As NL East loads up with talent, Marlins balancing present and future with offseason moves
Miami Marlins general manager Kim Ng has seen the moves being made around the division.
The Atlanta Braves, winners of the National League East each of the past three years, are keeping pace at the top of the division.
The New York Mets traded for Carlos Corrasco and Francisco Lindor, signed catcher James McCann, and are reported to be front-runners for starting pitcher Trevor Bauer.
The Washington Nationals traded for first baseman Josh Bell and signed starting pitcher Jon Lester, closer Brad Hand and outfielder Kyle Schwarber.
The Philadelphia Phillies re-signed catcher J.T. Realmuto and are fortifying their bullpen.
“On paper,” Ng said, “this is the best division in baseball.”
And it presents an interesting quandary for the Marlins. They’re fresh off an unforeseen playoff run with newfound expectations.
But the Marlins are also still in the thick of their rebuild with their top prospects close to assuming full-time roles on the big-league club.
As spring training approaches in two weeks — the Marlins report to Jupiter on Feb. 17 — Ng is handling a balancing act between a big run now while continuing the franchise’s long-term sustainability that has been the focal point of the Bruce Sherman/Derek Jeter ownership group.
“We had a plan going into the offseason, and we’re sticking to that plan,” Ng said. “It just makes sense to try to approach this in a fairly disciplined way and to make sure that we are weighing our present as well as our future in every decision that we make.”
In simplest terms: What you see right now is most likely going to be the Miami Marlins of 2021.
Ng said Friday the Marlins hope to get at least one more bullpen arm, and that the club feels “perfectly comfortable” with where they stand in terms of their position players, although the Marlins have had conversations with other teams regarding trading for an outfielder (the Marlins have been linked to the Baltimore Orioles’ Anthony Santander and the Boston Red Sox’s Andrew Benintendi).
So anticipate internal competition deciding the final few roster spots as the Marlins move forward.
That means Isan Diaz, Jazz Chisholm or Jon Berti will most likely start at second base.
That means the right field competition should be between a combination of Lewis Brinson, Monte Harrison, Magneuris Sierra, Harold Ramirez and Jesus Sanchez. Garrett Cooper could get reps in right field, too, if there is no universal designated hitter in 2021. Jerar Encarnacion and JJ Bleday are also waiting in the wings. Veterans Corey Dickerson and Starling Marte are penciled in as the starters in left field and center field.
“I tell you what,” Ng said, “going through and talking to a lot of other clubs this offseason and hearing how other clubs view your players ... we have a lot of great outfielders in the system, so that’s particularly exciting.”
Cooper and Jesus Aguilar will compete for time at first base and, the Marlins hope, will both be in the lineup daily should the DH return to the Naitonal League in 2021.
Ng said the Marlins are “fairly set” with Jorge Alfaro and Chad Wallach at catcher, noting that Alfaro has been working on his defense this offseason.
The rotation will be young but once again brimming with high-end talent. Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez, Elieser Hernandez, Sixto Sanchez and Trevor Rogers — none older than 25 — are the projected five for the starting rotation. Top prospets Nick Neidert, Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett — none older than 24 — are the next wave.
“We could very conceivably head into Jupiter with just young starting pitching,” Ng said. “It’s our strong suit, our forte. We have no problem doing that.”
And then there’s the bullpen, overhauled once again. Yimi Garcia and newly signed Anthony Bass are the top late-inning players. Richard Bleier and James Hoyt are next. And then the Marlins have two players with Rule 5 restrictions (Paul Campbell and Zack Pop), two more new faces acquired earlier in the offseason (Adam Cimber and Ross Detwiler) and two returning players (Jeff Brigham and Alex Vesia) to round out the final four spots.
“We like guys who throw strikes,” Ng said. “We like guys that, given our infield defense, can induce ground balls, and guys who have different looks. We like diversity in the bullpen, so we’re coming at you from all angles.”
Ng is also hopeful that the Marlins’ prospects at the top end of the minor-league system will take the necessary jump to carve out regular roles with the big-league club.
Five Marlins players are consensus top-100 prospects according to Baseball America, The Athletic and MLB Pipeline: right-handed pitchers Sixto Sanchez, Cabrera and Max Meyer; outfielder Bleday; and shortstop Chisholm. The Marlins are also high on first baseman Lewin Diaz, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the eight-best first basem prospect, and outfielder Jesus Sanchez
“We talk about the offense and wanting more,” Ng said. “If one of our young players steps up and does almost close to fulfilling his potential, that right there will obviously help us quite a bit.”
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