Exploring the Marlins’ search for a center fielder and catcher and names to keep in mind
The Marlins enter free agency with four clear needs: a center fielder, a catcher, a corner outfielder and a late-inning reliever.
Some thoughts on the two most pressing of those needs (catcher, center field):
▪ At catcher, the only free agent that would be significant upgrade would be Oakland’s Yan Gomes (.252, 14 homers, 52 RBI for Washington and Oakland this past season), presuming Boston exercises a $7 million option on Christian Vazquez.
It’s a terrible free agent class. So unless Miami signs Gomes, catcher likely will need to be filled via trade.
The Marlins have always liked Pittsburgh’s Jacob Stallings, who is average offensively (.246) but very good handling a pitching staff and calling a game. Though he’s 31, he’s under team control for three more years.
The Pirates’ catcher of the future, former No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis, needs at least a couple years in the minors, but the Pirates aren’t close to being competitive and could part with Stallings.
Then there are the Chicago trade options, including two catchers about whom the Marlins previously inquired.
The Marlins called last winter about Yermin Mercedes, who was brilliant for the White Sox to start the season (15 hits in the first six games), cooled off, stepped aside from baseball for a day and then finished the season at Triple A. Mercedes, 29, is under team control for five more seasons. Chicago could keep him behind Yasmani Grandal or trade him.
Mercedes ended up hitting .271 with 7 homers and 37 RBI in 68 games for the White Sox but didn’t appear in the majors after June 30. He hit .275 with 11 homers and 29 RBI in 59 games at Triple A Charlotte. He’s obviously lost a lot of luster after his torrid start to last season.
The Marlins also have inquired about the Cubs’ Willson Contreras in the past, but he will be a free agent after 2022, and it wouldn’t make sense to acquire him as a rental without a conviction that he’s a long-term option and a willingness to pay what it costs to keep him. Contreras, 29, hit .237 with 21 homers and 57 RBI this past season.
Herald senior baseball correspondent Craig Mish and I previously mentioned the Angels’ Max Stassi and Arizona’s Carson Kelly as potential options, though both are merely serviceable, not great.
Kelly, 27, is under team control for three more seasons. He hit .240 with 13 homers and 46 RBI in 98 games last season.
Stassi hit .241 with 13 homers and 35 RBI in 87 games. He can become a free agent after next season.
Darragh McDonald of mlbtraderumors.com raised interesting potential matches with Toronto (Danny Jansen/Alejandro Kirk/Reese McGuire), Atlanta (backup William Contreras and Baseball America’s No. 68 prospect in baseball, Shea Langeliers, who’s stuck behind Travis D’Arnaud), Detroit (Jake Rogers and Fangraphs’ No. 73 overall prospect, Dillon Dingler), San Diego (Victor Caratini and Austin Nola), Minnesota (Mitch Garver, Ryan Jeffers) and Seattle (Tom Murphy, Luis Torrens, Cal Raleigh).
Among players in the aforementioned group, Garver is among those to keep an eye on. He hit .256 with 13 homers and 34 RBI in 68 games last season. He’s a career .256 hitter in five seasons for the Twins. He can become a free agent after 2023.
Toronto has the No. 8 prospect in baseball in Gabriel Moreno, but it seems unlikely the Blue Jays would make him available unless they received elite talent back.
Nick Fortes and Alex Jackson likely will battle for the backup catcher job next spring; Fortes was more impressive than Jackson in their Marlins stints this past season. It would be surprising if Jorge Alfaro is tendered or retained.
▪ In center field, the free agent class is weak, with just two high-end players: Oakland’s Starling Marte (who’s obviously not returning, regrettably, after he and the Marlins couldn’t agree on an extension before the trade deadline) and the Dodgers’ Chris Taylor (.254, 20 homers, 73 RBI). Taylor can play the middle infield and the outfield.
There are probably only two other free agent full-time starting center field options: Oakland’s Mark Canha (.231, 17 HR, 61 RBI and walks a lot) and the Mets’ Michael Conforto (.232, 14 HR, 55 RBI).
Canha has played 62, 56 and 23 games in center during the past three 162-game seasons (excluding the 2020 COVID season).
Conforto played entirely in right field for the Mets this past season; his most recent extensive work in center was 39 games in 2019.
Avasail Garcia, a top free agent bat, is better equipped to play a corner outfield spot; he played 44 games in center for the Brewers in 2020 but just one game in center in 2021. He likely couldn’t be a full-time center fielder at Marlins Park.
Then there’s the San Francisco’s Kris Bryant, who’s going to get a huge contract because of his bat. He has played only 29 career games in center field and is better suited to play third or a corner outfield spot.
A couple of other names to monitor: Phillies outfielder Odubel Herrera, whose team option was declined this week. He hit .260, 13 homers, 51 RBI in 124 games.
Atlanta is buying out Joc Pederson. A corner outfielder who played 26 games in center this past season, Pederson hit .238 with 18 homers and 61 RBI for the Braves and Cubs this season.
Former Marlin Jake Marisnick has a mutual option for $4 million that is unlikely to be exercised by San Diego after he hit just .227 for the Padres and Cubs.
Among center field platoon options: Jarrod Dyson (hit just .221 for the Royals), Leury Garcia (.267) and Delino Deshields (.255 in 25 games). None of those makes much sense for Miami. Neither does Brett Gardner, who hit just .222 for the Yankees and is well past his prime at 38.
A trade for a center fielder seems more likely. The Marlins would love Pittsburgh’s Ryan Reynolds but that would take front-line pitching and more to pique the Pirates’ interest.
A more realistic target could be Tampa Bay’s Manuel Margot, who hit .254 with 10 homers and 57 RBI in 125 games for the Rays. He can become a free agent after next season.
And here’s a name to keep an eye on: Minnesota’s Byron Buxton, who hit .306 with 19 homers and 32 RBI in just 61 games this season. He had 13 homers in 39 games in 2020. He has a home in Fort Myers and this is a name that makes sense.
The former second overall pick of the 2012 draft, Buxton a .248 hitter in seven seasons, all with the Twins. He’s eligible to become a free agent after next season.
As far as corner outfielders go, expect the Marlins to find one in free agency. The Reds’ Nick Castellanos, who grew up in Davie, would be an expensive but high-impact and logical option. The Marlins figure to at least inquire.
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 2:35 PM.
