2021-2022 Offseason Thread

[Nick]

But they even developed two MVPs, a future multiple cy young, and the best catcher in baseball (plus Ozuna and Anderson). Is it better? There is more depth for sure but while Sandy is good, he is not - yet - Stanton prime, Yelich prime, Fernandez, and Realmuto prime good. And Sandy was a trade. Rogers is good, but Scott? Misner? VVM? Bleday may be good?

Get a major CF for even a slight overpay and all is forgiven for me. I think Reynolds + Bednar makes this a playoff team.

You're right, probably too early to completely tell, I'm just saying it had gotten especially bad the last few years with Loria, after Stanton, Ozuna, Realmuto, Yelich and Jose were already established, and maybe that was simply the writing was on the wall, Loria knew he was getting out and didn't give an F about having any type of minor league system.

[lou]

You're right, probably too early to completely tell, I'm just saying it had gotten especially bad the last few years with Loria, after Stanton, Ozuna, Realmuto, Yelich and Jose were already established, and maybe that was simply the writing was on the wall, Loria knew he was getting out and didn't give an F about having any type of minor league system.

I have only two beefs with the new ownership.

1 - Yelich trade was bad in all aspects - at time of trade and the results. Bad bad bad. I can live with Sixto not working out for Realmuto, those things happen. But a 5 year controlled Yelich is a new stratosphere of terrible.

2 - They might be cheap to a fault. I say might as they still have dished out $125m+ in contracts this offseason, and I can buy waiting till next year for a SPLASH signing as we have 1 more year of evaluation of the SP/Jazz/OFers. But at the same time... you *could* just have tried to jumpstart things right now. For this, I have a major beef. I can live with clearing the books for a few years as Loria left the house in disarray. But unlike 1, they can fix this with Reynolds/Bednar for Eury/Bleday/Salas/Fulton pretty quickly, or whatever.

[Namaste]

Sixto said today through an interpreter that he’s 2 weeks into a 6 week no throwing program

[rmc523]

Sixto said today through an interpreter that he’s 2 weeks into a 6 week no throwing program

If you ignore the last few months of no pitching lol.

[Nick]

Will Stewart starting today. Still no Rogers or Cabrera.

[rmc523]

Harrison cleared waivers and was outrighted to AAA and doesn't require a 40-man roster spot.

[Lee Stone]

Does anyone have access to info on Antonio Velez this spring? He improved constantly from the moment he put on a Marlins organization jersey last year. He was actually superior to Meyer while at Pensacola and walks fewer than any pitcher in the entire system. MLB Pipeline doesn't even include him in their top thirty.

At age 24, he seems like a good fit for the Marlins bullpen.

[Todd]

He threw 18 innings in Pensacola, Lee. He was a 24 year old with an ERA in the 3's and fewer K than IP in High A before those 18 innings.

[Lee Stone]

Yes, Almost 9/1 K/W ratio for his entire first year. Throws close to 94 from the left side.

[Nick]

Does anyone have access to info on Antonio Velez this spring? He improved constantly from the moment he put on a Marlins organization jersey last year. He was actually superior to Meyer while at Pensacola and walks fewer than any pitcher in the entire system. MLB Pipeline doesn't even include him in their top thirty.

At age 24, he seems like a good fit for the Marlins bullpen.

He'll start the year in AA I assume. A guy with 18 innings above A-Ball isn't going to see innings with the big club especially in this shortened spring training. I'd have him in my top 30 prospects, we'll see if FanGraphs agrees. He's thrown 99 Innings professionally, I think they've pushed him an appropriate amount, not a lot of guys make it to AA in their 1st year of professional ball. Things go well he'll get a midseason call-up to AAA and once you're at AAA you're in the mix.

[Lee Stone]

Info/prediction on Velez for 2022 from Marlins writer Alex Carver:

Antonio Velez dominates in the upper minors; makes late season Marlins debut

Antonio Velez: the ultimate diamond in the rough. A Miami native and attendee of Brandon High School in Tampa, the 6’1”, 200 pound lefty attended JuCo at Hillsborough Community College before being recruited to Florida State University in 2019. After a respectable season out of the bullpen for the Seminoles in 2019 (44.1 IP, 4.26 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 47/10 K/BB), Velez allowed just one earned run on a solo shot while striking out 21 and walking just three in 17.1 IP before COVID canceled the collegiate season. The shortened draft also caused Velez to go undrafted but the Marlins signed him shortly thereafter.

After a brief appearance in the Puerto Rican Winter League, Velez began his MiLB career at the A+ level. In his first taste of pro ball, Velez was fantastic for the Snappers, holding down an even 3.00 ERA by way of a 0.88 WHIP. The lefty showed off impeccable control and command as he struck out 75 while walking just nine. In September, the 24-year-old made the jump up to the AA level where his success permeated. In three starts and 18 IP for the Blue Wahoos, Velez allowed just one earned run via a 0.78 WHIP while striking out 18 and walking just two.

If Velez was going to make it to his capable ceiling, he needed to show it pretty immediately at the professional level. And in 2021, that is exactly what he did. The 6’1”, 200 pound lefty lacks size and has average velocity usually sitting 92-94. The rest of his arsenal — a best pitch biting slider in the low-mid 80s and a useable changeup — is good but not elite. However, Velez makes up for all of that with a mature knowledge for his craft, the ability to mix pitches advantageously and the ability to spot pitches with pinpoint accuracy in all four quadrants. He has also shown the ability to throw outside of the zone with purpose and garner whiffs.

It takes more than 26 players to get through a major league season. A pitcher the Marlins have very little invested in as an undrafted free agent, I view Velez as a command-over-stuff guy who limits contact and plays to a ceiling 4-5 starter or multiple innings reliever. Velez should start 2022 back in Pensacola but he should be a quickly promoted to AAA. As either an injury replacement or fresh arm, he should be one of the first guys on call in the second half. Upon his promotion to his home town team, we foresee this under-the-radar arm impressing for the Marlins and earning a permanent spot on the roster.

[lou]

He'll start the year in AA I assume. A guy with 18 innings above A-Ball isn't going to see innings with the big club especially in this shortened spring training. I'd have him in my top 30 prospects, we'll see if FanGraphs agrees. He's thrown 99 Innings professionally, I think they've pushed him an appropriate amount, not a lot of guys make it to AA in their 1st year of professional ball. Things go well he'll get a midseason call-up to AAA and once you're at AAA you're in the mix.

MLB doesn't have him top 30. He is probably 25th at best. Which is a nice compliment to Marlins system.

The team needs lefties so he's in a good spot for him.

[Lee Stone]

Pretty impossible for me to see Garrett, Fulton, McCambley, Fitterer, Neidert, or Poteet ever pitch as well as Velez did last season. They are all regarded as top 30.

[Nick]

Pretty impossible for me to see Garrett, Fulton, McCambley, Fitterer, Neidert, or Poteet ever pitch as well as Velez did last season. They are all regarded as top 30.

Unfortunately prospects are evaluated by more than how good their stats are in A-Ball.

[lou]

Pretty impossible for me to see Garrett, Fulton, McCambley, Fitterer, Neidert, or Poteet ever pitch as well as Velez did last season. They are all regarded as top 30.

A 24 year old with a 4 FIP in A+ isn't that great Lee. And I like Velez for who he is. Also, you're wrong per usual.

McCambley was better in A+ last year at 22 (strikeouts, FIP, etc.). Give him 2 full seasons and he'd blow Velez away.
Neidert was much better in A+ than Velez at 20 years old. As well as excellent in AA at 21 years old. Velez is nowhere close to Neidert historically as a prospect.
Fulton will very likely be as good or better in A+ at 20 this year after a very solid year in 2021. He has 4 seasons to catch up also so this won't be close absent Fulton blowing his arm out.

Fitterer is definitely TBD but he has 3 years to catch up. He is very young. He's in the same tier as Velez.
Poteet has a much larger sample size of good and bad, but he had good runs in A+ as a 22/23 year old and a nice AA run as a 24 year old. This may be a PUSH as prospects.

So you're definitely wrong about McCambley and Neidert, extremely likely (very) wrong on Fulton, probably wrong on Fitterer, and once we get arguing Poteet versus Velez MilB numbers, we're all in trouble.

Fulton, McCambley, and Neidert should definitely be in the Marlins top 10-20 prospects. Fitterer, Velez, and Poteet have shots 20-30 range, maybe 35 worst case scenario. If Velez plays up in the bullpen, that's going to help him dramatically become more relevant.