Ely Sussman

Here's what you should know with 99 days to go until Marlins Opening Day... Tuesday's winter ball notes: In the Dominican Republic, Troy Johnston made his LIDOM debut...sort of. The game was postponed due to rain in the middle of the third inning (before he could even take an at-bat). It was Johnston's first time playing right field in a professional game since May 2021 when he was with Low-A Jupiter.Elsewhere around baseball, Andrew McCutchen (1/$5M) re-signed with the Pirates. It will be McCutchen's 16th season in the majors and 11th in Pittsburgh.Xavier Edwards tells the that he's been working out as a shortstop and outfielder this offseason. He admits that his arm strength hasn't been the same over the last two years following a shoulder injury and he's focusing on restoring that.Evan Drellich of The Athletic reports that the Marlins are one of five teams whose digital broadcast rights are carried by Diamond Sports (in addition to local television rights). Amazon is in talks to invest in Diamond, potentially with the goal of streaming games for those teams while Diamond's Bally Sports affiliates face an uncertain future.On Locked On Marlins, Peter Pratt and Shaun Barrett discuss a hypothetical for Luis Arraez. I consider Arraez a high-priority extension candidate as well, but wouldn't budge far above $100M for him.With 25 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.Join us tonight at 7:00 p.m. ET for a new edition of Fish On First LIVE on YouTube/Twitter/Instagram. You read that right: we now have a way to stream through Instagram Live. Also, for the first time since 2022, we can read and feature comments submitted by you through Twitter. Marlins Podcast Episodes Photo by Danis Sosa/Fish On First

Here's what you should know with 100 days to go until Marlins Opening Day... Monday's winter ball notes: In the Dominican Republic, 2B Vidal Bruján went 1-for-4 with a walk and 1B Troy Johnston joined the Toros del Este roster (but did not make his debut yet). The Mariners are the "most active" team in pursuit of free agent Jorge Soler, with the Marlins and Yankees also showing interest, reports Francys Romero. Last month, Romero said the Marlins wanted him back on a multi-year deal. I'm still very skeptical that this gets done, putting the odds of Soler re-signing with the Fish at 8%.Five Marlins players received a portion of MLB's pre-arbitration bonus pool, AP reports: Braxton Garrett ($466,898), Jake Burger ($356,317), Jazz Chisholm Jr. ($307,518), Eury Pérez ($274,674) and Jesús Sánchez ($254,236). Their bonus amounts were determined based on wins above replacement.Elsewhere around baseball, Martín Pérez (1/$8M) signed with the Pirates and Tom Murphy (2/$8M) signed with the Giants. The Orioles reached a new lease agreement with Maryland state officials to remain at Camden Yards for the next 30 years.During his Tommy John surgery recovery, Max Meyer has been working on controlling the cut of his four-seamer and developing a sinker, according to Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. Keep up with the health status of Meyer and other Marlins players via our injury/rehab tracker. Cody Christie of Twins Daily concocts three potential trades that could bring Jesús Luzardo to Minnesota. The entire premise of trading Luzardo irritates me, but I find his first proposal—involving Matt Wallner, Brooks Lee and a low-level minor leaguer—to be the most palatable.In the latest Locked On Marlins (embedded below), Peter Pratt explains his bold idea to swap Luzardo for Royce Lewis.PECOTA projections for the 2024 season have been released for individual players. These are the 50th percentile projections for all hitters on the Marlins 40-man roster (except for Peyton Burdick, who I couldn't find for some reason). Pretty bullish on Jazz!Baseball ProspectusBob Nightengale of USA Today spoke at length to Gary Sheffield about his Hall of Fame candidacy and the off-the-field issues that BBWAA voters have held against him. Needing 75.0% of the vote to be elected in 2024, Sheffield is currently at 71.4%, per Ryan Thibodaux's tracker.Marlins Podcast Episodes Photo courtesy of Miami Marlins

Fish On First MLB Draft analyst Hector Rodriguez joins Ely Sussman to revisit the writings of Frankie Piliere from his tenure with D1Baseball. Piliere shared his thoughts on eventual big leaguers such as Jesús Luzardo, Jake Burger, Bryan Reynolds, Royce Lewis and Mickey Moniak. At the end of the show, Hector explains why Wake Forest right-hander Chase Burns could be good selection for the Marlins in the first round of 2024 draft. Subscribe to the Fish On First YouTube channel to watch video versions of every episode of The Offishial Show. Before working six years in the Seattle Mariners organization and reportedly being hired last week to take over the Marlins amateur scouting department, Piliere was publicly writing and editing content about the draft. There are 266 D1Baseball articles under his name from 2015-2017. You can access them here by subscribing to D1Baseball. These are the articles we reviewed on the pod: 2016 MLB Draft: Day One Thoughts2016 MLB Draft: Day Two Breakdown2017 MLB Draft: Day One Thoughts2017 MLB Draft: Day Two ThoughtsAs of Tuesday morning, the Marlins have yet to formally announce Piliere. Follow Ely (@RealEly), Hector (@Hector_Baseball) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Join the Marlins Discord server! Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com. Our Fish On First podcast programming includes The Offishial Show, Fish Unfiltered, Swimming Upstream, Big Fish Small Pod and What a Relief. All new episodes are posted to FishOnFirst.com/podcasts. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, Megaphone or wherever you normally get your pods from.

Here's what you should know with 101 days to go until Marlins Opening Day... Sunday's winter ball notes: In Venezuela, LF Javier Sanoja went 0-for-1 with a walk and LHP Luis Palacios pitched in relief (2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K). In Puerto Rico, C Jan Mercado went 0-for-2. Poor guy is still hitless in the month of December.The Athletic reported that the Marlins and Royals discussed a massive trade at the Winter Meetings involving Jesús Luzardo and Vinnie Pasquantino. I wrote why valuing those players similarly would have been a big mistake from the Marlins' perspective.Former Marlins left-hander Enmanuel De Jesus inked a one-year, $800k deal to pitch for the KBO's Kiwoom Heroes. De Jesus made his major league debut with the Marlins last September, appearing twice in mop-up duty.Elsewhere around baseball, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (3/$42M) signed with the Diamondbacks. That seemingly closes the door on Tommy Pham re-signing with Arizona. How would you folks feel about Pham in Miami if he was willing to take a relatively cheap two-year deal? Maybe I'll write an article on that. For the time being, the Marlins are one of only eight teams who haven't made a major league free agent signing.Kevin Barral explains why he likes Carl Edwards Jr. as a low-cost, right-handed bullpen reinforcement for the Marlins.On Saturday, LoanDepot Park hosted the Triple Play 5K. The event fundraised for Alzheimer's research, Parkinson's research, ALS research, general brain health, mental health and stroke awareness.Speaking of a different kind of "running," the Marlins Radio Network posted the first two episodes of "Marlins Rerun." The five-part series reflects on key players and moments from the 2023 season.Marlins Podcast Episodes Photo courtesy of Miami Marlins

At the Winter Meetings earlier this month, the Miami Marlins discussed a potential franchise-altering trade that would have sent Jesús Luzardo to the Kansas City Royals for Vinnie Pasquantino, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. Rosenthal implies that it was the Royals who decided not to proceed, instead bolstering their starting rotation via free agency without having to sacrifice their talented first baseman. In a vacuum, it's unsurprising that the Marlins would want "The Pasquatch." The 2019 draft pick thrived at every level of the minor leagues. After initially slumping following his 2022 midseason call-up, he was among MLB's hottest hitters over the last two-plus months of the season. Pasquantino possesses terrific contact skills, even against same-handed pitching. He's drawn nearly as many walks as strikeouts in the majors while also generating average-ish power. Pasquantino was on an All-Star trajectory through the first quarter of the 2023 campaign. However, his stats cratered after that, and then on June 9, he tore the labrum in his right shoulder. The subsequent surgery sidelined him for the rest of the season. He finished with replacement-level production in 61 games played (.247/.324/.437, 103 wRC+ in 260 PA). Assuming a clean bill of health, Pasquantino is projected by both ZiPS (128 OPS+) and Steamer (128 wRC+) to revert to his rookie form. He insists on Twitter that the shoulder issues are fully behind him: Pasquantino would make Miami's offense better than it currently projects to be in 2024, occupying first base or the DH spot on a near-daily basis (whichever one Josh Bell isn't playing). The most appealing part? He's still two years away from arbitration eligibility and five years away from free agency. Trade young pitching for Pasquantino? I could see it. But Jesús Luzardo?! Not unless there are additional substantial assets coming to the Marlins in return. Even then, they'd have to be the right ones. Luzardo has made all 44 of his scheduled starts since returning from a forearm strain in mid-2022. He's been the ace of the Marlins during that span. "Trading him might be the best way for the Marlins to address offensive needs while guarding against Luzardo’s value diminishing as he gets more expensive," Rosenthal wrote in a separate column on Friday, citing his $5.9M arbitration projection. To be clear, there is absolutely zero financial pressure on the Marlins to do that this offseason. A $5.9M salary is about half of what ho-hum back-end starters are getting in free agency. Eventually, though, Luzardo will be a rich man. On Saturday, Tyler Glasnow is expected to finalize a contract extension with the Los Angeles Dodgers that values his early-30s free agent years at $30M apiece. For all of their stylistic differences, both Glasnow and Luzardo have lights-out stuff and fairly comparable results since "putting it all together" in recent seasons, plus they share a worrisome history when it comes to forearm/elbow injuries. Luzardo is on track to reach free agency entering his age-29 season, two years younger than Glasnow would have. Jesús Luzardo vs. Tyler Glasnow pitching comparison | StatheadMy Marlins offseason blueprint called for a $77.5M Luzardo extension. Unfortunately for the club, as much as the South Florida native might desire to spend the prime of his career in a familiar place, I underestimated the starting pitching market. Even being so far away from the open market, he wouldn't settle for that much of a discount. Glasnow's guarantee of $110M in new money now seems like the more appropriate benchmark. I have a difficult time imagining the Marlins going there. The payday hasn't arrived yet and Luzardo's current healthy streak is highly encouraging. As a result, his trade value is peaking right now. While that does not mean the Marlins should look to move him, it does justify listening to what's out there. This brings me back to Pasquantino—skilled hitter, seemingly awesome personality, coincidentally the same age as Luzardo (they were born 10 days apart), but not nearly as valuable. He's all the way at the bottom of the defensive spectrum, limited to first base and not particularly effective at the position. His two additional years of club control don't close the gap between them. The Marlins have long-term uncertainty at the premium up-the-middle spots. Selling high on Luzardo is only justifiable if it helps them figure out their future at catcher, shortstop or center field. In Kansas City's case, if Pasquantino was packaged with Maikel García—another promising pre-arb player who would immediately become Miami's primary shortstop—that would have been something worth considering. Remember how Luzardo got here in the first place, as the compensation that the Marlins received for pending free agent Starling Marte. His hard work has boosted his trade value by several multiples since then. In his first offseason on the job, president of baseball operations Peter Bendix has the opportunity to flip him for a special haul if another team is desperate enough. If Bendix actually does view Luzardo as roughly equivalent to a Pasquantino type, he's in danger of botching this opportunity.

Here's what you should know with 104 days to go until Marlins Opening Day... Thursday's winter ball notes: In the Dominican Republic, 3B Vidal Bruján went 2-for-2 with a walk and 2 RBI. Bruján seemed to be limping while running the bases in the third inning and exited the game shortly after—hopefully that doesn't bring his LIDOM season to a premature end. Elsewhere around baseball, the Rays have agreed to trade Tyler Glasnow, Manuel Margot and $4M cash to the Dodgers for Ryan Pepiot and Jonny Deluca. The deal is pending the finalization of Glasnow's contract extension (he was previously set to become a free agent next winter). Once done, it will drop Tampa Bay's projected 2024 payroll below Miami's, according to Roster Resource. Tyler Mahle (2/$22M) signed with the Rangers, Jack Flaherty (1/$14M) signed with the Tigers and Austin Wynns (1/$900k) signed with the Reds.Skip Schumaker spoke to Christina De Nicola of MLB.com about raising awareness for the fight against pediatric cancer through his upcoming baseball skills camp. Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald has a very, very, very early preview of what the Marlins "Spring Breakout" roster could look like.Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase came on Man On 2nd with Joe Frisaro to swap stories about their process for breaking Marlins news.Today marks the end of the 2023 signing period for international amateurs. The Marlins made at least 33 signings, based on my quick skim of their transactions log. The 2024 period opens on January 15 with a replenished bonus pool for them to maneuver with.No Offishial News articles on the weekends, so I'll be the first to wish Bryan De La Cruz a happy birthday. The charismatic Dominican outfielder turns 27 on Saturday. Last season, De La Cruz led the Marlins in games played (153), plate appearances (626), doubles (32) and runs batted in (78).Congrats to Fish On First's Daniel Rodriguez on earning his master's degree from the University of Miami!Marlins Podcast Episodes Photo by Danis Sosa/Fish On First

Wednesday’s winter ball notes: In the Dominican Republic, 3B Vidal Bruján went 1-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases. In Puerto Rico, C Jan Mercado went 0-for-2.The Marlins have picked their new director of amateur scouting, according to Craig Mish of SportsGrid. Frankie Piliere comes over from the Seattle Mariners where he'd spent six years in their scouting department. Relatively young guy who previously covered amateur prospects for D1Baseball. On next week's episode of The Offishial Show, we will be examining Piliere's takes from the 2016 and 2017 draft cycles and see how they aged.https://fishonfirst.com/news/tracking-every-notable-marlins-organizational-change-entering-2024/In the Miami Herald, Mish and Barry Jackson touch on various Marlins topics. Edward Cabrera and Trevor Rogers "have the inside track" to win the final two Opening Day rotation spots, with Max Meyer lurking "if either falters in the spring." They corroborate reporting by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic about free agent Isiah Kiner-Falefa being of interest to the Fish. "Even with (Christian) Bethancourt added, the Marlins remain open to finding a catcher," they add, specifically citing Andrew Knizner as an option being considered. Knizner should come cheaply after the Cardinals non-tendered him rather than pay a projected $2M salary.https://fishonfirst.com/news/marlins-rumors-andrew-knizner/Elsewhere around baseball, Shohei Ohtani has the ability to opt out of his historic contract with the Dodgers if either owner Mark Walter or president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman are no longer involved with the team. Ohtani's introductory press conference is being held today at 6:00 p.m. ET. Major League Baseball announced the debut of "Spring Breakout" in 2024, where top prospects from each organization will play seven-inning showcase games. Marlins and Cardinals prospects will face off at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on March 15 right before the regularly scheduled Grapefruit League game.Christian Bethancourt spoke to the media on Wednesday about his determination to be a well-rounded player on both offense and defense.Through the Miami Marlins Foundation, Jeff Conine, Griffin Conine and Gaby Sanchez surprised two families with holiday gifts and served dinner for 500 more families. Episode 2 of "The Standard" relives the time Luis Arraez hit for the first-ever Marlins cycle.Baseball Prospectus ranked the top 20 Marlins prospects. Relative to other outlets, they are very high on OF Kemp Alderman (No. 4) and LHP Josh Simpson (No. 12) and low on IF Xavier Edwards (No. 14) and IF Yiddi Cappe (No. 18).The Pensacola Blue Wahoos are seeking a paid broadcasting and media relations trainee for the 2024 season.Marlins Podcast Episodes Photo courtesy of Miami Marlins

Buried near the bottom of the latest Craig Mish/Barry Jackson Miami Herald piece, they report that the Miami Marlins are "considering" free agent catcher Andrew Knizner. Knizner was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2016 and that's the only major league organization he's ever known. Last year, Knizner slashed .241/.288/.424 (career-high 92 wRC+) and produced -0.1 fWAR in 70 games. He has never had a season above replacement level, per FanGraphs. He turns 29 in February. The Cardinals non-tendered Knizner on November 17 rather than pay him a projected $2M salary via arbitration. They're seemingly all set at the position with Willson Contreras and Iván Herrera. Kevin Barral highlighted Knizner in a Fish On First article last week. That was prior to the Christian Bethancourt acquisition. Health permitting, Bethancourt is highly likely to make Miami's Opening Day roster. He was a comparable player to Knizner in 2023, significantly better than him in 2022 and cannot be optioned to the minors. https://fishonfirst.com/news/christian-bethancourt-wants-to-put-it-all-together-for-marlins/"Even with Bethancourt added, the Marlins remain open to finding a catcher who would start or share time with Nick Fortes," according to Mish and Jackson. Fortes still has two minor league options left and didn't hit a lick against right-handed pitching last season (26 wRC+), Worth mentioning, Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, hitting coach John Mabry and new assistant hitting coach Bill Mueller all have familiarity with Knizner from their time in the Cardinals organization. The Marlins are one of nine teams who haven't finalized a major league free agent deal during the 2023-24 offseason, according to Jon Becker's MLB Matrices. Knizner is not a lock to receive a guaranteed deal, to be clear, but this free agent class lacks reliable catchers and the slugging potential he's shown ought to draw some interest from other suitors. The dream scenario for the Fish would be to bring him to Jupiter as a non-roster invitee. Photo by Brennan Asplen/Getty Images