The Marlins have designated outfielder Austin Dean for assignment, as per FNTSY Sports Radio’s Craig Mish (Twitter link). The move will create a 40-man roster spot for Francisco Cervelli, whose signing has now been officially announced by the team.
Dean has seen part-time action for Miami in each of the last two seasons, accumulating a .223/.268/.388 slash line and 10 homers over his 311 career Major League plate appearances. A fourth-round pick for the Marlins in 2012, Dean has posted some big minor league numbers over the last two years, with a .944 OPS and 27 home runs over 640 Triple-A plate appearances (with the twin caveats of last season’s overall hitting explosion across the Triple-A level, and Dean playing in the particularly hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League). Dean has spent much of his career as a left fielder, though he has also seen some time in right field and first base, both in the minors and with the Marlins.
NOOOOOOO
probably a AAAA player, but still a but surpised.
*bit
NOOOOO
Solid AAAA guy.
Magneuris Sierra is out of options. Brinson will get his last shot. However, I personally think Austin Dean should be getting the opportunity Aguilar is getting.
Aguilar has a monster season on his resume. Dean does not.
86 rookie like ruben Sierra
sierra had 20+ hrs and a better BA, plus sierra was traded for hr ball bounce on head for HR Canseco., i dont get the reference.
Rays should pick up his contract this looks like the key guy we are searching for
I really hate the stigma that because a guy played in the PCL his offensive numbers are a fluke. Dean played home games in New Orleans, one of the worst climates for hitting, along with the majority of his road games being in Iowa, Omaha, Nashville, and Memphis. The PCL American conference has a vastly different climate than the Pacific conference (Vegas, Reno, Albuquerque, Salt Lake etc). This is a dumb rant by me, it’s just lazy to attribute many players’ success in the minors to the league in which they played.
fair point
No, it’s the PERFECT point. As somebody who has seen PLENTY of Z’s/Baby Cakes games in the past 7 years, this is VERY true.. NOLA is a pitcher’s park, as most of the ballparks in the American Conference do play very neutral.
Having said this, I’m surprised as well that Dean was let go. He seems to be a guy that handle both corner OF spots, as well as 1B. Somebody will pick him up on a minor league deal. I saw him at LSU, and he’s a good line drive hitter, and is adequate enough in the field to not hurt his team.
Marlins are now tied with the Mariners for fewest homegrown players on their 40-man, each with 10.
Considering where our farm was a couple of years ago, is that really a bad thing?
Marlins develop players? Worst team in MLB. Are they even trying?
Not sure if I remember it correctly, but didn’t Cervelli quit on his team, The Pirates, and demand to be released since he wanted to retire from catching duties?
I think he basically wanted a chance to play for a contender and got the Pirates to release him and he ended up signing with the Braves.
Where would Cervelli play if he isn’t Catching? Korea? The Atlantic League? My Sunday beer league?
Obviously the marlins are clearing roster space for Josh Donaldson.
The Marlins cleared space more likely for Jed Lowrie
Nah, if there’s any Mets player we’re clearing space for, it’s Bobby Bonilla. We might as well take on that salary because it just doesn’t seem fair that the Mets pay his salary, when he fishes from his yacht parked off the Florida coast and when it’s the Marlins that he helped win a championship.
Like others have said, surprising move. I wouldn’t have done it, but there are a lot of guys competing for an OF spot this spring. I’m not sure why Dean wouldn’t have been kept to at least secure that at least another spot was won out by a MLB/AAAA caliber player. I guess with this move, we’re almost locked into Dickerson along with Harold Ramirez, and the other spot being won out or rotated by any combination of Sierra, Brinson, Villar, Brian Anderson, Garrett Cooper, Monte Harrison, Jesus Sanchez, or (dare I say it) Matt Kemp.
Good point. At this point it appears to me that Brian Moran is part of the Marlins bullpen plan this year, which is a bit surprising. I thought he’d make more sense as someone to DFA first, but clearly the Marlins saw no need for Dean in the crowded outfield picture.
Teams tend to not let go of lefty relievers in comparison to other areas that have surpluses. Moran, from a performance and value standpoint, made more sense to DFA, but from a franchise charting and depth standpoint, teams are less inclined to let go of the lefty arm before a corner OF, especially when the corner OF is shaky on defense and more suited as a DH when the team making the decision has many more OF options and are a NL team. With the number of equal or more naturally talented options than Dean, this move is understandable, even though many of us wouldn’t have done it.
You guys aren’t really crying over this player. He can’t play. Then again he would fit right in with these bums.
Not surprising. Was told by someone that works for them that Michael Hill told him previously Austin Dean would never do anything for the Marlins, which explains why it took so long for him to even get an opportunity for ABs. He probably doesnt have much of a defensive position, but the Marlins OF wasnt exactly great in that area anyway. I think the kid can hit if he gets a chance in a better environment
Do you think a team made up entirely of players named Austin would be better then the Marlins? There’s a few decent Austins out there, and a lot of AAA/AAAAs