Offishial news, 12/7/23: Nasim Nuñez taken in Rule 5; Soto blockbuster done

[Ely Sussman]

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• Wednesday’s winter ball notes: In Venezuela, RF Javier Sanoja went 1-for-4.

• Left unprotected by the Marlins, SS Nasim Nuñez was selected by the Nationals in the major league phase of the Rule 5 Draft. Nats general manager Mike Rizzo says Nuñez won't get many at-bats in 2024, but his speed and defense off the bench could be impactful enough to justify holding a roster spot. Miami loaded up on five players in the minor league phase: OF Yeral Martinez (from the Mets), OF Marty Costes (Astros), IF Sean Roby (Giants), LHP Adam Laskey (Cubs) and RHP Julio Dilone (Mariners).

• Matt Andriese and Devin Smeltzer have both signed minor league deals with the Marlins that include spring training invites. Andriese has a lifetime 4.63 ERA, 4.21 FIP and 1.33 WHIP in 509 MLB innings (217 G/50 GS). He spent last season as a starter with the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate. Smeltzer, of course, was with the Marlins organization in 2023. The lefty had four separate stints on the active roster and also threw a seven-inning no-hitter with Triple-A Jacksonville.

• A.J. Puk will come to Jupiter as a potential starting rotation candidate for the Marlins, our own Isaac Azout reports. Puk had been preparing to start for the Athletics last year prior to being traded. He entered professional baseball as a starter, but moved to the bullpen following Tommy John surgery in 2018 and has stayed there ever since. While working for the Rays, Peter Bendix saw firsthand how longtime relievers could defy conventional wisdom and succeed in the rotation, most notably Jeffrey Springs and most recently Zack Littell.

• The Marlins and the Caribbean Professional Baseball Confederation announced a multi-year exclusive partnership for the broadcast rights of the Caribbean Series, giving the Marlins exclusive rights across all platforms globally excluding the confederation's countries. Interesting that it's a multi-year partnership even though LoanDepot Park is only scheduled to host the event in 2024.

• Elsewhere around baseball, Juan Soto was traded to the Yankees in a seven-player blockbuster, one of those other players being former Marlins prospect Michael King. Eduardo Rodriguez (4/$80M) signed with the Diamondbacks, Jeimer Candelario (3/$45M) signed with the Reds and Craig Kimbrel (1/$13M) signed with the Orioles.

• On the latest episode of
  , we reacted to the Rule 5 results, the stretched-out Puk experiment and more. With chiropractic care and functional health, La Pop takes a preventative approach that optimizes wellness and quality of life for all ages. Find out more here!

• "In a lot of ways, it's not terribly dissimilar to another week in the offseason," Bendix said about the Winter Meetings (via Christina De Nicola, MLB.com). "I think we learned a lot more about the market, about what to expect, and so much of this is just gaining information so that we can understand how best to attack things."

• With Nuñez going to the Nats, the Marlins have even fewer viable internal options who can play shortstop on a consistent basis. I watched tape on Xavier Edwards from 2023 (and also a bit from 2022) to get a feel for how he'd do there.

https://fishonfirst.com/analysis/xavier-edwards-shortstop-defense/

Photo by Chris Coduto/MLB Photos

 

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[Guest JustMarlins]

Connor Seabold released by Colorado. This is the type of high quality former blue chip prospects the Fish should take a chance on. Marlins know how to right the ship for these pitchers. What do you think?

[Ely Sussman]

On a minor league deal, sure. No risk there. The fact he cleared waivers before being released shows he wouldn't have the leverage to demand anything more than that.