In the wake of Giancarlo Stanton‘s season-ending groin injury, the Marlins are exploring several hitters, including the Astros’ Carlos Gomez, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro reports. Gomez would presumably join Ichiro Suzuki in a platoon, with one of the two veterans playing with regulars Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna.
Since being designated for assignment earlier this week, Gomez has drawn interest from other NL contenders like the Cardinals and Mets, though New York may have simply been doing due diligence. Given that the Mets, Cards and Marlins are all battling for wild card spots, there could also be some gamesmanship between the three teams on the waiver wire to block a trade, which could force Houston to pull Gomez back on waivers and then release him outright.
It speaks to Gomez’s impressive track record that he is still getting consideration from contending teams despite his disastrous tenure with the Astros. In a little over a year in an Astros uniform, Gomez has hit just .221/.277/.342 in 323 plate appearances and posted subpar defensive numbers in center field. Gomez has dealt with a couple of notable injuries in that time, though it’s still a stunning decline considering that Gomez was still posting strong numbers as recently as the first half of the 2015 season, and was an All-Star in 2013 and 2014 with the Brewers.
While nobody expects him to replicate Stanton’s production, it’s possible a change of scenery and a return to the National League could help Gomez regain some of his old form. The Astros and Marlins have collaborated on a pair of trades since Jeff Luhnow has been Houston’s general manager, such as the July 2014 deadline deal that saw such notables as Jarred Cosart, Enrique Hernandez, Colin Moran and Jake Marisnick switch teams, plus the July 2012 trade that saw Carlos Lee go to Miami.
Also from Frisaro’s piece, Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill confirmed that the team has interest in Alex Rodriguez, though the Fish want to learn more about A-Rod’s future plans. “I have no idea what his interest level is to continue playing,” Hill said. “He has something set up to move into the [Yankees’] front office. I don’t know where his head is on that, but where we are now, this team has played too well for too long. We’re right in the thick of this thing, and we’re going to do everything in our power to help in any way we can. If it’s him, or if it’s someone else, we’re going to try to find a way.”
Go for it, have to do something. Everyone else is who is on the dl can come back this season. Stanton has under performed so a Gomez ichiro combo wil won’t be far off from what he’s been doing
Who would collect a waiver claim if two teams are tied (like Marlins and Cardinals at the time of this question).
Obviously, cards will play tonight and will either be ahead or behind the Marlins tomorrow morning.
But in that scenario, who gets the claim?
The team who had the worse record in 2015, so that would be the Marlins.
I’m lost on the gamesmanship part, and putting in a claim just to block. If one of the teams claimed him, why would the Astros pull him back and then just release him? Because then wouldn’t they be responsible for the rest of his contract vs if he’s claimed maybe they don’t get players in return but at least get out of his contract?
I doubt there are any waiver wire games being played during the Gomez DFA. If a team is willing to make a claim they are running the risk of the Astros simply dumping Gomez contract on them just to get his contract off their books. None of the team’s mentioned in the article should make a move to acquire Gomez and give up prospects because Houston will wind up releasing Gomez in a few more days and they can negotiate with him one on one.
Not sure Gomez moves the needle…
If it’s RH power that the Marlins want and Mattingly’s on board, how about trading for Kemp and all those Olivera “savings” and Dodgers money that ATL got from SD?
Are implying they should trade for kemp from the braves? That would never happen after Jon hart specifically stated kemp was the first piece of the new lineup. The braves are paying 8mil /yr for 30 hr 100rbi and unless the marlins were THAT stupid to trade away what atl would potentially be asking for kemp, that i dont think the marlins posses (unless they wanted to make MLB players available) then it would never happen
I had not read Hart’s comments on the matter, which do seem to rule out any MIA-ATL trade involving Kemp.
Exactly! It makes no sense to pull him back if they are planning to just release him. If someone claims him and the Astros can’t work out a trade they will just let the claiming team have him.
Astros want something back and their will be other Bats get put on Waviers,
Carlos Gomez makes a lot more sense for the Marlins than Alex Rodriguez does. Gomez can play the field and wouldn’t be asked to play center field where he is no longer great fit. He can play right field, sharing time with Ichiro. That’s a much better fit for him at this time. Gomez also fills a need with Stanton out. Rodriguez fills nothing. He doesn’t play the field any more. He has been worse than Gomez offensively. He doesn’t fill a need at all. They’d be better off getting Ryan Howard than A-Rod. Howard isn’t great offensively either (averages are similar), but his power numbers are far better than A=Rod’s. I’m sure the Marlins won’t trade for Howard, but I’m just saying that there are better options than A-Rod out there for the Marlins to pursue
I thought that if a player was DFAd and claimed, he could not be pulled back, just if be was placed on regular waivers (in August
He aint going to the Marlins
gomez has already cleared waivers and designated for assignment. he can be traded anywhere or released.
Has Carl Crawford fallen off the planet? He has holes in his game to be sure, but he seems a better option than A-Rod at this point. Has Crawford announced his retirement?