12:27pm: The Marlins are set to acquire first baseman Matt Mervis from the Cubs, according to a report from Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that infielder Vidal Bruján is headed to Chicago in exchange for Mervis’s services. Brujan had been designated for assignment by the Marlins last week. Maddie Lee of the Sun Times also reports that the Cubs are sending cash to Miami alongside Mervis.

Mervis, 26, signed with the Cubs as an undrafted free agent back in 2020. After struggling in his first taste of professional action in 2021, the slugger tore up the minor leagues in 2022, slashing an excellent .309/.379/.606 with 40 doubles and 36 homers in 137 games across three levels of the minors. That included a long run of success at the Triple-A level, where he hit .297/.383/.593 with 15 doubles and 15 homers in just 57 games. The performance was strong enough to earn Mervis some top-100 prospect buzz during the 2022-23 offseason, and his rapid ascent through the minors provided some optimism for a Cubs franchise that had recently dealt longtime first baseman Anthony Rizzo to the Yankees prior to the trade deadline in 2021.

Unfortunately, Mervis wasn’t able to make the most of his opportunity when he first reached the big leagues in 2023. While he continued to rake at Triple-A (.282/.399/.533 in 100 games), he struggled badly in 99 big league plate appearances with a lackluster .167/.242/.289 slash line that was good for a 48 wRC+ that year. Strong batted ball data and a .317 xwOBA indicated that Mervis may have been slightly unlucky in his first cup of coffee in the majors, but his hefty 32.3% strikeout rate would’ve been a significant red flag even if he had gotten better fortune in terms of batted balls finding holes. That led the Cubs to pivot away from Mervis last winter, trading for Dodgers prospect Michael Busch and installing him as the club’s everyday first baseman.

Busch took off as an above-average hitter right out of the gate with Chicago, posting a 119 wRC+ and 2.3 fWAR in his rookie season. Mervis, by contrast, appeared in just nine games and posted a dreadful -4 wRC+ in that limited playing time. Even his minor league numbers took a step back this year, as he hit just .235/.329/.434 (97 wRC+) in 81 games at Triple-A this past season. All this made Mervis entirely expendable for Chicago, so the club opting to trade him is hardly a shock. With a rebuilding Marlins club, the Triple-A slugger figures to get a larger big league opportunity than he ever received in Chicago. He’ll compete for playing time at first base with incumbent first baseman Jonah Bride, who impressed with a 123 wRC+ in 71 games for the Marlins last year but has yet to complete a wire-to-wire season in the majors ate age 29.

While Mervis is hardly a surefire big league piece, the Marlins are giving up very little to land him. Bruján, 27, was DFA’d by the Marlins last week to clear 40-man roster space after he struggled to produce as a big league regular in 2024. Once a consensus top-100 prospect with the Rays, Bruján failed to hit at all in 99 games with Tampa across three seasons before being dealt to Miami last winter. The Marlins made him a fixture of their bench mix this year, but he hit just .222/.303/.319 (73 wRC+) in 278 trips to the plate. Despite that lackluster performance at the plate, Brujan did provide some modest value as a decent baserunner and an extremely versatile fielder. The switch-hitter mostly split his time between shortstop, second base, and third base in Miami last year but is also capable of playing all three outfield spots and even made brief cameos at first base and on the pitchers mound last year.

That should be enough to earn Brujan the opportunity to compete for a bench job with the Cubs this spring. Chicago has completely overhauled their bench mix this offseason, parting ways with Christian Bethancourt, Mike Tauchman, Nick Madrigal, and Patrick Wisdom last month to make way for alternative options. Carson Kelly joined the club’s roster to form a tandem with Miguel Amaya that will occupy one bench spot, and outfielder Alexander Canario currently seems poised to act as the club’s reserve outfielder behind Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki, and Kyle Tucker. That leaves two spots up for grabs, and Brujan currently appears poised to compete with Rule 5 draft selection Gage Workman and internal options Miles Mastrobuoni and Luis Vasquez for those two spots, though another external addition could certainly grab at least one of those bench roles and only the catching tandem appears to be completely locked in for 2025.

Marlins Sign Eric Wagaman, Designate Vidal Bruján

By Darragh McDonald | December 20, 2024 at 4:25pm CDT

The Marlins announced they have signed infielder/outfielder Eric Wagaman to a one-year major league deal. Infielder Vidal Bruján has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. Salary figures for Wagaman weren’t reported but it’s likely near the major league minimum since the Paragon Sports International client just made his major league debut this year. Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase reported on the signing prior to the official announcement.

Wagaman, 27, was drafted by the Yankees and spent his entire career with that club until about a year ago, when the Angels plucked him away in the minor league phase of the 2023 Rule 5 draft. After a strong season in the minors, the Angels called him up to the big leagues on September 10. He got into 18 games down the stretch as the club was playing out a losing season, stepping to the plate 74 times and hitting .250/.270/.403. He was non-tendered at the end of the year, sending him to free agency without being exposed to waivers.

That’s a very small sample size and the Marlins probably aren’t giving it much weight. He has 897 minor league plate appearances over the past three years, with some intriguing numbers in that larger sample. He hit 35 home runs, struck out just 16.9% of the time and drew walks at a 9.5% clip. He has a combined batting line of .276/.348/.473 over those three seasons, which translates to a 129 wRC+.

He also stole 26 bases in that stretch, getting caught seven times. Defensively, Wagaman was mostly a first baseman with the Yankees but the Angels fanned him out a bit, having him line up at first but also third base and the outfield corners this year.

The rebuilding Marlins have very little settled in their position player mix. At last year’s deadline, they traded away Jazz Chisholm Jr., Josh Bell and Bryan De La Cruz. This offseason, they’ve sent Jake Burger packing as well. None of the position players on the roster have even four years of major league service time. Jesús Sánchez is the only guy with more than three, while Nick Fortes and Derek Hill are the only guys with more than two.

In short, there’s very little written in stone. Sánchez will likely have a corner outfield job but is a candidate to be traded if the Marlins get an offer they like. Connor Norby, Jonah Bride, Griffin Conine, Deyvison De Los Santos, Kyle Stowers and others are candidates for jobs in the corners but they are all fairly inexperienced. Wagaman has a full slate of options, so he can provide minor league depth at various spots or battle for a big league job. He has just a few days of service time and can be cheaply retained into the future if he continues to hang onto his roster spot.

Bruján, 27 in February, was once a top 100 prospect but he hasn’t yet lived up to that hype. He was praised for his speed, athleticism, plate discipline and ability to play multiple positions. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to do enough damage with the bat to make an impact. He has stepped to the plate 550 times over the past four seasons, with five home runs and a .189/.261/.270 batting line. He has swiped 14 bags but he’s also been caught 13 times.

DFA limbo normally lasts a week but recent years have seen that clock paused over the period from Christmas to New Year’s. On this date last year, Ryan Jensen was designated for assignment by the Marlins and he wasn’t claimed off waivers by the Twins until January 4, over two weeks later. That will give the Fish some time to see if any club is interested in taking a flier on Bruján.

For what it’s worth, the minor league results have continued to be good, even as he has floundered in the majors. He has just over a thousand Triple-A plate appearances over the past four years and has slashed .272/.357/.451 in those for a wRC+ of 113. He is out of options but he has less than three years of service time, meaning he can provide four years of club control if any team is willing to give him a roster spot. He has played every position except catcher, giving him plenty of ways to theoretically slot into a club’s plans.

Marlins Select Jose Devers

By Nick Deeds | August 31, 2024 at 5:01pm CDT

The Marlins announced this evening that they’ve selected the contract of infielder Jose Devers. Devers will take the roster spot of Vidal Brujan, who has been placed on the 10-day Injured List due to a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder. To make room for Devers on the 40-man roster, Miami designated left-hander Jonathan Bermudez for assignment.

Devers, 24, is now in his second stint with the Marlins at the big league level. He made his big league debut with the club back in 2021 but hit just .244/.304/.317 in 21 games in his lone cup of coffee at the big league level. Devers remained on the club’s 40-man roster the following year but was designated for assignment during the 2022-23 offseason. Devers was outrighted to the minors and remained with the club on a minor league deal this past offseason. He hasn’t hit much at the Triple-A level this year, with a .239/.304/.362 slash line in 54 games at the level that’s very reminiscent of his limited exposure in the majors a few years ago.

That said, Devers still appears to be a decent depth option capable of playing all over the infield, and that’s exactly what the Marlins need following the loss of Brujan to the injured list. Once a top prospect with the Rays, Brujan has been a vital piece of Miami’s bench mix this year despite a lackluster .224/.307/.322 slash line in 275 trips to the plate thanks in large part to his versatility. Brujan has appeared at second base, third base, shortstop, and all three outfield positions for the Marlins this year.

While Devers has little outfield experience, he actually seems most likely to take over as the club’s regular shortstop for the time being as Brujan has recently been filling in for the injured Xavier Edwards at shortstop. Given the state of the Marlins’ banged up infield, it seems likely that the club will rely on a combination of Devers and Otto Lopez at shortstop for the time being, with Lopez splitting time between shortstop and the keystone and David Hensley also filling in at second base on occasion. This opportunity for semi-regular playing time at the big league level down the stretch should allow Devers to either make his case to remain on the 40-man roster throughout the offseason in Miami, or else prove himself capable enough of holding down a bench job in the majors that another club might be willing to take a shot on him headed into Spring Training next year.

As for Bermudez, the southpaw made his big league debut with the Marlins just last week. He allowed two runs on six hits, including a home run, and no walks while striking out three in 3 2/3 innings of work in his lone big league appearance with the club. Prior to his debut, Bermudez was in the midst of a mixed season in the upper minors. The 28-year-old dominated to the tune of a 2.53 ERA in 14 starts at the Double-A level but earlier this year but struggled badly upon his promotion to Triple-A with a lackluster 6.46 ERA. The Marlins figure to put Bermudez on waivers sometime in the next week, and if the lefty goes unclaimed he’ll have the opportunity to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency if he so chooses.

Marlins To Place Jake Burger On Injured List, Activate Edward Cabrera

By Steve Adams | April 15, 2024 at 9:55am CDT

The Marlins are placing third baseman Jake Burger on the 10-day injured list due to a left oblique injury, tweets Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. She adds that Burger likened the discomfort he experienced to a 2023 oblique injury where he only missed the 10-day minimum. The team hasn’t provided a timetable for his return just yet. The Fish will recall utilityman Otto Lopez, whom they claimed off waivers from the Giants earlier this season, to take Burger’s spot on the roster.

Burger, 28, is tied for the Marlins’ team lead with three homers and is currently pacing the club with 15 runs knocked in. His overall .228/.281/.421 batting line is still well shy of league-average production (86 wRC+), but he’s been one of the better hitters in a dismal Marlins lineup — particularly with runners on base. Even a short-term absence figures to be a notable hit to a Marlins lineup that has mustered a collective .209/.273/.316 slash to begin the season.

The injury to Burger is exacerbated by the fact that utilityman Vidal Brujan is also banged up at the moment. Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald tweets that Brujan is dealing with a right knee injury and is currently considered day-to-day. The Marlins are still in the process of evaluating that injury, and it’s possible he’ll wind up missing some time as well.

As such, the Marlins’ top options at third base right now are Emmanuel Rivera — acquired from the D-backs for cash following his DFA earlier this month — and Lopez. Rivera hit .261/.314/.358 in 283 plate appearances with Arizona last season but is out to a 3-for-17 start (all singles) in his time with the Marlins. Lopez is hitting .485/.528/.788 in a tiny sample of 36 Triple-A plate appearances this season and carries a career .288/.354/.401 slash in parts of four Triple-A campaigns overall. He’s spent far more time at both middle infield slots than at the hot corner, but he does have 205 career innings at third base.

It’s not all bad news for the Marlins. They’re expected to reinstate right-hander Edward Cabrera from the injured list to make his season debut tonight, reports Kevin Barral of Fish On First. De Nicola tweets that left-hander A.J. Puk had been slated to take the ball, but he’ll be pushed back a couple days due to an illness that’s been making the rounds in the Miami clubhouse and is currently impacting him. The Marlins will need to make a second roster move to open space for Cabrera’s return.

Cabrera, 26, has spent the first two-plus weeks of the season on the injured list due to a shoulder impingement. However, he’s made three Triple-A rehab starts now, allowing just one run in 12 2/3 innings. He walked seven batters over seven innings in his first two appearances, showing a bit of rust, but Cabrera punched out nine batters and walked just one over 5 2/3 frames in his most recent outing — yielding only an unearned run along the way. He’s pitched 171 1/3 innings over the past two seasons for the Marlins, working to a 3.73 ERA with a strong 26.6% strikeout rate but a dismal 13.7% walk rate that’s in need of further refinement.

Rays Acquire Jake Mangum As PTBNL From Bruján/Faucher Trade

By Darragh McDonald | December 8, 2023 at 2:45pm CDT

The Rays announced that they have acquired outfielder Jake Mangum as the PTBNL in last month’s deal that sent infielder/outfielder Vidal Bruján and right-hander Calvin Faucher to the Marlins. The Rays received minor league infielder Erick Lara, right-hander Andrew Lindsey and a player to be named later, which is now revealed to be Mangum. Christina De Nicola of MLB.com reported the transaction shortly before the official announcement.

Remarkably, Mangum was also a PTBNL in a deal almost exactly one year ago. On December 7 of 2022, it was reported that he would go from the Mets to the Marlins as the PTBNL in the deal that sent Elieser Hernández and Jeff Brigham to Queens.

He spent 2023 in Triple-A, getting into 119 games at that level. He only struck out in 17.7% of his plate appearances but also only drew walks at a 5.4% clip and hit just five home runs. His .298/.346/.425 batting line amounted to a wRC+ of 93. But Mangum is considered a plus defender and baserunner, stealing 16 bases on the year. His bat has also been in better shape before, such as hitting .306/.363/.441 in the minors in 2022 across multiple levels.

The Rays have a solid big league outfield at the moment but guys like Manuel Margot and Randy Arozarena have been in trade rumors this winter. Whether they subtract an outfielder or not, Mangum will give them an extra bit of non-roster depth.

Marlins Acquire Vidal Brujan, Calvin Faucher From Rays

By Anthony Franco | November 17, 2023 at 11:50pm CDT

The Marlins announced the acquisition of utility player Vidal Bruján and right-hander Calvin Faucher from the Rays. Miami is sending minor league infielder Erick Lara, right-hander Andrew Lindsey and a player to be named later to Tampa Bay. The Fish already had three openings on the 40-man roster, so no further moves were necessary.

Bruján is the biggest name in the deal. While the switch-hitting utilityman has yet to find much major league success, he was once a top prospect. The Dominican Republic native was a top 10 prospect in a strong Rays system at Baseball America each year from 2019-22. He ranked in the back half of BA’s top 100 overall minor league talents throughout that run.

Praised for his speed, bat-to-ball skills and defensive flexibility, Bruján fit the general profile that Tampa Bay prioritizes. Despite excellent minor league production, he never got much consistent run at the MLB level with the Rays. Bruján struggled when he did see relatively brief stints at the highest level in the last three seasons.

In 272 MLB plate appearances, the 25-year-old is a .157/.218/.221 hitter with three home runs. He has been far better at Triple-A Durham, hitting .273/.357/.450 over parts of three seasons. That includes a .272/.362/.477 slash with 10 home runs and 19 stolen bases (albeit with 14 times caught stealing) over 59 games for the Bulls this year.

Bruján has exhausted his minor league option years, so he’ll have to stick on the MLB roster next season. A Tampa Bay team deep in infield talent may not have been able to afford that opportunity, so they’ll clear a 40-man roster spot early in the offseason. Miami has a bit less bench depth and is without a clear answer at shortstop, where Jon Berti projects as the starter. While Bruján is unlikely to get an everyday job, he can play either middle infield position, any outfield spot, and has experience at third base.

Faucher, 28, had been designated for assignment on Tuesday. He’s now traded for the second time in his career. The former Twins draftee went to the Rays at the 2021 deadline in the Nelson Cruz/Joe Ryan swap. He debuted with Tampa Bay in 2022 and has pitched in 39 big league contests (four starts) over the past two seasons.

The results haven’t been great. Faucher owns a 6.32 ERA in 47 MLB innings. His 20.8% strikeout rate and 10% walk percentage are each a little worse than average. The UC Irvine product throws in the mid-90s and has a cutter, sweeper and curveball in his offspeed repertoire. He owns an excellent 2.75 ERA in 72 Triple-A innings over three years, striking out 29.4% of batters faced at that level.

Faucher still has one option year remaining, so the Marlins can move him between Miami and Triple-A Jacksonville for another season. It’s the second straight year in which the Fish acquired a reliever and a former top infield prospect from Tampa Bay. Last November, the sides lined up on the Xavier Edwards/JT Chargois deal. That was orchestrated by previous Miami general manager Kim Ng. Miami’s first-year president of baseball operations Peter Bendix was working in the Rays’ front office for that trade. One of his first transactions leading the Marlins is to bring in a pair of players with whom he’s familiar from their in-state rivals.

In return, Tampa Bay picks up a pair of prospects (and likely a third) who are nowhere near occupying 40-man roster spots — common practice as they churn the roster for future talent. Lara is a 17-year-old shortstop who recently signed out of the Dominican Republic. Baseball America’s Ben Badler wrote in May that he could stick at shortstop depending on his 6’2″ frame fills out. He’s a left-handed hitter.

Lindsey was a fifth-round pick this past summer out of Tennessee. The 6’3″ hurler pitched to a 2.90 ERA in 71 1/3 innings during his junior season for the Volunteers. He struck out nearly a quarter of opponents against a modest 6.4% walk rate. He turned 24 this week. BA wrote in his draft report that he sits in the mid-90s with a sinker and has a high-80s slider as his top secondary pitch.

Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase first reported the Marlins were acquiring Bruján and Faucher.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

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