The Marlins have agreed to terms on a minor league deal with right-hander Alex Sanabia, who will head to the team’s Triple-A affiliate in New Orleans, reports Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish (Twitter link). The Paragon Sports International client was released by the Diamondbacks on Monday.
For Sanabia, the agreement marks a return to the club that originally selected him in the 32nd round of the 2006 draft. From 2010-13, he totaled 138 1/3 innings of 4.15 ERA ball with the Fish, averaging 5.6 strikeouts and 2.9 walks per nine innings pitched. A fly-ball pitcher, Sanabia has struggled with home runs throughout his career, and they were again his undoing in the D’Backs organization; Sanabia posted a bloated 8.10 ERA in 23 1/3 innings for Triple-A Reno due to the fact that he yielded an alarming eight long balls in that time.
The Marlins have developed some enviable pitching depth, with Jose Fernandez, Nathan Eovaldi and Henderson Alvarez fronting their rotation. Jacob Turner could factor into the mix as well now that he’s been activated from the disabled list, and Tom Koehler has been a very serviceable fourth/fifth starter for the team. Additionally, Miami has names like Andrew Heaney, Justin Nicolino, Anthony DeSclafani and Brian Flynn in its minor league ranks — each of whom is nearing the bigs (or has previously reached them, in Flynn’s case).
