Hans Herrera

Before the offseason even starts, we can all agree that the Fish are in need of reinforcements for next season, in case they want to be in the contention picture, or worse, if there is even a baseball season. I believe the three main areas of improvement are 3B, SP (probably two of them) and a closer, in that order. Don’t get me wrong, I love Javier Sanoja. But again, the hot corner is a position where you expect high SLG. Javi is still better profiled as an all-around super utility, and there is nothing wrong with that given the amount of injuries every team experience throughout a full season. Granted, we find ourselves facing the eternal Marlins conundrum: where to get what it’s needed at the price they want to “afford”. Free Agency is certainly a no-go, and we all know why. In-house options are unreliable or not MLB-ready. That leaves us with the FO’s favourite avenue to acquire players: trade. If they go this way, we need to be clear: the Fish would want young, controllable players, which probably means more than 1 year of control and a projected salary less than $5M. That said, mlbtraderumors just posted a list of projected arbitration salaries entering this offseason. That’s an attractive pool for Bendix & Co, so I dared to dig into which players could be a good fit for a trade to the Marlins. Here’s my ranking: 1. Casey Schmitt, SF Giants: He had a career year hitting 21 HRs in a tough park for righties. In fact, his splits are a lot better on the road. He can be expendable for the Giants if they expect a healthy Chapman next season. He’s under control for another three seasons and is projected to make around $2,5M. That’s the price range Sherman loves. 2. Zack Gelof, Athletics: Also hit over 20 homers this season, but this one comes with a big caveat: most of that damage was at that launchpad they call home in Sacramento. It won’t be that easy in loanDepot Park. His projected salary next season is around $3M. Still affordable. 3. Jordan Westburg, BAL: My dream trade was crushed last offseason (Coby Mayo) and now should be even more difficult to get the youngster. Instead, the Marlins can roll the dice with Westburg, who missed the entire season due to injury. He’s shown power whenever healthy - which is not that often, though. The good news is that he might not have a place with the Birds anymore, and should cost $1,5M. Other meh options: Spencer Steer (CIN), Brett Baty (NYM). And I say meh because the Fish might well stick with Javi Sanoja. One thing to think about: where is that area the Fish can trade players away? OF? Bullpen arms? Prospects? Every other area looks pretty thin to me.

He doesn’t seem like he’s slowing down. Cheap Bruce should offer him at least 5 years after 2027. Even though he probably won’t be a #2/3 after 2030, a back of the rotation guy who gives you over 170 innings every season should be worth the money (not to mention everything else Kevin already said in the article). C’mon Bruce. It’s long due.

Top 10 MoFos! 💥

Marlins win 2-1, Otto MVP.

The Cubbies take the series 2-1. PCA is the MVP.

Marlins 2-1, Sandy MVP

Marlins sweep, Mack MVP

Marlins 2-1, Pauley MVP

Fish win 2-1. Otto MVP.

They have another shot in Simeon Woods-Richardson. September is going to be brutal and the roster is thin on SP. Will uncle Bruce open his wallet?

Los Marlines 3-1, Sanoja MVP.

Same Chris Johnson who started barking at José after he hit his first home run the year before?

Boston take 2. Rutschman MVP.

Marlins sweep. Marsee MVP.

Another minor league report, another opportunity to think about how similar Starlyn Caba is to Nasim Núñez, and a friendly reminder that the Marlins gave up Nasim for free, and Caba was the “prize” for Luzardo. What a joke both transactions were.