After trade for Arraez, where Miami Marlins’ roster stands one month before spring training
After a stagnant start to the offseason, the Miami Marlins have more or less rounded out their roster with a series of signings and trades since the calendar flipped to January.
In the span of just two-and-a-half weeks, general manager Kim Ng and the Marlins executed the following:
▪ Jan. 4: Signed veteran infielder Jean Segura to a two-year deal with a club option for the 2025 season.
▪ Jan. 11: Traded shortstop Miguel Rojas to the Los Angeles Dodgers for infielder prospect Jacob Amaya.
▪ Thursday: Signed veteran right-handed pitcher Johnny Cueto to a one-year deal with a club option for the 2024 season.
▪ And Friday: Acquired infielder Luis Arraez from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for right-handed pitcher Pablo Lopez, infielder prospect Jose Salas and outfielder prospect Byron Chourio.
While there is still time for the Marlins to continue to bolster their roster between now and the start of spring training in mid-February, the club at this point looks to have just about all of its key pieces in position for the 2023 season.
“From the additions to health,” Ng said, “we’re in a much better situation than we were six months ago.”
So where does Miami’s roster stand at this point? Let’s take a quick position-by-position look.
Catcher
This is the one area Miami has not had to make any moves with this offseason. The team plans to return both Jacob Stallings and Nick Fortes as its catchers for the 2023 season.
Stallings is the more technically advanced catcher of the duo and was behind home plate for every pitch of ace Sandy Alcantara’s Cy Young season and was the main catcher for Trevor Rogers and Lopez. Fortes, meanwhile, handled Miami’s younger pitchers — namely Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera, both of whom Fortes had experience with in the minor leagues. The two mixed and matched with Jesus Luzardo.
First base
Ng on Friday outright said that as of now, Garrett Cooper is the team’s starting first baseman.
That’s not too difficult of a declaration to make considering the Marlins’ roster construction. Cooper and Arraez are the only two players on the 40-man roster with extensive first base experience, and the Marlins have other plans for Arraez.
That leaves Cooper as the primary option for the position, presuming he can stay healthy, with Arraez as the backup.
Cooper, 32, played in a career-high 119 games last season, hit a career-high 33 doubles and tied a career-high with 50 RBI. The rest of his offensive numbers took a downturn. His .261 batting average, .337 on-base percentage and .415 slugging were all the lowest of his four seasons with the Marlins since he established himself as a regular in the lineup.
The injury history is hard to ignore as well. Excluding time sidelined due to COVID-19 protocols, Cooper has been on the injured list nine times in his five years with the Marlins, including three times last season (right wrist contusion, concussion and left pinkie finger fracture).
Second base, shortstop and third base
The Marlins have their share of options for how they want to handle defensive positioning in the rest of the infield.
As of now, the plan is for Arraez to get the majority of the playing time at second base, Joey Wendle at shortstop and Segura at third base.
Arraez came up through the minors primarily playing second base and has made 139 of his 308 MLB starts at the position, although he only made 31 starts at second base last season (compared to 60 at first base and 34 at designated hitter).
Wendle, who is entering his final year of arbitration, has been a utility infielder his entire career. That said, Wendle held his own at shortstop when he played there last year, posting six defensive runs saved and three outs above average, according to Fangraphs.
Segura has made just 21 starts at third base, all of which came in the 2020 season.
Utility player Jon Berti can back up all three spots, and one of Jordan Groshans, Xavier Edwards or Amaya will likely also be on the roster in a bench role.
Outfield
The big news here is Jazz Chisholm Jr. moving from playing in the infield to now expected to be the team’s starting center fielder.
Chisholm has exclusively played second base or shortstop so far in his pro ball career. He played 200 of 207 games in the minor leagues at shortstop. In the big leagues, Chisholm has made 154 starts at second base and 37 at shortstop.
“I think Jazz is a very unique athlete,” Ng said. “He’s very dynamic. He’s got great range, great speed — a lot of things that you look for when you’re thinking about center field.”
That frees up left-handed hitter Jesus Sanchez and right-handed hitter Bryan De La Cruz to platoon in left field. Avisail Garcia is slated to get the bulk of the run in right field. Jorge Soler can play left as well but might be best suited to play primarily at designated hitter.
Starting rotation
With Lopez’s departure, the Marlins now have six pitchers conceivably competing for five spots in the Opening Day rotation: Alcantara, Luzardo, Cabrera, Cueto, Rogers and Garrett.
Beyond them, prospects Eury Perez, Sixto Sanchez (health permitting), Jake Eder, Max Meyer (out in 2023 due to Tommy John surgery) and Dax Fulton on the rise or waiting in the wings.
Bullpen
Dylan Floro and Tanner Scott are Miami’s main internal candidates to close. Steven Okert should also continue his role in high-leverage situations, and JT Chargois should be a contender for late-inning duties as well.
Miami’s options beyond those four: Huascar Brazoban, Nic Enright, Tommy Nance, Andrew Nardi, Sean Reynolds, Josh Simpson, George Soriano and Eli Villalobos.
Anthony Bender is expected to be out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
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