Miami Marlins not rushing Lewin Diaz. How the designated hitter impacts situation
A six-pack of Miami Marlins notes on a Friday:
▪ One reason the Marlins kept both Jesus Aguilar and Garrett Cooper is the expectation that the labor agreement would include a universal designated hitter.
Now that the DH has been implemented in the National League, the Marlins are inclined to start the season with those players - Aguilar and Cooper - at first base and DH. Each will play some first and some DH; they’re largely interchangeable at those positions.
But the creation of an opening for another bat in the lineup doesn’t mean that Lewin Diaz has a better chance of sticking.
Diaz has another minor league option available, and barring an injury to Aguilar or Cooper, there’s a good chance that Diaz begins the year in the minors, though he could give the Marlins something to think about if he has a torrid spring.
The Marlins remain confident that Diaz will be their first baseman of the future. But they don’t believe he’s necessarily ready yet. And they want him to get regular at-bats.
Diaz hit just .205 but had eight home runs and 13 RBI in 122 at bats for the Marlins last season. He hit .248, with 20 homers and 51 RBI in 74 games for Triple A Jacksonville.
Aguilar is under team control for one more year, Cooper for two more years.
The concern with Cooper remains durability; he has been on the injured list in all five of his MLB seasons and missed the second half of last year with a left elbow injury. A career .284 hitter, he stands to make about $3 million in arbitration.
Aguilar is coming off a very good season that prematurely ended Sept. 5 because of an injury; he hit .261 with 22 homers and 93 RBI in 131 games. He’s projected to make between $7 million and $8 million in arbitration.
With the NL implementing a DH, the Marlins won’t need to use Cooper in the outfield as much, if at all. That’s a positive.
▪ From the Marlins’ perspective, one of the many appealing aspects of newcomer Joey Wendle is the fact he’s a left-handed hitter.
That’s a good complement for shortstop Miguel Rojas and third baseman Brian Anderson, who are both right-handed hitters. (Second baseman Jazz Chisholm hits left-handed.)
If a team with a starting center fielder asks for Anderson in trade talks, Wendle gives the Marlins protection and a solid starting option at third.
Though Anderson has more power, Wendle has the higher career batting average (.274 to .263).
Last season, Wendle had 11 homers and 54 RBI in 501 at-bats, and Anderson had 7 homers and 28 RBI in 264 at-bats before a season-ending shoulder injury.
Anderson has a career .347 on-base average, Wendle .328.
And even if the Marlins keep Anderson, his durability issues made it essential for Miami to acquire a starting-caliber player who could play shortstop, second and third. They now have that in Wendle.
It would not be shocking if Anderson - along with a pitcher or two - is dealt in a trade for a starting outfielder.
Anderson will split time between third base and the outfield in spring training.
▪ Don Mattingly made an interesting comment about shortstop Jazz Chisholm this week: “He’s a young player that you see a lot of promise. What you try to get to as an organization and as a group is to focus on the work and your routine. You can’t have a good routine one day and a bad one the next two or three. Have a couple of good days where you work and then a couple where you don’t. It’s that consistency that builds good players.
“We need Jazz to be a good player every day. We know every player will struggle at different times, but we need more focus and concentration in his work in all the stuff at second base, focus on the cage, focus on the game. And that’s for everyone, not just Jazz, to learn and grow. We may lose but we’re going to be ready to play. That has to be all 26 (players).”
▪ After signing Kyle Schwarber, the Phillies are in serious pursuit of outfielder Nick Castellanos, The Athletic’s Jayson Stark reports. The Marlins would have significantly improved their lineup with either run-producing free agent outfielder. Now the Phillies are positioned to potentially get both.
Castellanos would have had strong interest in playing for the hometown Marlins if the money and years were appealing. The Marlins would have interest with modest years (certainly not five or six at this point) and not the triple figures in millions that he’s seeking. The Marlins and Castellanos can’t be entirely ruled out, but Scott Boras clients typically don’t take big hometown discounts.
With their current roster, the Marlins have a projected opening day payroll of $69 million – $12 million more than last year’s payroll. They’ve indicated they have more money to spend but it hasn’t happened yet, post-lockout.
▪ All 15 Marlins spring games will be streamed or carried on radio (WINZ-940). Three will air on Bally Sports Florida: Tuesday, March 22 at 1:05 p.m. against St. Louis; Saturday, March 26 at 1:05 p.m. against St. Louis; and Saturday, April 2 against Washington at 6:40 p.m.
▪ Here are mlbtraderumors.com’s salary projections for the Marlins’ arbitration-eligible players:
Aguilar – $7.4MM
Richard Bleier – $2.5MM
Wendle — $4MM
Cooper – $3.0MM
Dylan Floro – $2.4MM
Anderson – $4.5MM
Jacob Stallings — $2.6MM
Elieser Hernandez – $1.4MM
Lopez – $2.5MM
Jon Berti – $1.2MM
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 3:05 PM.
