Ely Sussman

That angle of it hasn't been brought up frequently as this season has played out, but it's unquestionably a factor. He should be seeking a raise that moves him into the same neighborhood as Alex Cora ($7.25M per year). The Marlins can get a first-time manager to replace him for a fraction of the price.

The Offishial Show—Episode 219 If you're still a Miami Marlins fan, you simply need to listen to this. Bradley Woodrum, the team's former coordinator of baseball information services, joins Ely Sussman to reflect on the perks and challenges of working in baseball. Topics covered during our conversation: Getting hired to work in baseball Salary and compensation Peter Bendix's vision Gabe Kapler's front office future Overcoming payroll limitations The increased role of David Ott Young players for Marlins to build around Find The Offishial Show on the Fish On First YouTube channel, our new-look Apple Podcasts channel and wherever else you get your pods. FOF's audio programming also includes Fish Unfiltered, Swimming Upstream, Big Fish Small Pod and more. More than 70 baseball operations employees have been fired by the Marlins in recent weeks. That includes Woodrum, whose tenure began in January 2018. Having had the experience of working under previous baseball operations leaders Michael Hill and Kim Ng, Woodrum describes the main difference in Peter Bendix's approach: "With Hill and honestly with Kim, there was a mindset—especially as it pertained to my department—that analytics was one of the tools we're gonna take into battle with us. It was one of the pieces of the puzzle. I think the big paradigm shift...was there was a desire to develop analytics not as a tool, but as the glue that held everything together. "I'm sympathetic to that mindset. I think that's why I really have high hopes for where the Marlins are still going even though they're unfortunately gonna be going without me. Peter really sees analytics as this unifying force that is ingesting scouting reports, is ingesting reports from the coaches, is ingesting data in a way that then becomes actionable." Our interview expanded upon topics that Bradley previously discussed in this Reddit AMA. Follow Ely (@RealEly), Bradley (@BradleyWoodrum) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Subscribe to Bradley's YouTube channel. Join the Marlins Discord server! Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com. View full article

Arraez hit .299 as a Marlin this season and .318 as a Padre for a .314 overall mark. Luis Arraez has done it again. The former Miami Marlin and current San Diego Padre is the 2024 National League batting champion. Arraez won his league's batting title each of the previous two years as well (2022 AL and 2023 NL). He is the first player in AL/NL history to win batting titles as a member of three different teams, and he accomplished the feat in back-to-back-to-back fashion. The 27-year-old Arraez has had only three seasons as a qualified MLB hitter, all of them resulting in the same hardware. He won his first batting title with the Minnesota Twins, the organization that originally signed and developed him. The Venezuelan infielder edged out AL MVP Aaron Judge for the 2022 crown (.316 BA to .311 BA). He was traded to Miami the following offseason in exchange for a package of Pablo López, José Salas and Byron Chourio. Last season while playing exclusively for the Marlins, Arraez got off to a blazing start. He finished with a .354 batting average, 17 points above the second-best NL qualifier (Ronald Acuña Jr., .337 BA). He also set a Marlins franchise record for highest single-season batting average in the process and enjoyed his most productive overall season as a big leaguer in the estimation of both fWAR (3.3) and bWAR (4.9). There was more drama this time around. Arraez underperformed early in 2024, going 0-for-10 in his first two games of the season and recording multiple hits just once in his first nine games. Through 33 games, he recovered to a .299 BA, but that went along with zero home runs and poor defense at second base. Arraez could've hit 1.000 and it would not have been enough to salvage this wretched Marlins season. Practically every veteran on the roster struggled to an even greater extent than he did while injuries decimated their starting rotation. The Marlins owned a 9-24 record when news broke shortly before first pitch on May 3 that a deal was being finalized to send Arraez to San Diego. From May 4 onward, the Padres posted the second-highest winning percentage in the majors, with Arraez occupying the leadoff spot in their lineup. It took only a few weeks for him to climb atop the NL batting average leaderboard. In June, he suffered a torn ligament in his left thumb, but he continued to play on a near-daily basis. From September 17-26, Arraez had a 2-for-28 slump that nearly opened the door for Shohei Ohtani and Marcell Ozuna to snatch the title from him. However, he stopped the bleeding with a 3-for-5 effort this past Friday and clinched the title with a 1-for-3 Sunday performance. Back in Miami, Xavier Edwards has brilliantly filled Arraez's table-setting role, hitting .328 this season during his first extended opportunity in The Show. Time spent on the injured list prevented Edwards from qualifying for the batting title (min. 502 PA), but he was the NL leader in that category if you lower the minimum threshold to 300 plate appearances. Health permitting, he ought to one of Arraez's main challengers for the 2025 crown. Despite earning a familiar accolade, this was not a good year by Arraez's standards. His wRC+, which had been 130 in both 2022 and 2023 (30% better than league average), dipped to 109. He made contact more frequently than ever, but sacrificed the quality of that contact. Arraez also moved the wrong way on the defensive spectrum from full-time second baseman to splitting time between first base and designated hitter. Meanwhile, his salary has increased via arbitration from $6.1M in 2023 to $10.6M in 2024 to a projected $15M+ in 2025 (his final year of club control). You might say it's a good problem for the Padres to have, but it is a problem nonetheless to assess how much Arraez's injury impacted his production and whether they're interested in extending him beyond 2025 (the Twins and the Marlins clearly were not). View full article

Offishial News for 9/30/24 On Sunday, Ryan Weathers (6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 97 pitches/57 strikes) concluded his 2024 campaign on an awesome note. That's about as nasty as I've ever seen his sweeper. The Marlins took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Jonah Bride's two-run single and never relinquished it. Jake Burger started a game in the leadoff spot for the first time in his major league career, though his pursuit of a 30-home run season fell short. Anthony Bender recorded four outs to convert his first save of the season. The Marlins won, 3-1, completing what was only their second sweep of 2024. Their final record: 62-100. At 8:00 p.m. ET, the Marlins addressed the elephant in the dugout. Chairman and principal owner Bruce Sherman announced that they have "mutually agreed to part ways" with Skip Schumaker and "will immediately begin the process of searching" for his replacement. Schumaker had a 146-178 overall record (.451 W-L%) with the Fish, which is fittingly identical to Jim Leyland, who led Florida to a 1997 World Series title, only to have his roster gutted the next season in a cost-cutting effort. Leyland was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this year, primarily due to his achievements with other clubs. I think Schumaker has a lengthy and successful managerial career in front of him as well. He's studious, observant, fiery and humble with innate leadership skills. It will be difficult to find a new skipper who handles the role as effectively as he did. Coincidentally, I was talking about Schumaker on State of the Fish exactly when the news broke. Listen back to the full recording for our staff's thoughts concerning the future of the Marlins, on and off the field. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 Various stats that stood to me about the 2024 Marlins...They scored nearly as many runs (637) as the 2023 postseason-bound team (666). Their 22-win decline largely stemmed from pitching and defensive struggles. Otto Lopez accrued plus-8 defensive runs saved; the rest of his teammates combined for minus-35. Xavier Edwards ranked fifth in the majors with a .397 on-base percentage among players who had at least 300 plate appearances. His injury-shortened season was genuinely elite, though I remain skeptical of his fit at shortstop. Kyle Stowers' 35.5 K% was the worst among all players to receive meaningful playing time for the Marlins. He'll have a lot to prove in spring training. 🔷 The 2024 Prediction Time winner still has not been determined! After 52 Marlins series, there was a tie atop the leaderboard between @Daniel Rodriguez and @Nicholas Milton. As a tiebreaker, they will be predicting the outcomes of this week's Wild Card Series matchups. 🔷 I outlined all of the key dates that bridge the gap between the end of the 2024 season and the start of 2025 spring training. 🔷 Several Marlins players shared their optimism for 2025 and beyond, as Isaac Azout details. 🔷 Francys Romero of Beisbol FR reports that Roman Ocumarez is a finalist to take over the Mets' international scouting department. Ocumarez spent nearly three years with the Marlins prior to being let go this summer. 🔷 Voting for the All-MLB team is open until October 11. Luis Arraez, Jake Burger, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Tanner Scott are on the ballot. 🔷 On this day 15 years ago, Ricky Nolasco established a Marlins franchise record that still stands by striking out 16 batters in a single game, including nine in a row at one point. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the regular season ain't over yet. The Braves and Mets will meet in Atlanta today for a straight doubleheader to determine the final two National League Wild Card spots. Sweeping the doubleheader would eliminate the losing team from making the playoffs, while a split would eliminate the Diamondbacks. Much like the Marlins, the White Sox got uncharacteristically hot during the season's final week, winning five of their last six games, so they finished at 121 losses, just one more than the previous modern-era record. Luis Arraez clinched his third consecutive batting title, leading all qualified NL players with a .314 BA (he previously led the AL in 2022 and the NL in 2023). Tarik Skubal won the AL pitching crown, pacing the league in ERA (2.39), strikeouts (228) and wins (18). Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Looking ahead to the notable deadlines and events that take us from the end of the 2024 season to the start of 2025 spring training. Now that the deplorable 2024 Miami Marlins season is over, our full attention shifts to how the franchise will go about improving. Some seeds were planted during the course of the summer via front office personnel changes and trades that bolstered Miami's farm system, but there's a lot of heavy lifting still ahead to even sniff Peter Bendix's stated goal of "long-term sustainable success." Needless to say, the 2025 Marlins roster will look different than the 2024 one did. I curated these key offseason dates to help fans understand the timing and rationale of certain transactions that you'll see in the coming months. I leaned heavily on the Cot's Baseball Contracts transaction calendar when formulating this article. Awesome resource! October 1: Peter Bendix's end-of-season press conference The Marlins are scheduled to hold a media availability with their president of baseball operations at loanDepot park to discuss the club's 2024 season, the decision to "mutually part ways" with manager Skip Schumaker and next steps. October 8: Peoria Javelinas Arizona Fall League season opener The following Marlins prospects are participating in the AFL this year: OF Kemp Alderman, INF Jay Beshears, LHP Justin King, LHP Patrick Monteverde, OF Andrew Pintar, RHP Jun-Seok Shim, LHP Justin Storm and RHP Brandon White. The AFL regular season runs through November 14 with the championship game scheduled for November 16. Five days after the World Series: MLB free agents eligible to sign with new teams The Marlins don't have any pending MLB free agents of their own. Last offseason, they barely participated in free agency, signing only one player (Tim Anderson) to a guaranteed deal. However, now that Bendix has had a full year to get acclimated to his position and lighten the team's future payroll commitments via trade, there is the flexibility for the Fish to be more active this time around. This also serves as the deadline to reinstate all players from the 60-day injured list and make corresponding 40-man roster moves if necessary. Miami finished the regular season with six guys on the 60-day IL: Sandy Alcantara, Braxton Garrett, Jesús Luzardo, Andrew Nardi, Eury Pérez and Sixto Sánchez. Early November: GM Meetings Lead baseball executives from the 30 MLB teams convene. Bendix will presumably be accompanied by at least one of his assistant general managers (Gabe Kapler and Brian Chattin). Mid-November: Deadline to protect Rule 5 Draft-eligible players To protect key prospects from potentially getting picked in the major league phase of the Rule 5 Draft, the Marlins will have to select them to their 40-man roster. Recently acquired infielders Deyvison De Los Santos and Jared Serna are the most notable Rule 5-eligible Marlins. This deadline typically spurs trade activity around the league, either involving Rule 5-eligible prospects or the players being displaced from a team's 40-man to make room for those prospects. November 22: MLB non-tender deadline This is when teams have to ask themselves whether they value their players as much as the arbitration process does. It's their last opportunity to release them with no strings attached, like the Marlins did last year with Jacob Stallings and Garrett Hampson. The following unsigned players on the Marlins roster will be eligible for raises if retained for the 2025 season: Jesús Luzardo (third year of arbitration eligibility aka Arb 3), Jesús Sánchez (Arb 2), Anthony Bender (Arb 2), Braxton Garrett (Arb 1), Edward Cabrera (Arb 1) and Nick Fortes (Arb 1). December 8-11: Winter Meetings Dallas, Texas, will be hosting the league's annual Winter Meetings. This is where the 2024 Rule 5 Draft and 2025 MLB Draft lottery are being held. By virtue of finishing with a bottom-two record among lottery-eligible teams, the Marlins have 22.45% odds of winning the No. 1 overall draft pick. There is no specific deadline for when the Marlins must announce Skip Schumaker's successor, but every MLB manager traditionally attends the Winter Meetings, so expect it to happen sometime before then. December 15: End of 2024 international free agent signing period So far, Miami's international class consists of 32 players, headlined by Cuban INF Luis Manuel León—whose signing has not yet been announced by the team as of this writing—and Venezuelan OF Luis Cova. Beisbol FR's Francys Romero reports that the Marlins have $167,500 left in their bonus pool. Bonus pool space does not roll over to the next signing period (use it or lose it). January 15: Start of 2025 international free agent signing period The Marlins have a $7,555,500 bonus pool for the 2025 signing period, tied for the largest among all MLB teams. They already have deals in place to allocate most of that money. Those players can begin putting pen to paper on Jan. 15. Mid-February: Players report to spring training As has been the case for two-plus decades, Marlins spring training will be based at the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium complex in Jupiter. Pitchers and catchers will report during the week of February 10 (exact date TBD). The Marlins face the St. Louis Cardinals in their Grapefruit League opener on Feb. 22. View full article

Player status updates, insightful stats and more information to fully equip you for today's Marlins game. Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs. These notes apply to the third and final game of Miami's road series against the Toronto Blue Jays, which is also the final game of the 2024 Marlins season! View full article

None of the recent recipients of the organization's highest position player prospect honor have gone on to be successful at the major league level. With few exceptions, the journey from starting a professional baseball career to reaching the major league level is a multi-year grind. There are slumps, injuries and other types of adversity along the way. The Miami Marlins, just like every other MLB organization, take steps to keep their players motivated. That includes distributing annual organizational awards, the most prestigious of those being the Player of the Year award, bestowed upon the most productive position player in their farm system. However, fans must be warned not to put much stock in this accolade. For the better part of a decade, earning Marlins Player of the Year has consistently been a jinx rather than a reward. The last Player of the Year to even turn into an average major leaguer was Brian Anderson (2016). The combined production of every recipient since then has been significantly below replacement level. What's gone wrong for these former MiLB standouts? James Nelson, 2017 MLB experience: none Current team: Caliente de Durango (MEX) Nelson was put in a tough spot here. The farm system was depleted at the time and somebody had to win the award, so the Marlins went with the former 15th-round draft pick who posted a shiny .309 batting average in Low-A. Nelson got only a brief taste of Double-A before washing out of affiliated ball. He dominated independent leagues in 2022 and 2023, then spent last season as the starting third baseman of a Mexican League club with whom he slashed .297/.425/.459 in 85 games. His Marlins tenure feels like an eternity ago, yet Nelson is somehow just 27 years old. Austin Dean, 2018 MLB experience: five seasons (-0.9 fWAR in 126 G) Current team: LG Twins (KBO) Dean was on the opposite end of his development timeline. He was a big leaguer by the time the award was presented to him (as was the case with a couple of the other names below). It's clearing an extremely low bar, but Dean has had the most successful career of any recent winner. After posting a 81 wRC+ in MLB, he made the move to the Korea Baseball Organization and became a star over there with 55 home runs over the last two seasons. He'll be returning to the KBO in 2025 on a $1.7 million contract. Isan Díaz, 2019 MLB experience: four seasons (-3.1 fWAR in 153 G) Current team: free agent Even more so than usual, the Pacific Coast League was a hitter's paradise in 2019. Díaz took full advantage of that, slashing .305/.395/.578 with 26 homers to force his way to Miami in August. He was already being taken seriously as a prospect entering the season, but this apparent breakout naturally inflated expectations. Díaz was responsible for arguably the most memorable moment of that non-competitive Marlins season. He hit his first MLB homer off of NL Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom. His family members were being interviewed on the club's local television broadcast as it happened and his father's reaction was especially exuberant. 25f43a61-678990e6-9b5edef4-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 Díaz was given a long leash to reach his potential with the Marlins. Aside from showing a decent eye at the plate, he brought nothing to the table. Miami moved on from him early in the 2022 season. Díaz very briefly returned to The Show with the San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers in 2023. The Puerto Rican infielder played winter ball during the 2024-25 offseason and mashed in the Caribbean Series, but it's unclear where his career goes from here. Peyton Burdick, 2021 MLB experience: two seasons (-0.5 fWAR in 46 G) Current team: free agent I'm fairly confident that no Marlins Minor League Player of the Year has ever had a batting average lower than Burdick did in 2021 (.224 BA). To his credit, Burdick led the organization in walks and opened some eyes with his center field defense. Still, there was always a significant risk that he'd whiff too much to stick in the majors. Burdick received about a month of steady playing time with the Marlins in 2022, then had another cup of coffee with them in May 2023, both times replacing an injured Avisaíl García. Unfortunately, Burdick did not distinguish himself as a meaningful upgrade over García, striking out at a 38.1% rate. Yiddi Cappe, 2022 MLB experience: none Current team: Marlins Cappe was another unconventional award winner. A $3.5 million signing the year before, he spent half of the 2022 season in rookie ball (139 wRC+) and totaled only 67 games played. While it's unwise to completely write off a player at age 22, you would be hard-pressed to find any eventual major leaguers who struggled so much against High-A pitching over a such a long period (.222/.268/.302 slash line in 803 plate appearances). Cappe is not ranked on our Fish On First Top 30 list, nor did he receive consideration for an honorable mention spot. Troy Johnston, 2023 MLB experience: none Current team: Marlins A high-quality hitter dating back to the beginning of his pro career in 2019, Johnston reach new heights in 2023. He raked at both Double-A (.296/.396/.567) and Triple-A (.323/.403/.520) while leading all of Minor League Baseball with 116 runs batted in. The first baseman even stole 24 bases with excellent efficiency (92.3 SB%). It's hard to believe that a player who performed like that in the upper minors is still awaiting his first call-up. Not only did the Marlins decline to promote him during their 2023 postseason push—they left him unprotected for the subsequent Rule 5 Draft, where none of the other teams deemed him worthy of a selection in the draft's major league phase. Johnston regressed in every statistical category in 2024, though his 132 hits paced all Marlins minor leaguers with the exception of that year's award winner. Johnston has been a non-roster invitee at three consecutive Marlins spring trainings. During the 2025 edition, he auditioned as an outfielder after mainly being developed at first base in recent years. Alas, he was never in serious contention for an Opening Day roster spot. Johnston can elect minor league free agency next offseason. Javier Sanoja, 2024 MLB experience: one season (-0.2 fWAR in 15 G) Current team: Marlins Sanoja's player profile is fascinating. He had the lowest strikeout rate among qualified hitters at any full-season minor league level and he did it while being younger than practically every pitcher he faced (turned 22 in September). The Marlins have embraced his willingness to play several positions—he split reps between second base, shortstop and center field during his award-winning MiLB campaign and even started twice in left field following his big league debut. Thanks to his defensive versatility and youth, Sanoja is a candidate to break the Marlins' Player of the Year curse by having a lengthy MLB career. The crucial question is whether the quality of his contact will be good enough to merit an everyday role at some point. View full article

Player status updates, insightful stats and more information to fully equip you for today's Marlins game. Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs. These notes apply to the second game of Miami's road series against the Toronto Blue Jays. View full article

There is pressure on those infielders to sustain what they did this season offensively because defensively, they are a terrible combination. That will negate some of the value they provide at the plate. I will have an article on Bride next week because he is especially fascinating. He could be a major asset for this team if he had a real position. He's among the worst defensive 1B I've ever seen in the majors.

Offishial News for 10/2/24 On Tuesday, Peter Bendix spent 12 minutes taking questions from the media at loanDepot park...and not providing much transparency with his answers. Asked repeatedly about Skip Schumaker leaving the Miami Marlins, he declined to elaborate on why the relationship ended and what efforts the team made to retain him ("I'm going to keep the private conversations that we had private"). Bendix also wouldn't comment on the future of the coaches who had been on Schumaker's coaching staff in 2024. Mere hours after the press conference, our own Isaac Azout learned that all of them are being let go amidst a "bloodbath" of baseball operations personnel changes. Many of those who lost their jobs had expiring contracts anyway and likely saw the writing on the wall, but it's nonetheless a bold step. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 Previously outrighted to the minors by the Marlins, José Devers, Kent Emanuel, Cristian Pache and Ali Sánchez exercised their right to elect free agency. Among them, Sánchez had the longest stay on Miami's active roster in 2024, serving as backup catcher from late June through August. MLB Trade Rumors has a roundup of 30 other MiLB players from other organizations who also hit the open market on Tuesday. 🔷 Speaking of MLBTR, Matt Swartz shared his annual arbitration salary projections. Barring veteran offseason additions, the Marlins will have a smaller arbitration class than usual in 2025, consisting of Jesús Luzardo (projected $6.0M), Jesús Sánchez ($3.2M), Edward Cabrera ($2.2M), Braxton Garrett ($1.8M), Nick Fortes ($1.6M) and Anthony Bender ($1.4M). 🔷 No matter what, a former Marlin will receive a World Series ring this year. I listed 35 people with Fish ties whose current teams are participating in the MLB postseason. 🔷 Hector Rodriguez discusses which players stood out most during last month's Prep Baseball All-American Game in Miami. 🔷 Peter Pratt concluded his tenure as host of Locked On Marlins (final episodes embedded below). Peter's enthusiasm for the team is unmatched and I know his podcast was appreciated by many of you. Even though he's ending this chapter of his content creation career, I look forward to talking Fish with him frequently in the future. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Tigers, Royals, Mets and Padres won the opening games of their respective Wild Card Series matchups. Corbin Burnes and Michael King had terrific starts, though Burnes' came in a losing effort. The Giants hired recently retired franchise legend Buster Posey as their new president of baseball operations. The Cubs let go of first base coach Mike Napoli, hitting coach Jim Adduci and bullpen coach Darren Holmes; and the Pirates parted ways with hitting coach Andy Haines and bullpen coach Justin Meccage. 🔷 Today's postseason schedule: Tigers vs. Astros Game 2 at 2:32 p.m. ET (Tigers lead 1-0) Royals vs. Orioles Game 2 at 4:38 p.m. ET (Royals lead 1-0) Mets vs. Brewers Game 2 at 7:38 p.m. ET (Mets lead 1-0) Braves vs. Padres Game 2 at 8:38 p.m. ET (Padres lead 1-0) Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Player status updates, insightful stats and more information to fully equip you for today's Marlins game. Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs. These notes apply to the first game of Miami's road series against the Toronto Blue Jays. View full article

Offishial News for 9/27/24 On Thursday, we were treated to a sloppy, but nonetheless extremely compelling contest. In terms of both time of game (4:16) and innings (13), it was the longest game that the Marlins have played in the pitch-clock era. Valente Bellozo (5.0 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 74 pitches/48 strikes) wrapped up his rookie season on a high note, but Miami's bullpen and defense let the Twins rally back to force extras. After both teams failed to drive in their "zombie runner" in the 11th and 12th innings, the Marlins pulled away for good in the 13th courtesy of Otto Lopez and Griffin Conine hits. Anthony Maldonado earned his first career win and Darren McCaughan earned his first career save. The Marlins won, 8-6. The Twins are on the verge of being eliminated. They must now sweep their season-ending series against the Orioles and hope that either the Tigers or Royals get swept in their series. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 Big addition to Miami's farm system: Cuban INF Luis Manuel León. Francys Romero reports that he'll be signing in the coming weeks for $1.5M. Expect him to crack the Fish On First Top 30 list once the acquisition becomes official. 🔷 In what figures to be the final Marlins roster move of the 2024 regular season, Mike Baumann is due back from the paternity list. Maldonado filled in for Baumann during the Twins series and seems like a prime candidate to get optioned back to Triple-A Jacksonville in a corresponding move. 🔷 Entering the final Marlins series, here's an updated look at the Prediction Time leaderboard. Reigning champ @Daniel Rodriguezis clinging to a one-point lead. Make series predictions with us all season long when you become a Fish On First SuperSub. 🔷 Jesús Luzardo is the Marlins nominee for the 2024 Roberto Clemente Award. Vote for Luzardo here through Sunday. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Dodgers clinched the NL West and the Yankees clinched the AL East. Freddie Freeman hurt his right ankle, but is hopeful about being ready to play in the NLDS. Aaron Judge homered for the 58th time. The White Sox swept the Angels. 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Adam Oller) begin their final regular season series against the Blue Jays (RHP José Berríos). First pitch at 7:07 p.m. ET. 🔷 Join us for a new episode of Fish On First LIVE today from 6:00-7:00 p.m. ET on YouTube/Twitter/Facebook. Special guest: @Gabriel Revilla. FOF LIVE is presented by Berger & Hicks. If you’ve been injured as a result of somebody else’s negligence, give them a call at (305) 670-7050. Marlins podcast episodes View full article

León will reportedly receive a $1.5M bonus, the largest for any international amateur that the Fish have signed this year. Annually, the vast majority of international free agent activity is concentrated around January 15, but there are occasionally exceptions. The Miami Marlins are making a very, very, very big exception for Cuban prospect Luis Manuel León. According to Beisbol FR's Francys Romero, León is expected to officially sign with the club "in the coming weeks" for a $1.5M bonus. The 18-year-old León will be the highest-paid player in Miami's 2024 signing class, accounting for approximately 23% of their $6.52M bonus pool, edging out Venezuelan OF Luis Cova ($1.4M). He'll also be the only Cuban in the class. The Marlins pursued León for more than a year, attending a showcase held in Delray Beach, Florida, way back in June 2023. Romero reports that he "posted a 6.2-second time in the 60-yard dash and showed off a 60-grade arm both at shortstop and in center field. As a hitter, he impressed with a fluid, compact swing, capable of hitting to all areas of the field, with potential to develop power." León is listed at 6'2" and 175 pounds. León intended to sign with the St. Louis Cardinals shortly after the showcase, settling for the $850k they had left to spend during the 2023 signing period rather than having to wait for the following year. "However, the deal fell through due to issues with registration and free agency eligibility," per Romero. The MLB commissioner's office finally declared him a free agent in April 2024. Romero specifies that four members of the Marlins international scouting department were thorough in their evaluation of León, including Adrian Lorenzo, who left his position as senior director of international scouting a full year ago. David Hernandez-Beayne was recently promoted to lead the department. León's older brother, Pedro, is an outfielder in the Houston Astros organization who made his major league debut earlier this season. It is typical for international amateurs to begin their affiliated ball careers in the Dominican Summer League. Due to León's drawn-out signing process, he'll be significantly older than the DSL competition in 2025 (turning 19 on July 21). He could make his minor league debut in the Florida Complex League instead to expedite his development. Romero adds that the Marlins still have $167,500 left in their 2024 bonus pool. They have until December 15 to use it or lose it. As Fish On First previously reported, the Marlins already have big plans for the 2025 signing class, featuring CF/SS Andrew Salas, 3B Juan Tomás and RHP Kevin Defrank. View full article

Player status updates, insightful stats and more information to fully equip you for today's Marlins game. Here are the latest Miami Marlins game notes, produced by the Marlins communications department and relayed to our loyal SuperSubs. These notes apply to the third and final game of Miami's road series against the Minnesota Twins. View full article

Offishial News for 9/26/24 On Wednesday, the Marlins offense got off to a fast start, knocking Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson out of the game in the top of the second inning. Minnesota's bullpen silenced them the rest of the way, though, striking out 14 and issuing zero walks across eight scoreless frames. The Twins scored eight unanswered runs, in large part thanks to four Miami errors. Edward Cabrera posted a 3.57 ERA with a solid (by his standards) 10.7% walk rate in 11 post-trade deadline starts. The Marlins lost, 8-3. With this result, the Marlins ensured that they will have the highest odds possible (22.45%) of winning the 2025 MLB Draft lottery. They're hoping to receive the No. 1 overall pick for the first time since 2000. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 The full delegation that the Marlins will send to the Arizona Fall League: OF Kemp Alderman, INF Jay Beshears, LHP Justin King, LHP Patrick Monteverde, OF Andrew Pintar, RHP Jun-Seok Shim, LHP Justin Storm and RHP Brandon White (plus coaches Esmerling De La Rosa and Gabe Ortiz). Shim is the second-youngest pitcher participating in the AFL, while Monteverde (last season's Futures Game selection and Marlins Minor League Pitcher of the Year) is among the oldest. They'll begin competing with the Peoria Javelinas on October 8. 🔷 Cristian Pache unsurprisingly cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Jacksonville. His tenure with the Marlins organization is likely over regardless, as he'll be able to elect minor league free agency in November. 🔷 Nicole and Michael Baumann welcomed their baby boy, Bowen, into the world on Tuesday. Baumann is expected to rejoin the Fish in Toronto on Friday. 🔷 Jesús Luzardo is the Marlins nominee for the 2024 Roberto Clemente Award. Vote for Luzardo here through Sunday. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, seven teams are still in contention for the final four playoff spots. Inclement weather has postponed two games of the crucial Mets/Braves series until Monday. If necessary to determine postseason berths, the Mets will fly back to Atlanta to play a straight doubleheader. Aaron Judge hit his 57th homer. A 2-for-24 slump from Luis Arraez has reopened the NL batting title race. Marcell Ozuna (.310) is now only four points behind Arraez (.314). 🔷 Today's MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Valente Bellozo) conclude their series against the Twins (RHP David Festa). It's another must-win for the Twins, whose playoff odds have dropped to 22.1%, per FanGraphs. First pitch at 7:40 p.m. ET. Marlins podcast episodes View full article