The back story on the under-the-radar moves that have helped Miami Marlins make playoffs
The Miami Marlins’ road to the playoffs has been paved primarily by pickups from headline-grabbing trades and fairly prominent free agent signings, with some help from draft picks in a talent-rich farm system. But along the way, the Marlins have made several savvy under-the-radar moves, transactions that elicited little attention at the time but have paid big dividends.
As the Marlins prepare for their first-round series against the Cubs, a look at the top five of those beneficial, at-the-time unheralded moves - in order - with insight this week from Marlins president/baseball operations Michael Hill:
▪ Acquiring first baseman/outfielder Garrett Cooper and pitcher Caleb Smith from the Yankees for pitcher Mike King and international bonus signing money (November 2017):
The first trade of the Derek Jeter ownership group ranks among the biggest heists in recent Marlins history, considering that Smith was flipped this summer for high-end bat Starling Marte, Cooper has been a valuable bat (.283, 6 homers, 20 RBI this season) and King has done nothing for the Yankees (1-2, 7.22 in 10 career games).
The background: Marlins executives Gary Denbo and Dan Greenlee had just come over from the Yankees and knew that New York likely wouldn’t be able to protect Cooper and Smith on their 40-man rosters.
“That one is totally Denbo and Greenlee,” Hill said. “They gave me a run down of the Yankee system and they knew the Yankees were facing a roster crunch. They knew Yankees minor league players better than anyone and knew there were players we felt would upgrade our roster and potentially be available. You pick up the phone and start working through it with [Yankees GM] Brian Cashman.
“Cooper had gotten to the big leagues and had an inconsistent performance. Caleb had touched the big leagues and had inconsistent performance and the Yankees weren’t in position to carry them both, and organizationally, we could. Michael King was a good prospect for us at our lower levels but we felt Caleb would compete for a rotation spot and Cooper had [minor league] options and was a right-handed bat who could upgrade our offense.”
What has Don Mattingly learned about Cooper this season?
“We learned we got a guy who can hit,” Mattingly said. “That’s what we’ve always known.
He’s played some left, played some right. First base is probably the best place for him. Other than COVID, we’ve been able to keep him healthy and that’s been a huge thing. He’s always hit whenever he’s been in the lineup. Just had trouble [staying healthy]. He got hit on the hand [last year], had weird little things happen to him back to back years.”
That Cooper/Smith trade looks even better with the Marlins sending Smith, Humberto Mejia and Julio Frias to Arizona for Marte, who’s under contract next season and perhaps Miami’s most talented hitter.
▪ Acquiring Pablo Lopez as one of four prospects in a deal that sent veteran reliever David Phelps to Seattle (July 2017).
This was one of the final trades made by former ownership, with Hill the one constant between the old and new regime.
The Marlins also got outfielder Brayan Hernandez and pitchers Lukas Schiraldi and Brandon Miller. None of those three players worked out; the Marlins subsequently released all of them. But Lopez (6-4, 3.61 ERA this season) has been an enormous asset, a likely longterm rotation piece.
The background: Though Hernandez was viewed by some as having the highest ceiling in the deal, the Marlins made a point to insist on Lopez, who was just 5-8 with a 5.04 ERA in Class A Modesto at the time.
“Phelps was throwing as well as any reliever in baseball; a lot of teams were calling and we shot bigger,” Hill said. “I remember asking for Pablo and Nick Neidert in that deal and they wouldn’t give us both. They said they couldn’t move Neidert but they would include Pablo and that’s where Miller got inserted in his place. We eventually got Neidert anyway [in the Dee Gordon deal months later].
“Pablo was in high A for Seattle. When I saw the video and reports, it was exactly what we were looking for in a talent package - 6-3, was pitching in the low to mid 90s, could already spin a breaking ball. He hadn’t fully developed but had those powerhouse legs that were obvious. And he had a chance to throw harder because he had a good base. Pablo continued to develop and we see what we see today.”
▪ Selecting pitcher Elieser Hernandez in the Rule 5 draft (December 2017):
Though a strained lat muscle prematurely ended his season, he was very good this season, with a 3.16 ERA in six starts. If Hernandez had a qualifying number of innings in 2020, his 6.80 strikeout-to-walk ratio would have ranked second in the NL at the time of his injury. Moving forward, he sets up as a potential No. 5 starter, helpful bullpen piece or trade chip.
The background: He hadn’t dominated in six years of minor league ball in the Houston system, but “analytically, he jumped out at us with his fastball movement,” Hill said. “As we looked to build bullpens and add players to our system, you look at elite things - elite spin rates, elite break on breaking balls, elite fastball movement and fastball velocity.
“You get all of the Rule 5 eligible players and you run them through all of our metrics to see if there’s anybody that stands out, and Elieser had elite fastball movement and that was a commodity that had value. He had just pitched [only] at high A. But when you stacked out fastball movement with major leaguers, it was top 10 in the major leagues.”
▪ Signing Jon Berti as a minor league free agent (December 2018):
He has been a valuable multi-position piece (can play everywhere but catcher) who hit .273, six homers, 24 RBI and 17 for 20 in steals last season and .258, 2, 14 and 9 for 11 on steals this season.
The background: Berti hadn’t done anything remarkable in nine seasons in the minors (.258) or a brief stint in the majors with Toronto (4 for 15). But the Marlins saw two specific skills and signed him to a minor-league deal.
“When he got taken off the [Blue Jays’] roster at the end of the season, there was a conversation of maybe we can claim him but we knew he would be a minor league free agent,” Hill said. “He was in our top three of minor league free agent targets because of elite speed that he demonstrated and his versatility. We felt he could be a tremendous National League player given that speed and versatility. He hadn’t played center in Toronto but we made sure we played him at second, third, short, center.
“We’ve gotten good with finding skill sets and growing the players, going back to when we made Alfredo Amezaga and Emilio Bonifacio a center fielder, guys who have a speed component that can play multiple positions.”
▪ Four relievers who warranted no headlines when acquired this year but have been very helpful.
That group included two signed as free agents: Brad Boxberger (1-0, 3.00 ERA in 23 games) and Nick Vincent (1-2, 4.43 and three saves in 21 games) and two acquired via trade --- Richard Bleier (1-1, 2.63 in 19 games) and James Hoyt (2-0, 1.23 in 24 games).
The background: With Adam Conley struggling, the Marlins smartly moved on Bleier on July 31, giving Baltimore only a prospect (shortstop Isaac De León) who wasn’t in their top 30. And the Marlins landed Hoyt, who has been a revelation, a day later, giving Cleveland only cash considerations.
“We had been following Bleier in Baltimore for some time - Dan Greenlee had some history with him from his time in New York - and we felt like we needed more of a reliable back end lefty,” Hill said. “Conley had proven inconsistent and unable to seize the opportunity. Stephen Tarpley was still young and wasn’t as consistent as we needed.
“Hoyt, we had been following because even though he didn’t have the overpowering fastball, in our metrics his slider was one of three best in Major League Baseball. It’s part of my job to keep track of other teams’ inventory and it appeared Cleveland was having a little bit of a roster crunch.”
As for Vincent, the Marlins tried to snag him in January but he signed with San Francisco, then was released in June and scooped up by the Marlins three days later.
“In Vincent we saw a pitcher we felt obviously was a strike thrower, not a big stuff guy but was able to get a lot of outs with his ability to throw the ball where he wanted to,” Hill said. “We had lived through big power arms who hadn’t found the strike zone.”
With Boxberger, “Brad had changed agents and was throwing a workout. I sent a scout to his workout and the report came back that his velocity was starting to come back. His velo had dropped a little bit last year and there wasn’t enough separation between his fastball and changeup. This is a guy who can get big outs. He maintained velocity and has done great job in back of our pen.”
So kudos to the Marlins for these moves. They’re among many reasons this team will be playing this week.
Here’s my piece on everything LeBron James said about the Heat today.
Here’s my Tuesday Dolphins piece on why their two dynamic rookie receivers aren’t playing.
Here’s my Tuesday pack of Dolphins notes.
Here’s my Tuesday piece with perspective from Hubie Brown on what Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson are accomplishing, and some straight talk from Jimmy Butler.
This story was originally published September 29, 2020 at 8:07 PM.
