Offishial news, 6/8/23: Another convincing sweep; Sánchez as a “complete hitter”

Today’s Marlins news roundup also includes a report on what allegedly led to Bruce Sherman parting ways with Derek Jeter.

Ely Sussman

Wednesday’s Games

RECAP: KC 1, MIA 6 (by Kevin Barral)

Marlins Podcast Episodes

  • Wednesday’s Marlins MiLB notes: Jeff Lindgren (Jacksonville) threw a seven-inning complete game and Xavier Edwards was the only Jumbo Shrimp player to record hits in both games of the team’s doubleheader. Evan Fitterer (Pensacola) set a new career high with nine strikeouts (6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, 1 HR). Yiddi Cappe (Beloit) went 4-for-5 with two stolen bases. Paul McIntosh (Jupiter) still needs time to shake off the rust on his rehab assignment—he has struck out in six of his first eight plate appearances. Ronald Hernández (FCL Marlins) is leading the Florida Complex League with six walks.
  • Edward Cabrera exited after five efficient innings due to a blister on his pitching hand. That’s been a recurring issue during his career.
  • Poor Jordan Lyles suffered his 10th losing decision (no other major leaguer this season has lost more than seven times).
  • Revisiting our Marlins vs. Royals series predictions, every single Prediction Time participant earned points. Romeo Rodriguez and Devin W. made perfect picks (Series MVP honors went to Jesús Sánchez) and there’s now a four-way tie atop the 2023 season leaderboard. If you want to make predictions with us prior to every Marlins series opener, please consider becoming a Super Subscriber for as little as $3 per month. You also get access to all of our homemade GIFs to save and use as you desire.
  • The Marlins not only swept the Athletics and Royals, but won most of those games by comfortable margins. That’s rare! Their plus-30 run differential across the two series is tied for the fifth-highest for any six-game stretch in franchise history.

  • Elsewhere around the majors, the Phillies and Yankees both postponed their home games due to unsafe air quality. Elly De La Cruz‘s first career home run traveled 458 feet to the final row of seats at Great American Ball Park. Michael Harris II hit a go-ahead, two-run, eighth-inning homer as the Braves maintained the best winning percentage in the National League.

  • Phase 1 of MLB All-Star voting continues through June 22. You can vote up to five times per email address each day—take advantage of it!

  • Triple-A Jacksonville (7:05 p.m. ET), Double-A Pensacola (7:35 p.m. ET), Low-A Jupiter (6:30 p.m. ET), FCL Marlins (12:00 p.m. ET) and DSL Miami (11:00 a.m. ET) are at home, while High-A Beloit (7:35 p.m. ET) and DSL Marlins (11:00 a.m. ET) are on the road.

  • Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald writes about Jesús Sánchez‘s development into a “complete hitter.” One of his only weaknesses entering play on Wednesday was production against changeups, and then he crushed one for a three-run home run off of Lyles.

  • Via Glenn Geffner’s View from the Bleachers, Bruce Sherman reluctantly accepted Derek Jeter’s plea for the Marlins to sign Avisaíl García in free agency. “That, along with revenues falling well short of Jeter’s expectations…was at the core of Sherman’s dissatisfaction with Jeter,” Geffner reports, leading to Jeter’s departure before García even played his first Marlins game. Their breakup was “more nuanced” than Sherman’s desire to pinch pennies—Jeter insisted their player development department would be able to produce homegrown impact bats and he wasn’t able to deliver on that, leaving free agency as the last resort.

  • With news breaking that soccer legend Lionel Messi is on his way to join Inter Miami CF, Marlins players Arraez, Yuli Gurriel and Jazz Chisholm Jr. recorded a video welcoming him with a custom No. 10 jersey.

Featured image courtesy of Miami Marlins

Latest from Fish On First

9 responses to “Offishial news, 6/8/23: Another convincing sweep; Sánchez as a “complete hitter””

  1. Kevin Avatar
    Kevin

    Good write up, Ely. I’m happy to see Arraez keeping it above .400 and especially happy to see Sanchez’ continued development over the past few seasons.

    Reply
  2. Eudaldo Farré Avatar
    Eudaldo Farré

    In Sherman’s defense, how could he question the length of the contract from a baseball standpoint?

    He has to rely on his baseball people in this case Jeter. If anything he shows he was willing to commit $52mm over four years. Unfortunately in the wrong guy.

    Reply
  3. OneRegend Avatar
    OneRegend

    “Bruce Sherman reluctantly accepted Derek Jeter’s plea for the Marlins to sign Avisaíl García in free agency. “That, along with revenues falling well short of Jeter’s expectations…was at the core of Sherman’s dissatisfaction with Jeter,” Geffner reports, leading to Jeter’s departure before García even played his first Marlins game. Their breakup was “more nuanced” than Sherman’s desire to pinch pennies—Jeter insisted their player development department would be able to produce homegrown impact bats and he wasn’t able to deliver on that, leaving free agency as the last resort.”

    That makes Jeter’s tenure look even worse than it already was in retrospect. That said, Sherman is also partly to blame for even agreeing to let such an unmitigated disaster in Garcia aboard. He’s not as innocent as Geffner claims.

    I don’t care if Garcia hit 50 HRs in a season before signing with us, he doesn’t deserve a 4-year deal. All it takes is one look at how often he chases pitches out of the zone, and at how inconsistent of a player he’s always been. Sure, he might be okay as a role player, but this is exactly the type of player you sign to a 1 or a 2 year deal, not to “try to” have him carry your team on a 4 year deal. There’s far too much risk involved, and here, regression to the mean reared its ugly head. And I’m not even going to go over the offensive environment change going from American Family Field to loanDepot Park, even though that would further cement my point.

    Reply
    1. Ely Sussman Avatar
      Ely Sussman

      Yes, there’s never been any clarity on why they felt it required a 4-year deal to get him. Would have been a reasonable gamble even at that salary if only the length wasn’t so overwhelming.

      Reply
      1. Thomas Joseph Avatar
        Thomas Joseph

        Ely, I left a comment that addresses my thoughts on contract lengths. Ciao,

      2. OneRegend Avatar
        OneRegend

        It would have been perfectly reasonable to hand a 4-year deal to a player with a track record of consistency, and/or, at the very least, a player who isn’t ranked in the 4th percentile of all players in chase rate. Why they chose Avisail Garcia, among many other options they had, to try and carry their team is baffling to say the least.

    2. Thomas Joseph Avatar
      Thomas Joseph

      I agree but with the full disclosure that I think three or four years should be the maximum of any contract in MLB, and even then, very limited. Of course, this only applies because the contracts are fully guaranteed. I dislike speaking so definitely as to say that for every long-term deal (how is that defined?) that provided appropriate value to the team (not just statistically because I do think there are intangibles worthy of consideration) there are many that do not. Perhaps this is familiarity bias, but it appears so to me. Just this year, we had Hosmer, MadBum, and Hicks. A quick check at Spotrac shows nearly every team is hooked, although relativity is quite different for the Marlins than the Mets. It’s not my money, so I alternate between laughing and being frustrated that my team is hamstrung by stupidity.

      Reply
      1. Ely Sussman Avatar
        Ely Sussman

        MLB financial structure severely underpays players during their 6 pre-free agent years. The new CBA took incremental steps to correct that (raising league minimum salary and paying out bonuses to top pre-arbitration players), but still a long way to go. That’s why most owners don’t hesitate to pay premiums for free agents: they still profit comfortably overall.

      2. Thomas Joseph Avatar
        Thomas Joseph

        That might be so. It is a very interesting, if layered, discussion. I don’t know what an acceptable ROI is for an MLB team. I figure most comes through team value appreciation, but I realize owners are not hurting! In any case, owners apparently approach player contract length with differing strategies – AAV appears to be the trendy one. I know David Samson advocates for free agency for all players every year after the initial control term. We know that both sides oppose that, even if it might protect the owners from themselves. As a fan, with no direct stake, I do know that (whether self-imposed or based on actual financial prudence) bad deals have concomitant contemporaneous repercussions for many teams. We have to figure swallowing Garcia’s contract, perhaps Segura’s, plus the $30m owed on the Stanton trade are probably quite germane to the Marlins’ fortunes for this and a few upcoming seasons. A consequence of reducing team control years will be even more MiLB team contractions/consolidations. Speaking of Samson, he discussed self-insurance versus insurance for these big contracts. Strasburg and DeGrom are apparently not covered by insurance. One is and the other is likely to be among the biggest write-offs in MLB history. We will have to wait for the disposition of the spate of mega-length deals recently signed. My Samson-inspired “Wait to See” is that many will end up being Cano-esque (behavior/production) and Strasburg-esque (injury) disasters.

Leave a Comment

Beginning in 2023, Ely Sussman and the former Fish Stripes staff have gone the independent route with their daily Miami Marlins coverage. All of our original reporting, analysis, audio/video programming, columns and historical retrospectives now lives here! Just gotta get used to the new name.

Follow us on:

Recent Posts

Key Players & Hot Topics

2023 Season Review Braxton Garrett Bryan De La Cruz Bryan Hoeing David Robertson Dax Fulton Edward Cabrera Eury Pérez Fish On First LIVE Garrett Hampson Jacob Amaya Jacob Stallings Jake Burger Javier Sanoja Jazz Chisholm Jr. Jesús Luzardo Jesús Sánchez Joey Wendle Johnny Cueto Jonathan Davis Jon Berti Jorge Soler Josh Bell Kim Ng Luis Arraez Max Meyer Miguel Cabrera MLB Draft Nasim Nuñez Nick Neidert Noble Meyer Patrick Monteverde Paul McIntosh Postseason Ryan Weathers Sandy Alcantara Sixto Sánchez Skip Schumaker Tanner Scott Trade Deadline Trevor Rogers Troy Johnston Victor Mesa Jr. Will Banfield Xavier Edwards

%d bloggers like this: