Ely Sussman

That was before his "captaincy" began to be fair, but I agree it was one of the more distinct aspects of his Marlins tenure haha.

On The Chris Rose Rotation, Miguel Rojas explains why Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s recent comments about him crossed a line. View full video

On The Chris Rose Rotation, Rojas explained why he and other Marlins veterans felt they had a responsibility to enforce the team's rules inside the clubhouse. He has no interest in reconciling with Chisholm. Jazz Chisholm Jr. gave us his side of the story. Now, Miguel Rojas has responded. Co-hosting Tuesday's episode of The Chris Rose Rotation, the former Miami Marlins shortstop spent about 16 minutes discussing MLB clubhouse dynamics in light of Chisholm repeatedly bashing him on The Pivot podcast last week. "Whatever you want to say about me as a player...you can have that opinion," Rojas said. "But you saying that I'm a 'bad person' when you don't even know me, when you don't even know where I come from, you're not even part of what's close to me or have the opportunity to sit down with me and getting to know me as a person, that's kinda what bothers me." "There's things that never should leave a clubhouse," Rojas continued. "I'm not expecting everybody to like me and I don't like everybody, but that doesn't mean I can go out there and tell everybody what's happening in the clubhouse." To recap, Chisholm and Rojas spent parts of three seasons together as Marlins teammates (2020-22). Chisholm told The Pivot that those were "the worst three years of probably my life" largely because of how "our captain" (referring to Rojas) and other veteran players treated him. During the 2022 season (Rojas' final one in Miami), the Marlins held an awkward team meeting after veteran players complained to manager Don Mattingly about how Jazz was violating the team's dress code and other off-the-field rules. From his perspective, it seemed as though "they wanted to put me in a box and it wasn't happening cuz I'm not ever gonna be put in a box." Chisholm felt alienated by his teammates. "I felt like I was at that stage of being a kid again when I was just like, 'Nobody wanna hang with me but my family,'" he recalled. "When you come into a place, there's rules in place and someone is gonna keep you accountable," Rojas explained. "That's all that the vets were trying to do: keeping people accountable for their actions because we have rules in place." As I had guessed initially, Rojas confirms that Jesús Sánchez was the player who Marlins vets reprimanded for doing the "Soto Shuffle" in the batter's box. "You're not f***ing Juan Soto," Chisholm remembers them saying. "You shouldn't be doing that." Rojas disputes that. He claims their message to Sánchez was: "Do whatever you want to do. We're just telling you that it's gonna be better if you just take care of your business and be yourself and go out there and focus on what you need to focus on, which is playing baseball and performing." Is there any chance that Chisholm and Rojas can patch things up? Unlikely. "I'm not up to having a person in my life that thinks that I'm a bad person or a piece of ****," Rojas said. The full conversation between Rojas and Chris Rose is embedded below. View full article

Marlins news roundup for 3/26/24 Do you want Miami Marlins news delivered directly to you in the morning? Sign up for our email newsletter! 🔷 After wearing jersey No. 55 during his rookie season as Marlins manager, Skip Schumaker has switched to No. 45 to honor his late father, Wayne. In a corresponding move, Sixto Sánchez has switched from No. 45 to No. 18. 🔷 On Monday's Small Pod, I shared my final Opening Day roster projection. Barring last-minute injuries, 23 of the 26 spots are firmly locked up. The only remaining questions are surrounding middle relief where it appears to be four right-handers (Declan Cronin, Vladimir Gutierrez, Bryan Hoeing and Anthony Maldonado) for three jobs. Tuesday's Small Pod—hosted by Daniel Rodriguez—is embedded below. 🔷 This afternoon at LoanDepot Park, the Marlins will play an intrasquad scrimmage (open to the media, but not fans). Rehabbing from a shoulder impingement, Edward Cabrera is scheduled to face live batters for the first time in three weeks. 🔷 Hector Rodriguez's latest 2024 MLB Draft profile focuses on prep LHP Cam Caminiti. 🔷 Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald summarizes the Marlins' ballpark promotions and giveaways for the 2024 season. 🔷 The Pensacola Blue Wahoos hired recently retired infielder Cobie Fletcher-Vance as a business operations resident. 🔷 At No. 84, RHP Noble Meyer is the lone Marlin included on Just Baseball's Top 100 prospects list. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, in a lengthy statement, Shohei Ohtani denied ever betting on sports, pinning all wrongdoing on former translator Ippei Mizuhara. 🔷 By the time you're reading this, the latest episode of The Chris Rose Rotation should be live. Miguel Rojas is expected to respond to Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s comments about Miami's toxic clubhouse culture. I'll post a separate article later about Rojas' side of the story. Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Big Fish Small Pod for Monday, March 25, 2024 Ely Sussman discusses which 26 players he expects to be included on the Miami Marlins' active roster to begin the regular season. Find Big Fish Small Pod on the Fish On First YouTube channel, our new-look Apple Podcasts channel and wherever else you get your pods. FOF's audio programming also includes The Offishial Show, Fish Unfiltered, Swimming Upstream and more. The Fish On First podcast is now being presented by MPT College Consulting! They pride themselves on helping clients navigate the college application process. This includes preparation for standardized testing, guidance through high school, assistance with essays and applications, and choosing the right college. Visit them today at mptcollegeconsulting.com to learn more about their services and schedule a free consultation. Follow Ely (@RealEly) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Join the Marlins Discord server! Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com. Best of the FOF podcast {playlist} View full article

Marlins news roundup for 3/25/24 Do you want Miami Marlins news delivered directly to you in the morning? Sign up for our email newsletter! 🔷 On Sunday, the Marlins concluded their 2024 Grapefruit League schedule with a 5-1 win against the New York Mets. Nick Gordon and Jesús Sánchez drove in two runs apiece. Two more scoreless innings of relief for Sixto Sánchez. The pitching staff totaled 14 strikeouts, one shy of their single-game best this spring. 🔷 Luis Arraez ended the spring on a 10-game hitting streak and was the Marlins' leader in hits (17) and total bases (26). Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Dane Myers each had three home runs. George Soriano was nearly flawless across seven appearances (9.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K). Grapefruit League and Cactus League combined, the Marlins ranked last among all MLB teams in OPS (.662) and runs scored per game (3.70). 🔷 Max Meyer enters the regular season as Miami's No. 5 starter. I frankly have no clue what to expect from him. This spring, he looked very similar to the pitcher we saw in 2022, the one who had little else to prove in the minors, but lacks exceptional traits outside of his slider and athleticism. 🔷 The latest from our Marlins injury/rehab tracker: Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera are both scheduled to face live batters this week, while Eury Pérez has resumed playing catch after his elbow inflammation scare. If all goes well for Garrett on Thursday, I could see him joining Triple-A Jacksonville for a rehab assignment next week. Minor league affiliates have begun placing players on the 60-day IL. LHP Dax Fulton (elbow surgery) is the most notable Marlins prospect who's been put on there so far. 🔷 Where are they now? With Opening Day fast approaching, I count seven members of the 2023 Marlins who remain unsigned in free agency. 🔷 Hector Rodriguez annually publishes a series of MLB Draft prospect profiles for Fish On First. First up in the 2024 draft class: Cal catcher Caleb Lomavita. 🔷 A panel of MLB.com "experts" voted Luis Arraez as their favorite to repeat as NL batting champ. 🔷 MLB.com's Christina De Nicola predicts that Sixto Sánchez and Tim Anderson will both be candidates for the Comeback Player of the Year award. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Rockies signed Ezequiel Tovar to a seven-year, $63.5M contract extension and the Phillies extended Matt Strahm through 2025 with a vesting option for 2026. View full article

Well you're right about that last part: Sixto will be appointment viewing as long as he's effective. That won't dictate how the baseball decision-makers use him, of course.

I'm perplexed by the total lack of contract extensions. Bendix saw for himself with the Rays how vital it is to extend club control over certain players during a particular window in anticipation of those players sustaining their success or continuing to improve. For him to not reach deals with anybody on this roster either speaks to budget restrictions or his lack of faith in them. Between eliminating the Short-Season A level of the minors and cutting the draft from 40 rounds to 20, Major League Baseball has taken steps to discourage American player participation. Shortsighted decision-making.

The front office made up their minds a while ago, unfortunately. If they were ready to move on from Avi, would've happened before spring training. Once they brought him to camp, they were clearly determined to give him a third chance to turn things around.

Player status updates, insightful stats and more information to fully equip you for today's Marlins game. Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs... View full article

The Nats took Nuñez from the Fish in the MLB Rule 5 Draft. They'll carry him on their active roster despite severe struggles at the plate during spring training. Following a series of transactions on Tuesday, infielder Nasim Nuñez has secured his place on the Washington Nationals' Opening Day roster. Developed by the Miami Marlins for the first four-plus years of his professional career, Nuñez will be making his major league debut with one of their NL East rivals. Nuñez was the Marlins' second-round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. His blazing speed and stellar shortstop defense stood out throughout his time in the organization. He averaged a stolen base every other game during his minor league journey (184 SB in 366 G), represented the Fish in the 2023 Futures Game, was named MVP of said game and participated in the Arizona Fall League. However, Nuñez was left unprotected entering December's Rule 5 Draft when the Marlins declined to select him to their 40-man roster. He was the first hitter and the fifth overall player taken in the major league phase of the Rule 5. Why would the Marlins be willing to lose a toolsy 23-year-old who plays a premium position when their farm system is already so thin? Well, it's premature to say that they've lost Nuñez for good considering the concerns about his hitting ability. Nuñez had a career 89 wRC+ in the minors and posted a 79 wRC+ at Double-A last season, and those numbers were buoyed by a tremendous walk rate that is unrealistic for him to maintain against MLB pitching. As a Rule 5 guy, he cannot be optioned to the minors during the 2024 season despite lacking any Triple-A experience. Nuñez predictably struggled in the Grapefruit League. In 22 games played, he slashed .152/.200/.182 with a 2 wRC+ and two stolen bases. Only one of his five hits came off of a notable major leaguer (bunt single vs. Miles Mikolas). The bright spot was his excellence at shortstop. ZW5LOWJfWGw0TUFRPT1fQmxRSFZsSldBRlFBV1ZRQ1VRQUFBd0lDQUZoV1VnTUFWZ0JUQlZWV0JRdFdWUXBX.mp4 Vmc0anZfWGw0TUFRPT1fQmdaUVhWRUVCMU1BQ2dNRVhnQUFCZzhIQUFCV1VGRUFBUUFIVXdaWEJGWldWQXRm.mp4 Even on a Nats team that's in rebuilding mode, Nuñez must perform significantly better at the plate during regular season action to justify his roster spot. If not, there could come a point where they offer to return him to the Marlins for $50k (like how the Marlins returned RHP Nic Enright to the Cleveland Guardians in the middle of last year). In the meantime, though, Nasim Nuñez is on the verge of playing in The Show. The 2019 Marlins draft class has produced a surprising number of big leaguers already: JJ Bleday, Peyton Burdick, Bryan Hoeing, Easton Lucas, Andrew Nardi and Jeff Lindgren. Still with Miami, Anthony Maldonado is a near-lock to debut in 2024 himself and reigning Marlins Minor League Player of the Year Troy Johnston ought to get an opportunity before season's end. The first regular season meeting between the Marlins and Nats will be April 26-29 at LoanDepot Park. View full article

Player status updates, insightful stats and more information to fully equip you for today's Marlins game. Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs... View full article

Dane Myers was optioned to the minors on Friday despite putting up extraordinary numbers in Grapefruit League action. Dane Myers did everything he possibly could to earn a spot on the 2024 Miami Marlins Opening Day roster. He had a .412/.474/.735 slash line, three home runs and four stolen bases in 17 Grapefruit League games. Manager Skip Schumaker called him "really impressive" and a clubhouse favorite. He is already on Miami's 40-man roster. It still wasn't enough: Myers was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville on Friday. While spring training production can carry some weight, it rarely pushes MLB teams to take drastic measures. As Schumaker emphasized on Friday, depth will inevitably be needed over the course of the season, so the Marlins are not in a hurry to designate out-of-options veterans for assignment just to reward Myers—there will be room for him eventually. It was a very healthy spring for their position player group, meaning there aren't any pending injured list stints for Myers to capitalize on yet. I still want to put Myers' dominance in historical perspective. According to FanGraphs, he posted a 218 wRC+ at the plate during his Grapefruit League campaign (100 represents league average). They have detailed preseason stats dating back to 2006. In that span, Myers is one of only five Marlins to enjoy a spring with at least a 200 wRC+ while averaging one plate appearance per team game. (The 2020 and 2022 springs have been excluded due to their shortened exhibition schedules stemming from COVID and a lockout, respectively.) Let's briefly reflect on these other Myers-like standout performances and what happened to those players once the real games began. Josh Willingham (220 wRC+ in 2006) Willingham is the closest comp for Myers, a 27-year-old who previously had a couple cups of coffee in the majors and thoroughly conquered minor league pitching. Besides a brief midseason injury, he would stick as the Marlins' everyday left fielder in 2006 (120 wRC+). Willingham spent much of the next decade as a nice middle-of-the-order bat who you could perennially count on for two-ish wins above replacement (career 122 wRC+). The circumstances that surrounded Willingham made all the difference. The '06 Marlins operated with MLB's lowest payroll and gutted their roster of veteran players to get there. Nobody was blocking him and there wasn't any pressure on that team to be competitive. Chris Coghlan (203 wRC+ in 2011) The 2009 National League Rookie of the Year, Coghlan was seemingly a strong bounce-back candidate coming off a quiet and abbreviated sophomore season. The Marlins deployed him as their leadoff hitter and starting center fielder. He finished April 2011 with a .287/.352/.521 slash line (133 wRC+). However, by mid-June, Coghlan was a liability and got demoted to Triple-A. From that point through the end of his Marlins tenure in 2013, he played more games in New Orleans than he did in Miami, providing zero offensive impact. He enjoyed a career resurgence with the Chicago Cubs, but never got back to being a true everyday player. Christian Yelich (214 wRC+ in 2013) A first-time non-roster invitee to spring training at 21 years old, Yelich certainly looked the part of an elite MLB prospect and long-term franchise building block. He slugged .818 with nine of his 16 spring hits going for extra bases. Yelich was too phenomenal for his own good! Having embarked on yet another rebuild, the Marlins let him incubate in the minors until the second half of the 2013 season to delay his arbitration eligibility. That would later help them negotiate an extremely club-friendly contract extension. Yelich was arguably the NL's best all-around player from 2018-19. Unfortunately, the Marlins had already traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers by then. Garrett Cooper (202 wRC+ in 2021) M09kWTFfWGw0TUFRPT1fQlFoVFZGQlJWd0VBQ2xNR0F3QUFBbFZSQUFBQkJ3QUFDMUZXQUFJSENBSUFWQVFB.mp4 Cooper's roster spot was secure and his ability to rake against MLB arms was not in doubt. He still was plenty motivated, angling for steady playing time in a world without the universal DH. His spring training success earned him semi-regular starts in right field. Through the first quarter of the 2021 season, Cooper struggled mightily in all aspects of the game. Then from mid-May through mid-July, he was scorching hot, not far off from his Grapefruit League pace. Overall, Cooper had a .284/.380/.465 slash line (129 wRC+) on July 18 when he suffered a season-ending elbow injury. Fast-forward to 2024, he had a solid enough Cactus League audition to make the Chicago Cubs roster as an NRI. View full article

We may have to wait until Brazoban eventually arrives to get a clearer idea of why the process has been so messy for him specifically. Doesn't seem as though the team employees can explain it.

Martinez gets $12M guaranteed, but agreed to defer most of the money. Why couldn't the Marlins get him at that price? The top bat remaining on the MLB free agent market, J.D. Martinez, finally found his new home on Thursday night, agreeing with the New York Mets on a one-year, $12M deal. His salary for the upcoming season will be a mere $4.5M with the rest being paid out a decade later (annual $1.5M installments from 2034-2038). The 36-year-old still has to pass his physical to make things official. Martinez slashed .271/.321/.572 (135 wRC+) with 33 HR and 103 RBI in 113 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. Ever since they signed Shohei Ohtani to be their designated hitter in December, it's been apparent that Martinez would need to find another employer. The Miami Marlins seemed like a natural fit for the South Florida native. The Marlins weren't comfortable paying market value to retain All-Star designated hitter Jorge Soler, but Martinez's age and troublesome strikeout rate in 2023 made him a cheaper alternative. Per Craig Mish of SportsGrid, he was seeking a two-year deal in talks with the Fish earlier this month. Even in what's been a cruel market for hitters, it is hard to believe that Martinez had to ultimately settle for a one-year contract with a present-day value that's approximately the same as his previous deal. How could the Marlins pass on Martinez at such an efficient price tag? Well, some of Martinez's offensive contributions would have been negated by the club's defensive clumsiness. Occupying the DH spot would've forced Josh Bell and Jake Burger to handle the corner infield spots practically every day. Without Martinez, there is a lot more flexibility—Jon Berti can get occasional reps at the hot corner, Nick Gordon can fill in for Luis Arraez at second when he's giving Bell a breather at first, etc. On the other hand, Martinez is a hitting savant who still seemingly has a lot left in the tank. The quality of his contact is as impressive as ever. Imagine the intangible benefits of having him around the clubhouse as somebody who's gone from sub-replacement-level player early in his career to MLB's fifth-leading home run hitter over the last 10 years. It's like hiring another assistant hitting coach. He could've taken Avisaíl García's roster spot, an indisputable upgrade for the Marlins even if some age-related regression is probable in 2024. Too often, we analyze rosters as if they are always going to be at full strength. That's rarely how it plays out in reality. Even if there would be some redundancy between Martinez, Bell and Burger when they're all healthy, what if one of them goes on the injured list at any point? A signing like this would add crucial lineup depth for a Marlins organization that is thin on quality hitters to call up from the minors. In the aftermath of recent pitching staff injuries, expectations for the Marlins must be tempered. A great J.D. Martinez campaign would not assure them a postseason berth or even a .500 record. But that's the beauty of a one-year deal: you can move him at the trade deadline! Peter Bendix inherited a depleted farm system and has done virtually nothing to add talent to it thus far. Signing short-term free agents allows you to address that indirectly. A player who has a résumé and reputation like Martinez does would be especially appealing to contenders in July and bring back prospects with all of their club control still ahead of them. Instead, the Marlins have the challenge of facing Martinez head-to-head up to 13 times this season. And if the Mets fall out of the race (again), at least he'll be a trade asset for them. View full article