The Marlins are exercising their 2024 club option on utilityman Jon Berti, reports Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. He’ll be paid a $3.625MM salary next year and will be arbitration-eligible one final time in the 2024-25 offseason before reaching free agency after the ’25 campaign.
Berti, 34 in January, has emerged as a utilityman extraordinaire in Miami, capably fielding three infield spots (second base, third base, shortstop) in addition to frequent work across all three outfield spots. He’s paired that versatility with excellent speed and baserunning value — 91 for his past 111 in steals, including an NL-best 41 in 2022 — and typically average or better production at the dish over the past five seasons.
Dating back to 2019, Berti is a .259/.338/.367 hitter in 1536 plate appearances. That production is weighed down by an off year in 2021, but Berti is fresh off a .294/.334/.405 showing that included a career-best seven home runs in a career-high 424 trips to the plate. He’d have remained arbitration-eligible and under club control through 2025 even if the Marlins had declined the option, but the strength of his 2023 performance likely would’ve ticketed him for a salary greater than the price of this affordable option. The Fish secured this option by agreeing to an eleventh-hour deal with Berti just before his arbitration hearing last offseason, and they’ll now avoid a potential hearing months in advance this time around.
Heading into the ’24 season, it’s unlikely that Berti will be penciled in for regular at-bats at one particular spot on the diamond, but his ability to bounce around in nearly seamless fashion should ensure that he’ll play a prominent role regardless of a nomadic defensive role on the roster. Between Berti, Josh Bell, Avisail Garcia and Sandy Alcantara, the Marlins have just over $41MM in guaranteed money on next year’s books, although a 13-player arbitration class — headlined by Luis Arraez, Jesus Luzardo and Tanner Scott — leads Roster Resource to project a payroll of more than $99MM.
Good guy for a speedy utility player, just not a starter.
But on the MLB pay scale $3.625 million. Plus they get a cost free option to keep him for the next year if they want.
Good player that’s worth the price as a higher level bench guy in that utility/platoon role.
Now we need to go get a starting SS!
I said it on the new GM article, but I would trade everyone not named Eury Perez, Trevor Rogers, Jesus Sanchez, and Nick Fortes. Then sign some lost cost veteran options that they’ve refused to sign the last several years, and go from there, and hope we can turn it around quickly in 2-3 years, instead of a 7+ year waste of time where they likely make the same mistakes again
Also, Jon Berti is the exact type that goes to a team like the Dodgers and becomes Justin Turner-like
You wouldn’t keep others like De La Cruz, Arraez, Burger, Luzardo, Garrett? And if Jazz stays healthy for a full season next year, him?
Every. Single. One of them should be traded, in my opinion. Edward Cabrera is a depends, so maybe keep him for now
Especially Arraez, Luzardo, Burger, and Braxton. Jazz might have to wait a couple of months into the season b/c his value is likely super low, but besides Arraez, he is the number 1 guy I want to see traded
@formerlyz
Out of curiosity, why would you want to trade guys who are showing some production at age 26 as they enter their age-27 seasons? For me, while we still need more pieces, isn’t us having pieces like these, at this point in their careers, what we would want – even if they all are supporting pieces to bigger parts?
I’m going to answer this with 2 posts. The first one will be what I said verbatim about the new PoBO. The 2nd one is further info on certain pieces specifically
This is the most positive Marlins news to happen in several years. Hopefully this is the first step away from the same smugness, ineptitude, downright abhorrent asset management, and all around clownery that has gone on the last 20+ years
I had said the last couple of years that b/c of the mistakes made the last 3.5 years, the Marlins would need to get drastically lucky to avoid having to start over at some point this coming year, and the opposite happened, b/c of their incredible incompetence, where they lost the one guh they absolutely couldn’t lose with Sandy. So now I say it’s time to start over and not make the same mistakes they have, especially the last couple of seasons, which have been an instant replay of 2014-2017
Jazz is the Anthony Davis of baseball, but I also call him “empty stats” for a reason. The only meaningful moments he has ever had came twice at the end of this season. I would personally trade him, although now that he had surgery again, I’m not sure how much value he even has
Personally, the only players I would keep are Eury Pefez, Trevor Rogers, Jesus Sanchez, and Nick Fortes. Everyone else should be a trade piece, and hopefully for actual value, and not Marlins value where they give up 3/4 of their body for a fingernail.
Hopefully, doing that will allow them to quickly figure something out in the next 2-3 years, instead of another 7+ year rebuild where they likely make the same mistakes again, instead of actually getting it right when it came time, the way we thought would happen once we finally got rid of Loria
The rest I mostly mention in the Arraez article
The fact some of those guys have value is why you move them b/c, especially in Luzardos case for example, the Marlins won’t be good enough in the time period they have control of these giys/need to pay them, where it makes sense, so you should get value for them at a strong time where you can get more
Burger just had an amazing 2nd half for the Marlins, completely changing his profile, and seemingly could be unsustainable, so why not trade him for more than you gave up for him?
Luzardo is a pitcher, and I’m not a fan of paying pitchers in general, but especially not for more than 5 years, and they have 2 (or 3?) Years of control left on him, so now is a good time to get really strong value for him
I’m a huge Braxton fan, but his profile is such where I believe his value to be at an all time high right now, unless he can go out next season and duplicate what he just did for a full year. I just think as a pitchability LHP, his value can quickly go down with a couple of bad starts. If he can refind those 1-3 mphs on his fastball he once had, then I think he is more likely to be what he has been/maybe even a little better, but those types of guys tend to lose their value much quicker than a stuff guy. For that reason, I think it makes sense to cash in
I think Jazz speaks for itself.
Bullpen guys I mention in the other article, but I always say that unless you are a top contender, trade bullpen pieces with value when you can. Bullpen is volatile, and unless you are winning the world series, what reason do you need those guys to attempt to hold games for you, when you can get actual value pieces for them that you can actually use
The reason I’m holding the guys I mention is that those are just for now, meaning those are guys who can still raise their own profiles. You also need to still roster a team. So sign some FAs you can potentially trade later to fill gaps, and still let the guys you are left with get opportunities. In all honesty, if you think about it, there is a world where they move all the pieces I talked about, and still aren’t that far off from where they already are, except they would have a better outlook in the farm system. What happens if Trevor finds his mechanics, still have Eury, Edward’s command improves, you get certain guys back healthy, the young guys do well with their opportunities, the few FAs play at their capacity…you’re basically not that different
I am curious to hear your opinion on what I’ve been saying, but also, what your proposition might be for what the Marlins should do this offseason, in pursuit of sustainable success, and winning a World Series. Not sure if you saw the Arraez article, but there is definitely another Marlins “fan” pretty mad about what j was saying, but I think we’ve seen over the last several years that I’ve proven to be at least generally in range of reality with the things I’ve said over the years, even if it’s unpopular
Not saying I’m 1000% right, b/c maybe their resources are way more than we’ve seen they are during this time with the new owner, but I just want out of this perpetual sameness of the last 14 years, and incredible consistent frustration of what could have been so many times
Hi @formerlyz
Sorry for delayed response. Long weekend after some work travel.
With your way of looking at it, I can see and understand your points. I don’t necesarily agree with all of it. I think that our thoughts aren’t that far apart. And I do understand your concern about this Marlins build turning out like the last one. I’ll try to break down somewhat briefly becaues honestly, this is the sort of discussion that baseball fans spend hours talking about.
With your concerns about this team versus the last one. I see some things different about this versus the last. 1) Both situations, we lose our Ace, but we’ll have a good chance of getting full strength Sandy back in 2 or 3 years, while Jose Fernandez was sadly lost forever. With Sandy, let’s say he isn’t back to full strength for three years. That would still have our guys in the age-30 or younger seasons. So, we won’t be completely lost. 2) This team finished over .500 and made the Playoffs. That previous team could not post a winning record. That team seemed to peak, while this group we knew hasn’t peaked yet, and despite how poorly they played in 2021 and 2022, we knew a stabilized bullpen could put this team at or above .500. That other team couldn’t do that because they so many other holes besides hitting, which leads to the next thing. 3) That last tea, after Wie Yin Chen and Henderson Alvarez’s arms fell off, they only had Jose Fernandez. All they were was a team that had good offensive players, but couldn’t be supported by the pitching staff. This team has an opposite sort of thing going on, but they have pitching depth that can win without even having the type of offensive talent that last team had. We just neede the bullpen to hold leads every year [fingers crossed on that].
Now as for the players to trade or keep, etc. I have a different view. We’ve rebuilt to get to this point where we are a team that can be above .500. And we did so with many productive players who are under the age of 30. I think we need to continue building. We may not have enough of the core type of players to build around, but we have some, and we have a bunch of supporting cast type players. I’d be looking for Bendix to build upon that. And with his work with the Rays, I’m inclined to trust him trying to do that as he starts with the roster he has here. Now, with specific players, I’ll cover that as following:
With Burger, I often looked at what he did for us in amazement. He clearly was not the player we traded for. We acquired an all-or-nothing guy. That’s what I expected. What we got was someone who clearly performed better than that. I’m curious to see if our coaching staff unlocked something, or if he resorts back to being an all-or-nothing guy. I’m fine either way because he is a usable player that fills a HR need.
With Luzardo and Garrett, I’m for keeping both unless someone gives me an offer that I can’t refuse. Stottlemyre and our organzation worked hard to get Luzardo and Garrett on track. No team ever has enough pitching, so I’m all for keeping guys that have developed in our organization and are a part of needed pitching. depth going forward. In particular with Garrett, while his mkeup and stuff doesn’t impress, his pitching ability does, so I’m niot inclined to move him. The last pitcher who didn’t have the same tools as other pitchers we had that we traded has been an Ace that played in this year’s World Series. I’m not letting a guy go that shows improvement – regardless of tools. And with the injury to Sandy, I’m inclined to keep all of our [itchers, unless, again, offered something I can’t refuse.
Now with Jazz, you and I are not too far off on a willingness to trade him. For me, if he gets hurt again, I’m absolutely looking to move him. I don’t want to waste another several years waiting for an injury-prone player to be healthy year after year after year, all the while never filling the spot, and the player leaves us with a hole when he does go down. We did that with Cooper. I don’t want to go down that road again with Jazz. For me, he’s healthy in 2024 or we move on into another direction.
Now with the whole trade or don’t trade players, I’m of the school that, if a guy isn’t a franchise player or a high-grade prospect, he’s tradeable. Due to this, I don’t have much of an issue with you willing to trade away the players you mention. My difference is in what should we be bringing back. I’m for bringing in pieces to build up now after our playoff berth, I don’t want to take another step back. I’d be trading pieces to bring in upgrades.
Now as for my way to build from where we are now, I’d look at the following:
1) I want the Marlins to get a legit Closer…period. I feel if they had this since 2021, we would’ve had a better understanding of where we were as a team and organization. We need to win the games that we’re supposed to win. By getting that done, we know how we rate win-wise and where we are among MLB teams. It’s hard to evaluate how we compare when we hand wins out to other teams that we were supposed to win those games.
2) We need upgrades at SS and Catcher. However, I’m not willing to invest in another aging veteran at SS. And, I’m not willing to let an aging veteran come in and decrease Fortes’ playing time. The only way Fortes is not getting the same or more playing time next year for me, is if we’ve somehow landed an elite Catcher in his prime…and we knw that isn’t likely to happen because those guys aren’t available. At SS, I go either Amaya or Groshans. If the Marlins know they can’t handle the role, then I take a hard look at Amed Rosario, since he’s fairly young, and can be had at a low cost.
3) I look to trade Avi Garcia for a reasonable bad contract exchange for a need, or throw-in for a big contract acquisition. If that doesn’t happen, then, if Avi has a bad Spring Training, I seriously consider a buyout or DFA. Or, you can force a buyout by sitting him on the bench and wait for him to go to the Marlins brass wanting out. I don’t want him taking playing time away from Sanchez or De La Cruz or keeping Jonathan Davis off the Opening Day roster.
4) Due to Sandy’s injury, the Marlins will need to bring in some low-risk/high-reward SPs to help fill out our rotation. I would not spend significantly money on a risky signing. If it’s risky, pick it off the trash heap – not off pricey free agency pieces (not another Cueto situation).
This pretty much covers what I’d do.
Let me know if I missed anything I should’ve responde to or clarified. Still recuperating from wirk trip.
I see where you’re coming from in a lot of ways b/c it’s how I wish I could think about what information we currently have. I just feel like a lot of that is risky/unrealistic in evaluating the potential next 2-3 years. If we wait on certain guys, their value can go down, and then you get nothing for players you really need to turn into something of real value. The reason I’m saying to trade certain guys you would normally keep in retooling situations is those are guys we can get the most for, and also have extenuating circumstances behind them where it might not necessarily make as much sense as it seems for a team like the Marlins to keep them, whwe another organization might. It’s part of the same reason I’m saying in the Arraez article I think he has more value on another team
Garcia is just a sunk cost. Last year, I suggested a deal for Ozuna where we pay slightly more, but there were reports the Marlins outright said they didn’t want him/to do that, and look what we could have e had last year. I don’t see any universe where the Marlins are able to get rid of him for a return, so I hope he simply gets DFAd, so we don’t ha e him on the roster moving forward. If there is some bad contract/overpaid deal he can be absorbed into where we give up something, that sounds nice, but could also work against us depending.
I probably wasn’t clear on returns for what I was saying. My opinion is to retool more than rebuild, the same way it was 6+years ago. I’m simply saying get legit value back; pieces that can be used going forward, help the farm system, or be further flipped in other deals. I also think the Marlins have some young players waiting for opportunities that put them not that far off from where they already are/were in the last 2 years
I would still sign FAs. I think you could bring in a couple of more interesting options, the kind they’ve refused to sign the last few years, guys that can be traded for value later, or even help the team itself, if they overachieve/things work out in certain areas.
I would sign 2 SPs that are undervalued/could have a bounce back/can give you innings, and I would even try to bring home JD Martinez to replace Soler, or 1 other guy that can provide similar type of help. Then I would specifically sign/add 2-3 bullpen arms, preferably at least 1 high leverage guy (we could have had Chapman last year…), and 1-2 supplementing position players, depending on who we trade/what we get back.
I think those moves put us in similar position to what we’ve been these last couple of seasons, but with a much better outlook going forward
Random get rid of Garcia idea…kind of along the same lines as last year with Ozuna, or my Verlander/Scherzer idea later in the season lol, but a bit different…honestly, this is more facetious, but it could make sense in a lot of ways
How about Garcia, Luzardo, Bender, Paul Campbell, Okert/Simpson to the Yankees (throw something else in I couldnt think of to make it slightly more plausible)
Giancarlo Stanton, $47-55 million, Spencer Jones, Drew Thorpe, Trey Sweeney, Clayton Beeter, and Brendan Beck to the Marlins
Yankees pay down most of the difference in salary for 2 of those years, and the Marlins are already paying $10 million for Stanton in those last 2 years anyway, so add about a couple million more to that, and you basically get him for a similar price as Garcia, but for 2 more years
Best I got to get rid of Garcia, besides what I said previously
I can see the JD Martinez thing, and I wondered if he’d be someone we go after. He fits more of what we want to do with putting the ball in play than Soler did.
As for the other trades, OK you clarified that. I think the resistance you had was that posters thought you mean for us to go into another rebuild. With the premise of just flipping guys for more controllable guys and maintaining where we’re at without setting us back, I’d be more for that and I think others would be. After all, it would be a tweak to the team, which isn’t an issue with a team composed mostly of tradeable guys. The only exception and differing opinion in that scenario would be Arraez because in my opinion, he brings certain intangibles that are valuable in the culture of the club. With that said, I try to see about an extension, but would trade him in a heartbeat if his asking price is unreasonable. If he signs, I’d actually take a look at trying to bring in Jeff McNeil because I’d love to see what we can do in our stadium with two of those types of guys in the lineup (McNeil as the DH of course). Just a thought out there.
With this other trade to move Garcia, I wouldn’t do that deal. Too many moving parts, so we’re bound to gaffe somewhere in it. Also, I’m not sure if I’d take Stanton in a sizable trade like that. I would visit the notion on a Stanton/Avi trade if the Yankees were that desperate to move Stanton, and if Stanton would be willing to waive his no-trade to come back here.
There aren’t many options for an Avi move, but I’d certainly explore it. Very likely we have to trade off something of value to get it done.
Too bad Avi literally f-ed his way out of Detroit the first time because, if he didn’t, I would have kicked the tires on a potential Baez for Avi trade. Baez fills a need for the wasted money, where Avi doesn’t for us.
I am thinking another trade that my require an overpay of trade chips for an upgrade any way, but we can push Avi as justification for the overpay. How about Sal Perez? He’s a serious upgrade over Stallings, and could provide some good mentorship as we transition to Fortes (assuming that the Royals won’t push for Fortes in a trade like that). Would that be a trade to explore, considering Perez’s contract that won’t be friendly the next couple of years, but he provides less wasted money than Avi, despite being more money, because he actually improves us.
Other than trades along these lines, I’m for the Marlins taking a look at what Avi is in Spring Training. If he doesn’t blow us away, or if he gets “hurt” again, I DFA him and just swallow the money…or, if no one else claims the 4th OF spot, I keep Avi as the 4th OF on the bench to force him into wanting a buyout agreement.
I don’t think Salvador Perez is realistic, and I’m probably even less a fan of what it would take to get him as well, especially after giving up so much in the last couple of years, and specifically this year. Maybe if we had Sandy, and during last year, we somehow were able to have added another SP and bullpen arm, but now…ya, I don’t think that’s plausible
The Garcia trade idea was more in jest. I was right about Ozuna last year though, but ya, I obviously don’t see anything happening there, though I would be cool with the deal I mentioned for multiple reasons. I also think it could be a cool way to see Stanton hit his 500th HR here with the Marlins, and I think there is a lot of value to that, but also, he essentially replaces Soler at similar price, in my scenario outlined, and like I said, they’re already paying for him the 2 additional years beyond Garcia.
I’m more interested in the other stuff I talked about, which is trading pieces to put us in better situations moving forward, with an ability to then actually add correctly in FA in 1-2 years, or make a big actually useful trade, that makes some sense
Personally, I think they could at least approach what they gave up for Arraez/get even better value, and I think that just makes sense for us, for the type of player he is, but also what the Marlins already actually have/therefore don’t necessarily need that much, where they could get that value in other areas they actually do need. I think he has more value on other, more complete teams
I stand by what I said with everyone else. What do you think of my offeason addition opinion? You mentioned the JD Martinez/something similar thing might make some sense. Also, doesn’t it frustrate you that there were affordable pieces the Marlins could have had the last couple of years, guys that we/fans wanted, guys that performed well or contributed to winning, while we had issues in those spots…Chapman was just 1 of those guys last year. Again, we could easily be in a different position right now, but these last 3.5 years, and at least 2 years has been clownery, and I really just want to be a sustainably successful team, and at least be in position to contend for championship(s). Instead, as I’ve said, we are in perpetual sameness the last 14 years