Offishial news, 12/21/23: Roddery Muñoz; Diego Infante

[Ely Sussman]

Here's what you should know with 98 days to go until Marlins Opening Day...

• Wednesday's winter ball notes: In the Dominican Republic, Troy Johnston went 1-for-7 with a walk during a doubleheader, RF Vidal Bruján went 0-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base, SS José Devers went 0-for-3 with an error and RHP Huascar Brazoban pitched a perfect inning of relief in his LIDOM season debut. The Brazoban development suggests that he'll be contributing for Gigantes del Cibao during the upcoming postseason Round Robin.

• The Marlins sent cash considerations to the Pirates in exchange for RHP Roddery Muñoz. It's technically Peter Bendix's third trade of the offseason, but it's essentially a glorified waiver claim. In the minors last season, Muñoz posted a 5.42 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 81 K in 78.0 IP (34 G/14 GS). Could be a decent MLB reliever in the future if he develops a competent changeup. He's the only "Roddery" in the history of professional baseball, as far as I can tell. Ryan Jensen was designated for assignment to make room for him.

• Free agent OF Diego Infante signed a minor league deal with the Fish. He played 454 games in the Rays organization over the last seven seasons, slashing .275/.342/.437. What sticks out to me is how little power production Infante had to the pull side in 2023. Most of his defensive reps have come in right field.

• The latest episode of Fish On First LIVE discussed those acquisitions along with Jesús Luzardo trade rumors. This was our first time crossposting the show to Instagram Live! We'll continue doing so with all future streams if there's an audience for it.

• Elsewhere around baseball, the Brewers traded Adrian Houser and Tyrone Taylor to the Mets for pitching prospect Coleman Crow.

• Cristian Crespo of Just Baseball explains why he trusts Peter Bendix, even if his approach doesn't necessarily put the Marlins in the best situation to contend in 2024.

• With 28 BBWAA ballots entered into Ryan Thibodaux’s Hall of Fame tracker, former Marlin Gary Sheffield has received 66.7% of the vote (needs 75.0% for election). I’ll continue updating his status in Offishial News as more ballots come in.

• The hiring of Frankie Piliere as Marlins director of amateur scouting is now official. His private Twitter account has been updated accordingly.

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Marlins Podcast Episodes

Photo by Danis Sosa/Fish On First

 

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[Guest JustMarlins]

Why isn’t your latest FOF Live episode available on podcast?

[Guest]

We fans were on a high during much of last year, and the future looked bright. But now? I just don't get it. Everything so far under Bendix points toward another rebuild and with fewer bucks involved. What he has accomplished in his short term here is a public relations disaster. His acquisitions are so meaningless that they even produce a derogatory effect. When a fan wants to get Marlin news, it's generally outdated and discusses such things as the Marlins are showing interest in some 3rd string type of catcher. Or we are looking for a 2nd utility infielder, and that's after allowing an excellent one to depart. In the price range that Bendix is shopping, it seems that all potential options are all a bunch of .240 hitters.

This team is built around its pitching staff, and seeking some hitter for what is in the budget will have little effect. So many of them seem like DLC clones yet have little upside whereas DLC still has shown many flashes of what he could become. In that regard, he seems to hit better when he changes his stance after 2 strikes. Why in hell doesn't he use that stance all of the time? Regarding catchers, all would be new to our pitchers and that could be a problem. Grab Anderson for SS, get 2 descent RH relief pitchers before they are all taken and "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" That is before they move Arraez because the owner won't spend the money.

[Ely Sussman]

All the FOF Live episodes are saved here: https://www.youtube.com/@FishOnFirst/streams

 

We generally don't post them separately as podcast episodes because there are some visual elements that can be hard to follow when only listening. But if you and enough other people like them as pod episodes anyway, we can share them there too.

[Ely Sussman]

Maybe a slight overreaction. A "public relations disaster" would be trading away key major leaguers for risky and far-away prospects. The "meaningless" acquisitions made so far are typical of almost every team during the offseason, constantly making tweaks on the fringes. It's just aggravating when they happen in the absence of truly significant changes.