Deals with Yuli Gurriel, Iglesias fortify Marlins’ infield depth

The Marlins fortified their backup infield options by agreeing to non-roster deals with veterans Yuli Gurriel and José Iglesias on Thursday night, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. The club has not confirmed the news.

Miami’s interest in Gurriel dates back to the offseason, and it picked up again during Spring Training. All-Star Garrett Cooper is the only natural first baseman on the 40-man roster, and he has not played that position more than 73 times in a season. Internal backup options included No. 10 prospect Jordan Groshans and Jerar Encarnacion, both of whom have been learning first base this spring and have limited Major League experience.

Bringing in the veteran Gurriel, who will turn 39 in June, makes sense for a club trying to compete in the National League East. A two-time World Series champion with the Astros and the 2021 American League Gold Glove Award winner, Gurriel was a fixture at first base for Houston’s six straight AL Championship Series appearances.

Athletics acquire OF JJ Bleday from Marlins for LHP A.J. Puk

The Oakland Athletics acquired veteran outfielder JJ Bleday from the Miami Marlins for left-handed pitcher A.J. Puk on Saturday, both teams announced.

Bleday, 25, was used sparingly in Miami last season, appearing in 65 games with 204 at-bats. He finished with a .167 batting average but showed some power in limited duty. For a team struggling on offense, Bleday contributed five home runs and 16 RBIs.

Bleday, who played college baseball for the Vanderbilt Commodores, was a 2019 draft choice of the Marlins.

Puk, 27, is a towering presence on the mound, a 6-foot-7 left-hander who posted a 3.12 ERA with 76 strikeouts to go along with four saves last season. He also finished with a 1.15 WHIP across his 62 appearances.

Matt Barnes traded to Marlins from Boston (source)

The Marlins added an experienced late-inning option to their bullpen on Monday afternoon by acquiring Matt Barnes and cash considerations from the Red Sox for left-hander Richard Bleier, a source told MLB.com on Monday.

The club did not confirm the news.

The longest-tenured Red Sox player until they designated him for assignment on Tuesday, Barnes had become one of the club’s most trusted relievers by 2016. During the ‘18 World Series championship run, he dominated across 10 playoff appearances.

Barnes became the full-time closer in 2021, recording a 124 ERA+, a 1.12 WHIP and 24 saves in 60 outings. But he struggled down the stretch, and it carried over into ‘22 with a 4.31 ERA, 3.87 FIP and 1.44 WHIP in 44 games. After returning from right shoulder inflammation last August, however, Barnes posted a 1.59 ERA in his final 24 outings.

CF Defense In The News: The Current King

Read more at the link.

Elite center field defense was in the news this week. One player who plays it is moving on to another team. Another player expressed his desire to be an elite defender despite never having played the position before as a pro.

Michael A. Taylor is the elite center fielder. Taylor was just traded by the Royals to the Twins for two minor leaguers.

Taylor has led center fielders in Defensive Runs Saved in each of the last two seasons. His 38 Runs Saved since 2021 lead the position and there’s a huge gap between him and No. 2 Myles Straw. Taylor won both a Fielding Bible Award and a Gold Glove in 2021 and narrowly missed winning the former again last season.

Taylor rates particularly well at chasing down fly balls hit to the deepest part of the ballpark and using his throwing arm to deter baserunner advancement.

This gives the Twins the luxury of two elite defensive center fielders in Taylor and Byron Buxton, who will now likely get a fair amount of playing time as a DH. The Twins should be strong up the middle this season with Carlos Correa returning at shortstop, newcomer Christian Vázquez at catcher and either Buxton or Taylor playing center fielder.

The elite center field aspirant is Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the Marlins. After showing considerable potential playing second base and shortstop the last three seasons with the Marlins, Chisholm is embracing the challenge of switching positions.

Simply put: It’s going to be difficult, even for an elite athlete.

Batting champ Arraez headed to Marlins for López, more

The Marlins are set to acquire reigning AL batting champ and All-Star infielder Luis Arraez from the Twins for right-hander Pablo López and two other players, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Friday. Neither club has confirmed the deal, which is expected to send infield prospect Jose Salas and outfield prospect Byron Chourio to Minnesota, according to Feinsand.

Salas, 19, is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the No. 5 prospect in Miami’s system.

Marlins Reportedly to Trade Shortstop Miguel Rojas to the Dodgers

Rojas, 34 next month, has been a high-contact, solid-defense shortstop for the Marlins for a long time, and although he may not be an everyday starter for the Dodgers, his righty bat might pair nicely in a time-share with Lux’s lefty bat (and Lux can man other positions when he’s not at short). This is a floor-raising move for a team that already had an incredibly strong floor.

It’s a good move for the Dodgers (and their pitchers), and they’ll part with shortstop prospect Jacob Amaya, who is ranked 15th in a very good Dodgers system:

Ken Rosenthal on Twitter:  Johnny Cueto in agreement with Marlins

Source confirms: Free-agent right-hander Johnny Cueto in agreement with Marlins, one year with a club option for 2024. Including buyout, deal is for $8.5M guaranteed. First: @JonHeyman

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 10, 2023

Reports: Jean Segura, Marlins strike 2-year deal

Veteran Jean Segura and the Miami Marlins have agreed to a two-year, $17 million deal, according to multiple reports Wednesday night.

It’s the first free agent move of the offseason for the Marlins, who are coming off a 69-93 season—their 12th losing record in the past 13 years. And they’ve watched NL East rivals Atlanta, Philadelphia and the New York Mets make no shortage of moves to try and improve their loaded rosters; the Braves were World Series champions in 2021 and the Phillies won the NL pennant this year before falling to Houston in the World Series.

Mets To Acquire Elieser Hernandez, Jeff Brigham From Marlins

The Mets are set to acquire right-handers Elieser Hernandez and Jeff Brigham from the Marlins, reports Mike Puma of the New York Post. Minor league righty Franklin Sanchez is headed back to Miami in return. Both Hernandez and Brigham were designated for assignment by the Marlins earlier this week.

The acquisitions of Hernandez and Brigham will give the Mets some needed depth in both the rotation and the bullpen, where they’re currently faced with the prospect of losing significant chunks of their staff. Starters Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker are all free agents, and while the Mets already re-signed Edwin Diaz, they’ve also seen Seth Lugo, Adam Ottavino, Mychal Givens, Trevor May and Trevor Williams reach the open market.

Reports: Marlins hiring Skip Schumaker from Cardinals as manager

The Miami Marlins are hiring St. Louis Cardinals bench coach Skip Schumaker as their manager, according to multiple reports.

Don Mattingly won’t be back as Miami Marlins manager next season

Mattingly, the club’s all-time leader in managerial wins by a wide margin, is finishing his seventh season with the Marlins. He’s 437-584 in Miami, with one winning season in those seven years—a 31-29 mark in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, when the team made its first playoff appearance since 2003.

“In general, the clubs I’ve had have always played hard,” Mattingly said. “I’ve always felt proud of that.”

His decision means a season that started with a big shakeup for Miami now ends with another. In February, Hall of Famer Derek Jeter—who had been Miami’s CEO, the first Black person in baseball history to hold that role with a franchise—announced a surprise departure after 4½ mostly unsuccessful years that didn’t come remotely close to matching his success as a player for the New York Yankees.

Now comes the Mattingly move, which means someone else will be in charge when the team gathers for spring training.