Offishial news, 1/17/24: "Not trying to rebuild;" Kapler interview

Here's what you should know with 71 days to go until Marlins Opening Day...

• Tuesday's winter ball notes: In Panamá, Christian Bethancourt played his third game for Federales de Chiriquí. He started at first base, though it's difficult to find an official box score. Bethancourt confirmed to Televisora Nacional that he received permission from the Marlins to participate in the upcoming Caribbean Series.

• The Marlins officially announced the hirings of Gabe Kapler (assistant general manager), Rachel Balkovec (director, player development), Vinesh Kanthan (director, baseball operations) and Frankie Piliere (director, amateur scouting).

• On the Marlins Hot Stove Show, Kapler explains that he planned to take a break from baseball and spend the year traveling before Peter Bendix reached out to him. He describes his new job responsibilities vaguely as "being where I'm most needed." That included attending Monday's signing ceremony at the club's Dominican Academy.

• In the first part of an interview with Christina De Nicola of MLB.com, Bendix says quite definitively, "We're not trying to take a step back, we're not trying to rebuild." For all of the handwringing about the Marlins' offseason, it's worth emphasizing that Bendix hasn't made any blatant "rebuilding" moves—there are rumors percolating that the Marlins are willing to trade away veterans, but that's it.

• De Nicola writes separately about 12 internal options to fill out the 2024 Marlins starting rotation.

• Join us tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET for a new edition of Fish On First LIVE streaming on YouTube/Twitter/Instagram. 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.

• With 166 BBWAA ballots entered into Ryan Thibodaux’s Hall of Fame tracker, former Marlin Gary Sheffield has received 74.7% of the vote (needs 75.0% for election). I’ll continue updating his status in Offishial News as more ballots come in.

• Daniel Rodriguez's series of Small Pod interviews continues with Ryan Schlesinger (embedded below).

• With the Caribbean Series only two weeks away, Kevin Barral shares his interview with Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, who's serving as the ambassador of the event.

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Photo by Danis Sosa/Fish On First