Offishial news, 12/11/23: New backstop Bethancourt; Dean wins derby

Marlins Podcast Episodes

• Sunday's winter ball notes: In the Dominican Republic, 3B Vidal Bruján went 0-for-2 with three walks and three stolen bases. Bruján now leads LIDOM with 19 steals. It was his first appearance of the winter at third base.

• The Marlins made a trade on Sunday, acquiring catcher Christian Bethancourt from the Guardians for cash considerations. I see him as an upgrade over Jacob Stallings, particularly when it comes to throwing, though his offensive ceiling is quite limited due to poor strike-zone awareness. Barring a Bryan De La Cruz trade, either he or Bethancourt will need to change their uniform number (both wore No. 14 last season).

• Elsewhere around baseball, Shohei Ohtani (10/$700M) signed with the Dodgers, Will Smith (1/$5M) signed with the Royals, Andrew Chafin (1/$4.75M) signed with the Tigers and Austin Hedges (1/$4M) signed with the Guardians.

• Today at LoanDepot Park, the Marlins are hosting a Holiday Wishes Party for local students, featuring Sandy Alcantara (and Billy the Marlin, of course). Follow Kevin Barral for live coverage.

• Kevin did a deeper dive on each of the Marlins' Rule 5 Draft selections.

• Marlins IF Breyias Dean won the Don't Blink Home Run Derby in Paradise. Dean is an unlikely champ considering his age (18) and modest homer total in the Dominican Summer League last season (3 HR in 200 PA). Watch Dean's final derby round on the Fish On First YouTube channel and help us reach the 2,000-subscriber milestone!

Photo by 10th Year Seniors