Weighing cost, price of roster additions by signings or trades
SAN DIEGO — As the Miami Marlins continue pursuing ways to upgrade their offense, the team is keeping all options on the table — whether that be through free agency or via a trade.
For the Marlins, that creates a seemingly interesting conundrum. As a low-revenue franchise, the new ownership’s rebuild has been focused on starting from the ground floor, developing a strong, deep farm system with the goal of creating a sustainable pipeline in which they can shuffle prospects to the majors. After taking their lumps on the MLB level — to the tune of 203 losses over the past two years — Miami has finally beefed up its farm system, ranking fourth per MLB Pipeline.
But with a mandate to show improvement next season, the Marlins need players who can make an immediate impact. If Miami attacked this goal through free agency, it wouldn’t have to part with part any of the prospects it worked so hard to acquire. But without a salary cap, free agents may come at a cost the team isn’t willing to pay.
On Monday, The Athletic reported the Marlins were initially interested in free agent outfielder Nicholas Castellanos, but “after Michael Moustakas signed his [four-year/$64 million] deal with Reds, [the] price for Castellanos sky rocketed and took [Miami] out of the bidding.”
Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said that evaluating the financial element is one of the key factors in Miami’s offseason approach.
“If you go the trade route, there are some benefits in terms of cost-certainty,” Hill said. “[With] prices you sort of know what their salaries would be in arbitration. You go to free agency, you’re really at the mercy of the market and the player and his representation as to his speed of getting something accomplish.
“I’d say we’ve been very active in exploring offense and wherever it might be available.”
Last season, the Marlins had the fourth-lowest payroll at $75 million, per Spotrac. Thirty three million came off the books this offseason, putting Miami at roughly $42 million in commitments entering free agency. Since then, they’ve added Jonathan Villar and Jesus Aguilar, who are projected to make approximately $10.4 million and $2.5 million, respectively, next season, per MLB Trade Rumors.
Positional flexibility: In the course of constructing its current roster, Miami has placed a premium on players who can play various positions. Projecting ahead to 2020, there’s only a handful of players who likely will be locked in at one spot — Miguel Rojas (shortstop), Isan Diaz (second base) and Jorge Alfaro (catcher).
Impressed with Rojas’ growth since joining Miami in 2015, the Marlins gave the 30-year-old veteran a two-year contract extension to continue anchoring shortstop.
Prior to 2019, Rojas served as a utility/platoon player, lining up at shortstop, third base, second base and first base before winning the outright starting shortstop job this season.
While Rojas is the clear starter at short, Hill indicated the team may move him around to other infield spots in the future.
“We’ve built a versatile roster,” Hill said. “At some time there might be a need for him to move off short, but we know he’s capable of giving us Gold Glove shortstop, second base, third base, first base to give [Don Mattingly] that comfort in knowing you can move him anywhere on the field and you’re going to get quality defense to support our starting pitching.”
At the trade deadline, Miami acquired talented shortstop prospect Jazz Chisholm, 21, from the Arizona Diamondbacks for Zac Gallen. A top-100 prospect, the left-handed hitter finished the year at Double-A, hitting .284/.383/.494 (156 wRC+) in 23 games for Jacksonville. Acquired this month, Villar has spent the majority of his career at shortstop and second base, but is expected to play mainly at third base and in the outfield.