The Marlins announced Monday that they’ve optioned right-hander Max Meyer to Triple-A Jacksonville. He’ll be the corresponding move for the previously reported activation of fellow righty Edward Cabrera, who’s been on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement. MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola first reported that Meyer would be optioned to open a roster spot for Cabrera.
It’s a surprising move, given the Marlins’ struggles and Meyer’s excellence through his first three turns. The former University of Minnesota standout, No. 3 overall draft pick and top prospect has been outstanding in his first big league action since returning from 2022’s Tommy John surgery. In 17 innings, Meyer touts a 2.12 ERA; he’s surrendered just four runs on 11 hits and three walks with 14 punchouts and a 48.9% ground-ball rate.
Heading into the season, Meyer wasn’t expected to break camp with a rotation spot. Spring injuries to Cabrera, Braxton Garrett and Eury Perez changed that calculus and put the 25-year-old Meyer back onto the rotation radar. Nothing he’s done this season takes away from his promising long-term outlook, but the Fish also plan to be mindful of his workload and limit his innings in his first year back from that UCL reconstruction procedure.
Be that as it may, the optics of the move aren’t great. The Marlins have only won three games this season, and Meyer has started two of them. He’s been both excellent and highly efficient, topping out at 91 pitches in his most recent start, which included six innings of one-run ball against a juggernaut Braves lineup. It’s easier to manage his innings at the minor league level, but given the overarching struggles of the Marlins’ big league roster, optioning one of their lone bright spots is tougher to justify.
It should be noted that it’s unlikely the decision to option Meyer was overly motivated by service time. He entered the year at 1.082 years of service, meaning he needed just 90 days on the active roster or big league injured list in order to reach two years of service and remain on track for free agency following the 2028 season. He’s picked up 17 days of service already, so unless the Marlins are planning to keep him in Jacksonville for as many as 95 more days this season, his free agent timeline will be unchanged. One would imagine he’ll rejoin the big league rotation sooner than later.
Miami certainly had other paths to consider when opening a spot for Cabrera’s return. Struggling top starter Jesus Luzardo was never going to be sent down, but reliever-turned-starter A.J. Puk has struggled mightily in his first three trips to the mound. Even if they understandably didn’t want to give up on that experiment yet, lefties Trevor Rogers and Ryan Weathers have both demonstrated worrying command issues.
A six-man rotation would also make some sense, creating an organic means of limiting not only Meyer’s workload but also those of Rogers and Puk — both of whom have innings concerns as well. Rogers pitched just 27 innings last season due to injury. Puk tossed just 59 1/3 innings last year while working as a reliever; his 66 2/3 innings in 2022 were his most since the 2017 season when he was still working as a full-time starter in the A’s minor league ranks.
Terrible franchise. Not going anywhere with current leadership.
Taj Bradley dominated in his debut last year too then rays got cute and sent him down. That rocked his psyche and he never recovered.
You could control his innings by making him an opener or have an opener go before him. This move is just plan dumb. In fact, a healthy Mayer not being on the active roster has always been a dumb idea.
Taj was getting bombed when the Rays demoted him. He had a 9.12 ERA in his last 6 games. There were reasons to send him down to work on his game.
Don’t let the facts get in the way of someone’s hyperbole.
He said he dominated in hos debut. Taj Bradley threw 15.1 innings in 3 starts with a 23/2 K/BB and a 3.52- then the Rays sent him down. Aka they got cute.
Don’t let reading get in the way of someone’s great point
3.52 ERA*
You think that messed him up?
If so, the Marlins were right, he wasn’t mentally tough enough to pitch in the majors.
Thx Josh !
I’m man enough to admit that would crush me. I earned a spot on the big league team and I’m in The Show. Then I loose my job due to political reasons out of my control. That’ll crush a man. His ego, his finances, his logistics- all out of his control so someone who acts like they care about him can manipulate his career.
Rub some dirt on it lol
Taj Bradley threw 15.1 innings in 3 starts with a 23/2 K/BB
=============================
Fair enough. I was referring to the second time he got sent down.
Neither Big whiffa nor any of us know if the demotion “rocked his psyche.” It’s quite a leap to assume it did.
It’s about limiting his innings. He didn’t pitch in 2023… He’s probably maxing at 100 IP this year.
What’s stupid is people making blanket statements without context.
Miami does a pretty good job with pitching. Certainly better than most teams.
So then shut him down at 100 innings, do innings in the minors not count? He is not going to sit down there.
Also, are you kidding about the Marlins doing a “pretty good job with pitching”? Nearly every pitcher they have developed over the last few years has had significant injuries:: Alcantara, Luzardo, Perez, Sanchez, Meyer, Garrett, Rogers, and Cabrera. Weathers, who grew up in another organization probably was spared.
I doubt he’ll pitch a lot of innings at AAA.
They can do that in AAA a lot easier than in the Biggs.
Skenes has thrown 9 innings. You can do that at AAA. You can’t pitch 3 innings a week in the major leagues.
You guys are acting like he pitched last year.
So what is he going to do in AAA? Just play long toss? middle relief? He could do that in Miami.
You don’t know who Skenes is? I gave you the example, and how they use him.
Well, if you don’t know who Skenes is, you don’t have a clue.
I’m very aware who Skenes is, stop the condescending comments. It is not a relevant comparison. Rookie, just out of college, never pitched in majors, oh and a different organization that isn’t blowing up young arms.
Meyer has already pitched three games at the majors. He is stretched out as a starter, sitting him or using him in 2-3 stints isn’t logical. He is not an opener and clearly if he was moving to the pen, he could have staying in Miami.
You’re the one being condescending.
I heard, the plan is three innings a week. You can’t have a starting pitcher throw three innings a week in the major leagues. It’s not rocket science.
There is a lot of context now for you. Your insults didn’t age well.
I saw this and figured a 6 man rotation, at least initially, to let the others figure some things out, while also limiting Max’s innings/keeping him in the show/
And giving their limited fans a reason to come out every once in a while, cuz the team looks bad
What a joke
He made quick work of the Braves lineup…he looked good. Surprising move.
I would’ve loved if the Yankees tried trading Peraza straight up from Meyer
And they would have been laughed off the phone Yankees fans are delusional about their assets Pereza not worth much now that the Yanks have ruined his development
Marlins are dumb enough to option Meyer. Thought they would trade him for a SS instead of signing Anderson. But yea Yankees always overvalue prospects and ruin their development
I mean he’s 25. At a certain point the Marlins might want to accept that Meyer is MLB ready.
This move is embarrassing.
He’s obviously pitching great, that’s putting a damper on them losing more games, so he had to be taken off the roster. The road to 100 losses is a difficult journey.
He didn’t pitch last year.
You people kill me.
Halo11Fan
I mean, you can make him an opener if innings are being limited, not send him down, that messes up a guy’s confidence.
They don’t need him as an opener. My guess is they’ll very much limit his inning at AAA. Then bring him back up.
Buehler has been ready for months. The Dodgers are saving his innings.
Crochet has very few innings under his belt. The White Sox are going to use them up early.
The Marlins and Dodgers do a pretty good job with pitching. They have a plan. The White Sox, not so much.
Couldn’t you limit his innings in the pros just as easily as you can in the minors?
Joe— I would imagine they’re going to skip some of his turns through the rotation: hard to roster a player who you don’t plan to play in the MLB.
Luckily for the Marlins brass it’s nearly impossible to say this is service time manipulation. They probably had set an innings plan w/ Meyer before the season even started.
It is inevitable pitchers get hurt. He had TJS already good lord just let him pitch
They need him fresh in September to ward off 100 losses.
After all these years of being amused at LAA and Rox, I might have to broaden my horizon and let the Marlins enter the cherished chamber of confusion.
They’ve been making confusing moves for 20 years. Where have you been?
I get that. But the Marlins moves don’t compare to the “Sign Arenado for too much, trade Arenado for a big loss and sign Bryant to a world-class bad contract to replace him”.
Or the Angels annual signing someone 30+, coming off of a career year, to a long-term contract.
The Marlins are perplexing, but they don’t have enough payroll to make epically bad moves.
Rox and Angels are in a league of their own for sure.
Rockies future is a little brighter than the Angels IMO though. They do at least have some prospects. The Angels again have no prospects and a bloated MLB payroll.
Think they’ve eclipsed the Rockies in ineptitude at this point. But I wouldn’t count the Rockies out from screwing everything up.
A 6 man rotation would make sense if they wanted to preserve innings and limit risk of injury but that’s not their concern. Sending Max down limits their risk of paying him MLB money and service time, if he gets hurt while in AAA vs MLB.
It’s Bendix first year on the job, he probably doesn’t mind losing a ton of games and hoarding high draft picks and prospects. Sending his best pitcher down only helps that goal.
No attempt at rationalization will make this move seem logical. He has been your best player. Young, controllable, and you’re not going anywhere this year, so why not just run him? I like Cabrera, but it’s no secret he’s better suited as a shutdown relief arm than a steady rotation piece. He surpassed 5 IP 5 times last year. Make it make sense.
What an embarrassing franchise
Clowns the Braves and gets sent down. Makes sense.
Y’all need SP too much to be pulling these shenanigans.
Just tear it down already. Trade Lizard, Jazz, Bell, Scott, Cabrera, Arraez. I’d keep Meyer, Perez, Sandy, Garrett, Rogers. Luzardo for Arias, Jones and Peralta is a good start. SD, TX, TB (Caminero) BAL, NYY have matching pieces. Start over, there’s no plan or process
Why would they take steps backwards after a playoff spot last year? Stubborn ownership to say the least. I know they have had a lot of injuries to the rotation but Mayer down makes no sense. Sends wrong message to team and fans
The Marlins have “sent the wrong message to team and fans” for much of the last 25 years or so.
They’re 3-14. This is going to be extremely unpopular but I don’t mind it as much.
They’re sticking to the innings plan they set out for Meyer. My guess is that they didn’t expect him to be in the MLB starting right now but the slew of injuries made that necessary.
They’re not going anywhere without Perez and Alcantara. At 3-14 the season is lost already. A healthy Meyer next year might actually make a difference. Doesn’t matter what bum is soaking up innings for them this season.
What they need to do is think about who they’re trading away at the deadline and who is actually a piece for the future. Bell and Scott seem to be extremely likely to change hands. They have to see how far they wanna go with the sell off beyond that.
It isn’t always the easiest transition to MLB. When a young player is succeeding it’s not smart to send him down and just assume he’s gonna go right back to being successful next time he’s called up. There are also emotions at play not the least of which is anger at the team. This was his initiation into success at the MLB level. If they aren’t going anywhere they easily could’ve just shut him down at any time instead of having him in AAA.
Would love to see a video of McEwing receiving the news.
Weird move for sure. I guess he’ll be ready to pitch for a 100 loss team when he’s 26?
This….doesn’t make any sense at all. I saw him pitch the other day and absolutely dominate ATL. Weird.
The Marlins are determined to keep making poor choices.
This team annoys me so much that I’m really struggling to write a comment that doesn’t violate the commenting policy lol
This is like a team straight-up admitting, “We don’t want to win, losing is better.” I don’t get it. Meyer’s been great.
I agree the franchise stinks, but they most likely only sent him down because he just pitched and needed a roster spot for Cabrera. They’ll call him back up for his next start
Kim Ng was a rather median quality middle of the road GM. Marlins have shown that there was plenty of room to get worse, although they have had more than their share of pitching injuries. Would have been better to keep Max up with a strict pitch count.
“Don your Aluminum Foil hats everyone! We march on South Beach at midnight with our torches and pitchforks!” blah, blah, blah…
They are tanking. They hired someone from the Rays with the intent of operating like the Rays. To operate like the Rays you need a strong farm system and tanking is the quickest and easiest way to build the farm. They will likely trade anyone of any value at the trade deadline.
What a joke of an organization, they are worse off after the Jeter debacle. Who had it getting worse in their minds?
Send down your best healthy pitcher, and mess with his confidence. Brilliant. If innings are an issue, move him to long relief and spot starts. They can’t keep pitchers healthy and they send their best down. The A’s actually are a better organization at the moment.
Wow! There are a lot of clueless so-called baseball fans here and some of you need to get out of your feelings.. The man just pitched on Saturday and today is Monday. Which means he can’t pitch until Thursday at the latest.
Cabrera is called up to take his spot in the rotation since he pitched on Saturday and is the obvious one to be sent down since Cabrera, Weathers and Puk were scheduled to start before Meyers turn in the rotation comes up.
Well, your senecio only works if there’s an injury before his next would’ve been start. Rule is 15 days otherwise.
…and it looks like Puk is now hurt
Nope,merely a flesh wound
Well Braxton Garrett was expected to be called up next week, but he hit a snag with a dead arm.
This has not aged well, the irony of this comment calling others clueless.
This is punishment for Meyer for pitching great and giving them a chance to win a game. Doesn’t he know the Marlins goal is to lose?
Is Mike Hill still GM of the Marlins?
How about DFA one of our garbage relievers to make a spot for Cabrera, then move Puk back to the bullpen, particularly to the Closer role?
And the Marlins bullpen strikes again!
Number 6 blown game they were handed a lead in. The difference between being 9-8 and 3-14 is 6 games blown by the bullpen in which they were given leads.
At this pace, they’ll blow over 50 games this year!
Awesome!
Meyer will be traded a year before he signs a big contract with one of the money teams: Yanks, Dodgers, Braves, Astros, Rangers, Mets, Giants.
What a joke, if you want to watch his inning count which worked really well Eury fyi put him in the pen. The bullpen at this point hasn’t found a lead they can’t blow. I also think it not good for the kid confidence he been great while the rest of the staff a joke. He’s earned his roster spot and was looking like a ROY candidate.