Ely Sussman

I'm guilty of overlooking it myself, but Norby did play a decent amount of OF before getting traded over. As I wrote in a separate article today, he honestly wasn't bad at it in the past and the shortcomings he did have seem more fixable than the ones he has as a third baseman.

Earlier this week on the Marlins Hot Stove Show, Miami Marlins Clayton McCullough revealed that Connor Norby could be utilized as an outfielder next season. That's notable considering the organization has previously been so adamant about Norby devoting all of his energy to third base. Every defensive appearance he's made since mid-August of 2024—minor league and major league, including rehab assignments and even spring training—has been at the hot corner. Norby's conversion to third base has been unsuccessful. He lacks the dexterity to adjust to in-between hops and the reaction time to get in front of extremely hard-hit balls. As a result, he has totaled minus-9 outs above average and minus-10 defensive runs saved in less than a full season's worth of action. His primary focus is continuing to develop there, per McCullough, but it's no longer sensible for that to be his sole focus, especially when the Marlins have another in-house option, Graham Pauley, who has shown himself to be a great third baseman. The Marlins will attempt to increase Norby's defensive versatility by revisiting positions he used to play as a prospect in the Baltimore Orioles organization. During his MiLB career, he spent 497 innings in left field and 206 ⅔ innings in right field, with the vast majority of those reps coming at the Triple-A level. Grinding tape from the 2023 and 2024 seasons, I was encouraged by Norby's performance, even though it was a bit rough around the edges. The ceiling for his defense is higher in the outfield corners than at third base. Norby definitely has enough athleticism to be an outfielder. His 28.8 ft/sec Sprint Speed from 2025 is right on par with the typical center fielder and comfortably above most corner guys. He runs well enough to compensate for poor initial reads and overcome circuitous routes. His arm strength is also an asset. Here is the top highlight that I've come across from Norby's outfield days, approximately 230 feet on the fly directly to the catcher's facemask despite his momentum taking him into foul territory: nn0sm5_1.mp4 In this next scenario, there was no chance at a double play, but he flaunted the upper limit of his throwing range from more than 300 feet away: norby of_arm strength (309 ft).mp4 Norby's main weakness in the outfield was his overzealousness. He would occasionally attempt desperation throws to the plate like the one above even when it meant gifting the trail runner(s) a free 90 feet. I saw him misplay balls when rushing to field them off the ground, and turn singles into extra-base hits with ill-advised dives. But his communication with teammates on fly balls was fine and he demonstrated an understanding of who had priority in each situation. Although he didn't look particularly smooth when navigating around outfield walls, he made all the plays that he was supposed to make. Regardless of which moves the Marlins make over the course of this offseason, I'd like to see Norby get reacquainted with the outfield in spring training. Ultimately, the 25-year-old's playing time will be influenced most of all by his offensive adjustments (.251/.300/.389 slash line in 88 games last season). He'll need to be more selective against right-handed pitching and more of a power threat against lefties to stake his claim to an everyday role. View full article

On Thursday in winter ball, Deyvison De Los Santos (Dominican Republic) went 1-for-4 with a game-winning two-run triple. Jared Serna (Mexico) went 1-for-4. Jacob Berry (Puerto Rico) went 0-for-3 with a walk. Eric Rataczak (Australia) went 2-for-5. Only 111 days away from Marlins Opening Day. 🔷 Add Cedric Mullins to the growing list of free agents who the Marlins reportedly pursued before getting outbid. The Fish are gradually running out of excuses for their inactivity as 19 of the 29 other MLB clubs have completed at least one major league free agent signing this offseason. 🔷 I watched clips of Connor Norby's outfield defense from the 2023 and 2024 seasons and came away optimistic that he could become more effective there than he has at third base. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough insists that Norby's "focus" is still on playing third. 🔷 Louis Addeo-Weiss reflects on the career of Baseball Hall of Fame candidate Carlos Delgado, whose 2005 season was as impressive as any we've ever seen from a Marlins first baseman. 🔷 Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp executive vice president and general manager Harold Craw has been hired by the Tampa Bay Rays. The Jumbo Shrimp elevated Matt Goudreau to fill his shoes while promoting Noel Blaha to senior vice president. Jacksonville's hitting coach, Mike Marjama, announced that he'll be working for the San Francisco Giants (his childhood team). 🔷 This week, the Marlins added job postings for part-time guest experience staff, a senior software engineer, a coordinator of partnerships and a pro scouting internship. 🔷 Every year, I enjoy passing along historical comps for all players on the Marlins 40-man roster courtesy of Dan Szymborski's ZiPS projections. 🔷 Tyler Boronski interviewed former Marlins great Dontrelle Willis about his playing career and becoming a broadcaster. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, old friend Miguel Rojas re-signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers on a one-year, $5.5 million deal. He will retire after the 2026 season and transition to a player development role within the organization. The Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates agreed to a five-player trade centered around outfielder Jhostynxon García and Johan Oviedo. loanDepot park will host the La Gente del Barrio Celebrity Softball Game & Home Run Derby on Saturday. On Sunday night, we'll find out who (if anybody) the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee has picked to join the 2026 Hall of Fame class. View full article

The Miami Marlins were among the teams in pursuit of free agent outfielder Cedric Mullins before he reached a one-year, $7 million agreement with the Tampa Bay Rays, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports. Fish On First heard the same from a source familiar with the club's thinking. The 31-year-old Mullins would have been a potential bounce-back candidate after posting 1.3 fWAR in 2025, his lowest ever in a full-length season. Even without starting on a daily basis, he continued to provide an intriguing combination of power (17 HR) and speed (22 SB) while also drawing walks at a career-high 10% rate. However, the quality of his defense in center field has slipped. It's unclear whether the Marlins intended to use Mullins in center or transition the former All-Star to a corner spot in deference to Jakob Marsee. It caught FOF off-guard last month when the Marlins were linked to Mike Yastrzemski (who remains available). Although they aren't targeting left-handed outfielders per se to add to a group that already includes Marsee, Kyle Stowers and Griffin Conine, they are open-minded to veterans with good offensive track records and a willingness to accept short-term deals. Entering Thursday, the Marlins' only acquisitions through the first month-plus of the MLB offseason have been waiver claims and minor league signings. View full rumor

All Fish On First podcasts are brought to you by Jet Ski Rentals of South Florida—offering Miami’s best jet ski and boat adventures. With six jet ski locations and over 120 boats, there’s something for every style and every budget. With Christmas and New Year’s around the corner, boats fill up fast—everyone wants that view of the fireworks from the water. They’re reservation-based only. To inquire, call 305-990-2192, or check them out online at SFJetskiRentals.com. In his first solo podcast of the 2025-26 Miami Marlins offseason, Ely Sussman begins by analyzing Clayton McCullough's comments about Connor Norby preparing to play the outfield and Griffin Conine learning first base. Then, he reacts to Ryan Helsley and Devin Williams signing free agent contracts, and makes the case that Emilio Pagán may be the best option left on the reliever market for the Marlins. You can find The Offishial Show on the Fish On First YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you get your pods. Our audio programming also includes Fish On First LIVE, Fish Unfiltered, Swimming Upstream and more. Pagán served as primary closer for the Cincinnati Reds in 2025. He struck out 30.0% of all batters faced across 68 ⅔ innings pitched and finished the season on a particularly high note with 10 consecutive scoreless appearances. About to enter his age-35 season, Pagán has had only one extended injured list stint during his professional career—a right lat strain in 2024. Thanks to a splitter that has progressively spun less and added vertical break, Pagán dominated left-handed batters last season. The pitch accrued plus-six run value, per Baseball Savant, generating an ideal mix of whiffs and soft contact. Swim Around the Diamond At the end of every episode of The Offishial Show, I will be highlighting and recommending Marlins-related content that was posted recently outside of FOF. Here's what I picked this time: Aram Leighton's top 15 Marlins prospects (Just Baseball) 2026 ZiPS Projections: Miami Marlins (FanGraphs) WBC-style rosters comprised of current/former Marlins players (Son Los Marlins) Inside Major League Baseball's fan council featuring SuperSub Ryan Schlesinger (The Athletic) Follow Ely (@RealEly) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Join the Marlins Discord server! Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com. View full article

On The Offishial Show, Ely Sussman provides context behind the amusing idea that the Marlins could use outfielder Griffin Conine at first base in the future. View full video

The realistic best-case scenario did not materialize for the Miami Marlins. They were hopeful that Devin Williams would be available at a sharply discounted rate coming off a career-worst 4.79 ERA in 2025. Alas, the market coveted his elite swing-and-miss ability and the New York Mets ultimately won the bidding with a three-year, $51 million deal. Who's still out there for the Marlins? We have to assume that former Met Edwin Díaz is out of their price range as he reportedly expects something in the five-year, $100 million range. These are the other MLB free agents who were primarily used as closers last season: RHP Robert Suarez (2.97 ERA, 2.88 FIP, 27.9 K%, 3.16 WPA, 40 SV in 69.2 IP) RHP Pete Fairbanks (2.83 ERA, 3.63 FIP, 24.2 K%, 0.93 WPA, 27 SV in 60.1 IP) RHP Kyle Finnegan (3.47 ERA, 3.12 FIP, 24.0 K%, 0.84 WPA, 24 SV in 57.0 IP) RHP Emilio Pagán (2.88 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 30.0 K%, 1.09 WPA, 32 SV in 68.2 IP) RHP Kenley Jansen (2.59 ERA, 3.98 FIP, 24.4 K%, 3.46 WPA, 29 SV in 59.0 IP) The Marlins specifically have a dearth of reliable left-handers on their current bullpen depth chart. Although less likely to be used consistently in the ninth inning, that could make the likes of Danny Coulombe, Drew Pomeranz, Caleb Ferguson, Gregory Soto, Caleb Thielbar, Andrew Chafin and Hoby Milner appealing on short-term contracts. View full rumor

Too often, the evaluation of a baseball prospect fluctuates dramatically based on their most recent season. Fish On First is occasionally guilty of this, with Miami Marlins first baseman Deyvison De Los Santos being a prime example. At this time a year ago, De Los Santos ranked third on the FOF Top 30 as Minor League Baseball's reigning home run king. Currently, fresh off a disappointing season at Triple-A, he is ranked 23rd. That's in large part because his surface-level production cratered, from 40 homers and a 127 wRC+ in 2024 to 12 homers and an 84 wRC+ in 2025. But under the hood, nothing about De Los Santos' player profile fundamentally changed. He possesses plus-plus power—in both seasons, his 90th-percentile exit velocity was 108 mph (for reference, Agustín Ramírez is at 109 mph). His chase rate against Triple-A pitching actually improved from 45.0% to 35.0%, though that is still a concerningly high figure. It's been obvious throughout this period that first base will be his long-term defensive home. Despite shattering his previous career-high with 16 stolen bases in 2025, he remains a below-average runner by MLB standards. De Los Santos did not do enough to earn a call-up from the Marlins last season. He also did not disqualify himself as a potential reinforcement further down the road. He's only 22 years old! Between a quad injury and travel issues, De Los Santos had fewer MiLB reps than hoped (106 games in AAA). He is compensating for that now in the Dominican Winter League (LIDOM), where he's been starring for Gigantes del Cibao. De Los Santos enters Monday ranked fourth among all qualified LIDOM hitters in both batting average (.351) and OPS (.892). He is in the midst of a 16-game on-base streak. Every single pitcher he's faced is older than him and more than half of his plate appearances have come against guys who have MLB experience. It has been a mixed bag for De Los Santos from a plate discipline standpoint. He has drawn only three walks through a full month of action and he occasionally gives away strikes at times by blindly guessing in favorable counts and swinging over the top of breaking balls. On the other hand, it's encouraging to see him dial back his aggressiveness, offering at 30% of first pitches (roughly MLB average). With few exceptions, the arms who have elite stuff and command are resting at this time of year. There's only so much that De Los Santos can "prove" about himself against this quality of competition. The correlation between LIDOM run production and big league readiness is practically non-existent, as detailed in the table below. OPS Rank 2020-21 LIDOM Season 2021-22 LIDOM Season 2022-23 LIDOM Season 2023-24 LIDOM Season 2024-25 LIDOM Season 1 Ronald Guzmán Junior Lake Henry Urrutia Ronny Simón J.C. Escarra 2 Joe Dunand Leody Taveras Ronny Mauricio Franmil Reyes Aderlin Rodríguez 3 Yamaico Navarro Hanser Alberto Aneury Tavárez Mel Rojas Jr. Jerar Encarnación 4 Junior Lake Sócrates Brito Ramón Hernández Héctor Rodríguez Sergio Alcántara 5 Jeremy Peña Zoilo Almonte Rainer Nuñez Starlin Castro Erick Mejía Total MLB fWAR in 2021 Total MLB fWAR in 2022 Total MLB fWAR in 2023 Total MLB fWAR in 2024 Total MLB fWAR in 2025 -0.2 0.9 0.3 0.0 0.5 The Marlins are exploring opportunities to acquire a veteran first baseman, but they don't feel obligated to do so if the value isn't reasonable. FOF's Isaac Azout and Kevin Barral report that they could patch things together with a combination of internal options such as Eric Wagaman, Connor Norby, Graham Pauley and Liam Hicks. Even if De Los Santos homered on a daily basis for the rest of the LIDOM season, the Marlins would still plan on sending him back down to Jacksonville to validate that he has turned a corner. I have been pounding the drum as much as anybody for the Marlins to invest in their roster and first base was a glaring weakness for the Fish last year. That being said, they should be setting the bar very high and/or prioritizing first basemen with the flexibility to play additional positions. De Los Santos is a fascinating depth piece for 2026 who shouldn't be ignored. If the Marlins have to block his path to the majors because they've added one of MLB's best bats via trade or free agency, that'd be wonderful, but don't spend money for the sake of spending money and bury him on the depth chart behind a low-probability bounce-back candidate. View full article

On Sunday in winter ball, Deyvison De Los Santos (Dominican Republic) went 2-for-4. Jared Serna (Mexico) went 2-for-4 with a home run and he continues to lead his league with a .978 OPS. Jacob Berry went 1-for-3 with two walks and a stolen base in his first Puerto Rican Winter League start. His Leones de Ponce teammate, Orlando Ortiz-Mayr, fared well in a no-decision (4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K). Only 115 days away from Marlins Opening Day. 🔷 This teal Marlins Starter jacket is the best item of clothing I own. Totally unprompted, friends, family and even strangers compliment me whenever I wear it in public. Through the end of tonight, you have the opportunity to get it at Homage for just $125, which is $40 less than what I paid for mine. You're welcome! Also a reminder that you can save 10% on all Fish On First merch purchases at About The Fans by using coupon code FOF10 at checkout. 🔷 Baseball executives and media will converge on Orlando, Florida, for the Winter Meetings beginning this Sunday night. Our own Isaac Azout and Kevin Barral preview the event from the Marlins' perspective. 🔷 Even with a late start to his winter ball season, Deyvison De Los Santos has been one of LIDOM's most productive hitters. I wrote about how his encouraging performance adds a wrinkle to the club's ongoing search for a first baseman. 🔷 On this day four years ago, the Marlins held a joint press conference to celebrate Sandy Alcantara's contract extension (5-YR/$56M) and Avisaíl García's free agent signing (4-YR/$53M). Needless to say, they'd like a re-do on one of those moves. 🔷 On the Baseball Wives Club, Otto Lopez's wife, Marle Vásquez, discussed how the couple met and what it's like navigating the chaotic world of professional baseball while also raising an infant (their daughter Amelia is 17 months old). 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Ryan Helsley and the Baltimore Orioles agreed to a two-year, $28 million deal. The price turned out to be a bit steeper than I projected entering this offseason, but I still think he would've been the ideal reliever addition for the Marlins when accounting for the short-term commitment and his immense potential upside. View full article

Three months removed from suffering a right lat strain, Tyler Zuber is officially back with the Miami Marlins organization on a minor league deal. He will be at spring training as a non-roster invitee. The 30-year-old right-hander had horrible surface-level stats with the Marlins and New York Mets in 2025 (11.25 ERA, 23.7 K% and .327 BAA in 12.0 IP). But perhaps Miami is intrigued by the depth of his pitch mix—he used a sweeper, four-seam fastball, slider, sinker, changeup and cutter during that small sample. If only Zuber were getting ahead in the count more frequently, his variety of pitches could make him a tough matchup. He's very likely to begin next season with Triple-A Jacksonville. On Thursday in winter ball, Jared Serna (Mexico) went 0-for-4. On Friday in winter ball—playing in Australia, which is 16 hours ahead of us on the east coast of the United States—Eric Rataczak went 2-for-5 with a clutch home run. The Sydney Blue Sox starting first baseman raised his OPS to .898. yy4v3k_1.mp4 Only 118 days away from Marlins Opening Day. 🔷 With there reportedly being a large gap between Kyle Stowers and the Marlins in recent contract extensions talks, Kevin Barral picked Eury Pérez, Jakob Marsee and Joe Mack as more realistic extension candidates. 🔷 Concluding their series of World Baseball Classic-inspired national team rosters, Son Los Marlins constructed the best possible Venezuelan team comprised of former Fish (en español). 🔷 Mike Petriello of MLB.com identified the Marlins as having some of the key ingredients to potentially emulate the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays. 🔷 A rendering of what loanDepot park will look like for the Miami Tennis Invitational on December 8 portrays the outfield walls as a much brighter shade of blue compared to this past season. We'll find out soon whether this is a legitimate change or just a hastily assembled visual with distorted lighting. 🔷 Congratulations to Mallory and Dane Myers, who are expecting their second child. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Dylan Cease and the Blue Jays agreed to a seven-year, $210 million deal. That may prove to be the largest contract signed by any pitcher this offseason. The Los Angeles Angels are negotiating to buy out the final year of Anthony Rendon's ill-fated $245 million deal, deferring a portion of the money beyond 2026. Rendon is expected to retire. View full article

On MLB Network's Hot Stove, Marlins second baseman Xavier Edwards reflects on his 2025 midseason position change and how wins above replacement accounts for his all-around value as a player. View full video

Miami Marlins players Kyle Stowers, Xavier Edwards, Otto Lopez, Jakob Marsee, Janson Junk and Eury Pérez combined to receive nearly $2 million from the MLB pre-arbitration bonus pool, per the Associated Press. Players can become eligible for bonuses based on where they finish in the voting for major awards (MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and All-MLB). However, each of the six Marlins were paid according to a proprietary wins above replacement formula. This is the second straight year that Edwards and Lopez have earned pre-arb bonuses. Marsee spent the first four months of the 2025 season in the minor leagues, yet was so valuable as an all-around player down the stretch that he made up for lost time. He winds up collecting more money from the bonus pool than he did in salary during his partial season on the Marlins roster. Ronny Henriquez and Heriberto Hernández are among the other young Marlins who fell just barely below the bonus pool cut-off. Courtesy of Spotrac, we can combine these bonuses with each player's cash earnings at the major league level to approximate their overall income for 2025: Kyle Stowers, $1,317,218 Xavier Edwards, $1,158,237 Otto Lopez, $1,067,012 Eury Pérez, $982,753 Janson Junk, $779,784 Jakob Marsee, $523,282 Ten members of the Milwaukee Brewers received bonuses, making them the only team better represented than the Marlins. The pool was divided among 101 total players. Edwards, Lopez, Pérez and Stowers will be eligible for arbitration beginning in 2027, so they'll have only one more opportunity next year to be included in the pool. Junk and Marsee won't be arb-eligible until 2028 at the earliest. View full article