The Marlins announced a series of roster moves today. Right-hander Edward Cabrera was reinstated from the 15-day injured list and catcher Rob Brantly was selected to the roster. In corresponding moves, catcher Nick Fortes was placed on the 10-day IL with a left oblique strain and righty Xzavion Curry was designated for assignment.
The Marlins started the season with Nick Fortes and Rule 5 pick Liam Hicks as their catching duo. Fortes is generally considered to be more of the glove-first variety. Hicks hasn’t hit much in his first eight major league games but has been known more for his bat, with questionable work behind the plate. Prospect Agustín Ramírez is also on the 40-man and has huge offensive numbers but prospect evaluators have also been suspicious about his work behind the plate.
Rather than recall Ramírez and have two weak defenders for the catching position, the Fish have replaced Fortes with Brantly. He’s a 35-year-old veteran depth guy who signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in the offseason. He made his debut back in 2012 and has received scattered playing time over the years. Despite debuting over a decade ago, he has appeared in just 138 games in his career. 2017 was the last time he got into more than six games in a season. 2013 was the last time he went beyond 14.
He is not really known for his bat, with a .222/.284/.322 line in his major league career. His minor league work has been better, with a .272/.357/.396 slash and 102 wRC+ since the canceled 2020 season. His work behind the plate in Triple-A has generally been well regarded. He can take up some of the catching duties and has certainly been around the game longer than the 25-year-old Hicks. That could provide the club with some veteran experience to help manage the pitching staff, which is largely composed of fairly inexperienced hurlers and veterans the Marlins are hoping to trade.
To open a 40-man spot for Brantly and an active roster spot for Cabrera, they have designated Curry for assignment. Cabrera started the season on the IL due to a blister on his throwing hand but is now ready to return.
Curry, 26, was added to the roster a few days into the season. Thanks to spring injuries suffered by Cabrera and Ryan Weathers, the staff was a bit taxed in the early going. He pitched on March 30 and April 2 but his usage has fallen off, with just one appearance on April 8th since then.
He’ll now head into DFA limbo for a week at most. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Marlins technically have five days to explore trade possibilities. Curry was passed through waivers unclaimed in February. He hasn’t had many opportunities to raise his stock since then but other clubs have been going through injury troubles, perhaps opening an opportunity for him somewhere.
His major league work isn’t terribly inspiring, with a 4.38 earned run average, 15.5% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate in 150 innings. He has flashed better numbers in the minors. In 2021 and 2022, he tossed 219 2/3 innings on the farm with a 3.28 ERA, 28.7% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate. He does have an option remaining, so an acquiring club would not need to put him on the active roster in the short term.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Back in the show! Modern day Phil Roof…
They buried the lead here for us fantasy players. Cabrera coming off the IL and making his first start of 2025 is the big deal – not which AAA defensive catcher has been added to the roster.
Prioities, MLBTR!
“Buried the lede”…an old journalism phrase. Although given the jargon of the red-hatted booby today, this might be considered to be MSM or legacy media. Facts-based journalism is so passe today, so please forgive me for injecting an old school fact into a fact-free society.
Xzavion Curry is the second DFA for the Marlins. There will be many more as the rotation is unable to throw enough innings. Welcome to Modern Baseball
Rob Brantley: 2025 will be the 10th MLB season he has participated in, going back to 2012. 3 of those “seasons” included one game. He has 465 career MLB plate appearances and 7 homers. Gotta love grinders like that.
Rob Brantley: the back-up catcher’s back-up catcher. But he continues to earn service time for his MLB pension.
Do not take Xzavion if you suffer from Crohn’s Disease. Tell your doctor before taking it.
Rule of thumb: Don’t ingest anything with both an “x” and a “z” in it. Don’t ask me how I know.
True story – Xzavion has a younger sister named Annaphylaxis.
Xzavion has been unable to curry favor with the Marlins’ brass.
Hence, his Xcommunication…
X gon give it to ya!
Fortes loss to the team is more telling than some would assume. After an appalling first half last year, Nick figured some stuff out and had a 109OPS+ in the second half, getting some pretty clutch hits and laying down a lot of sac bunts. This season he had carried on with that. Nick will be missed although Brantly should ease some of the defensive pain. Hopefully it’s just a short stint.
Ultimately, the Marlins need to shift focus from quick fixes and veteran stability to developing a more flexible, high-upside roster—particularly in positions like catcher and pitching, where they have internal options who could provide substantial value if given more of a chance to succeed. This shift would unlock greater strategic flexibility and team growth in the long term.
Their problems run much deeper than that my friend
@choof
Totally agree the issues run deeper—but that actually reinforces my point. Shallow-roster teams with systemic challenges can’t afford to keep plugging holes with fringe vets like Brantly. They need to leverage upside wherever possible, especially when it comes at minimal cost (like internal catcher depth or optionable arms like Curry).
If your system lacks star power and payroll flexibility, then developing in-house talent into usable big-league contributors—even average ones—has to be the foundation. Otherwise, you’re just rearranging deck chairs on a ship that’s not even steering.
Good point for sure. It’s frustrating how the Marlins routinely screw up drafting hitters. I can’t think of them all, but so many highly touted draftees stall out immediately in their system. Jacob Berry springs to mind right away. Makes you wonder….
But yeah. Rob Brantly? Really
There are a few position players from the last 2 drafts who have done pretty well so far. Bendix has made changes in the FO so maybe scouting and drafting finally have found some who might make their way through the system. The trades are looking pretty good so far
The Cubs have Reese McGuire at AAA, he might be able to give the Marlins a hand.
He could finally give them the jerk in the pants they really need!