Offishial news, 12/27/23: FanFest details; Sheffield gaining momentum

Here's what you should know with 92 days to go until Marlins Opening Day...

• Tuesday’s winter ball notes: In Venezuela, RF Javier Sanoja went 2-for-5 with an RBI triple and LHP Luis Palacios pitched a scoreless inning of relief (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K). It was a rare start for Sanoja in the leadoff spot.

• The Marlins announced that their annual FanFest will be held on Friday, January 26. Tickets to attend are free as usual, but I assume that holding it on a Friday instead of a Saturday (as they've traditionally done) will negatively impact attendance.

• Elsewhere around baseball, Kevin Kiermaier (1/$10.5M) re-signed with the Blue Jays and Martín Maldonado has a one-year deal in place with the White Sox. The Marlins reportedly showed interest in Maldonado earlier in the offseason, though it would have been redundant to add both him and Christian Bethancourt.

• Louis Addeo-Weiss makes the case for the Marlins to prioritize Teoscar Hernández as a free agent target over Jorge Soler.

• MLB.com included the Marlins' comeback win vs. the Yankees on August 13 as one of MLB's wackiest/wildest games of 2023.

• With 50 BBWAA ballots entered into Ryan Thibodaux’s Hall of Fame tracker, former Marlin Gary Sheffield has received 74.0% of the vote (needs 75.0% for election). I’ll continue updating his status in Offishial News as more ballots come in.

• Congratulations to Jordan McPherson, who just celebrated his sixth anniversary working at the Miami Herald. The Marlins have been his primary beat throughout that period.

• Happy birthday to C Joe Mack. The 2021 draft pick and 28th-ranked prospect on our Fish On First Top 30 list turns 21 today. Mack spent this past season with High-A Beloit, where he slashed .218/.295/.287 (69 wRC+) in 120 games.

Photo courtesy of Minor League Baseball