Ely Sussman

The Offishial Show—Episode #220 He was the most-likely candidate entering the managerial search process, and one month later, Craig Albernaz is poised to be the next manager of the Miami Marlins. Ely Sussman reacts to Tuesday's news that the Chicago White Sox have selected Will Venable to fill their vacancy, which seemingly paves the way for Albernaz to reunite with some old friends in Miami. 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. Compared to most other years, there was a lot of continuity among MLB managers during this hiring cycle. Only the Marlins, White Sox and Cincinnati Reds had vacancies following the end of the regular season, and the Reds quickly struck a deal with future Hall of Famer Terry Francona. Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Marlins and White Sox both landed on Albernaz and Venable as finalists in their searches with the Sox also seriously considering Phil Nevin. As first reported Tuesday night by MLB.com's Scott Merkin, Chicago has hired Venable. Here is a glance at the résumés of Albernaz and Venable as featured in the 2024 media guides of the Cleveland Guardians and Texas Rangers, respectively: They have had somewhat comparable journeys as coaches, but I would've preferred Venable over Albernaz. The former spent four full seasons handling MLB bench coach duties whereas the latter had only one. Venable has had opportunities to work intimately with Joe Maddon, Alex Cora and Bruce Bochy, each of them World Series-winning skippers with their own distinct styles. Those experiences must've been invaluable. Neither managerial hire can be announced until Thursday at the earliest (Major League Baseball instructs its clubs not to steal the thunder from the World Series on gamedays). Read more about Albernaz's candidacy here. 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 vets Cleveland Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz, who is poised to become the new Miami Marlins manager. View full video

Prior to his last two starts, Buehler looked like the ideal 2025 reclamation project for a team like the Marlins. Unfortunately for them, he has recaptured his old form just in time to boost his earning power. Three weeks ago, pitching Game 3 of the NLDS against the San Diego Padres, Walker Buehler still looked broken. Appearing in the playoffs for the first time since 2021, the outing was a continuation of Buehler's frustrating regular season. He allowed the Padres to plate six runs in the bottom of the second inning—that remains the highest-scoring half-inning by any team during the 2024 postseason. Buehler gutted through five frames to take some of the burden off his fatigued teammates in the Los Angeles bullpen, but he struck out zero batters in the process. The Dodgers lost, 6-5, and were set to face elimination. If the Padres had finished the job by winning either of the next two games, Buehler would have entered free agency with zero momentum. Combining his 2024 regular season with his NLDS clunker, the fallen star had a 5.71 ERA in 80 ⅓ innings pitched. Buehler would've been widely coveted due to his pre-Tommy John surgery track record—career 3.02 ERA, 3.26 FIP and .212 BAA from 2017-2022—but only as a buy-low candidate on a one-year "pillow contract" that practically any team could afford. Yes, even the Miami Marlins. I had composed an elaborate "Marlins offseason blueprint" which included taking a $14M flier on Buehler for 2025. That article will still be published by Fish On First shortly, but with a major revision because it's no longer realistic to expect the 30-year-old to be attainable for such a modest guarantee. Buehler has made two more starts since the Padres let LA to wiggle off the hook, showing legitimate flashes of his former self. Even in a microscopic sample, that changes the math surrounding his free agency. The short-handed Dodgers reluctantly started Buehler in NLCS Game 3 and World Series Game 3 against the New York Mets and New York Yankees, respectively. Both starts came on the road in hostile environments...well, environments that would have been hostile if his opponents did anything to get their fans feeling hopeful. Buehler silenced them. After having authored just one scoreless game all year, he held the Mets and Yankees off the scoreboard when it mattered most. Four total trips through their lineups, zero runs allowed. If not for an Alex Verdugo garbage-time home run, both games would've been shutouts for the Dodgers pitching staff. These results alone do not get a player paid. MLB front offices are smart enough to recognize when somebody is benefitting from lucky breaks. In Buehler's case, the quality of his stuff has meaningfully ticked up. He leaned heavily on his breaking balls to halt the Mets' momentum. At Yankee Stadium, he turned to his four-seam fastball for whiffs in key situations. The resilient Dodgers bought Buehler just enough time to make crucial adjustments before hitting free agency. Whether he ultimately re-signs with the team that drafted and developed him or finds a better offer elsewhere, the terms of that offer will be a lot more player-friendly than they would've been following an NLDS elimination. My aforementioned $14M estimate was based on the contract Luis Severino signed with the Mets last offseason. Severino secured performance bonuses based on games started, but had no security beyond that single season. Thanks to his final nine brilliant innings (and the underlying pitch data from those outings), Buehler is assured of getting a larger guarantee. If he settles for his own one-year prove-it deal with no strings attached, I expect it to be in the $20M range. More likely, he'll get a backloaded multi-year commitment that includes an opt out after the 2025 campaign. At the start of October, I genuinely thought Buehler was an affordable and appropriate fit for the Marlins. The risk/reward equation was just right for a last-place team with payroll flexibility that dreamt of riding his bounce-back season to a much-improved record or (more realistically) flipping him at the trade deadline for prospects who could propel the quality of their farm system from solid to great. However, he's now poised to enter negotiations with a lot more leverage than previously thought. The Marlins will inevitably get outbid (if they even bother to make a formal offer at all). View full article

Shocktober: The Biggest Upsets in World Series History retells the stories of 22 Fall Classics, including the 2003 matchup between the Florida Marlins and heavily favored New York Yankees. The Marlins had to overcome so much adversity just to reach the World Series in 2003. Their reward? A meeting with the dynastic New York Yankees, who had won four of the previous seven championships. Available exclusively to Fish On First SuperSubs, we're sharing a digital copy of Chapter 19 from Shocktober: The Biggest Upsets in World Series History, detailing how the Marlins defeated the Yankees in six games. Friday marks the 21st anniversary of the clinching victory. Scroll down to read it! The paperback version of Shocktober is being released on January 7. It's available for pre-order here. View full article

Today's news roundup also celebrates the anniversary of the Marlins clinching the 2003 World Series title. On Thursday out in the desert, RHP Brandon White (4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 4 K, 58 pitches/33 strikes) continued to be the top-performing Marlins pitcher in the Arizona Fall League. White used his full four-seamer/slider/changeup/curveball arsenal and lowered his ERA to 2.70. OF Andrew Pintar went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. The Peoria Javelinas lost, 8-5. In the Dominican Winter League, 1B Troy Johnston went 2-for-4 to extend his hit streak to seven games. 1B Deyvison De Los Santos is still slumping, now 1-for-15 on the young season with no extra-base hits. He's been rarely getting the ball out of the infield. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 George Lombard seems to be the only managerial candidate who's in contention for both the Marlins and White Sox. Jon Heyman of the New York Post describes the Tigers bench coach as a "leading candidate" for the Sox along with Phil Nevin and Will Venable. Heyman also reports that former Marlin Avisaíl García underwent lower back surgery to treat a fracture and disc issue. It's unclear how long García was being impacted by that. After being released by the Fish in early June, he did not attempt to play for any minor league or independent league teams, and the timing of this surgery rules out the possibility of him participating in winter ball. 🔷 On this day 21 years ago, the Marlins clinched their second World Series title, winning Game 6 at Yankee Stadium on the strength of Josh Beckett's incredible shutout. Available now exclusively for our SuperSubs, here is a digital copy of Chapter 19 from the upcoming book Shocktober: The Biggest Upsets in World Series History. xy4igv.mp4 🔷 Kevin Barral ponders the opportunity for the Marlins to buy low on Yoán Moncada. The oft-injured third baseman will enter free agency once the White Sox decline his 2025 club option. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the home run ball that completed Shohei Ohtani's 50/50 season sold at auction for nearly $4.4M. It is the highest-priced ball of all-time. 🔷 Today's MLB postseason schedule: New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, 8:08 p.m. ET (World Series Game 1) View full article

Definitely a big deal whenever it's somebody who has been with the team for so long, built close relationships and produced results. Mel will be appreciated long after he's gone.

I am biased in this case by having much of my family based in New York, but distancing myself as much as possible from that, I think it's great to finally have a meeting between the teams who posted the best regular season records in their respective leagues. That rarely happens anymore with such an expanded playoff field. In addition to outspending their opponents, both teams can point to smart trades and player development practices that were pivotable to getting them over the hump. The quality of competition is going to be outstanding.

Today's news roundup also includes the passing of Dodgers legend Fernando Valenzuela. On Tuesday out in the desert, OF Kemp Alderman went 1-for-4 with a caught stealing and OF Andrew Pintar went 1-for-4. The Peoria Javelinas lost, 8-1. In the Dominican Winter League, 1B Troy Johnston went 2-for-4 with a walk. He has reached base safely in all six games, including hits in each of the last five. He also leads Toros del Este with five walks. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 The Cardinals official hired Jon Jay as a coach on their major league staff (no specifics about his role beyond that). They also added 2023 Marlins hitting coach Brant Brown to serve them in the same position. This offseason, I'll be tracking the whereabouts of all former Marlins coaches here. 🔷 Four months removed from left hip femoral acetabular impingement surgery, OF Dillon Head has resumed swinging a bat as shared via Instagram. Head is expected to be 100% healthy come spring training. z4wlmc.mp4 🔷 Here is the debut article from new Fish On First intern @Sean McCormack! He expresses some concerns about FOF #3 prospect Deyvison De Los Santos. 🔷 Sandy Alcantara and his son attended Tuesday's Florida Panthers game. He had the honor of banging the drum pregame and swapping jerseys with captain Aleksander Barkov. 🔷 Alex Krutchik revisits the animosity between Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Miguel Rojas, whose teams are facing each other in the World Series. Rojas was sidelined for the NLCS with a sports hernia, but the Dodgers are considering activating him to contribute in a limited role. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Fernando Valenzuela died at the age of 63. In 1981, he had one of the most memorable rookie seasons in MLB history, winning the National League Cy Young award and a World Series title. Valenzuela spent 11 total seasons pitching for the Dodgers and rejoined the organization as a broadcaster after retirement. Mets pitcher Paul Blackburn underwent a cerebrospinal fluid leak repair. There's a chance for him to be ready by Opening Day. Nico Hoerner of the Cubs underwent right flexor tendon surgery. Rare to see that for a position player, and considering that it's Hoerner's throwing arm, his availability for the start of the season is in jeopardy. 🔷 Join us for a new episode of Fish On First LIVE tonight at 6:00 p.m. ET on YouTube/Twitter/Facebook. We'll catch up on all of the managerial/coaching news and rumors, fall/winter ball performances and preview the World Series. Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Jon Jay is the first ex-Marlins coach to land a job for the 2025 season. We'll be tracking the whereabouts of the entire outgoing coaching staff here. The Miami Marlins have cleaned house coming off an 100-loss season and that extends to the dugout. Hours after the 2024 season finale, they announced a mutual parting of ways with manager Skip Schumaker. Soon after, most of Schumaker's major-league coaches were informed that their time with the club is over as well. Where are they now? Updates will be added below as the MLB coaching carousel spins 'round and 'round. Skip Schumaker 2024: Marlins manager 2025: Senior advisor, baseball operations with the Rangers Luis Urueta 2024: Marlins bench coach 2025: Rangers bench coach Jon Jay 2024: Marlins first base/outfield coach 2025: Cardinals major-league coach Wellington Cepeda 2024: Marlins bullpen coach 2025: Diamondbacks bullpen/assistant pitching coach Standby for updates on: Rod Barajas (field coordinator), Griffin Benedict (third base coach), Rob Flippo (bullpen coordinator), Jason Hart (assistant hitting coach), John Mabry (hitting coach), Bill Mueller (assistant hitting coach), Jody Reed (infield coach) and Mel Stottlemyre Jr. (pitching coach). View full article

On Monday, Diamond Sports Group officially rebranded its regional affiliates from Bally Sports to FanDuel Sports Network. The television home of the Miami Marlins has yet another new name. Along with the 15 other regional sports networks under the Diamond Sports Group umbrella, Bally Sports Florida was rebranded on Monday. It is now FanDuel Sports Network Florida. The naming rights are part of a larger deal between Diamond Sports Group and the sports betting company to pull Diamond out of bankruptcy. The name change went into effect now to correspond with the start of the new NBA and NHL seasons, though Diamond is still awaiting a hearing in bankruptcy court scheduled for next month where a judge will rule whether or not their reorganization plan is financially viable. In 2024, Diamond was partnered with 12 Major League Baseball teams: the Marlins, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers. But that number is dropping moving forward. Only the Marlins and Braves are currently in agreement to stick with them for the 2025 season, a Diamond lawyer revealed in court on Friday. The Marlins recently renegotiated their pre-existing deal. Most of the teams listed above are still renegotiating theirs, while the Guardians, Brewers and Twins have cut ties with Diamond to have MLB take over production and distribution of their content. When the Florida Marlins were born in 1993, their games were shown locally on the Sunshine Network. Their schedule was shared by the Sunshine Network and SportsChannel Florida in 1997, then moved fully to the latter in 1998. As part of a merger between Cablevision and FOX Sports, SportsChannel Florida relaunched as FOX Sports Net Florida in 2000. The name was abbreviated to FSN Florida in 2004 and tweaked again in 2008 to FOX Sports Florida. Diamond Sports Group acquired the FOX Sports affiliates and sold naming rights to casino operator Bally's that took effect in 2021. The "Bally Sports Florida" name was supposed to last for 10 years, but that deal was scrapped during the bankruptcy proceedings. You got all of that? The channel number for FDSN Florida is unchanged following the rebrand. The Bally Sports app updated overnight and should work the same as it previously did. No word yet on which Marlins broadcasters will return in 2025. Play-by-play announcer Paul Severino is on an expiring contract, but the Miami Herald's Barry Jackson reported "there's no indication" that the network is looking to replace him. Oh yeah, and it's worth mentioning that you cannot even place bets on the FanDuel sportsbook from the state of Florida. Presumably in the foreseeable future, FanDuel anticipates opening operations in more states. In the meantime, it'll be awkward to see a product promoted heavily during Marlins broadcasts to an audience that doesn't use it. View full article

Based on how they conducted themselves over the last year, it's clear to me that this Marlins administration cares very little about PR. I don't think that is a worry with this process. The more valid concerns are leaning too much on personal connections when vetting candidates and whether whoever ultimately gets the job will receive real autonomy to make decisions (as opposed to follow all front office guidance).

I will take White. The one distinct advantage Snelling has is his command. I would much rather bet on the quality of a pitcher's stuff than their ability to locate because very subtle (even unintentional) mechanical changes can mess that up.

He definitely has value over the course of a season. There will inevitably be injuries, and realistically, unless the team takes an enormous leap from last year, there will be at least one midseason trade involving a veteran SP. There will be innings available for Bellozo to legitimize himself. I wouldn't mind his low velocity too much if he had an exceptional secondary pitch to put batters away. He hasn't shown that he does. Also, although consistently throwing strikes is valuable, his command to specific parts of the strike zone could use improvement too. I think it goes without saying that he if he shows up next season with zero adjustments/improvements to his game, the results will be worse than what he showed in 2024.