Ely Sussman

The most coveted international amateur free agent since Shohei Ohtani, Sasaki is reportedly deciding between the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Toronto Blue Jays. You will likely have an opportunity to watch Japanese fire-baller Roki Sasaki pitch at loanDepot park this season, but he'll be doing so as a Marlins opponent. Several reporters, including ESPN's Jeff Passan, have identified the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and (somewhat surprisingly) Toronto Blue Jays as finalists to sign the 23-year-old right-hander. Sasaki's deadline to finalize a deal is a week from Thursday. As detailed way back in November, Sasaki is the rare major league-ready, All-Star-caliber free agent that the Marlins could have actually afforded. Due to his age, Major League Baseball classifies him as an international amateur, limiting his earnings to what teams have available in their 2025 international bonus pools. The Marlins have $7,555,500 in their pool, tied for the largest among all MLB teams during the signing period that officially opens on Wednesday. Alas, there is no indication that they had the recruiting appeal to even get a meeting with him during this process. Sasaki pitched in Miami during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, representing his native Japan (the eventual tournament champions). The Dodgers, Padres and Blue Jays each visit loanDepot park for a series in 2025 during May, July and August, respectively. The vast majority of the Marlins' bonus pool has instead been committed to a more traditional sort of international free agent: projectable teenagers from Latin America. They're expected to announce more than a dozen signings on Wednesday, including Venezuelan outfielder/infielder Andrew Salas ($3.7 million bonus), Dominican right-hander Kevin Defrank ($560,000) and Dominican infielder Anthony Abreu ($550,000). Fish On First will be bringing you detailed coverage of those additions to the organization. View full article

Sielaff is switching mediums in 2025 after previously handling the club's radio play-by-play. The Miami Marlins and FanDuel Sports Network Florida concluded their search for Paul Severino's replacement on Friday by staying in house, naming Kyle Sielaff as lead play-by-play announcer for local television broadcasts in 2025. Sielaff has spent the vast majority of his broadcasting career with the Fish. Originally from Trumansburg, NY, he is a University of Miami alum and has been involved with the Marlins Radio Network in various roles since 2013, handling regular play-by-play duties in 2023 and 2024. He has worked on a variety of video projects during his Marlins tenure, so the on-camera aspect of this shouldn't be an issue. Despite being relatively young for the TV gig at 34 years old, his familiarity with this franchise's unique history and the fanbase is a definite plus. Sielaff is the seventh lead television play-by-play announcer in Marlins history, following in the footsteps of Jay Randolph, Joe Angel, Dave O'Brien, Len Kasper, Rich Waltz and Severino. Longtime color commentator Tommy Hutton, who has worked alongside all of them during his career with the exception of Randolph, tweeted his congratulations. Hutton and Rod Allen are among the rotating group of analysts who will share the booth with Sielaff this season. As of last week, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported that Craig Minervini was one of the candidates "being given serious consideration" for the position. Minervini has been a versatile part of Marlins TV broadcasts for many years as a studio host, reporter and Severino's play-by-play backup. Baltimore Orioles announcer Geoff Arnold was also "very much in the mix." I have listened to dozens of Minervini's game broadcasts (a combination of Marlins and last year's Caribbean Series). Completely unfamiliar with Arnold prior to Jackson's report, I closely analyzed several games that he called on MASN in 2024. This is all very subjective, but if those were the realistic alternatives to Sielaff, I believe the Marlins got the decision right. Back in October, the Marlins' television partner rebranded from Bally Sports to FanDuel Sports Network, but the broadcasts will still be available in all of the same places. The network hasn't announced details about spring training coverage yet. It is safe to assume that Sielaff will be on the call for at least one Grapefruit League game so he isn't drinking out of a fire hose on Opening Day. View full article

Today's news roundup also includes another international free agent being linked to the Marlins and an updated look at renovations to the club's spring training facility. Marlins Opening Day is 73 days away. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 RHP Adriano Marrero is expected to be the first Cuban player included in the Marlins' 2025 international signing class, Francys Romero reports. The 17-year-old has generated interest with the high spin rate of his pitches. His fastball velocity currently sits in the low 90s. Marrero previously had a verbal agreement with the Astros that fell through. If a deal gets done, this would be the fourth time in the last five signing periods that the Marlins have acquired Cuban talent. A reminder that the new signing period gets underway on Wednesday! 🔷 Troy Johnston is slashing .289/.357/.500 during the Dominican Winter League Round Robin, including a .469 OBP during his current seven-game on-base streak. His Tigres del Licey team has LIDOM's best record so far in the Round Robin as they pursue a third consecutive league championship. 🔷 Xavier Edwards reflected on his seventh annual youth baseball camp with MLB.com's Christina De Nicola. This offseason, Edwards says his arm is the "best it's felt in years" after following a throwing program created by Marlins director of catching Maxx Garrett. He has changed his grip and release and practiced using it four to five days a week. In 2024, Edwards ranked 49th in arm strength velocity out of 52 MLB shortstops who made at least 100 throws, and accuracy was an issue as well. He'll have to demonstrate improvement in that department this season to solidify himself as the team's primary shortstop. 🔷 Miami's new hitting coach, Pedro Guerrero, explained on the Marlins Hot Stove Show how he wants to leverage technology to help players distinguish balls from strikes. The Marlins posted the highest (worst) chase rate in the majors last year. 🔷 Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium held its annual Fan Fest on Saturday. Ethan Eibe updated the progress of their renovations, including the patch of foul territory where the Marlins bullpen used to be (it's being moved behind the outfield wall). 🔷 The Marlins are currently accepting applications for 25 positions, including those related to analytics, ticket sales and player education. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, old friend Garrett Cooper signed a minor league deal with the Braves. In the last 18 months, Coop has cycled through six different MLB organizations (the Marlins, Padres, Cubs, Red Sox, Orioles and now Atlanta). Marlins podcast episodes View full article

New Marlins hitting coach Pedro Guerrero explains to the Marlins Hot Stove Show how he plans to leverage technology to get the most out of his players. View full video

After taking three players to arbitration hearings in 2024, negotiations went much smoother for the Marlins this time around. The Miami Marlins entered Thursday with one of their smallest and cheapest classes of arbitration-eligible players in recent memory. Numerous trades made over the past year left them with only five players under club control who have enough MLB service time to qualify and weren't already under contract: Anthony Bender, Edward Cabrera, Nick Fortes, Braxton Garrett and Jesús Sánchez. The Marlins announced that all five of them have reached settlements on their 2025 salaries, totaling $11.26 million, according to the Associated Press. This is the first time since 2021 that Miami has successfully avoided arbitration hearings. Anthony Bender Second year of arbitration eligibility (three years and 153 days of MLB service time) Made $770,000 in 2024 Settled at $1.42 million for 2025 (had been projected for $1.4 million, per MLB Trade Rumors) Under club control through 2027 Edward Cabrera First year of arbitration eligibility (2.147) Made $761,000 in 2024 Settled at $1.95 million for 2025 (projected for $2.2 million) Under club control through 2028 Nick Fortes First year of arbitration eligibility (2.149) Made $759,000 in 2024 Settled at $1.86 million for 2025 (projected for $1.6 million) Under club control through 2028 Braxton Garrett First year of arbitration eligibility (2.168) Made $764,000 in 2024 Settled at $1.53 million for 2025 (projected for $1.8 million) Under club control through 2028 Jesús Sánchez Second year of arbitration eligibility (3.118) Made $2.1 million in 2024 Settled at $4.5 million for 2025 (projected for $3.2 million) Under club control through 2027 Old friends View full article

The way this offseason has played out suggests to me that they aren't sweating about the threat of a greivance. Maybe they feel confident in justifying the dollars they've spent off the field. More likely, they're betting that a potential greivance will simply be dropped during the next round of CBA negotiations, which are less than two years away.

I would call it probable rather than a guarantee. Max was lousy in every aspect during the second half of the season. He has to arrive at camp showing some sort of improvement, whether it's his command, fastball velo or changeup consistency (hopefully all of those things), otherwise the results aren't going to be much better. I have faith in him, but he'll still have to earn it.

I had completely forgotten about Stripling. Very weird 2024 for him, allowing a ton of hits but hardly any homers. He has never come close to completing a full season as a starter. At least he'd be cheap!

Baseball America just released their position-by-position rankings of top MLB prospects. Rising star Thomas White was one of three Miami Marlins prospects who made the cut. Top 10 catchers: none Top 10 first baseman: none Top 10 second baseman: none Top 10 third baseman: none Top 25 shortstops: Starlyn Caba (#17) Top 10 center fielders: none Top 10 corner outfielders: none Top 35 right-handed pitchers: none Top 15 left-handed pitchers: Thomas White (#2) and Robby Snelling (#12) White was already BA's second-ranked lefty at the end of the 2024 season and No. 36 on their overall MLB prospects list. He figures to land in a similar spot on their inaugural 2025 Top 100 list. Caba was previously the 15th-ranked shortstop and No. 54 overall prospect, so that's another Top 100 lock. The recent trade acquisition still receives a top-of-the-scale 80 grade from BA for his defense. I'm more surprised by the unranked status of Noble Meyer. The former first-round draft pick was BA's 14th-ranked right-hander in September and No. 66 on their Top 100. This exclusion makes it clear that he's been bumped off their Top 100 entirely coming off a season where he showed nasty stuff, but very poor control.

That's fair. Sort of putting him in the same category of Xzavion Curry. The unfortunate reality for Bellozo is he will constantly have to prove himself in this era where the sport is obsessed with velocity. When a right-hander with a "normal" delivery rarely cracks 90 mph, projections won't trust him to keep it up.

This is exactly the way things are trending based on the votes that have been revealed so far (https://tracker.fyi/). Ichiro, Sabathia and Wagner comfortably above 75%. Beltran is currently right around 75%, but the "private" voters always pick fewer players than the public ones, so he will dip below the threshold when all the ballots are accounted for.

Today's news roundup also includes an enlightening breakdown of a mostly anonymous Marlins reliever. Leading off, apologies to anybody who attempted to visit the site from Saturday night through early Sunday afternoon while Fish On First dealt with some technical issues. Those have since been fully resolved. Marlins Opening Day is 80 days away. Let's get to the 2025 debut of Offishial News... 🔷 The lone player in the Marlins organization who's still competing in winter ball is Troy Johnston. After his regular season team, Toros del Este, was eliminated, the two-time defending Dominican Winter League champion Tigres del Licey drafted him. Through four playoff games, Johnston is slashing .200/.200/.467, including a home run in Sunday's victory. 🔷 Licey's captain and leadoff hitter is old friend Emilio Bonifácio. Remember him? One of only two former Florida Marlins who continues to play professionally, I wrote about how Bonifácio has aged extremely gracefully. 🔷 The announcement of the 2025 Marlins coaching staff is not imminent, but other than third base coach, all of the essential uniformed positions have seemingly been filled. Under the direction of manager Clayton McCullough, the club has hired bench coach Carson Vitale, pitching coach Daniel Moskos, assistant pitching coach Alon Leichman, hitting coach Pedro Guerrero, assistant hitting coach Derek Shomon, first base coach Tyler Smarslok, bullpen coach Brandon Mann (reassigned after serving as pitching strategist in 2024), catching coach Joe Singley and field coordinator Aaron Leanhardt. Just wanted to list all of the names neatly like that in case you've had trouble following sporadic reports on the situation. 🔷 Our staff collaborated on a hypothetical 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. As Louis Addeo-Weiss details, we selected nine candidates: Bobby Abreu, Carlos Beltrán, Andruw Jones, Manny Ramírez, Álex Rodríguez, CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, Chase Utley and Billy Wagner. According to the Baseball Hall of Fame Vote Tracker, Suzuki, Sabathia, Wagner and Beltrán have received at least 75% of the vote on the BBWAA ballots that have been revealed so far. 🔷 Alex Carver asked Marlins fans what changes and improvements they'd like to see from the franchise this year. 🔷 Congratulations to @Sean Millerick on winning the Fish On First SuperSubs fantasy football league! Although my team was atrocious in that league, I was the champ of our FOF staff league this season (shoutout to Joe Burrow, Drake London, Jonathan Taylor and Terry McLaurin, among others). 🔷 MLB.com's Christina De Nicola mentions Chris Flexen and Spencer Turnbull as under-the-radar free agent fits for the Marlins. I fully agree on Turnbull, who was featured in my offseason blueprint. 🔷 Isaac Groffman did a deep dive on Lake Bachar's unique pitch characteristics, theorizing that Bachar could benefit from locating his fastball up in the strike zone and using his slider to get chases outside the zone. In related news, congrats to Bachar and his wife, Stephanie, who announced that they're expecting their second child this summer. 🔷 Our DiamondCentric network of sites now includes Toronto Blue Jays coverage. Check out Jays Centre for FOF-style coverage of the team north of the border. View full article

Bonifácio is one of the few players from the franchise's "Florida" era who remains active. It doesn't seem as though he's ready to retire anytime soon. The Dominican Winter League (LIDOM) is largely populated by Quad-A players, especially during the annual Round Robin postseason tournament which began last week. Then there's the curious case of Emilio Bonifácio, who at this rate could become the league's first AARP member. A few months shy of turning 40, Bonifácio is still the everyday leadoff hitter for Tigres del Licey as they pursue a third consecutive national championship. You probably assumed that Bonifácio had long since retired as a player. Understandably so! His legendary Opening Day performance (4-for-5 with an inside-the-park home run and three stolen bases) was way back in 2009. He last played for the Marlins in 2012. He has not homered in the majors since 2014, and outside of a three-game cup of coffee with the Washington Nationals, he hasn't gotten MLB reps since 2017. Bonifácio no longer has ambitions to return to the U.S.—that COVID season call-up with the Nats was the last time he played professionally (at any level) during the summer months. However, the Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native continues to thrive in his 16th season with Licey. During his 2024 LIDOM regular season, Bonifácio slashed .291/.369/.386, far above the league's .245/.324/.352 average despite being a full decade older than his competition. The extraordinary part is, he's not just a role player: he is a staple of Licey's lineup. Bonifácio easily led the league with 55 hits and tied for third with 13 stolen bases. He also started 42 of the club's 49 games in center field. For context, the last player his age to make even a single CF appearance in the major leagues was future Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki. Licey posted a 27-22 record and qualified for the LIDOM Round Robin. Beginning last Thursday, they're playing 18 games in a 20-day span against Estrellas Orientales, Águilas Cibaeñas and Leones del Escogido in their quest to three-peat as champions. They have gone 3-1 so far and Bonifácio played a crucial role in their most recent victory on Sunday (3-5, R, SB). How many 39-year-olds do you know who still run like this?! UUFCUTVfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X1VsZFhWQUlFVUFFQUR3WUdWUUFBQWdCZUFBTldBbGNBQUFNQ1V3c05WQVZUVkFSVA==.mp4 The Florida Marlin is an endangered species. Aside from Bonifácio, Giancarlo Stanton is the only other vestige of the pre-2012 Marlins to play a professional game within the past year. Although Stanton is 4.5 years younger and has millions of more reasons (dollars) incentivizing him to continue his career, I wouldn't be shocked if Bonifácio outlasts him. View full article

Simply being included on the initial active roster is a significant milestone for the vast majority of 2025 Marlins. Throughout spring training, we anticipated that the Miami Marlins would enter 2025 with one of Major League Baseball's least-experienced rosters. A handful of untimely injuries have forced them to be even more reliant on neophytes. Making the Opening Day roster is a new sensation for 17 of the club's 26 active players: Lake Bachar, Valente Bellozo, Griffin Conine, Xavier Edwards, Connor Gillispie, Ronny Henriquez, Liam Hicks, Derek Hill, Otto Lopez, Matt Mervis, Dane Myers, Tyler Phillips, Javier Sanoja, Kyle Stowers, Jesús Tinoco, Anthony Veneziano and Eric Wagaman. Jonah Bride, Calvin Faucher, Max Meyer, Graham Pauley and George Soriano are going through this for the second time in their careers. Anthony Bender and Nick Fortes are each three-time Opening Day selections. Far and away the most experienced Marlins players are Sandy Alcantara and Cal Quantrill, who are taking part in their sixth Opening Day as big leaguers. Barring setbacks, "veterans" Edward Cabrera and Jesús Sánchez are expected to return from the injured list before the end of April, but considering the strength of the Marlins' early-season opponents, they might already be facing a sizable deficit in the standings by then. View full article

As we flip the calendar to 2025, there are only a few remnants left behind from Kim Ng's tenure. Just because there is a method to the madness doesn't mean you have to embrace every aspect of it. In 2023, the Miami Marlins had one of their most successful seasons in franchise history, yet as we close out 2024, the majority of players who made that postseason berth possible are gone. Generally speaking, new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix has gotten fair value in return for those who've been traded. It's still been an uncomfortable process with the Marlins seemingly eager to ship off so many players who accomplished something notable together, especially when it leaves the club with little chance of having the same kind of success in the near-term future. Only eight of the 26 Marlins included on the National League Wild Card Series roster remain in Miami: Edward Cabrera, Xavier Edwards, Nick Fortes, Braxton Garrett, Andrew Nardi, Jesús Sánchez, George Soriano and Ryan Weathers. The Washington Nationals' recent signing of Josh Bell means that every NL East team has a member of that postseason roster under contract entering 2025. Depending on how the rest of free agency plays out, former Fish could be scattered across half of all MLB organizations. Here is another way of looking at. Only the highlighted names below were part of the Marlins organization when Kim Ng departed as general manager. That means 22 members (55%) of the current 40-man roster have been acquired since then. Fast-forward another year, it's reasonable to assume that several more 2023 Marlins will have new homes. Bendix sees relievers as fungible, so those who perform well in 2025 should garner trade interest. The biggest question is what happens with Sandy Alcantara. Unavailable to contribute during the recent playoff run due to injury, he has completed his Tommy John surgery rehab...just in time for his salary to spike (he'll make $17.3 million each of the next two seasons, followed by a $21 million club option for 2027). Unless the Marlins intend to extend their ace again so that his contract aligns with their realistic competitive window, the end of his tenure could be nearing. View full article

I was eager to see him in the fall league coming off that hot finish to the season, but he got hurt early on. A good performance out there would have earned him an invite for sure. Considering his age and assuming he's fully healthy again, you're right that he could still get invited anyway.

All I can think of his swing decisions. Bruján was almost on par with Edwards last season with his balance of attacking pitches in the zone and avoiding chasing. I still don't see him making good enough contact for that to matter.

Today's news roundup also includes details about new free agent pick-up Freddy Tarnok and a summary of the past year's Marlins trade activity. The Marlins made a small but seemingly very popular move on Sunday, acquiring Matt Mervis and cash considerations from the Cubs for Vidal Bruján, who had been designated for assignment earlier this month. Both players are entering their age-27 season and have had awful MLB production thus far, though at least Mervis has a minor league option left so he doesn't need to be forced onto Miami's Opening Day roster unless he merits a spot. Mervis is an extreme pull hitter who makes a lot of loud contact. The main concern is how much he whiffed in 2024, particularly late in the season (40.2 K% in August/September). Perhaps the Marlins feel his midseason hamate injury contributed to that lousy finish. Mervis' playing time figures to come at first base and designated hitter against right-handed pitching. Look out for an updated Fish On First roster projection later this week. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 RHP Freddy Tarnok has signed a minor league deal with the Fish and received an invite to big league camp, per Just Baseball's Aram Leighton. He will "get a shot to start" despite mainly being used as a reliever in Triple-A last season (never surpassed 2.1 IP in any appearance). Tarnok's workload has been severely limited since 2023 due to shoulder, calf and hip injuries. His fastball sits around 95 mph and his arsenal includes a slider, curveball and changeup. He briefly pitched in the majors for the Braves and Athletics from 2022-2023 (4.70 ERA, 6.84 FIP and .211 BAA in 15.1 IP). 🔷 Including the Mervis/Bruján swap, the Marlins made 15 substantial trades in 2024. Did they get enough value in return? I summarized all of their activity here. 🔷 While training at Tread Athletics, Declan Cronin demonstrated how he grips his four-seam fastball and his keys for throwing it effectively. 77m9l2.mp4 🔷 Danny Martinez writes about the Marlins' struggle to elicit local fan support and why the fans themselves are not to blame. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Corbin Burnes (6-YR/$210M) signed with the Diamondbacks, reportedly settling for less guaranteed money than the Blue Jays and Giants offered him. Josh Bell (1-YR/$6M) signed with the Nationals. Bell was previously in Washington from 2021-2022, posting a higher wRC+ (130) and lower strikeout rate (16.1%) there than he has during his tenures with any other teams. Bell was an everyday first baseman back then, but the 32-year-old slots in as their primary DH this time around. Marlins podcast episodes View full article