Offishial News: Bendix signs more former Rays to minor league deals

🔹 Designated for assignment by the Marlins last week, Jordan Groshans and Kaleb Ort were claimed off waivers by the Yankees and Phillies, respectively. Both went to teams that had full 40-man rosters, which shows they see some value in them because their acquisitions required corresponding DFA's. Assuming that the Marlins don't reclaim Groshans at some point, it makes them clear losers of the four-player trade that brought him to Miami in 2022. The Blue Jays received Anthony Bass, Zach Pop and prospect Edward Duran in return (they still have Pop and Duran).

🔹 New Fish On First intern Nate Karzmer wrote the article linked above! Give him a follow on Twitter (@NateKarzmer).

🔹 Also on the transactions front, the Marlins have inked Curt Casali and Yonny Chirinos to minor league deals. Casali was limited to 27 starts for the Reds last season, missing the second half due to a foot injury and illness. He has a career .220/.314/.380 slash line (89 wRC+) over parts of 10 MLB seasons. Chirinos got off to an intriguing start in 2023, but struggled with a 8.14 ERA/6.47 FIP over his final 10 games (42.0 IP), then landed on the injured list with elbow inflammation. He demonstrated that he's healthy again by pitching briefly in the Venezuelan Winter League.

  🔹 They had already been leaked, but Marlins giveaways for the 2024 season are now listed on the team's website. Most of them apply to the first 8,000 fans through the gates for that particular game. Pretty much everybody who attends Opening Day (first 30,000 fans) will get a rally towel.

 🔹 Elsewhere around baseball, MLB and Nike announced (and began selling) new on-field uniforms. At first glance, the changes seem to be a clear downgrade. Jenny Cavnar has been hired as television play-by-play announcer for the Athletics. She'll be the first female primary play-by-play voice in MLB history.

🔹 Join us for a new episode of Fish On First LIVE streaming at 7:00 p.m. ET on YouTube/Twitter/Instagram. Our special guest is Marlins radio announcer Kyle Sielaff. FOF LIVE is 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.

🔹 Luis Arraez and the Marlins had their arbitration hearing on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. The ruling could be coming as soon as today. Tanner Scott is still waiting on his hearing—that will happen by Friday, which is the final day of scheduled hearings.

 🔹 Adam Salorio of Pitcher List dug up a fascinating arbitration comp for Arraez: 2017 Avisaíl García. That's when García had just finished runner-up in the AL batting title race.

 🔹 Baseball America branched out their Marlins top prospects list to 40 players, with 1B Torin Montgomery, RHP Eliazar Dishmey, RHP Evan Fitterer, 2B Ian Lewis, C Paul McIntosh, LHP Josh Simpson, OF/LHP Janero Miller, RHP Alex Williams, RHP Matt Pushard and LHP Dale Stanavich occupying the No. 31-40 spots. I will admit that I had zero familiarity with Dishmey prior to reading their article. Per BA's Peter Flaherty, the 19-year-old has "already shown flashes of a loud arsenal and big-time upside. There is some reliever risk with the athletic righthander, but he has the stuff to be effective out of the bullpen."

🔹 More from BA: the Florida Complex League will have much earlier start and end dates than we're used to, with the season running from May 4 through July 25. Instead of being heavily populated by new MLB Draft picks, the rosters will instead be centered around players who spent the previous year in the Dominican Summer League.

🔹 The Marlins' Grapefruit League opener vs. the Cardinals on February 24 will be televised. At the very least, it will be carried by Bally Sports Midwest and available through MLB.TV. If previous springs are any indication, expect the broadcast to be simulcast on Bally Sports Florida (even if the game only features Cardinals announcers).

Marlins Podcast Episodes