The Marlins announced Wednesday evening that infielder Charles Leblanc has been designated for assignment. The move creates a 40-man roster vacancy for Jean Segura, who has officially signed his two-year free agent deal.
Leblanc earned his first MLB call last July. Signed to a minor league contract last offseason after seven years in the Texas farm system, he earned a look with Miami by hitting .302/.381/.503 line Triple-A Jacksonville. Leblanc held his MLB roster spot the rest of the way and hit .263/.320/.404 with four home runs through his first 169 plate appearances. That production checked in seven percentage points above league average, by measure of wRC+.
Considering Leblanc’s solid bottom line numbers, it’s a moderate surprise he lost his 40-man roster spot this winter. It’s clear the Miami front office wasn’t bullish on his ability to continue to hit at an above-average level. Leblanc benefitted from an unsustainable .374 batting average on balls in play, masking an alarming 31.4% strikeout percentage. He’d also struck out at a notable 27.2% clip in Jacksonville.
That’s surely a concern, although Leblanc actually made contact at a decent clip on a per-pitch basis. He put the bat on the ball on 76.4% of his swings, a figure that’s almost exactly league average. Leblanc took plenty of called strikes and put himself in some unfavorable counts, but he fared reasonably well at making contact when deciding to swing.
The 26-year-old has some defensive flexibility. He suited up at each of first, second and third base in the majors and logged a decent amount of left field run in Triple-A. Leblanc had some early-career work at shortstop in the minors but isn’t more than an emergency stopgap there. Nevertheless, the ability to bounce around the diamond and his solid 2022 campaign at the upper levels seemingly give him a good shot at landing elsewhere in the coming days.
Miami will have a week to trade Leblanc or try to run him through waivers. He still has all three minor league option years remaining, meaning any team willing to carry him on the 40-man can freely move him between the majors and Triple-A for the extended future.
Wow
I liked LeBlanc I wish some teams would give more chances to these type of young guys.
Segura is a block for LeBlanc, damn shame…
LeBlanc is a handsome young fellow, that makes Segura a c**k block? Are we in tune?
{eye roll} That’s not how you spell “kick”, Curly……. It’s with a “k” not a “c.”
Surprised. Good versatile depth piece someone will scoop up
This screams Tigers
Exactly what I was thinking. Time to claim Leblanc and give us tigers fans a New Years gift and DFA Zack Short.
Zack is having a fine minor league career, but just another example of the talent gap from MiLB to MLB. I don’t mind them giving him another shot though. Personally, Clemens would be my first choice to go.
LeBlanc would be an interesting pickup, his K rate and babip is concerning.
I think you forgot how abysmal Zack was in 2021 offensively and defensively. His year in Toledo in 2022 wasn’t anything to write home about. I’d rather see Lipicus, Kreidler, or even Ibanez and Nevin get AB’s rather than Short. Agree on Clemens.
Toronto makes sense. Canadian & they need OF depth.
IF****
They couldn’t find anyone else to dfa?
The Marlins are obsessed with Garrett Cooper, so it seems not because that would have been a choice since LeBlanc can fill his role with the team…at a cheaper price…in a younger player…with probably far less time on the IL.
I get your point but It’s hard to drop Cooper with no viable back up plan.
But aside from Lebanc who else on the 40 man could’ve been dropped ?
hopefully fish can continue to make trades and find a spot for him If He still avail by then.
@Mjm117
Besides LeBlanc, I mentioned Cooper.
I dont get this problem with Garrett Cooper you’ve manifested over the last 2 weeks. No reason both couldnt be on the roster…
@formerlyz
Actually, I’m one of the Marlins fans on the side of not being a fan of Cooper. I know that he gets mixed reviews among those in our fan base, but I always am happy to give my reasons.
He’s not a player worthy of the job security he has. He isn’t an elite player. He is not a foundation or cornerstone type of player. He’s pretty much a supporting cast player, which teams need, but you don’t give those guys job security like they do with Cooper…and you certainly don’t do it with a supporting cast type of player who is rarely healthy.
As for my latest mentioning of him, it’s directly as a result of the Marlins letting go of Brian Anderson while keeping Cooper. A healthy Anderson is a better player than a healthy Cooper. Anderson is younger too. Now LeBlanc is gone. And also Cooper is headed into his age-32 season in which we will once again be waiting for him to be healthy. How many years are we going to wait for him to be healthy? I would get it if this were a franchise player, but Garrett Cooper? We’re waiting many years now for Garrett Cooper to be healthy. Really? And all the while we’re looking for a 1B while Cooper has job security at the position.
There’s so much wrong with Garrett Cooper having job security while we drop younger players who can easily fill his role.
Let me say it again. This is Garrett Cooper. Not Freddie Freeman or Pete Alonso or any top-tier 1B. It’s Garrett Cooper we’re giving star treatment and benefit of the doubt to and waiting for as we give him job security. Garrett Cooper!
Sorry for my rant.
You are just making a lot of assumptions, and acting like him being a good hitter when healthy so.ehow precludes the Marlins from having others ok n the roster…it doesnt. It’s just frustrating in general that he has been hurt, AND the Marlins have also made a lot of dumb decisions. With what they have had, the only time it may have made sense to trade him was recently, but he was hurt. It’s all the other players they should have traded, and didnt, that is an issue to be upset about
Also, as much as I’m a fan of Anderson, he has been injured a lot as well, and to ignore that, while talking about Cooper’s freak injuries, and pick between them makes no sense. Cooper doesnt precule them from using Anderson correctly
The thing about Cooper and Anderson is that Anderson is younger and has shown to be a better player…and can have the upside. Cooper is on the wrong side of 30 by a couple of years. Both have health issues, which I’m not ignoring, but Anderson is the younger player, has been better, and actually is more valuable in his roles at 3B and in the corner OF. Cooper only partially can stay healthy as a 1B or DH. He’s always ready to get injured when he’s put out in the OF.
And now LeBlanc is gone too…who is younger and cheaper and more versatile than Cooper.
And yes, I’m upset that Ng dropped the ball on not trading any of the others, but Cooper should have been moved…obviously before the injury. But after he got hurt again for the umpteenth millionth time, to me he’s a waste of time and roster space. Holding onto him, when he’s not a star player, makes no sense at this point when we’re dropping younger and more helpful players. Cooper has the job security of a franchise player and that’s ridiculous.
My question still stands. How many years do we need to wait for Cooper to be healthy? Are we waiting for his age-40 season to finally say this isn’t working out? He’s 32. It’s time to move on. He isn’t working out. What happens when he goes on the IL again this year?
This thing with Cooper is almost like when the Marlins let Harold Ramirez go while holding onto Lewis Brinson, Monte Harrison and Magneuris Sierra like they were gold. That didn’t work out very well and this Cooper thing doesn’t look like it’ll go well either…especially when his next IL stint is happening and if Anderson and LeBlanc are effective elsewhere.
A lot of Marlins fans are ready to move on from Cooper while many Marlins fans still defend or look for excuses as to why he’s still on the roster. Where does the conversation go when he hits the IL again?
Value wise, what you’re saying makes little sense, and again, doesn’t preclude those guys from being on the roster
Cooper, if healthy may go this summer, if it’s worth. He is productive enough, especially in comparison to what have been their options the last few years, and timing never was there to move him, which has been discussed before. The Marlins havent overextended, building around him, hoping he is healthy. He has just happened to be their best or 1 of their best options. Him being there hasn’t stopped them from doing anything else
Dude, Cooper sucks. What exactly are you defending here? The guy is injured the majority of the time and is limited to DH because his defense blows. So right off the top he’s prone to injury and one dimensional. To top that off, he’s probably about average when it comes to his best skill: hitting. I say that when comparing him to DH and other first baseman instead of every hitter in baseball. He is a complimentary/bench piece that this org treats as if he’s the second coming of Freddie Freeman or something. I assure you that the guy can disappear and there would be zero impact to this team’s win/loss column.
Also agree, and MarlinsFanBase makes a valid argument. LeBlanc should have seen far more playing time even last year and DFAing him makes zero sense. Marlins are a mess with their priorities.
@formerlyz
I see your point to. But I come back to my question. What are your thoughts about when (not if because of his history) he goes on the IL again, and we haven’t traded him (again), what are your thoughts then? Keep him and wait for another year (age-33 season) or move on from him?
You’ve got to admit, you don’t see guys of his caliber enjoy this much time for a team waiting for them to be healthy.
As for as my point on this in relation to Anderson and LeBlanc being gone, either of those guys could’ve moved to 1B if we dropped Cooper. In fact, LeBlanc played there during Cooper’s regular time on the IL.
And shame on this organization for keeping him…and more shame if it’s because, as you mention, he’s 1 of their best options. Any team that has Cooper as one of their best options is a team that is not headed in the right direction. On a playoff team, Cooper is a supporting cast player – probably the 5th or 6th best player in the lineup, who is just a spot filler at 1B when the team has studs in other positions – essentially a very replaceable player. I’d rather have LeBlanc playing 1B and learning on the job for a full season than to have Cooper there for parts of the season he is able to get on the field while he’s spending the rest of the season in limbo because they committed to a guy that can’t stay on the field…who is nothing even close to a cornerstone player.
Thank you @Chemo850
I love our fellow Marlins fans and I respect @formerlyz opinions as so many of us do, but I don’t understand the Cooper debates that go on throughout our fan base. Half of us see him as a waste of roster space, and the other half support the organization’s treatment of him like he’s a keeper that we can’t let go of. I just don’t get the side that wants Cooper to remain on the Marlins…especially as we will now wait for him again to be healthy as he is now entering this age-32 season. This feels like the only organization that would do this for him. And we’ve done this before with the likes of Tom Keohler and Renyel Pinto for everyone remembers the treatment those two had.
@AgentF
Imagine how it will feel this year when (not if) Cooper goes for his regular time on the IL to be followed by mediocre performance, and LeBlanc goes somewhere else and gives them decent performance or if Brian Anderson is healthy at a younger age than Cooper, and performs at the levels he can do.
Funny thing. If Cooper were let go this very second, he would not have anywhere near as many suitors as LeBlanc or Anderson…and in fact, at this point of his career, would probably be a very good candidate of having to retire due to no interest. But the Marlins give him job security. The Marlins wait for him to become healthy for several years now as he is now entering his age-32 season, and we drop younger players who shouldn’t be dropped while Cooper is on the roster.
I don’t get the love for Cooper.
Perhaps it’s the moments when he’s healthy and he has about 50% of his ABs have a moment when he has his signature self-loathing about having missed a pitch that he should’ve bashed. Seriously, could it be that? Because we keep hearing about his hitting, but I see about half of his ABs have that moment where he’s beating himself for missing the opportunity to destroy a pitch he should’ve.
So another year of watching those self-loathing moments…at least when he’s actually able to be on the field.
Foolish move. LeBlanc was a decent utility player in 2022. He played well for the Marlins and Jumbo Shrimp.
He also hit .281 for Tigres del Licey in Winter Ball.
Undoubtedly, Marlins GM Ng is the very worst in baseball !! … Besides Jean Segura, she has done nothing else good for the team, missing out on so many opportunities to recruit a centerfielder, a first baseman and relief help. To make things even worse, now she is getting rid of this promising Canadian young infielder who in a short time demonstrated to be a good batter. No wonder people don’t show up at the ballpark !!
Let me get this straight. LeBlanc is DFAed and Garrett “Mr. IL” Cooper is still on the team. We’ve let go of both Brian Anderson and Charles LeBlanc, but are holding onto Cooper like he’s a prize that isn’t replaceable…and we’re already looking for another 1B…and are waiting for Cooper to be healthy for the millionth consecutive season?
agreed
This might be the worst move the Marlins have done in the past 2 years. This guy killed the ball all year in Triple-A and had success at the major league level. Half their team bats around the Mendoza line. Makes no sense
DFA Brazoban, Castano, Nance, or trading an arm like Scott or Bleier makes way more sense then to DFA LeBlanc.
@stretch123
Stop being logical and making sense! We’re Marlins fans! We can’t expect things to be logical or make sense!
Rofl it gets better! New ways to top themselves
Wait for it! Remember, we never thought Mike Hill could top himself, and he always proved us wrong.
Dear goodness. We let go of the Master of Self-Preservation in Mike Hill and got the Master of Self-Promotion in Kim Ng. Can we get a GM that can do the freakin’ job!
Matt’s brother?
Would be a good bench piece for Cubs
Mets previously bounced Matt Leblanc right out of the city.
Now Charles
What does that tell you about being “FRIENDS”?
Handy in fantasy if you picked him up at the right time, I recall:)
For all of my fellow Marlins fans that are wondering about the moves that Kim Ng is and isn’t doing. Remember…she said the roster wouldn’t be the same. She didn’t say that it would improve.
There’s a difference between a roster being different and a roster being better. Just ask any master of the linguistic arts or defense attorney.
With this incompetent GM at the helm, the MARLINS will be THE TEAM NO PLAYER WILL LIKE TO JOIN NOW OR IN THE NEAR FUTURE..
LeBlanc fits in Oakland as a RH option all around the Infield. Plus wasn’t he the guy that hit the Home Run in Oakland that sort of outed the “mile high couple”?
Okay…now this is getting flat out embarrassing. How is this GM SO f-ing incompetent? This dude looked really good and had 0.7 WAR in a quarter of a season for his first taste in the bigs. You can make an argument that he was one o their best players last year and this idiot is about to release him. Between this and Lewin, how much longer before we can get rid of this moron of a GM? Like wtf. All the terrible players on this rosters who are actually costing 100+ million in total and this is her move. Meanwhile I still gotta watch Coopers plump self complain to the umpire for another season every time he takes a pitch right down the middle
The Marlins franchise should be relocated. Terrible management, terrible ownership, team doesn’t want to spend, no fans show up to the stadium, list goes on.
It’s a joke that the team can’t actually fill a stadium while nice middle market cities are unable to enjoy a professional team despite an ability to sell out for other sports.
Do you need a shoulder to cry on?
If I HAD to DFA someone, probably would have been Nardi. This roster has too many LH relievers (Bleier, Scott, Okert, Simpson, Castano) and his small sample last year wasn’t any good.
The Fish just let go the only other player on the roster who can play 1B on a sort of regular basis. The only explanation I can think of is the FO must have that Casas trade about to happen, and/or they are about to sign/trade a player who can play both infield corners.
This is the name that I also identify as the obvious piece to go before LeBlanc. He did not miss many bats, and appeared to deceive no one…… the low velo problem won’t fix
Liked “about to sign/trade a player …” Seems logical.
Just goes to show you how absolutely atrocious the Marlins’ hitting core really is when you have guys here praising the hell out of a utility player. Nobody would bat an eye if a playoff team made this move.
I’m a 50+ year Dodgers fan and agree with the the guys in here upset Leblanc was jettisoned. The kid can play. Glad the Dodgers lost Ng.