2020-2021 Offseason Thread

[tjfla]

@CraigMish
Marlins GM Kim Ng spoke earlier today. Ng has said the club will pursue bullpen arms and I can confirm they are active on that front. Haven’t heard them in on any of the high(er) ticket pen FA’s. Bullpen pieces would best describe it.
[URL="https://twitter.com/CraigMish/status/1338929410062290946"]2:30 PM

They have called on guys like Hendriks/Hand but right now they want crazy deals. I like both but would offer some crazy deal to either of them especially when we have SP who could be in pen(Rogers/Guzman/Yamamoto/Holloway/Roberson)

Like reported before they looking for the Kintzler types. Mid Relief guys who COULD close

Names I heard were
Kintzler
Alex Colome
Jeffress
Kela
David Phelps
Brandon Workman
Trevor Rosenthal

They want atleast 2 RP,also have been calling teams on trades!! Marlins have been very aggressive on trade front-nothing really going on yet cause no big FA signings or anything. LY they could have traded Monte in Arizona deal and got Archie Bradley back(they said NO since was FA). Could see 2 guys from list above or even 1 vet and a trade for a young controllable guy from like KC or somewhere?

Marlins have talked at length with KC this offseason about RP and C. We have stuff they like as well

Also looking at LHR but not as hard likely MilB invite guys

Pen
Campbell
Bleier
Tarp
Hoyt
Cimber
Pop
Yimi

Cant send Pop or Campbell down but ALL except Yimi,Bleier,Hoyt have options

[Nick]

and what great options Yamamoto and Holloway would be from what we saw last season...

[Lee Stone]

I don't think we'll see minor league play until mid-summer ... until players are vaccinated. There will be huge pressure from the Players' Association to start MLB schedule earlier. Therefore, I can see a player like Max Meyer start this season as a reliever or possibly even starter for the Marlins. I also see Alex Vesia in the pen to start the season. 4.1 major league innings last season meant nothing and could probably be attributed to nerves. He was almost perfect in 6 2/3 spring training innings.

There's lots of talk about the RF opening but I think that will be Harold Ramirez' position to lose at the season outset, whenever that may be.

[Lee Stone]

Fangraphs just posted ZIPS projections for 2021 Marlins. Well. It's all based on a statistical program, but even a tough critic like myself finds the numbers to be overly negative/pessimistic. On the job-not-so-well-done front, the writer neglected to include our most promising hitting prospect, Of Peyton Burdick, from his list of players. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/zips-202...miami-marlins/

[Namaste]

I’m higher on Bleday than Burdick

[Lee Stone]

I base the Burdick nod on his selection as the top performer during the 6-week Instructional Camp. Bleday is still the much higher ranked prospect by Baseball America and such.

My comp for Bleday when he was drafted was Michael Conforto, also a top ten draft pick. Thus far, he hasn't shown Conforto promise however. My comp for Burdick was Hunter Renfro (just signed as FA by Red Sox) who was actually a first round pick by San Diego as I recall. Burdick has shown at least comparable talent thus far.

[tjfla]

I base the Burdick nod on his selection as the top performer during the 6-week Instructional Camp. Bleday is still the much higher ranked prospect by Baseball America and such.

Right now I would say he is 4/5 in system

Bleday
Jesus
Jerar
Burdick/Misner/Conine/Scott(All in "breakout" group)

NOT saying he isnt the best but kinda hard to rank guys right now. This is a make or break year for ALOT of minor league guys based on age and everything else. I will say EVERY team Miami has called about trades has asked about Burdick as the OF they wanted in the trade. Again i still think we make some 3 or 4 for 1 trade with SP/OF and minor pieces for a ML Bat

I know 1 thing our OF/DH in minors are stacked
Jax-Bleday/Monte/Brian Miller/Jesus/Jerar
Pcola-Burdick/VV/Conine/Misner
Beloit-Thomas Jones/Scott/Pompey/Orr
Jupiter-Hampton/Mesa Jr/Dalvy/Johnston

Guys in Beloit should be up in AA and guys in Jupiter should be in Hi A but no space

Marlins have a glut of OF and P in minors. Not a bad thing at all by way. A wildcard on both is GCL/DSL guys-no one really know where they are gonna put them cause of age and all but we have lots of solid DSL arms and GCL bats who are likely OF only guys. About 15-20 DSL arms and 6-8 GCL OF or guys who will be OF(See Jose Salas and Yiddi Cappe)

[Lee Stone]

tjfla, thanks for sharing all that. But of course teams are asking about Burdick ... and I imagine Conine too. They absolutely raked at Jupiter in October. The guy to trade high on (as in enjoying that high prospect ranking) is Bleday. He has nowhere near the value of CJ Abrams (our whiff in the '19 draft), but there is carryover from his college achievement. I'd discuss Jerar and Jesus as trade bait as well. In my eyes, that Beloit OF is sadly lacking. Jones and Pompey have no shot that I can see. Scott threw in the low 90's in high school. Maybe he shouldl be considered as a lefty pitcher. Diowill Burgos will figure in somewhere. In stealing him from St. Lous, I hope we're into something like Tampa Bay achieved in grabbing Arozarena from the Cards.

Here's hoping that Burdick/Conine stay home and don't suffer the fate of Humberto Mejia, the pitcher that Arizona insisted upon in the Marte trade..

[fish16]

i cant wait for jj bleday to have a great week in AAA to start the year and lee stone to completely change his tune on the entire future because of it.

[Lee Stone]

i cant wait for jj bleday to have a great week in AAA to start the year and lee stone to completely change his tune on the entire future because of it.

AAA to start the year seems like an overly ambitious move for Bleday - not having hit much in A+ ball. I hope he kills it wherever he is playing.

[fish16]

AAA to start the year seems like an overly ambitious move for Bleday - not having hit much in A+ ball. I hope he kills it wherever he is playing.

he didnt hit much in A+ ball for like a month 2 years ago. he will be starting in AAA barring some sort of surplus of advanced OF bats. He'll be in our everyday lineup by july or august.

[fish16]

urena signs with the tigers for a 1 year deal. that's a perfect fit for mediocrity

[Lee Stone]

As a fan who would like to see the addition of a catching prospect or two in the Marlins system, I've been nosing around. I found a recent article from an Astros writer that suggested a trade for a replacement for FA George Springer. The deal was a couple Astros prospects (rated 4 and 10 in the Houston system) for Starling Marte. In checking out the MLB prospect list of the Astros, I came upon their #5 guy, 2019 draftee Korey Lee from Cal. He hit behind Andrew Vaughn in the Golden Bears lineup and produced some eye-opening numbers. He's fairly new to the catching position, but looks to have big time potential. .https://calbears.com/sports/baseball/stats/2019

Personally, I'd feel a lot better trading Marte for a longterm asset than playing him for a non-playoff Marlin team this coming season. The salary savings for the Marlins would also be substantial.

[Todd]

I still like the thought of converting Burdick to a C.

[Lee Stone]

MY TOP TEN PROSPECT LIST

As proof that predicting Major League success is a bit of a crapshoot, consider that JT Realmuto wasn't regarded as even a Top Ten Marlins prospect in 2014. The list of top ten catchers overall included Travis d'Arnaud (he did turn out pretty great in time), Josmil Pinto, Max Stassi, Gary Sanchez, JORGE ALFARO, Christian Bethancourt, Tom Murphy, Blake Swihart, Austin Hedges, and Tony Sanchez.

The Marlins list, 1-10, ran Andrew Heaney, Colin Moran, Justin Nicolino, Brian Flynn, Adam Conley, Anthony DeSciafani, Jake Marisnick, Avery Romero, Jose Urena, and Nick Wittgren. Realmuto was twelfth and Austin Barnes was right after him.

While prospect lists are generated by a wide variety of sources, they are remarkably similar each year. That fact suggests that attrilbutes are either easy to identify OR that the sources tend to copy one another. I suspect the latter.

With that in mind, I tend to look at development/progression. For example, Zac Gallen was nowhere near a top ten prospect for the Marlins heading into the 2019 season. However, after a sensational breakout at AAA New Orleans, he joined the Marlins staff and immediately became the team's best starter. He had become the team's very best prospect when he was traded for Jazz Chisholm. Gallen had discovered that "something special" to vault him to stardom.

One-time Fishstripes writer Aram Leighton (I highly recommend his Locked on Marlins podcasts) recently discussed the new Marlins Top Ten list issued by Baseball Prospectus. In addition to routine consensus picks like Bleday, Chisholm, S Sanchez, J Sanchez, E Cabrera, Trevor Rogers, and Max Meyer, BP has introduced the names Peyton Burdick and Nasim Nunez for 2021. I respect that (and don't expect other sources to emulate it) because BP obviously paid attention to what was happening at the Marlins Instuctional Camp in October, where all the team prospects competed against one another. With recent development in mind, I will make my own attempt to rank the talent.

1) Edward Cabrera. I rate him over Sixto Sanchez for two reasons. Cabrera broke out by putting things together in 2019 at Jupiter and Jacksonville. He equaled the excellent performance of Sanchez, who has been amazingly consistent at all minor league levels. That leaves me wondering how much further Edward might develop. He would seem to have the higher ceiling and more physical projection.

2) Sixto. He looks like a solid starter for years to come.

3) Jazz. I tend to look past the poor offensive performance of 2020 because there is so much to love about his future. His defense is crazy good. He has speed and uses it. His bat is so quick that he tends to be over-confident ... and that will change in my opinion. I see a star.

4) Trevor Rogers. I see Blake Snell when I watch Rogers. His control wasn't up to snuff in his inaugural look at the majors, but the talent jumps out of the TV. He's a comer for certain.

5) Max Meyer. I was aboard the Asa Lacy bus on draft day. The best college lefty seemed too good to pass on. However, I'm going to trust management on this one ... until proven wrong.

6, 7, 8) I'm lumping three corner OF/DH types here. JJ Bleday, Peyton Burdick, and Griffin Conine. Burdick and Conine haven't played above Low A, but that's not their fault. All three of these guys showcased the ability to rip at the instructional camp. (Of note, had the Marlins gone with the five-tool talent of CJ Abrams instead of Bleday on 2019 draft day, Abrams would be first on my prospect list.)

9) Nasim Nunez. 70 glove, 70 speed, 70 arm AND the most rapidly improving hit tool according to reports from Instructionl Camp.He's young and soaring.

10) Lewin Diaz. He's been working on a lower hands, quicker stroke in the Dominican Winter League. His defense is Freddie Freeman great at 1B.