Ely Sussman

The question is whether they are leaving Johnston unprotected in the minor league phase. If that was the case last year, a team definitely would have snatched him. I agree that they've made it clear they don't value him, so for everybody's sake, hopefully they handle it that way. Avoids the awkwardness of outright releasing him.

Today's news roundup also highlights players on the 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot who have Marlins connections. On Tuesday, the Marlins selected prospects 1B Deyvison De Los Santos, INF Jared Serna and LHP Dax Fulton to their 40-man roster, protecting them from potentially getting picked in next month's MLB Rule 5 Draft. No corresponding moves were necessary as the club had three vacancies on the 40-man. The Marlins will have the third overall pick in the Rule 5. MLB Pipeline lists the top-rated prospects from each organization who were left unprotected. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 The most detailed article yet from Fish On First intern Sean McCormack identifies which types of players fit best at loanDepot park. 🔷 Fish Unfiltered is back! Kevin Barral, Isaac Azout and I react to Clayton McCullough's introductory press conference, the latest roster moves and Marlins minor league free agent signings. 🔷 Also embedded below, I made a guest appearance on the Bullpen Mafia Podcast. Our wide-ranging conversation covered everything from Agustín Ramírez to Harold Ramírez. 🔷 There are 28 names on the 2025 BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot. Former Marlins Ichiro Suzuki, Hanley Ramírez, Curtis Granderson and Fernando Rodney are each entering their first year of eligibility, while Mark Buehrle is entering his fifth year. Ichiro will clear the 75% threshold for election without a sweat—the only question is whether or not he gets in unanimously. 🔷 Confirming reporting from Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred tells The Athletic's Evan Drellich that the Marlins' renegotiated deal with FanDuel Sports Network Florida includes "effectively the same" revenue as their original local television deal did. It is not a long-term commitment, however. All of the MLB teams still affiliated with Diamond Sports Group have deals that expire "no later than 2028" as the league plans for the possibility of creating a national package for streaming companies to bid on. 🔷 The Marlins announced that their annual Home Plate Meals Thanksgiving Distribution will be held on November 22. Peter Bendix, Clayton McCullough, Nick Fortes, Anthony Bender and Jeff Conine are scheduled to be there. 🔷 Congratulations to Declan Cronin and Paige Monaghan on their engagement! 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Rays traded José Siri to the Mets for right-handed reliever Eric Orze. Reds RHP Nick Martinez was the only free agent to accept the $21.05M qualifying offer. The other 12 players who declined the offer are now tied to draft-pick compensation if they sign with a new team. Stephen Vogt won AL Manager of the Year and Pat Murphy won NL Manager of the Year. Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Two of the top talents that the Marlins acquired at the 2024 trade deadline are being protected from the upcoming MLB Rule 5 Draft, as is a pitching prospect who's coming back from Tommy John surgery. The Miami Marlins have added 1B Deyvison De Los Santos, INF Jared Serna and LHP Dax Fulton to their 40-man roster. Ranked third, sixth and 15th, respectively, on the Fish On First Top 30 prospects list, each of them would have been eligible for the MLB Rule 5 Draft in December had they not been protected prior to Tuesday's deadline. As explained by Fish On First's Kevin Barral last week, selecting De Los Santos (acquired from AZ for A.J. Puk) and Serna (acquired from NYY for Jazz Chisholm Jr.) were fairly obvious decisions. They both have exciting offensive potential and De Los Santos in particular is close to being major league-ready. It would be foolish for a rebuilding team to risk potentially losing them in the Rule 5. Fulton was squarely on the bubble. The tall left-hander received a $2.4M signing bonus coming out of the 2020 MLB Draft. He has 12 games of Double-A experience (3.75 ERA and 82 K in 60.0 IP) and earned a non-roster invite to big league spring training in 2023, but he hasn't pitched in an official game since May 11, 2023 while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery (the second Tommy John of his career). He turned 23 years old last month. Would another team have actually picked Fulton in the major league phase of the Rule 5 and stashed him on their active roster for the entire 2025 season? I guess we'll never know. Entering Tuesday, Miami's 40-man roster was at 37, so no corresponding moves are needed to make room for De Los Santos, Serna and Fulton. Notable Rule 5-eligible prospects who were not selected by the Marlins include 1B Troy Johnston (2023 Marlins Minor League Player of the Year), RHP Zach McCambley (third-round draft pick in 2020), INF Cody Morissette (second-round draft pick in 2021) and INF Jordan McCants (third-round draft pick in 2021). View full article

Xavier Edwards comes pretty close! Not so much in the fielding department, but everything else you mentioned. He's a true second baseman despite being used at shortstop right now. Don't think it's realistic to project Simon that way. Edwards has the best chance among current infielders in the organization who are major league ready.

The Miami Marlins are in agreement with utility player Ronny Simon on a minor league deal that includes an invite to spring training, according to Aram Leighton of Just Baseball. Simon is the first known free agent that they've added this offseason. The 24-year-old Simon has no MLB experience, but he spent the full 2024 season with Tampa Bay's Triple-A Durham affiliate, slashing .283/.356/.429 (106 wRC+) with 10 home runs and 20 stolen bases in 130 games. Second base has been his primary position throughout most of his professional career, but he also made 40 starts in left field this season. He has plenty of familiarity with third base and shortstop as well. A 5'8" switch-hitter, Simon has historically put up similar numbers from both sides of the plate. His best skill is making contact on pitches outside the strike zone. He has still struck out in about 20% of his career MiLB plate appearances (better than average, but not by much). A native of La Romana, Dominican Republic, Simon is playing winter ball in the DR for the fourth straight year. He won the league's MVP award during the 2023-24 season. The Rays had Simon in spring training as a non-roster invitee each of the last two years. This news breaks exactly one year to the day of Peter Bendix's first free agent signing as Marlins president of baseball operations. On November 16, 2023, Bendix inked infielder Tristan Gray, another ex-Ray. Gray played seven games for the Fish in 2024, but he's no longer with the organization. View full rumor

It would seem there's been a change in philosophy among the teams. Used to be that they took pride in showcasing their best talent in the AFL. Now, in a lot of cases, they feel prospects can see more improvement in the offseason by staying home and following team-prescribed training regimens.

Also, I was curious what he'd look like as a reliever. If nothing else, he has a very good breaking ball that hitters can't do much against when he's locating it well. Given the timing of the roster move so early in the offseason, I wonder if Oller actually requested his release in order to pitch in Korea. There are limited spots for foreigners on KBO teams that dry up within a few weeks of the season ending. He might've valued this opportunity over the uncertainty of coming to a major league camp without a guaranteed role.

With a smaller capacity, demand for the available seats will go up and they can raise prices along with it! I'm just trying to find a bright spot in a rough situation. Yes, they will make less money than they originally planned.

A couple weeks after tabbing Joe Migliaccio as their new director of hitting, the Miami Marlins have added Bill Hezel to be his pitching counterpart, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports. Hezel (rhymes with "diesel") spent the previous two seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. In 2023, he served as their assistant pitching coach. This past year, he moved to the front office and took on the title of pitching integration strategist. The 38-year-old Hezel had a very brief collegiate pitching career. "I was basically the same player I was in high school in college," he said on the Driveline R&D Podcast episode embedded below. "For someone who wanted to work hard, I always felt lost and felt like I was never close to reaching my actual true talent level, and that's the thing that pushed me to get into coaching." As recently as 2018, he worked as a retirement plan analyst and salesman while trying to advance his baseball career as a volunteer pitching coach at Northhampton Community College. He moved next to DeSales University, which is where he caught the attention of Driveline Baseball. He was Driveline's director of pitching when the Angels poached him.

Here are stats and scouting takeaways for the nine players that Miami sent to the desert. The Arizona Fall League is mercifully over for the Peoria Javelinas and the Miami Marlins prospects who were on their roster. In 2024 more so than any previous year, lots of AFL games were free to stream, but be careful what you wish for. The Javelinas were a tough watch. By winning percentage, they were one of the worst teams in AFL history. Complete stats are available here. The AFL is commonly referred to as the "finishing school" for top prospects, but the quality of talent sent by each MLB organization varies. The Marlins, for example, mainly used the fall league to give extra reps to players who spent portions of the regular season on the injured list, even though most of those players are doubtful to have major league roles in the future. The players are ordered below based on how I'd rank them as overall prospects moving forward. OF Andrew Pintar (.271/.376/.374, 3 HR, 9 SB in 126 PA) ⭐ aFRXZ4GQGEdqBTKV.mp4 Pintar's 2024 minor league experience was a tale of two seasons. He posted terrific numbers with High-A Hillsboro, but horrible ones at the Double-A level (both before and after being traded to the Marlins). His fall league production was smack dab in the middle. Pintar validated himself as a disciplined hitter, plus runner and passable center fielder (making all of his defensive appearances there). That was enough to earn a Fall Stars Game selection. He told Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline that it's been a "fun transition" to CF, but he still has room to improve when it comes to getting reads on hard line drives. The quality of Pintar's batted balls leaves something to be desired. He can spray line drives to all fields, but not with the oomph to record many extra-base hits. His contact ability is merely okay. He's trending toward being a prototypical No. 8 or No. 9 hitter in the majors. OF Kemp Alderman (.306/.375/.833, 6 HR, 1 SB in 40 PA) ⭐ eUxYckRfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X0RnVlVCUUlIQkFZQUNBUUJCUUFBQ0FKWEFGa0NVVkVBVmxZSFVRRU5BUUlFQlZZRA==.mp4 During his brief AFL stint, Alderman was outstanding. He homered five times in his first four games, and these weren't wall-scrapers. He had a 443-footer that registered an exit velocity of 119.5 mph, easily tops among all batted balls in the fall league. It would have tied for 10th among all exit velos from this past MLB season. Continuing a regular season trend, he frequently used the opposite field, recognizing that he's powerful enough to slug without having to pull the ball. Alderman possesses an above-average arm by left field standards, though that doesn't fully compensate for his limited range. Alderman was excused from AFL competition a few days in advance of his October 26 wedding and did not return after that. He garnered a Fall Stars selection from afar. He raised his prospect stock, but could have potentially done so to a greater degree with more reps. RHP Jun-Seok Shim (6 G/0 GS, 19.80 ERA, 3.60 WHIP, 5 K in 5.0 IP) There is no sugarcoating it: Shim's AFL performance was worrisome. At the very least, the expectation was that we would see the plus velocity that made him a notable international free agent signing two years ago, but his fastball only sat in the 91-93 mph range while working in one-inning spurts. That is well below average by righty reliever standards. Moreover, Shim showed hardly any ability to locate. Only 43.5% of his total pitches were strikes as he frequently missed his spots low and to the arm side. In ranking Shim 26th on the end-of-season Fish On First Top 30 list, our staff was generously assuming that he was "back to normal" after two injury-filled summers. Even in a tiny sample of facing older competition, this glimpse was discouraging enough that he'll be dropped from the Top 30 at our next update. LHP Justin Storm (8 G/0 GS, 10.80 ERA, 1.90 WHIP, 9 K in 10.0 IP) Storm is a relief-only prospect. The 6'7" lefty has allowed just one home run in his minor league career. However, four different AFL opponents took him deep. Storm's slider is a promising putaway pitch if he can throw enough strikes with his fastball to properly set it up. LHP Patrick Monteverde (6 G/6 GS, 12.69 ERA, 2.39 WHIP, 12 K in 16.1 IP) Monteverde has slumped ever since his 2023 Futures Game selection. The fall league was supposed to be a prime opportunity for the 27-year-old to build some sort of momentum by bullying opponents half a decade younger than him. Unfortunately, it was more of the same. Monteverde allowed a .397 batting average against, struggling particularly against righties (.467/.529/.756 slash line). The soft-tosser's command just is not as precise as it needs to be for him to avoid barrels. Of all the AFL participants, Monteverde has the best odds of being called up to Miami next season. However, it's difficult to imagine him sticking there. LHP Justin King (4 G/0 GS, 8.10 ERA, 2.10 WHIP, 3 K in 6.2 IP) Released by the Milwaukee Brewers earlier this year, King excelled out of the Double-A Pensacola bullpen. He threw up zeroes in 14 of 17 relief outings and struck out 46.4% of batters faced during that span. Maybe the Marlins found a diamond in the rough? King's AFL campaign was inconclusive because it was cut short by an injury (made his final appearance on Oct. 23). He is expected to be fully recovered in time for spring training. RHP Brandon White (6 G/4 GS, 6.75 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, 15 K in 18.2 IP) It's not saying much, but White was the top-performing pitcher in the Marlins' AFL delegation. He went three-plus innings in five of his six outings, the only exception being a game where the defense behind him was completely incompetent. Drafted back in 2021, White totaled just 28 ⅔ innings pitched in his first three professional seasons. He finished at an even 100 innings this year when combining MiLB and AFL work. He'll presumably move up to High-A Beloit in 2025. INF Jay Beshears (.115/.254/.192, 1 HR, 1 SB in 64 PA) As you probably surmised by now, AFL conditions are very friendly to hitters. Well...most hitters. Beshears, not so much. Almost all of Beshears' offensive production occurred in a single game (Oct. 23 vs. Scottsdale). He was practically an automatic out otherwise. That has been the case since late June when he was still with the San Diego Padres organization. It's been a rough patch for him as a fielder, too. Used mainly on the left side of the infield, Beshears' arm is below average and his actions lack fluidity. UTIL Dalvy Rosario (.133/.235/.300, 1 HR, 3 SB in 34 PA) gqw75q.mp4 Rosario joined the Javelinas midway through the season, seemingly in reaction to Alderman's absence and/or King's injury. Frankly, it was a baffling pick considering that the 24-year-old is a pending minor league free agent who posted a 46 wRC+ in 74 regular season games. Was there really nobody else in the system available on short notice who could have benefited from the experience? Rosario played left field, right field and second base during the AFL. He struck out in 41.2% of his plate appearances. View full article

Today's news roundup also includes a wrap-up of the 2024 Arizona Fall League. On Thursday out in the desert, the Peoria Javelinas played their Arizona Fall League season finale. OF Andrew Pintar went 1-for-4 with a walk and stolen base. INF Jay Beshears went 0-for-4 with 3 strikeouts. Solid results for RHP Jun-Seok Shim (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HBP, 22 pitches/11 strikes), but his diminished velocity and lack of control remain worrisome. Check out my analysis of every Marlins prospect who played in the AFL. In winter ball competition, 1B Deyvison De Los Santos went 0-for-4 and 1B Troy Johnston went 1-for-4 with 2 RBI. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 Pintar just became a full-time outfielder this year. He explains to MLB Pipeline what was going through his mind when making several types of difficult defensive plays. h8nmtu.mp4 🔷 Kevin Barral looks ahead to Tuesday's Rule 5 Draft protection deadline. 🔷 Diamond Sports Group finally received approval on Thursday to emerge from bankruptcy. The Marlins are retaining FanDuel Sports Network Florida (previously Bally Sports Florida) as their local TV partner through at least 2026. This news comes the day after FDSN Florida announced a multi-year agreement with Prime Video, offering an alternative for cord-cutters in South Florida to watch live games and pregame/postgame programming. 🔷 After a solid finish to the 2024 season in the Marlins starting rotation, Adam Oller has inked a deal with the KBO's KIA Tigers, the reigning Korean Series champions. Best of luck to him! 🔷 The Pensacola Blue Wahoos announced a series of promotions and additions to their front office staff. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Rays will be playing their home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field in 2025 while Tropicana Field undergoes repairs. It's the spring training home of the Yankees and also hosts New York's Low-A Tampa affiliate. Ironically, this means they're finally moving to Tampa Bay after spending their whole existence across the bridge in St. Petersburg. The Marlins are scheduled to visit from June 6-8. The Guardians promoted bench coach Craig Albernaz to associate manager. Albernaz was initially believed to be the frontrunner in the Marlins managerial search, but evidently was convinced to stay in Cleveland for another year. The Giants hired Randy Winn as their new vice president of player development. The Angels signed INF Kevin Newman to a one-year deal with a 2026 club option. The 2024 All-MLB selections were announced. View full article

With Tropicana Field severely damaged by Hurricane Milton and unable to host the Tampa Bay Rays during the 2025 season, the Rays announced on Thursday that their home games will be played at George M. Steinbrenner Field: Steinbrenner Field was selected as the Rays temporary regular-season home because it is the best-prepared facility in the Tampa Bay region to host regular-season Major League Baseball games. Steinbrenner Field was already undergoing renovations to improve its clubhouse and playing facilities. Recent projects include upgraded field lighting, expanded home locker room space, and improved training and rehabilitation capabilities. It is also the largest spring-training stadium in the region with a capacity of approximately 11,000 patrons. Additional improvements are expected to be made before the regular season to ensure fans continue to have a wonderful experience at Rays games. Steinbrenner Field is about a 30-minute drive away from Tropicana. It's an outdoor facility, so for the first time in Rays history, they'll inevitably have to deal with rain delays. The Marlins are scheduled to make their annual visit from June 6-8. Maybe the change of scenery will help them snap out of their Citrus Series slump—they have lost to the Rays in head-to-head competition each of the last six seasons, including a 1-3 record in 2024.

Today's news roundup also includes details about the first known member of McCullough's coaching staff. On Monday out in the desert, OF Andrew Pintar went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and UTIL Dalvy Rosario went 0-for-3. The Peoria Javelinas lost, 7-1. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 Clayton McCullough was officially named the new Marlins manager. Here is the full press release about it with quotes from Bruce Sherman, Peter Bendix and McCullough, who wants to install "a culture that is built on determination, focus, and care.” His introductory press conference is likely to be sometime next week. 🔷 Not official yet, but per multiple reports including one from Andrew Baggarly and Katie Woo of The Athletic, Miami's new hitting coach will be Pedro Guerrero. When Gabe Kapler managed the Phillies and Giants, Guerrero was on both of those coaching staffs, and now they're reuniting in Miami. The former infielder turns 36 next month. In 2024, John Mabry, Bill Mueller and Jason Hart combined to coach the Marlins' major league hitters. The team struggled in terms of both plate discipline and power, though there was significant improvement during the second half of the season. 🔷 Fish On First ran a Twitter poll asking how long McCullough would last as manager. The vast majority took under 4.5 seasons. 🔷 In wrapping up the Choque de Gigantes tournament, Marlins president of baseball operations Caroline O'Connor said that FanFest will be held on February 8, which is the Saturday before pitchers and catchers report to spring training. It's a return to normalcy after last year's edition was awkwardly held on the final Friday of January. 🔷 One more plug for our new Bluesky account! As far as I know, FOF is the only outlet on the nascent social media network that is providing daily Marlins content. 🔷 As currently constructed, the Marlins roster is projected for the fourth-fewest fWAR in the majors, writes MLB.com's Mike Petriello. They're ahead of the Nationals, White Sox and Rockies. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, finalists were announced for each of the major BBWAA awards. The award winners have already been selected, but they're keeping it under wraps until next week and teasing us with the candidates who finished top three in the voting. Of note, Paul Skenes is the first rookie to be a Cy Young finalist since José Fernández in 2013. Marlins podcast episodes View full article

MIAMI – The Miami Marlins today announced the hiring of Clayton McCullough as Major League Manager. McCullough, 44, becomes the 17th Manager in Marlins history. He recently concluded his 10th season with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization (2015-24), including his fourth campaign as First Base Coach, where he was a member of the coaching staff that won the 2024 World Series title. "We are thrilled to introduce Clayton McCullough as Manager of the Miami Marlins following an extensive search," said Bruce Sherman, Miami Marlins Chairman and Principal Owner. "Clayton joins our organization following a World Series Championship season and brings a strong pedigree of winning. His love of the game, ability to build meaningful relationships, and new leadership will guide our organization into an exciting new era. With roots already in South Florida, we are excited to welcome Clayton along with his wife Jill and their children to the Marlins organization.” “We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Clayton and his family to the Marlins,” said Peter Bendix, Miami Marlins President of Baseball Operations. “Throughout our process, his character, care for people and culture, passion for player development, and desire to win stood out and make him a perfect fit for our organization. He has an impressive track record of success, building relationships, and bringing positive energy every day. It’s clear that Clayton’s values and vision align perfectly with ours, and we are ready to begin working on the next exciting chapter for our club.” “It is an honor to be introduced as the Manager for the Miami Marlins, and I would like to thank Bruce, Peter, and the entire organization,” said McCullough. “Following an incredible past few weeks, it is exciting to end the year by finding the right opportunity for me and my family. We have called South Florida home for the last 10 years, and now I get to lead the Marlins franchise forward with a culture that is built on determination, focus, and care.” Originally hired as Minor League Field Coordinator by the Dodgers before the 2015 season, McCullough held that position until his promotion to First Base Coach ahead of the 2021 campaign. He also played a key role during the 2020 pandemic-shortened season as he oversaw the Dodgers’ operation at their alternative site at the University of Southern California. Before joining the Dodgers, McCullough spent nine seasons in various coaching roles in the Toronto Blue Jays organization (2006-14), including five Postseason appearances, two Manager of the Year awards, and a 402-367 (.523) record in seven campaigns as a Minor League Manager. During his tenure as manager in the Blue Jays system, McCullough led his club to a winning record in six of the seven seasons. The Jupiter, Fla. resident began his coaching career with the Rookie-level Pulaski Blue Jays (2006) and earned his first managerial assignment the following season with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Blue Jays (2007). He then managed Single-A Lansing (2008-09) to a Postseason berth in his first season, guided High-A Dunedin (2010-11) to consecutive playoff berths, and won consecutive championships with Short Season-A Vancouver (2012-13). He was named the Florida State League Manager of the Year in 2011 and the Northwest League Manager of the Year in 2012. Originally selected by Cleveland in the 22nd round of the 2002 First-Year Player Draft out of East Carolina University, the Oxford, N.C. native appeared in 104 games over four seasons in the Cleveland organization. McCullough’s father, Howard, has held various roles in Major League scouting departments with the Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners, and Kansas City Royals. The Miami Marlins begin the 2025 regular season on Thursday, March 27 vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates at 4:10 p.m. at loanDepot park. For more information on the Miami Marlins, please visit Marlins.com and MarlinsBeisbol.com.

Convenient for spring training! I find it hard to believe that he'll live there during the regular season. Need to be efficient with your time to succeed in this job. Not doable if you're driving 3 hours roundtrip for each home game .