Offishial news, 1/8/24: Teoscar Hernández signs; Jorge Soler next?

Here's what you should know with 80 days to go until Marlins Opening Day...

• Sunday’s winter ball notes: In the Dominican Republic, 3B Vidal Bruján went 2-for-5. His Estrellas Orientales team has won six straight playoff games and eight of nine overall. In Venezuela, LF Javier Sanoja went 0-for-1 off the bench.

• Focused on adding to their starting rotation via the trade market, the Yankees "have had serious conversations with the Miami Marlins about Jesús Luzardo and their surplus of starters," according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Although Luzardo's name has been percolating in trade rumors for more than a month, this is the first time we've seen him linked so emphatically to a particular suitor. I'm still of the opinion that Luzardo will not be moved this offseason.

• Elsewhere around baseball, Sean Manaea (2/$28M) signed with the Mets and Teoscar Hernández (1/$23.5M) signed with the Dodgers. Jeff Passan of ESPN clarifies that Hernández had multi-year offers from other teams, but went in this direction instead. Although he may be technically maximizing his annual earnings, the present-day value of the deal is lower than $23.5M due to $8.5M in deferrals.

• Héctor Gómez describes the Red Sox as the "frontrunner" to get Jorge Soler, with the Blue Jays, Mariners and Diamondbacks continuing to show interest. No mention of Miami.

• With 125 BBWAA ballots entered into Ryan Thibodaux’s Hall of Fame tracker, former Marlin Gary Sheffield has received 76.0% of the vote (needs 75.0% for election). I’ll continue updating his status in Offishial News as more ballots come in.

• Ryan Schlesinger writes about the pros and cons of trading Luzardo.

• Contrary to what the team originally announced, Marlins FanFest will be a six-hour event (from 4-10 p.m. on January 26). Claim free FanFest tickets here.

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