Scout sizes up Marlins, and post-trade deadline news
A As the Marlins continue to unravel — likely to miss the playoffs for the 27th time in their 30year history — some behind-thescenes chatter: What’s most galling about this prolonged irrelevance is that former owner Jeffrey Loria assured local politicians that the new stadium would allow for the Marlins to have a payroll in the midrange of teams. For perspective, the Cubs are 15th among 30 teams at $146 million.
The Marlins are 26th at $79 million. So spending more obviously would help.
But problems run much deeper than that. Not a single young position player beyond Jazz Chisholm has proven he can hit big-league pitching consistently. Injuries have sidelined three pitchers viewed as longterm rotation pieces: Edward Cabrera (who’s now back), Sixto Sanchez and May Meyer ,as well as Jake Eder.
Of the six teams with the lowest payrolls, three entered the weekend above .500 (Cleveland, Baltimore, Tampa) while Oakland, Pittsburgh and the Marlins were well under .500.
The Dodgers and Yankees engaged the Marlins in serious discussions about pitcher Pablo Lopez, with the Yankees coming closest to a deal before
ATuesday’s MLB trade deadline, according to sources.
Middle infielder Gleyber Torres was discussed; he’s hitting .254 with 16 homers and 46 RBI for the Yankees. New York refused to include shortstop Anthony Volpe, one of MLB’s top prospects.
Lopez, who’s under team control through 2024, has never been offered a contract extension by the Marlins. The franchise will decide this winter whether to keep Lopez, offer him an extension or possibly trade him.
The Marlins and Braves had a discussion about a trade involving disappointing outfielder Avisail Garcia and former Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna.
Ozuna (hitting .222 with 19 homers) is earning $16 million this season and is set to make $16 million each of the next two seasons, with a $16 million team option (or $1 million buyout) in 2025.
Garcia is making $12 million this season and is due $12 million each of the next three seasons, with a $12 million team option (or $5 million buyout) in 2026.
Garcia then left Tuesday’s game with a hamstring injury.
Some feedback from a longtime American League scout who watched the Marlins and their prospects this season:
On outfielder Jesus Sanchez, who was demoted to the minors last week after his average dropped from .250 last season to .205: “He’s got majorleague tools, but his ability to process and read and react haven’t been good this year. His timing looks off, he’s in between pitches a lot. He needs winter
AALopez said. “I’m really proud of the fact that it’s the second half of the season and my body’s feeling the way it should feel. I’m looking forward to continue being able to take advantage of that, but also being able to finish strong. You want to finish the year. You want to be consistent.”
‘READY TO MOVE FORWARD’
With Lopez’s situation for the time being settled, Ng made sure to have a brief conversation with Lopez as soon as the deadline passed.
“I think that we were both relieved everything was over,” Ng said. “For Pablo, I just told him ‘I imagine this must have been hard for you, the past week or 10 days. I’m sorry that was the case, but you’re here and we’re happy to have you.’”
Lopez’s perspective of the conversation?
“It was a very good talk,” the pitcher said. “Kim is a professional. The way she talks and the way she articulates, she just tells you what’s going on. It was a really good conversation . ... We are both ready to move forward.”
This was the first time Lopez has been prominently discussed in trade ball. Next year you’ll get definitive answers on him.”
On the disappointing seasons of outfielders Garcia and Jorge Soler, the scout said we shouldn’t be surprised because of the variation in their performance historically. “And there’s no protection so you don’t have to pitch to them like you would in a better lineup. So you end up pitching around them” and getting them to chase balls out of the zone, which has happened a lot.
On Brian Anderson:
“Good player, but durability is a question. And when you take a young player and move him all over before he’s an established hitter, sometimes the bat is going to become compromised and that might have happened here.”
He said the team lacks discipline and fire and makes too many mental mistakes. “Joey Wendle, Jon Berti, give me more of those guys,” the scout said.
On lefty Braxton Garrett:
“He has a chance to be a fourth starter.”
On Meyer, before news that he needed Tommy John: “I see a reliever, and I don’t see a high-leverage reliever. I see a seventh-inning reliever that might be able to snake into the eighth. He has to get most of his outs with his slider, because his fastball is going to play very mediocre with big-league hitters in my opinion.”
On pitcher Eury Perez, the Marlins’ top pitching prospect: “He’s impressive, probably a third starter in a good rotation. Very athletic. Big bodied but a simple delivery.”
On outfielder JJ Bleday,
who hit for power in Jackson
AAAAAAAsituations since joining the Marlins.
It likely won’t be the last. After all, controllable starting pitching is always a hot commodity. Lopez is under team control through the 2024 season.
But until the deadline passed at 6 p.m. Tuesday, all Lopez could do was wait. Talks happened right up until the deadline. Ng said the Marlins received “consistently frequent calls” in the weeks leading up to the deadline. She was willing to listen but wasn’t openly trying to trade Lopez unless the Marlins received an offer that blew them away.
“Everybody was nervous,” said Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, who calls Lopez his “brother.”
The nerves — Lopez’s and his teammates’ — subsided when the deadline passed and he was still part of the clubhouse.
“Now that it’s gone,” Lopez said, “you put away the noise. It’s back to just focusing between starts and making sure you’re ready 100 percent physically and mentally to take the mound every fifth day.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Assuming he stays healthy, Lopez is on track to make about 10 more ville but a low average both there and so far in his brief time with the Marlins: “They’ve extracted some power out of him but compromised his hitting. He’s got power to all fields, can walk, understands the strike zone. He’s not a middle-order hitter. One thing that’s constantly changing with him that’s concerning is he has a different move to the ball every time I’ve seen him.”
On outfielder Peyton Burdick, who was promoted to the Marlins on Friday after hitting .229 at Jacksonville but with .344 on base percentage, 14 homers and 51 RRI in 88 games: “Looks like a platoon outfielder that can play all three spots. Or a fourth outfielder. I don’t see him as an everyday big-league player. He handles everything middle-in with authority. Middle away, he runs out of barrel. The inability to cover the plate concerns me. There are things that could help him, maybe moving him closer to the plate.”
On outfielder Jerar Encarnacion, who hit a grand slam in his Marlins debut and is hitting .262, with 11 homers and 33 RBI in 57 games at Jacksonville: “Big fan. I saw him in a rehab start by [two-time Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom] and he hits a laser to right center. He has a rocket for an arm. He might need two years in Triple A. He has a chance to be a productive corner outfielder.”
On first baseman Lewin Diaz, who’s now with the bigleague team: “I like Lewin; he’s an above-average defender, has range. Has a smooth, effortless swing. But a low energy dial. At some point, he’s going to have to speed up his body tempo to catch up to major-league stuff.”
AAAstarts this season. Should he finish the season healthy and avoid a significant drop off in production along the way, the Marlins and Lopez will likely be right back in the same situation this offseason as they were at the trade deadline.
His production isn’t an issue when he’s on the mound — Lopez has pitched to a 3.39 ERA since the start of the 2020 season. The main issue is his
CHATTER
The NFL’s decision to dock the Dolphins a 2023 first-rounder (they still own the 49ers’ first-rounder) robs the team of a good player who would be cheap labor for four years but doesn’t have a hurtful impact on Miami’s cap. Not having the first-round pick would save the Dolphins about a $2.6 million cap hit if they were to have picked around 20th next April.
The problem is that the Dolphins are already $2.4 million over the 2023 salary cap. So instead of filling a need (inside linebacker? third cornerback? offensive line?) with a second
first-round pick in 2023, they’ll likely need to spend more to fill that need with a veteran free agent.
Beyond Zion Nelson and Tyler Van Dyke (who are both considered potential first-round picks), we hear UM’s next-best draft eligible prospect is cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. One scouting service gave him a third-round grade.
While declining to give details, Heat guard Kyle Lowry
told Toronto reporters last week that he’s still dealing with the family matter (a health issue) that forced him to miss 13 games last season. “That kind of derailed my whole season and kept me derailed for a long time.”
Though Phoenix’s Jae Crowder has interest in a trade back to the Heat, Miami doesn’t have matching salaries to do a deal that satisfies salary cap rules, unless more players are added and the Suns take Duncan Robinson.
AAAABarry Jackson: 305-376-3491, @flasportsbuzz durability.
But even at that, Ng told Lopez during their conversation in the loanDepot park dugout that he is “very, very popular among other clubs” based on her conversations during potential negotiations at the trade deadline.
“Obviously there’s some good to it, that other teams pay attention,” Lopez said. “I think in a way, it speaks volumes to the fact that if you prepare yourself to the best of your abilities to be the best version of yourself, people are always watching and paying attention to the things you do. It made me realize that If I can just continue, things will fall where they need to fall.”
Jordan McPherson: 305-376-2129, @J_McPherson1126