Mattingly explains decision at catcher, Tampa Bay comparison. And key TV decision looms
A six-pack of Miami Marlins notes on a Wednesday:
▪ An interesting decision on allocation of playing time looms at catcher in 2021, provided arbitration-eligible Jorge Alfaro and Chad Wallach (who’s under team control for four years) are back next season.
Wallach started all five playoff games ahead of Alfaro, who battled COVID-19 last season and went from hitting .262, with 18 homers and 57 RBI in 130 games to batting .226, with three homers and 16 RBI in 31 games.
Don Mattingly opted for Wallach during the playoffs because he’s more effective handling a pitching staff and calling games.
“Maybe with young pitching, [that] was more important than anything,” Mattingly said during a recent postseason Zoom session with reporters. “The catcher has to be there and be a guy that is leading these young guys, because they don’t really know what they want to do....
“That’s why Chad ended up starting at the end. We felt he was better equipped to follow a game plan and have a feeling for where we wanted to go. It’s an area Jorge got a lot better this year. It’s a decision I had to make late; Chad [gave] us a better chance to win right now.
“That’s what I talked to Jorge about. It’s nothing personal. I like Jorge a lot. He’s a super talented kid. I think he has to continue to grow in that area and continue to work at understanding what our pitchers do, where we want to go with them.”
Heading into the Braves series, with Wallach catching, Marlins pitchers had a 2.74 ERA, with 77 strikeouts, 30 walks and 61 hits in 72 ⅓ innings.
But in Wallach’s 20 innings of the Braves series, Miami allowed 16 runs.
Heading into the Braves series with Alfaro catching, Marlins pitchers had a 4.30 ERA, with 108 strikeouts, 53 walks and 128 hits in 125.2 innings. Atlanta scored two runs in his five innings during the NLCS.
Alfaro is projected to make $1.7 million in 2021 if he goes to arbitration, according to projections by baseballtraderumors.com.
▪ Is the fact Tampa Bay made the World Series (the Rays lost to the Dodgers in six games) while ranking 28th in payroll a good thing for the Marlins?
“It’s a good thing from the standpoint that it can be done,” Mattingly said. “You don’t have to do what the Dodgers do or Yankees do where you have piles of money. It shows you have to be better at trades and developing your players and as a manager and coaching staff, you have to be better at putting those guys in the right position.
“They’re a good model because you would love to be like Atlanta. [Ronald] Acuna plays every day, [Freddie] Freeman plays every day, [Ozzie] Albies plays every day.
“It’s pretty much the same lineup every day. It’s tough to do that if you don’t have those players. The Tampa way is they’re able to turn two players into one good one or four players into six because they can play all over.
“They have versatility and can match with lefties and righties. Depending on what kind of players you have, it’s a model for being able to compete and they’re really good at it. Managing against [Kevin Cash] in Tampa Bay is a battle because they will match you up in all different scenarios.”
▪ Top outfield prospect JJ Bleday, asked by Marlins podcast host Kyle Sielaff for his takeaways from spending a few months at the Marlins’ alternate camp in Jupiter: “I’m confident enough to know I can compete against some elite competition. I heard talks of starting in Double A this past year, but who knows what’s going to happen this coming year? I want to get bigger but keep my speed.”
Bleday praised how the Marlins’ analytics department prepares players — something outfielder Griffin Conine also said he noticed in his first month as a Marlin.
“It’s fun to be a Marlin because they give you all the opportunity you need to succeed,” Bleday said. “If you don’t take maturity on your end for that preparation, it’s on you. It’s your career. You’ve got the make the most of it.”
▪ The Marlins on Wednesday signed free agent right-hander Alexander Guillen to a minor-league contract. Guillen, a reliever who turns 25 on Monday, has a career 3.47 ERA over seven minor-league seasons, all in the Rockies organization.
Guillen (6-2, 206 pounds) made 37 relief appearances in Double A in 2019, posting a 1.53 ERA with 91 strikeouts and 21 walks over 76 2/3 innings and limited hitters to a .182 average. He was part of the Rockies’ 60-man roster pool and was at Colorado’s alternate training site last season.
▪ Though the Marlins’ contract with Fox Sports Florida has expired, and even though talks are ongoing, it won’t be surprising if a new deal isn’t struck until January or February.
According to a source, Sinclair, which now owns the Fox regionals, hasn’t yet acquiesced to giving the Marlins more than three times the $18 million to $20 million that it received under its expiring contract — which was the worst in baseball.
So both sides will wait this out.
It’s vital that the Marlins significantly increase their TV revenue, because that money is needed to augment the payroll and keep more of the team’s best young players when they become free agents in two to six years (depending on the player).
One problem is that there’s no legitimate TV competitor to challenge Sinclair for Marlins rights.
The Marlins do have an alternative, however: They could move their games to a vehicle such as YouTube or Amazon, though that’s considered something of a long shot.
▪ Quick stuff: After declining his $4 million option, the Marlins conveyed to reliever Brandon Kintzler that they intend to make an offer to him but that hadn’t happened yet, as of Wednesday afternoon... The Marlins have 38 players on their 40-man roster, leaving them space to add infield prospect Jose Devers and outfield prospect Jerar Encarnacion, who must be added to the 40 to keep them from being poached in the Rule 5 draft.
This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 3:40 PM.
