Hans Herrera

is it just me, or the fact that this team is scoring runs keeps everyone enjoying this season? A bit better outcome from the starters and some small tweaks in the bullpen, and this team can look dangerous!

BTW, Quantrill is looking terrible. lots of hard contact, not fooling anyone, barely surviving 5 innings. I know it's early, but the other "Q" (José Quintana) is looking like an ace compared to Cal.

OK, in-game question: Say Hicks pinched-hit for Brantly in the 6th. The very next inning, Mervis replaced Bride as DH. If Hicks had an injury in the 8th inning, who could have been the Marlins' emergency catcher in this case? Bride caught 11 games in the minors in 2022, but I dunno about any of the other players. Sanoja? Wags? Low probability, but a tad risky.

I guess the pitcher to be sent down will be Arias, but Soriano deserves it better. Bride won't be sent down coz he has no options left, and he also started kind of slow last year before catching fire late in the season. Then it comes to choosing between Wagaman (3 options left), Pauley (2), and Conine (3). My money would go to Pauley.

As of today, Sandy. He should be the first player to spend his entire career in Miami. Apart from him, and again as of today, none. Hear me out: Edwards has only half of a successful season. Norby hasn't even started. Eury needs to be evaluated after recovering from the surgery. Jesús has been pretty inconsistent. All of the other starters are often injured. None of the position players are worth a long shot until they prove they are MLB players for at least a full season. If Edwards does good this season, then lock him up! As for the prospects, let them play in the big leagues first, and then we'll see. Scott Kingery, Evan White, anyone? We don't have the Acuña, Merrill, or Chourio-type of prospects.

Interesting to see the age groups! Pitching staff: No pure "prospect" (younger than 25) but lots of 26-27, so there's still a tiny bit of room for improvement. Only two pitchers older than 27 and none above 29. Position players: 8 out of 12 players are 25 or younger! I think this is great. More importantly, the "youngsters" are actually the ones playing most of the time, as Almora, Navarreto, and Winkler were on the bench most of the weekend. DLS and Ramírez: 7 and 5 strikeouts... ouch!

I'm not the biggest fan of Bellozo, but he continues to prove that he's a decent option for the 5th spot (or 3rd spot, in this case). I'll take 4.1 innings of 1-run ball any day, and he could have completed 5 innings for sure. I guess sending him down has more to bring a fresh arm to the bullpen, as a 5th starter won't be needed until the 8th of April, at least I hope it's that.

Speaking of which, can we get projected depth charts for JAX, Pensacola, and Beloit? I'm still not sure about the Jumbo Shrimp rotation.

A surprise to see Hicks seizing the starting job out of the gate, but hey, the bar is very low given Fortes' offensive output. And not to take any merits from Hicks, his glovework looks like any MLB regular. Kyle Stowers: Didn't look good last year, hasn't looked good this year either, and also, he still has one option left. I think both he and Conine in the roster are kind of redundant. Brantly, Almora Jr., and Simón are next in line in case of another position-player injury. What about Soriano? He has pitched well this Spring, better than Henríquez, at least. But I guess he's heading to JAX because he still has one option left. Oh, well...

With most of the awards going to AAA players, one can think of why the transition between this level and the Majors has been so troublesome for players. Let's not forget the best defensive 1B on the planet, Lewin Díaz, who did not win this award but could have perfectly earned it in 2021 or 22. Is it maybe the coaching? Or was (is) the farm system so bad the last 5 years that they cannot produce a single decent position player?

True. How about a Cy Young-caliber guy? Not saying that White is, but has an outside chance...

The fact that José Quintana signed for $5M makes me wonder if the Fish even reached out to him. An early call, I would rather Quintana than Quantrill (are they the only two starters with last name with Q?)

I was about to text on Joe Mack. He's been steadily climbing the ladder from upper20s prospects to now a top 10. Very happy for him and hopefully he can have his cup of coffee this year. My "underdog" prospects are Serna and Valor. Consistency is the key!

Of course, but say Mervis AND Wagaman are looking really really good, while López is having a slow ST. That means Wagaman can start 3B, Mervis at 1B, and Norby gets to start at 2B so Otto is relegated to the bench. I've said it before: In any .500-ish decent team, López is a bench player, more or less the profile Miggy Ro has with the Dodgers. I think Norby is the priority to be in the starting lineup for Opening Day (barring injuries). If something clicks right for both Mervis and Wagaman during this ST, López is the one out, not Norby. Provided, López has a +95% guaranteed place in the 26-man roster (again, barring injuries), as he is the better glove of the group and had a terrific second half last year. I guess the Marlins are hoping for both Mervis and Wagaman to crack the roster, but if one of them improves, that's a huge win for the team.

Wagaman hitting 112 mph off the bat (and probably still with some flu), Mervis showing a good approach, Bride platooning vs LHP... Otto López better catch up because is HIS starting spot in danger.

If you think about it, it is actually better that he said "he's here now" since he also said "we have money to spend in FA" or Bendix "we will be very much active in Free Agency". Sandy is not going anywhere... before the ASG.

Quantrill is still in his prime (just turned 30 a week ago) and looks like a few tweaks here and there can give the team 150ish innings of 4ish ERA ball. I think anyone can take that any day. I would have taken Pérez instead but my no means this was a wrong choice. Canning would have been interesting as well. How much would you pay for Quintana as of today?

Wait, wait, wait… “The Marlins hired former reliever Chi Chi González to be a bullpen catcher. ” Did I get it right? It is not rare for Catchers to turn into pitchers, but never heard about the other way around!

And if he does decent enough by the All-Star game, he might be flipped to a contender for a prospect once Eury returns. Finally a signing that makes sense in several ways.

While durable, Quantril have been pretty ineffective over the last 2 years. My guess is that Cabrera should be the #3 on paper, but there is nothing for sure in this rotation except for Sandy taking the mound on Opening Day, health permitting.

My only comment is about the Simón - Sanoja competition. I mean Sanoja did not fare well last season, but Simon has zero MLB experience... How can the latter have the edge? If we compare AAA numbers, they had the exact same OPS last year. It is more Simon's job to win that spot, but it is an interesting battle this ST.

The thing about the outfield is that there are several players with "high hopes": Stowers, Conine, Myers, and even Mesa Jr. all have limited/none MLB experience and the organization is expecting that at least one of them develops into at least an above-replacement player. Conine was solid last year in his cup of coffee, Myers wasn't that bad when healthy, and Jesús should stay in RF. Hill mashed LHP and played great D. There is room for improvement, yes, but the OF is not as pressing as the other areas are.

As reported by Christina de Nicola, Spring Training for the 2025 season will somehow begin next week. Although pitchers and catchers begin workouts in Jupiter, FLA, there is still a considerable amount of uncertainty about Miami's roster. After Braxton Garrett was reported out of the season due to UCL surgery, the most common question is whether the FO will bring an innings-eater Starter, with potential candidates on the menu. Another approach is to bring an expensive contract from other team. Lastly, some consider (a.k.a The Ownership, apparently) that there is enough SP depth to cope with the full season. While this is clearly the most pressing need for the roster, is it the only one? Let's have a quick look at how the roster is as of today and what are the areas of improvement. 5th Starter Let's get over it first. The current 40-man roster has 20 pitchers and 20 position players. Soon enough, the roster spots for Garrett and Pérez would be vacant, as they will be transferred to the 60-day IL. That would (hopefully) make it easier to bring some help to the arm corps: Sandy, Weathers, Cabrera, Meyer are more-or-less ticketed to begin the season in the rotation. The front runners for that last spot are Bellozo, Mazur, Curry, and even Gillispie. After them, Snelling and Fulton are considered long shots, given lack of experience in the upper minors or recent injuries. NRIs with starter experience are Tarnok, Piña, Roa, and Monteverde. Some other Free Agents still worth a shot, at least as NRIs: Clevinger, Germán, DeSclafani, and why not Ureña or even Noah Syndergaard. On personal note, I have no problem on letting Bellozo take the 5th spot, but maybe bringing someone on an incentive-loaded, split contract would be wise. Also, the idea of bringing an "expensive contract" is actually good, but if I'm the Yankees, D'backs, or Phillies, I would wait until late in Spring Training to get rid of them... You never know when injuries are going to come up. Catcher And I don't mean back-up catcher. I mean a catcher who can battle for the starting role, as I'm losing faith in Fortes. Hicks has no experience above AA, Ramírez still can't catch at MLB level, and none of the NRI group: Brantly, Mack, Ignoffo, Hostetler are a real threat to Nick. It is not a whole lot better looking at the FA list, although Grandal makes some sense. First Base Bride and Mervis are the only ones capable of playing the position. We don't know which version of Bride we'll get next season, and Mervis has more questions than answers during his short MLB career. As much as I like De Los Santos, he needs more seasoning in AAA to cut down his free swing. Agustín Ramírez looks more focused on playing behind the plate than to become a full-time 1B. I've already lost all faith in the Marlins giving Johnston a chance in the big leagues. Best "cheap" Free Agent available: Gavin Sheets, Rizzo... maybe José Abreu? Glove-First SS/2B I am convinced the Marlins should give this role to Otto López and bring a quality 3B. Even though López had a terrific second-half last season, I still don't see him as a starter. Edwards need to keep improving his defense to stick at SS. For the moment, Sanoja is the incumbent in the role, but his contributions last year were far from desirable. Acosta, Serna, and NRI Simón are behind him. If the Marlins want to bring a FA, the few options are José Iglesias, or maybe Brendan Rodgers. This is once again wishful thinking. I don't see Bendix very much active in the Free Agent market if uncle Bruce don't open his wallet.

Smells like Sixto all over.

And with Hays signing a $5M, one-year contract with the Reds, there goes the last of the FAs on My Offseason Blueprint. I really don't know what to say about this team. The approach from the ownership and FO is just miserable... I'm pretty close to become a fan of Japanese baseball full-time instead of hoping for a change in Miami. I'll be watching some Mariners games, I guess. The Osaka Hanshin Tigers have a pretty cool history. The Tokyo Tsubame (Swallows) also caught my attention. We'll see.