The Miami Marlins have their backup catcher in place. And He has ties to Derek Jeter
The Miami Marlins have their new backup catcher in place.
As first reported by MLB.com, the Marlins are finalizing a one-year deal with veteran catcher Francisco Cervelli. He will work behind and be an experienced presence to help catcher Jorge Alfaro and the Marlins’ young pitching staff.
Cervelli, a 33-year-old Venezuelan, is heading into his 13th MLB season and has played for the New York Yankees (2008-2014), Pittsburgh Pirates (2015-2019) and Atlanta Braves (2019). His seven years with the Yankees overlapped with the final years of Marlins CEO and part-owner Derek Jeter’s playing career in New York.
Cervelli is a career .269 hitter with 38 home runs, 268 RBI and 271 runs scored over 714 games. Defensively, he has a .988 fielding percentage and has caught 118 of 496 attempted base stealers (23.8 percent) over his career.
However, Cervelli played in just 48 games last season and spent time on the 60-day injured list for a concussion — the sixth documented one of his career.
Obtaining a veteran backup catcher was on the Marlins’ priority list this offseason, along with adding impact bats and shoring up their bullpen.
Until the Cervelli signing is official, the only catchers on the Marlins’ 40-man roster are Alfaro and Chad Wallach. Wallach, who was on the Marlins’ Opening Day roster each of the past two years, played in just 19 games in 2019 and missed the bulk of the season with a concussion. Bryan Holaday, who was the Marlins’ primary back up, was designated for assignment at the end of the season and elected free agency.
The Marlins also have four catchers so far who are attending spring training as non-roster invites: Ryan Lavarnway, Santiago Chavez, BJ Lopez and Brian Navarreto.
Miami, which finished with a National League-worst 57-105 record last season, have already acquired versatile infielder Jonathan Villar and power-hitting first baseman Jesus Aguilar earlier this month. There is still the possibility of the Marlins adding another hitter, most likely a outfielder. Miami has been connected to Kole Kalhoun, Corey Dickerson and Yasiel Puig.
As far as the bullpen, they signed former Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Yimi Garcia and selected Washington Nationals prospect Sterling Sharp in the Rule 5 draft.
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