Offishial News, 1/25/24: The boys are back in town

[Ely Sussman]

Here’s what you should know with 63 days to go until Marlins Opening Day…

🔹 It's the highest-profile signing for the Marlins so far this offseason, albeit it's another one of the minor league variety. Trey Mancini will be a non-roster invitee at big league camp. He is coming off the worst year of his seven-season big league career, but isn't far removed from being an adequate, everyday right-handed bat. I give Mancini about a 65% chance of cracking Miami's Opening Day roster.

 🔹 Christina De Nicola of MLB.com also reports that the Marlins have signed RHP Elvis Alvarado coming off a fantastic showing in winter ball (0 R in 12.2 IP). The Marlins are up to nine NRIs, including Alvarado and oft-injured José Devers (entering his seventh season in the organization).

🔹 In Barry Jackson's latest for the Miami Herald, he reports that Peter Bendix is simply being disciplined when it comes to free agency. Bruce Sherman has not set any sort of rigid "payroll ceiling" and there is room to add veteran talent without necessarily offloading other contracts. Shortstop is the "most likely" position that they're considering addressing before the dust settles. 

 🔹 Louis Addeo-Weiss isn't buying that hopeful spin. He sees a potential rebuild on the horizon.

 

🔹 Elsewhere around baseball, Fish On First's own Noah Berger reports that Bally Sports Florida is doing English-language broadcasts for most Caribbean Series games. A familiar voice to Marlins fans, Craig Minervini will be the play-by-play announcer.

🔹 Kevin Barral created your guide to Marlins FanFest, which is coming up on Friday from 4-10 p.m. Free tickets! Free parking! Hope you can make it.

🔹 Lots of Marlins players are back in town in advance of FanFest. Jake Burger brought his family to a Miami Heat game. The team enlisted Peyton Burdick, Edward Cabrera, Bryan De La Cruz, Xavier Edwards, Steven Okert, Eury Pérez and George Soriano to mingle with sponsors at the ballpark (pictured above).

🔹 Marlins Media Day is being held today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Follow Isaac Azout and Noah Berger for updates.

🔹 We'll break down the most interesting quotes and observations tonight from 6-7 p.m. during Fish On First LIVE, streaming on YouTube/Twitter/Instagram. The show is now presented by Berger & Hicks! If you’ve been injured as a result of somebody else’s negligence, give them a call at (305) 670-7050.

🔹 Congrats to Marlins reliever Kaleb Ort, who was honored by his alma mater, Lowell High School (MI), with a jersey retirement.

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[Slacker Mills]

Given the direction of Mancini's career over the last couple years, it's hard to see anything close to a league average hitter there.

[Brock Beauchamp]

35 minutes ago, Slacker Mills said:

Given the direction of Mancini's career over the last couple years, it's hard to see anything close to a league average hitter there.

Welcome to Fish On First!

[Slacker Mills]

Thanks. I appreciate the efforts on your end.

Another note on Mancini: His career stat sheet looks almost identical to that of Avisail Garcia, including the huge fall over the last two seasons.

[Ely Sussman]

1 hour ago, Slacker Mills said:

Thanks. I appreciate the efforts on your end.

Another note on Mancini: His career stat sheet looks almost identical to that of Avisail Garcia, including the huge fall over the last two seasons.

Yup, unfortunately. One of the subtle changes with him has been the drop-off in making contact when chasing pitches outside the zone. Not as severe as García's problem with that, but Mancini will need to be more selective to extend his career.