Connor Norby Undergoes Surgery To Repair Hamate Fracture
Marlins infielder Connor Norby underwent surgery to repair a fractured hamate bone in his left hand yesterday, reports Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald. He’s expected to be sidelined for the next six to eight weeks.
Norby, 25, came to the Marlins alongside Kyle Stowers just under one year ago in the 2024 deadline trade sending lefty Trevor Rogers to Baltimore. He was placed on the 10-day IL a few days ago due to inflammation in his left wrist. The specific nature of Norby’s injury wasn’t clear at the time, but he’d been out of the lineup for the final two games prior to the All-Star break after experiencing discomfort in his hand/wrist at the plate last Friday.
A 2021 second-round pick and former top prospect, Norby had a solid debut for the Marlins following the trade last summer. He hit .247/.315/.445 with seven homers and three steals in 162 plate appearances down the stretch — albeit with a 32.1% strikeout rate. He’s pared back on the strikeouts a bit this year (26.7%) but had a tough season overall, slashing .241/.289/.364 in 273 trips to the plate. It’s not entirely clear how long Norby was playing through discomfort prior to his IL stint and subsequent surgery, but over his past 47 plate appearances he’s turned in an anemic .186/.234/.326 batting line, dragging his season-long numbers down quite a bit in the process.
Norby opened the 2025 season on the injured list due to an oblique strain but has been Miami’s primary third baseman when healthy. He’s played 68 games and logged 567 innings at the position, albeit with sub-par defensive grades (-7 Defensive Runs Saved, -3 Outs Above Average). He’s also capable of playing second base, but the Fish have been using Xavier Edwards there after installing Otto Lopez as their everyday shortstop.
With Norby out for the foreseeable future, their options at third base include Graham Pauley, Javier Sanoja and Eric Wagaman, though the latter of that trio has been playing first base regularly as of late. Sanoja and Pauley drew starts in Miami’s final two games before the break.
The Fish also have infielders Jack Winkler, Maximo Acosta and Deyvison De Los Santos on the 40-man roster with their Triple-A Jacksonville affiliate. Winkler is a utility player with good speed who made his MLB debut briefly earlier in the season. Acosta has been strictly a middle infielder. De Los Santos has played both corners but spent the vast majority of his recent time at first base. None of the three are hitting well in Jacksonville, however.
Pauley, also a 2024 deadline acquisition (part of the Tanner Scott return), hasn’t produced in 94 big league plate appearances this year but has considerably outperformed Winkler, De Los Santos and Acosta in Triple-A. He’s taken 144 plate appearances with Jacksonville and slashed .260/.340/.496 with a 9.7% walk rate and a tiny 11.1% strikeout rate.
Latest On Marlins’ Deadline Plans
The Marlins remain one of the clearest cut sellers as the deadline approaches. While Miami has somewhat quietly played well since the beginning of June, they remain in the middle of a multi-year rebuild. They’re still seven games under .500 and have almost no shot of making the playoffs this year.
It therefore comes as no surprise that Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald writes that the Fish plan to entertain offers on Sandy Alcantara, Edward Cabrera, Jesús Sánchez and Anthony Bender in the coming weeks. All four players appeared among MLBTR’s list of the top 40 trade candidates earlier this month; Alcantara was in the top spot. Jackson adds that the Marlins are shopping impending free agent starter Cal Quantrill, though he’d have less trade value than the rest of the group.
Perhaps more interestingly, Jackson writes that the Marlins would be satisfied running it back with their current middle infield tandem of Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards next season. That’s not to say either player is untouchable, but they’re less likely to move than any of the four Miami players who made our trade candidates writeup. The 26-year-old Lopez is hitting .250/.320/.392 while taking over at shortstop. Edwards, who moved to second base, owns a .288/.352/.347 slash with 16 stolen bases. Both players are controllable for another four seasons.
[Related: Miami Marlins Trade Deadline Outlook]
Alcantara’s availability has been expected for months. He’s making $17MM this year and next, and he’s guaranteed a $2MM buyout on a $21MM club option for 2027. That’d be a bargain rate if he recaptured his ace form, but he has had a poor first season back from Tommy John surgery. Alcantara carries a 7.22 ERA with a diminished 17.3% strikeout rate over 18 starts. He had his best month in June (4.34 ERA) but has given up 11 runs in as many innings over his past two appearances. There’s little reason for the Marlins not to listen to offers, but it’s not a given that they actually pull the trigger on what would be a sell-low trade.
Moving Cabrera this summer would arguably be selling high. The 27-year-old former top prospect has posted a 2.54 ERA while striking out more than a quarter of his opponents in his past 12 starts. He’s making less than $2MM and under arbitration control for another three seasons. Miami would demand a significant return for their top realistic trade chip.
Jackson notes that the Marlins are nevertheless willing to consider offers in part because of Cabrera’s injury history. Shoulder problems sidelined him in both 2023 and ’24. He has yet to reach 100 innings in an MLB season. Cabrera departed his final appearance before the All-Star Break with elbow fatigue. While that’s not considered a serious issue — an MRI has already come back clean and he avoided the injured list — it’s the latest reminder of the injury risk for any pitcher, especially one with a mid-upper 90s fastball.
Sánchez and Bender are each controllable role players who should draw interest. Sánchez is a lefty-hitting corner outfielder who has been a league average regular over the course of his career. This season’s .259/.321/.410 slash line is par for the course. He’s making $4.5MM this year and will go through arbitration twice more.
Bender is a 30-year-old righty reliever who also has two and a half seasons of club control. He owns a 2.06 ERA in 39 1/3 innings, though that obscures unimpressive strikeout (18.9%) and walk (10.7%) numbers. Bender gets a lot of ground-balls and has gotten fantastic results on the mid-80s breaking ball that he uses as his primary pitch. He’s playing on a $1.42MM salary that’ll make him a viable fit for any contender.
As for Quantrill, the Marlins signed him with hopes of flipping him midseason. He’s making $3.5MM on a one-year free agent deal. Quantrill has below-average numbers for a third consecutive season, though. He carries a 5.62 ERA with a 19% strikeout rate over 81 2/3 innings. He’d profile as a sixth/seventh starter or long reliever on most contenders. There’d be minimal interest, but Quantrill is affordable enough that perhaps a team navigating multiple rotation injuries will take a flier. If they can’t find a trade partner this month, Miami could place him on waivers at some point in August in hopes of shedding the final few weeks of his salary.
Marlins Acquire Michael Petersen From Braves
The Marlins announced that they’ve acquired reliever Michael Petersen from the Braves for cash considerations and optioned him to Triple-A Jacksonville. Miami transferred righty reliever Jesus Tinoco to the 60-day injured list to create a 40-man roster spot. According to the MLB.com transaction log, the Fish also outrighted veteran catcher Rob Brantly to Triple-A after he cleared waivers. Brantly was quietly designated for assignment earlier this week.
Atlanta had designated Petersen for assignment last week. The 31-year-old righty pitched four times for the Braves. He tossed 6 2/3 innings of three-run ball, striking out five with a pair of walks. Petersen has spent more of the season with their top affiliate in Gwinnett. He has turned in a 3.13 ERA with a solid 25.7% strikeout rate and a 7% walk percentage in the minors. It’s his second straight impressive Triple-A season. He fired 33 innings of 1.64 ERA ball while punching out more than a third of opponents there last year.
This will be Petersen’s second stint with Miami. The Fish grabbed him off waivers from the Dodgers last September. Petersen pitched five times, giving up four runs (three earned) through 5 2/3 frames. He was in the major league bullpen for the final two and a half weeks of the season. They lost him on waivers to the Blue Jays at the beginning of the offseason. Petersen subsequently made his way to the Angels and Braves in minor transactions before heading back to Miami.
Petersen stands at 6’7″ and averages 97 MPH with his fastball. He uses the heater and a low-90s cutter as his two offerings. While he hasn’t missed many bats in his scattered MLB action, he has shown notable strikeout upside in Triple-A. He’s in his second of three option years and has less than one year of MLB service.
Tinoco has been out since June 3 due to a forearm strain. He has yet to begin a minor league rehab assignment, though he has been throwing for the past couple weeks (via the MLB.com injury tracker). This is a procedural transfer that officially rules him out until the first week of August. Tinoco is multiple weeks away from a return anyways, as he’ll need to progress through bullpen and batting practice sessions before he goes on a rehab stint.
MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola first reported that the Marlins were acquiring Petersen for cash and optioning him.
Marlins Designate Rob Brantly For Assignment
The Marlins have reinstated catcher Rob Brantly from the 60-day injured list, per their transaction log at MLB.com. Rather than add him back to the active roster — Brantly is out of minor league options and thus can’t simply be sent to Triple-A Jacksonville — Miami has designated the veteran catcher for assignment.
Brantly, 36, appeared in three games for the Fish back in April, going 3-for-7 at the plate. It was a brief run back in the big leagues, but Brantly’s stay in the majors was extended because he suffered a lat strain during that quick call-up. He wound up needing a stint on the 60-day injured list, so what may have been a weeklong stay on the roster wound up stretching into more than two months of major league service time for the journeyman backstop.
Brantly has appeared in parts of 10 major league seasons but has just 141 games under his belt. He’s a career .226/.286/.323 hitter in the big leagues and carries a .266/.324/.390 batting line in 2743 Triple-A plate appearances spread across parts of 13 seasons. The Marlins have five days to trade Brantly, place him on outright waivers or release him. He’s likely to pass through waivers unclaimed and would then have the right to reject a minor league assignment or accept an assignment back to Jacksonville, where he’d continue filling a depth role.
AL East Notes: Red Sox, Alcantara, Cabrera, Fried, Gil, Garcia, Rodriguez
A ten-game winning streak has launched the Red Sox back into the playoff race, and all but confirmed that the club will be looking to buy before the trade deadline. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has stated that the Sox are looking at pitching options, and MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam opines that the Red Sox would likely prefer controllable pitchers in particular, so this new hurler could help support the club’s talent core for more than just the remainder of 2025. However, as of two days ago, McAdam noted that Boston hadn’t yet spoken with the Marlins about two controllable potential trade candidates — Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera.
While there’s still plenty of time before the July 31 deadline for the Sox to inquire about either pitcher, the lack of interest to date might indicate that Breslow simply might have other pitchers on his target list. Alcantara’s past Cy Young Award-winning form makes him perhaps the summer’s likeliest trade candidate, yet the right-hander has struggled badly in his return from Tommy John surgery. Cabrera is arbitration-controlled through 2028 so the rebuilding Marlins might not see a reason to move him just yet, and certainly not for anything less than a massive trade return. Health is also a concern with Cabrera, as he left Friday’s start early due to elbow discomfort but might be able to avoid the injured list after a precautionary MRI came back clean.
More from around the AL East….
- Yankees ace Max Fried left Saturday’s start after three innings due to a blister on the index finger of his throwing hand, and he told The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner and other reporters today that it was too soon to tell whether or not Fried would be healed and ready to make his first start after the All-Star break. Fried is no stranger to blister problems, and the unpredictable nature of the injury means that it could be at least a few days before the southpaw or the club has any clarity on the situation. Despite some shaky results in his last three starts, Fried still finished the first half with tremendous numbers, including a 2.43 ERA over 122 innings in his debut season in New York.
- Speaking of Yankees pitchers, Luis Gil has been sidelined all season by a lat strain, but the reigning AL Rookie of the Year began a minor league rehab assignment today with Double-A Somerset. Gil threw 36 strikes during the 50-pitch outing, recording six strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings of work while allowing a run on two hits and a walk. This sharp performance is a good sign for Gil as he gets back to full readiness, and his long layoff means that his rehab stint will probably stretch into August. An in-form Gil would be a massive boon for the Yankees’ rotation for the remainder of the season, and the team’s trust in Gil’s health could inform how much of a push New York makes for pitching help at the deadline.
- Yimi Garcia may not need a rehab assignment for his sprained ankle, and he could rejoin the Blue Jays‘ bullpen when first eligible to be activated from the 15-day injured list. (Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling was among the members of the Toronto beat to report the news.) Garcia has pitched just once in the majors since May 22, as he was first sidelined by a shoulder impingement and then quickly picked up his ankle sprain that necessitated a return to the 15-day IL on July 5. The reliever threw a bullpen session on Friday and is slated to throw another soon, and his recovery from those sessions should determine the Jays’ next step.
- Rays right-hander Manuel Rodriguez will probably visit with doctors on Monday after experiencing elbow soreness during his most recent rehab outing, manager Kevin Cash told the Tampa Bay Times’ Marc Topkin and other reporters. A forearm strain sent Rodriguez to the 15-day IL just over a month ago, and Friday was supposed to be his final rehab outing, except the reliever’s elbow started acting up and his velocity dropped noticeably. Rodriguez has been an underrated bullpen weapon over his two-plus seasons in Tampa, delivering a 2.12 ERA over 68 relief innings since the start of the 2024 season. This isn’t the first time Rodriguez has dealt with a major arm problem, as an elbow strain cost him the majority of the 2022 campaign when Rodriguez was still a member of the Cubs organization.
Dodgers Claim Nick Nastrini, Designate Noah Davis For Assignment
The Dodgers announced that they have claimed right-hander Nick Nastrini off waivers from the Marlins. The latter club designated him for assignment earlier this week. Righty Noah Davis has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.
Nastrini, now 25, returns to his original organization. The Dodgers drafted him in the fourth round in 2021. After a few years in the minors, he was flipped to the White Sox as part of the 2023 deadline deal which brought Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly to Los Angeles.
Since that deal, it’s been a challenging time for Nastrini. He made his major league debut last year but posted a 7.07 earned run average in 35 2/3 innings. He also logged 85 innings at the Triple-A level with a 5.29 ERA. Here in 2025, he had a 7.51 ERA through 44 1/3 Triple-A innings when the Sox tried to run him through waivers. The Marlins swooped in with a claim but then bumped him off the roster after just one Triple-A outing.
The Dodgers have taken the chance to reacquire their former prospect. Prior to being traded away, he had tossed 204 1/3 minor league innings with a 3.83 ERA. He struck out 33% of batters faced but also gave out walks at an 11.4% pace. Previously, the Dodgers were developing him as a starter. The White Sox moved him to the bullpen as he struggled this year. Time will tell whether the Dodgers still view him as a viable rotation candidate or if they want to have him continue in a relief role. He can still be optioned for the rest of this year and one additional season.
Davis, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Red Sox in the offseason. He was traded to the Dodgers just before Opening Day, presumably because he had some kind of upward mobility clause in that deal. Since then, he has been shuttled between Triple-A and the majors. He has allowed 13 earned runs in his six big league innings. The Triple-A work has been much better, with a 3.94 ERA in 32 innings, despite pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He has struck out 27.5% of batters faced at that level with a 10.9% walk rate and 48.1% ground ball rate.
He has now been bumped into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Dodgers could take as long as five days to explore trade talks. Davis has been previously outrighted in his career and would therefore have the right to elect free agency if he clears waivers this time. If a club does acquire him, he can be optioned for the rest of this year but will be out of options in 2026.
Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline, Imagn Images
Which Other Draft Picks Are Eligible To Be Traded Before Sunday?
The Rays made an “early” strike in deadline season yesterday, shipping off their Competitive Balance Round A selection (No. 37 overall) in Sunday’s draft to acquire righty Bryan Baker from the division-rival Orioles. Baker, 30, has had his two worst outings of the season in his final Orioles appearance and last night’s Rays debut — which came just hours after he was “shocked” to learn he was traded and boarded a last-minute flight to meet his new team in Boston — but carried a 2.58 ERA and 33.3% strikeout rate through July 5. He comes to the Rays with three additional seasons of club control, as well.
Following the trade, O’s general manager Mike Elias acknowledged that Thursday’s trade was “earlier than my comfort level” but that the timing of the draft and strength of the return pushed him to make a deal sooner than he’d have preferred (link via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). It’s feasible that other general managers/president of baseball operations feel similar pressure if presented with opportunities to add an extra pick over the next two-plus days.
As a refresher, Competitive Balance picks are the only picks in the annual amateur draft that are eligible to be traded. They can only be traded one time, meaning the pick the Orioles received for Baker — and the picks the Dodgers, Guardians and Red Sox received in trades of Gavin Lux, Josh Naylor and Quinn Priester, respectively — are now locked in place for those clubs. There are still a handful of selections that could be traded, however.
Here’s a rundown of the picks in Competitive Balance Rounds A and B. MLBTR has confirmed via industry sources that the picks held by the Dodgers, Yankees and Mets in Round A are ineligible to be traded, as they’re technically first-round picks that were dropped down into Competitive Balance Round A as penalty for exceeding the luxury tax by more than $40MM. Similarly, the picks held by the Rays and Brewers in Round B are ineligible to be traded due to the fact that they are compensation for failing to sign last year’s picks in Competitive Balance Round B. Picks that are eligible to be traded are in bold; those ineligible to be moved are in strikethrough font. The deadline to trade any of these eligible picks is 4pm ET on Sunday — two hours prior to the start of this year’s amateur draft.
Round A
No. 33 overall: Red Sox (acquired from Brewers in exchange for RHP Quinn Priester)- No. 34: Tigers
- No. 35: Mariners
- No. 36: Twins
No. 37: Orioles (acquired from Rays in exchange for RHP Bryan Baker)No. 38: MetsNo. 39: YankeesNo. 40: DodgersNo. 41: Dodgers (acquired from Reds in exchange for INF/OF Gavin Lux)No. 42: Rays (acquired from A’s in exchange for LHPs Jeffrey Springs, Jacob Lopez)- No. 43: Marlins
Round B
- No. 66 overall: Guardians
No. 67: Rays (compensation for unsigned pick in 2024)No. 68: Brewers (compensation for unsigned pick in 2024)- No. 69: Orioles
No. 70: Guardians (acquired from D-backs in exchange for 1B Josh Naylor)- No. 71: Royals
- No. 72: Cardinals
- No. 73: Pirates
- No. 74: Rockies
The Tigers are the only clear buyer with a pick that can be traded, and it’s a prominent one. The Mariners and Cardinals are only one game out of a Wild Card spot in their respective leagues. Seattle is expected to act as a buyer and has been on the hunt for corner infield bats and late-inning bullpen help. The Royals (3.5 games), Twins (4) and Guardians (5) are all within five games of a Wild Card spot.
Fans would largely welcome the advent of additional selections becoming eligible to be traded, but that’s not in the cards for now. MLBPA executive director Bruce Meyer joined Foul Territory earlier this week and told hosts Scott Braun, Erik Kratz and A.J. Pierzynski that the union is in favor of trading draft picks and has unsuccessfully raised the issue in past waves of collective bargaining (video link, draft pick talk coming around the one hour, 12-minute mark).
“This union has consistently been in favor of teams being able to trade draft picks,” said Meyer. “It would help competition. We think it would help small-market teams that have those valuable draft picks. They should have the flexibility to trade them if it’s in the best interest of the team. I think many teams would agree, but the league for whatever reason has, to date, been against allowing clubs the ability to trade Rule 4 [amateur] draft picks. We proposed it last time. It was rejected. I don’t want to commit to much for the next round of bargaining, but I feel pretty confident we’ll propose that again, because we think it’s actually beneficial to competitive balance.”
It should be noted that virtually any proposal in collective bargaining comes with some give and take. Meyer’s comments only portray one side of the discussion, and it’s not clear whether anything else was attached to that proposal. Regardless, it’s notable that the union’s lead negotiator has signaled a desire to again broach the subject of draft pick trades when the two sides return to the table to hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement.
Mets Reportedly Among Teams With Interest In Edward Cabrera
Marlins right-hander Edward Cabrera is one of the most interesting trade candidates this summer. After he struggled to throw strikes through his first three-plus seasons, he’s amidst a breakout year. That makes him a potential fit for virtually every team that is evaluating the rotation market.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported in June that Cabrera was among a number of starting pitchers on the Cubs’ radar. Francys Romero adds the Mets as another club that has shown interest. It stands to reason the Marlins have heard from most win-now teams on both Cabrera and former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara.
The 27-year-old Cabrera has a 3.33 earned run average in 15 appearances. That’s weighed down by a pair of five-run clunkers in April. He has been downright excellent over his past 11 starts. He owns a 2.11 ERA while striking out more than a quarter of opposing hitters in that time. Cabrera has gotten grounders on nearly half the batted balls against him while keeping his walks to a decent 8% clip. It’s by far the best stretch of his big league career — both in terms of throwing strikes and keeping runs off the board.
There’s danger in carving up samples that small. Cabrera had a career 4.49 ERA and 13.2% walk rate before this 11-start run. Still, he’s now at two and a half months of top-of-the-rotation production. The Marlins had limited him to around five innings for most of that stretch. They’ve shown more trust in his ability to work deep into games over his past two appearances. Cabrera worked seven innings in each, allowing a combined two runs with 11 strikeouts and one walk against the Twins and Brewers, respectively.
While Cabrera hasn’t shown this level before, this isn’t entirely out of nowhere. The 6’4″ hurler was a staple on top prospect lists. Evaluators credited him with at least mid-rotation caliber stuff. He has a five-pitch mix and averages north of 96 MPH with both his sinker and four-seam fastball. His curveball and slider are missing bats. It has long been easy to dream on the upside. The question has been whether the command would ever progress to even league average. While it has taken a little longer than the Marlins might’ve hoped, that now seems to be falling into place.
Miami doesn’t need to make Cabrera available. He entered this season with a little under three years of service time. He’s playing on a $1.95MM salary in his first of four arbitration years as a Super Two player. The money isn’t an issue even by Marlins standards. He’s under club control through 2028. Even with the widespread expectation that they’ll deal Alcantara, the Fish could hold Cabrera to form a 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation with Eury Pérez. They’ve played well of late, and while it’s highly unlikely to make them a legitimate Wild Card contender this season, it could signify that they’re not too far from being competitive.
It’d nevertheless be a surprise if they closed the door on offers completely. President of baseball operations Peter Bendix has embarked on a complete teardown and rebuild. The front office may have some trepidation about Cabrera’s old command woes returning. Even if they fully buy into his current form, they’re aware of the injury risk for any pitcher — particularly one who throws as hard as Cabrera does. The Marlins have seen Max Meyer, Ryan Weathers and Braxton Garrett battle various injuries. Pérez and Alcantara required Tommy John surgeries; Alcantara hasn’t come back from the surgery nearly as dominant as he had been. Cabrera himself missed time in both 2023 and ’24 with shoulder impingements.
The Marlins would demand a significant trade return. Cabrera has surpassed Alcantara as the team’s top realistic trade chip. Few other pitchers on non-contenders have the same ceiling. The affordability and team control window would appeal both to all-in teams and to those that feel their competitive window is just opening. It stands to reason the Fish would add even more of a premium in talks with other NL East teams.
New York will welcome Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea back from the injured list this weekend. They’ll have a starting five of Manaea, Senga, David Peterson, Clay Holmes and Frankie Montas for the first time all year. Injuries to Griffin Canning, Tylor Megill and Paul Blackburn have tested the depth. The Mets figure to add at least one starter in addition to potential bullpen and center field pursuits.
Marlins Claim Tyler Zuber, Designate Nick Nastrini
1:47pm: The Marlins announced that Zuber has indeed been claimed off waivers from the Mets. Miami designated right-hander Nick Nastrini for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
The 25-year-old Nastrini was claimed off waivers from the White Sox eight days ago. He’s started one game in Jacksonville since that claim, pitching two innings and allowing a a pair of runs in a concerning manner; Nastrini didn’t allow a hit in that appearance but issued four walks and plunked three batters.
Once a well-regarded prospect in the Dodgers and White Sox systems, Nastrini pitched poorly in 35 2/3 big league innings during last year’s debut with the White Sox. He also struggled to a 5.29 ERA in 85 Triple-A frames and has been knocked around for a 7.58 earned run average in 46 1/3 Triple-A innings so far in 2025. Nastrini has long drawn praise for a pair of quality breaking balls that give him strong bat-missing abilities, but command has been persistently cited as a weakness in scouting reports — and that’s played out so far both in Triple-A and in the majors.
The Marlins will have five days to place Nastrini back on waivers or trade him to another club. He’s in his second of three minor league option years.
1:35pm: The Marlins claimed right-handed reliever Tyler Zuber off waivers from the Mets, reports Kevin Barral of Fish On First. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville. The Mets designated Zuber for assignment over the weekend. Miami has yet to formally announce the waiver claim, which will require the team to open a spot on the 40-man roster.
Zuber, 30, pitched in only one game with the Mets, allowing a pair of runs in two innings. He’s appeared in parts of four big league seasons between New York, Kansas City and Tampa Bay, working to a combined 5.27 ERA with a 25.2% strikeout rate and a 15.9% walk rate.
Zuber has also pitched in parts of four Triple-A seasons but carries an ERA north of 5.00 there as well. Command issues have dogged him, particularly in the upper minors, but he’s regularly shown an ability to miss bats — both in terms of his raw strikeout rate and his typically above-average swinging-strike rates. He’s in his final minor league option year, so the Marlins can shuttle him back and forth between Jacksonville and Miami without needing to expose Zuber to waivers.
While he’s typically been a three-pitch reliever in the past, Zuber has added a changeup to his repertoire in Triple-A this year and tossed the pitch at an 11% clip. He’s still leaning primarily on a four-seamer that’s averaging 93.8 mph, a slider in the 82-83 mph range and a cutter in the low 90s, but the addition of a changeup gives him another offering with which to experiment while he tries to work his way back to the big league level with his new club.
Poll: Should The Marlins Still Trade Sandy Alcantara This Summer?
When we first polled MLBTR readers on the possibility of the Marlins trading Sandy Alcantara back in April, more than 87% of respondents said that Miami should try to trade Alcantara this year, before the trade deadline. There was certainly logic to that idea. After all, the Marlins were in a season where they had no hope of competing and Alcantara was widely expected to be the most sought-after player on the trade market. At the time, he had made three starts with a 4.70 ERA that appeared elevated, but he also had solid peripherals that suggested he was likely to be a surefire playoff starter for any team in need of rotation help.
Things have changed since then. Alcantara now sports a 7.01 ERA on the season as he’s struggled badly in his return from Tommy John surgery. His stretch of eight starts immediately following that poll saw him pitch to a shocking 10.09 ERA with a 16.1% strikeout rate, a 12.1% walk rate, and a FIP of 6.00. That stretch of brutal performances has evened out a bit since the calendar flipped to June, but even in six starts since then he’s posted a 4.89 ERA. That’s hardly an enticing figure for a team in need of a pitcher capable of fronting a playoff rotation, to say nothing of how concerning the season-long numbers are at this point.
Given Alcantara’s weak numbers, it’s easy to make the argument against parting ways with him at this point. His value is arguably at an all-time low, and the emergence of Edward Cabrera (3.33 ERA in 15 starts) this year means he isn’t even the Marlins’ best trade chip for the summer. Despite all of his struggles this year, Alcantara is still a former Cy Young award winner who is more than capable of turning things around. In fact, he’s already begun to show signs of improvement. While his last six starts have yielded that aforementioned unsightly 4.89 ERA, during that time his strikeout rate (18.2%) is trending in the right direction and his walk rate (4.1%) is actually better than ever. It’s not at all hard to imagine a strong second half putting the Marlins in position to get more for Alcantara this winter even in spite of the fact that he would be available for one less pennant race if traded after the season.
On the other hand, the possibility that Alcantara does not turn things around must be considered. It’s easy to forget in the glow of his dominant Cy Young season in 2022, but the right-hander’s 2023 was actually rather pedestrian as he posted a 4.14 ERA with a 4.03 FIP. That’s certainly a useful pitcher, but hardly the sort of ace a World Series contender would feel confident starting Game 1 of a playoff series with. The farther Alcantara’s peak in 2022 fades from memory, the lower his value will go and the harder it will be to convince interested teams that they’re buying low on an ace-caliber arm, unless he’s able to recapture that form.
Additionally, the market conditions this summer are very seller-friendly. There are only a handful of clubs certain to sell, and even fewer who both have and are willing to part with quality, controllable pieces. That gives the Marlins a great deal of power on the trade market, as they hold two of the best controllable arms who are expected to be available in Cabrera and Alcantara. With so many contenders in need of starting pitching and limited options available, it’s at least conceivable that a desperate team would be willing to take the risk of paying something close to full value for Alcantara’s services despite his brutal performance this year. The risk in waiting to deal a talented player whose production has taken a nosedive can be seen with the White Sox, who have frequently declined to trade Luis Robert Jr. in recent years amid hopes that he would put up a healthy, dominant season to raise his value. That hasn’t happened and now the Sox might not be able to get anything of note in return.
How should the Marlins handle the Alcantara question this summer? Should they trade him for what they can get this summer, or hold him to see if he can bounce back? Have your say in the poll below:
Should The Marlins Trade Sandy Alcantara Before The Deadline?
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Only trade him if someone is willing to pay a premium despite his performance. 45% (1,713)
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Yes, get what you can before his value sinks further. 41% (1,545)
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Don't entertain offers at all and bet on a rebound that will raise his value. 14% (546)
Total votes: 3,804