Marlins take steps to improve roster and say they will continue to ‘find the best fit’
Michael Hill, the Miami Marlins’ president of baseball operations, made it very clear at the beginning of the offseason that the Marlins need to get better.
Derek Jeter, the club’s CEO and part owner, reiterated those thoughts just a week ago. The Marlins, he said, will make moves in free agency should they find players that fit their long-term goals.
The Marlins followed suit Monday when they acquired infielder Jonathan Villar from the Baltimore Orioles and claimed former Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Jesus Aguilar off waivers, adding two power bats to a lineup that ranked among the worst in Major League Baseball last season.
The signings marked the first steps to improve on last season’s National League-worst 57-105 record — just the third 100-loss season in franchise history.
And Hill, speaking Tuesday on a teleconference, said the Marlins are not done making improvements to their roster.
MLB’s annual Winter Meetings take place next week in San Diego, and there’s always a chance that moves can be made during those four days.
“We’re always looking to be opportunistic and find the best fit,” Hill said, “not just in the short-term, but in the long-term as well. That’ll continue to be a goal as we head to San Diego.”
Villar and Aguilar, the Marlins hope, are just the first steps in retooling the roster heading into Year 3 of Miami’s latest rebuild.
Villar, 28 and a switch-hitting Dominican Republic native, is a prototypical lead-off candidate. He had a .274 batting average last season for Baltimore and posted career-highs in home runs (24), runs scored (111), and RBI (73) to go along with 33 doubles and 40 stolen bases. He was one of five players to play all 162 games in 2019.
For his career, which includes stints with the Houston Astros (2013-2015), Milwaukee Brewers (2016-2018), and Orioles (2018-2019), Villar has a .261 batting average, 78 home runs, 381 runs scored, 268 RBI, and 202 stolen bases.
He led MLB with 62 stolen bases in 2016.
Hill said Miami envisions Villar primarily playing third base and in the outfield but will be a fallback option at second base or shortstop as well.
“We just felt like in addition to his bat-to-ball skills, his ability to impact the game with his speed is something that made a lot of sense to us,” Hill said.
Aguilar, a 29-year-old right-handed hitter from Venezuela, had a .236 batting average in 2019 with 12 home runs, 12 doubles, 50 RBI, and 39 runs scored in 131 combined games split between the Milwaukee Brewers and Rays. He slashed .261/.336/.424 in his 37 games with Tampa Bay.
He was an All-Star for the Brewers in 2018, a year in which he belted out 35 home runs and drove in 108 runs while hitting .274.
For his career, Aguilar has a .256 batting average, 63 home runs, 215 RBI, and 161 runs scored over 448 games with the Cleveland Indians, Brewers, and Rays.
“If [2019] is his floor,” Hill said, “we’re incredibly excited of seeing what he’s capable of doing in our lineup.”
Add in third baseman/right fielder Brian Anderson (20 home runs in 126 games in 2019), catcher Jorge Alfaro (18 home runs in 130 games), and first baseman/corner outfielder Garrett Cooper (15 home runs in 107 games), and the Marlins now have five promising batters who can hit for power.
That will be a big help for a Marlins team that finished 2019 last in slugging percentage (.375), on-base plus slugging (.673), and home runs (146) while also finishing second-to-last in runs scored (615).
“We improved our offense,” Hill said, “but we still have a long way to go with our offense.”
The Marlins are also reinvesting into their payroll after money was freed up by players who left in free agency.
The projected $10.4 million that the Marlins will pay Villar in arbitration? That’s just less than the $11 million that they paid second baseman Starlin Castro last season.
The estimated $2.4 million that will go to Aguilar? A little bit more than the $2 million they paid Neil Walker.
The Marlins say they aren’t finished.
They still plan to shore up their bullpen. Figuring out who their closer will be is a priority. They plan to explore the free agent market, but Hill said Ryne Stanek and Drew Steckenrider could be internal options.
Hill also said Jose Ureña, who was the team’s Opening Day starter the past two years and finished 2019 in the bullpen after dealing with a herniated disk in his lower back, will compete for a roster spot and it could be as either a starter or a reliever.
A new wave of players entered free agency as well following Monday’s non-tender deadline, which can also provide the Marlins with affordable, short-term options.
This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 3:17 PM.
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