- X-rays were negative on Avisail Garcia’s right wrist after the Marlins outfielder was hit while swinging at a pitch in today’s game. Jesus Sanchez had to replace Garcia to finish the rest of the plate appearance, but Garcia looks to have avoided serious injury, even if the Marlins might hold him out a day or two to monitor the wrist. After a rough first season in Miami, Garcia’s struggles have continued in 2023, as he has hit only .162/.225/.270 over his first 41 plate appearances.
Marlins Rumors
Twins Acquire Alex De Goti From Marlins
The Twins have acquired infielder Alex De Goti from the Marlins in exchange for cash considerations, per an announcement from the St. Paul Saints, Triple-A affiliate of the Twins. He was with the Marlins on a minor league deal and wasn’t on their 40-man roster, so no corresponding move will be required.
De Goti, 28, has spent most of his career with the Astros thus far, having been selected by them in the 15th round of the 2016 draft. He worked his way up the minor league ladder and was able to get into a couple of big league games in 2021 as a COVID replacement player. He got two hits and a walk in his seven plate appearances, leading to a career batting line of .333/.429/.333.
He spent all of last year with the Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys, hitting nine home runs and drawing walks in 12.7% of his 577 plate appearances. His .253/.352/.377 batting line was actually a bit below average in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, leading to his 87 wRC+. But he also stole eight bases and provided defensive versatility, lining up at all four infield positions.
Since signing De Goti back in December, the Marlins added various infielders to their organization, including Luis Arraez, Jean Segura, Yuli Gurriel, Garrett Hampson, Jacob Amaya and José Iglesias. Those moves cluttered the depth chart and stacked the deck against De Goti making it back to the big leagues in Miami. The Twins, on the other hand, currently have all of Jorge Polanco, Alex Kirilloff, Kyle Farmer, Royce Lewis and Joey Gallo on the injured list. That’s pushed depth options like Donovan Solano and Edouard Julien into regular action and thinned out the safety net a bit. De Goti will change uniforms and provide Minnesota with a bit more infield security, an important factor for a club that was largely undone by injuries last year.
Johnny Cueto Likely Out For Several Weeks
Right-hander Johnny Cueto departed his first outing for the Marlins after recording just three outs and was later placed on the 15-day injured list with biceps tightness. The club hasn’t provided any updates on his expected return timeline but Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald provided a pessimistic update this week, reporting that Cueto could be out of action for several weeks.
Without Cueto, the Marlins should still have a good rotation consisting of Sandy Alcantara, Edward Cabrera, Jesús Luzardo, Trevor Rogers and Braxton Garrett, though the depth will be weaker as long as Cueto is out of the picture. The club has a $10.5MM option for his services in 2024 that comes with a $2.5MM buyout. How they feel about that net $8MM decision will surely be impacted by when he returns and how effective he looks at that point.
Rule 5 Draft Update: April 2023
Fifteen players were selected in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft — an annual avenue for teams to potentially acquire talent from other organizations whose decision-makers did not place them on the 40-man roster. For those unfamiliar, in order to be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, a player must not be on his team’s 40-man roster and must have played in either parts of five professional seasons (if they signed at 18 or younger) or four professional seasons (if they signed at 19 or older). The deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 by selecting their contracts to the 40-man roster typically falls in mid-November and spurs a good deal of player movement as teams jettison borderline players and non-tender candidates from their roster in order to protect younger prospects.
A player who is selected in the Rule 5 Draft must spend the entire subsequent season on his new club’s Major League roster and cannot be optioned to the minors. The player can technically spend time on the injured list as well, but at least 90 days must be spent on the active roster. If not, the player’s Rule 5 status rolls into the following season until 90 days on the active roster have been accrued. If a team at any point decides it can no longer carry a Rule 5 selection, that player must be passed through waivers and subsequently offered back to his original organization. Any other club can claim the player via waivers, but the same Rule 5 restrictions will apply to the claiming team.
Broadly speaking, the Rule 5 Draft rarely produces impact players. There are plenty of exceptions over the years, though, with names like Johan Santana, Dan Uggla, Shane Victorino, Joakim Soria, Josh Hamilton and, more recently, Garrett Whitlock and Trevor Stephan thriving in new organizations. The Rule 5 Draft dates back more than a century and has even produced a handful of Hall of Famers: Roberto Clemente, Hack Wilson and Christy Mathewson.
It’s unlikely we’ll see any Cooperstown-bound players come from this year’s crop, but the teams who opted to select a player will be content if any of these names become a viable reliever or role player for the next several seasons. Here’s a look at this year’s group of 15 Rule 5 players and where they stand a couple of weeks into the 2023 season. We’ll do a few of these throughout the season, keeping tabs on which players survive the season and formally have their long-term rights transferred to their new clubs.
Currently on a Major League Roster
- Thaddeus Ward, RHP (Nationals, from the Red Sox): Ward was one of Boston’s best prospects a few years back but went the better part of two years without pitching due to the canceled 2020 minor league season and Tommy John surgery in 2021. He impressed in 51 minor league frames in his 2022 return, and many Red Sox fans were irked not to see him protected last November. The Nats selected him with the top pick in the Rule 5, and after a solid spring he’s tossed 5 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on four hits and a couple of walks. Ward is averaging 94.3 mph with his heater and has fanned seven of his 23 opponents (30.4%). The Nats are the exact type of rebuilding team that can afford to carry a player all season even if he struggles, so it’s quite likely that Ward will spend the year in their bullpen — and potentially get a look in the rotation sometime down the road.
- Ryan Noda, 1B/OF (Athletics, from the Dodgers): Like the Nats, the A’s aren’t going anywhere this season, so there’s every incentive for them to give Noda a long audition. The 27-year-old slugger hit .259/.395/.474 in Triple-A last season, and while he fanned in 28.2% of his plate appearances he also walked at a gaudy 16% clip. It’s been more of the same with the A’s. He walked 11 times but fanned on 26 occasions in 69 spring plate appearances. So far in the regular season, he’s belted a pair of homers, drawn seven walks and whiffed a dozen times in 37 A’s plate appearances. The A’s aren’t ones to shy away from a three-true-outcomes skill set, and they’ll see if Noda can do the Jack Cust dance for them moving forward.
- Jose Hernandez, LHP (Pirates, from the Dodgers): A rocky spring didn’t dissuade the Pirates from carrying Hernandez on their Opening Day roster, and so far it seems wise that they looked past that 8.18 Grapefruit League ERA. In 5 1/3 frames, Hernandez has held opponents to one run on five hits and a walk with four strikeouts. He’s averaged 96 mph on his heater. The 25-year-old Hernandez used that power fastball and a sharp slider to fan nearly 30% of his opponents in Double-A last year, and the Bucs are currently trusting him as one of two lefties in Derek Shelton’s bullpen. He’s already picked up his first big league hold.
- Blake Sabol, C/OF (Giants, from the Pirates): Sabol was technically selected by the Reds with the fourth pick in the draft, but Cincinnati and San Francisco had an agreed-upon deal sending Sabol to the Giants for a player to be named later. (Such swaps are common in the Rule 5 Draft.) The 25-year-old Sabol split the 2022 season between Double-A and Triple-A in Pittsburgh, batting a combined .284/.363/.497 with 66 games behind the dish and another 22 in the outfield. A monster spring showing (.348/.475/.630) and an injury to Mitch Haniger set the stage for Sabol to open the season in left field for the Giants. He’s hitting just .194/.265/.290 through his first 10 games and has split time between catcher and outfield pretty evenly. If the Giants feel he can legitimately play both spots, that’s just the type of versatility they crave when constructing their roster.
- Mason Englert, RHP (Tigers, from the Rangers): Englert isn’t a power arm but had a strong showing in the Rangers’ High-A and (briefly) Double-A rotations in 2022, when he pitched to a combined 3.64 ERA in 118 2/3 innings. The Tigers have used him out of the bullpen so far, and the results haven’t been great. He’s surrendered six runs in just 7 1/3 innings, including a trio of long balls. Englert was a 2018 fourth-rounder who’s generally regarded as a potential back-of-the-rotation starter. It’s feasible Detroit could get him a look in a starting role at some point. Englert entered the 2023 season with just 15 1/3 innings above A-ball, so some struggles aren’t exactly surprising.
- Kevin Kelly, RHP (Rays, from the Guardians): In a shocking and unprecedented development, the Rays look like they’ve plucked a pitcher from obscurity and perhaps found a keeper. Small sample caveats abound this time of season, but Kelly has now made four relief appearances of at least two innings (including today’s game) and yielded three runs on eight hits and no walks with seven punchouts. That comes on the heels of a 3.38 ERA and 21-to-6 K/BB ratio in 13 1/3 spring innings. The Guardians have a deep farm system and perennial 40-man crunch, which can lead to players like this going unprotected; Kelly posted a 2.04 ERA, 29.9% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate in 57 1/3 frames between Double-A and Triple-A last year.
- Gus Varland, RHP (Brewers, from the Dodgers): The Brewers looked past Varland’s woeful 5.98 ERA in Double-A across the past two seasons, betting on the right-hander’s raw stuff rather than his results. So far, so good. Varland obliterated opposing hitters in spring training, whiffing a comical 17 of the 35 batters he faced (48.6%). So far during the regular season, he’s allowed a pair of runs on eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts through six innings out of the bullpen. Varland is averaging 95.9 mph on his fastball and has kept 11 of the 22 balls in play against him on the ground.
On the Major League Injured List
- Nic Enright, RHP (Marlins, from the Guardians): Enright announced in February that just weeks after being selected in the Rule 5 Draft, doctors diagnosed him with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He’s undergoing treatment and has said he hopes to “use his platform to provide hope and inspiration to others who fight their battle with cancer.” Enright is currently on Miami’s 60-day injured list, but baseball of course takes a back seat in this type of instance. We at MLBTR join fans of the Marlins, Guardians and every other organization in pulling for the 26-year-old Enright and wishing him a full recovery.
- Noah Song, RHP (Phillies, from the Red Sox): Ranked as the No. 65 prospect in the 2019 draft by Baseball America, Song slid to the Red Sox in the fourth round due to his military commitments as a Naval Academy cadet. His professional experience is limited to 17 Low-A innings in 2019 while spending the past three seasons in the Navy but was transferred from active duty to selective reserves earlier this year, allowing him to play baseball. He’s on the Phillies’ 15-day injured list with a back strain, and it’s tough to imagine him just diving into a Major League bullpen after spending three years away from the game. Still, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski held that same title in Boston when the Red Sox drafted Song and has said since the Rule 5 Draft that he feels Song’s pure talent is worth the risk.
- Wilking Rodriguez, RHP (Cardinals, from the Yankees): The 33-year-old Rodriguez is a remarkable story. It’s been eight years since he last pitched in affiliated ball and nine years since his lone MLB cup of coffee with the Royals. Since then, he’s been a staple in the Venezuelan Winter League and the Mexican League. During his past two seasons in Mexico, he hurled 73 innings with a 2.71 ERA — including 44 2/3 innings of 2.01 ERA ball with a 43.2% strikeout rate there in 2022. The Yankees signed him to a minor league deal in August, but because of his prior minor league experience from 2007-15, he was Rule 5-eligible and selected by the Cardinals. A right shoulder issue has Rodriguez on the 15-day IL right now. He’s yet to pitch for the Cardinals this year.
Already Returned to their Former Club
- Nick Avila, RHP: Avila allowed eight runs in ten spring innings with the White Sox and was returned to the Giants, for whom he posted an electric 1.14 ERA in 55 1/3 innings between High-A and Double-A last season.
- Andrew Politi, RHP: Politi was tagged for six runs on nine hits and three walks in 8 2/3 spring innings with the Orioles, who returned him to the Red Sox late in camp.
- Jose Lopez, LHP: Lopez walked five batters in six frames with the Padres this spring, and the Friars returned him to the Rays on March 27.
- Chris Clarke, RHP: The towering 6’7″ Clarke faced the tough task of cracking a deep Mariners bullpen and was returned to the Cubs late in spring training after allowing four runs on eight hits and a pair of walks in 6 2/3 innings.
- Zach Greene, RHP: The Mets plucked Greene out of the Yankees’ system, but in 4 2/3 innings during spring training he yielded seven runs with more walks (six) than strikeouts (five). The Mets returned him to the Yankees on March 14.
Marlins, Archie Bradley Agree To Minor League Deal
The Marlins have signed reliever Archie Bradley to a minor league contract, tweets Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. He’ll presumably head to Triple-A Jacksonville.
Bradley had lingered in free agency all offseason. The former seventh overall pick has played parts of eight seasons at the big league level. He moved to the bullpen full-time with the Diamondbacks in 2017, posting a 1.73 ERA over 73 innings that year. While Bradley has never quite recaptured that level of success, he allowed fewer than four earned runs per nine every season between 2018-21.
Two winters ago, the Oklahoma native inked a $3.75MM free agent deal with the Angels. His stint in Orange County didn’t go according to plan. Bradley threw 18 2/3 innings over 21 outings, allowing 13 runs (10 earned). He punched out only 19.2% of opposing hitters while generating whiffs on a well below-average 8.1% of his offerings. Bradley induced ground balls at a huge 57.1% clip but the lackluster strikeout tallies contributed to a 4.82 ERA that was his worst since moving to relief.
His season came to an unceremonious end in late June. Bradley fractured his throwing elbow when he slipped while trying to hop the dugout railing during a bench-clearing brawl. He’d been set to return at the tail end of the season but was diagnosed with a forearm strain.
On the heels of that rough platform showing, it’s not surprising Bradley had to settle for a minor league pact. He’ll surely need some time to build into game shape but could factor into the Miami bullpen during the year. The Marlins’ relief corps has struggled in the early going, allowing a 6.02 ERA that’s fourth-highest in the majors. Miami’s 38.8% grounder rate is 25th in MLB, so Bradley’s high-grounder profile could complement the group once he’s ready to go.
Pirates Claim Eli Villalobos From Marlins
The Pirates announced they’ve claimed reliever Eli Villalobos off waivers from the Marlins and optioned him to Triple-A Indianapolis. The righty had been designated for assignment over the weekend. In a corresponding move, Pittsburgh transferred shortstop Oneil Cruz to the 60-day injured list.
Villalobos has yet to make his major league debut. The 6’4″ hurler was added to Miami’s 40-man roster at the start of last offseason to keep another team from selecting him in the Rule 5 draft. It was a strong development for the Long Beach State product, who’d entered the professional ranks as a 14th-round pick in 2019. He earned the roster spot on the heels of a strong 2022 campaign in the upper minors.
Between Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Jacksonville, Villalobos posted a 2.86 ERA over 78 2/3 innings. He’d punched out an excellent 32.7% of batters faced against a serviceable 9.3% walk percentage. He also induced ground balls at a better than average clip at both stops. Once he’d secured the 40-man spot, he looked like a short-term bullpen option in Miami.
The 25-year-old had a disastrous first few days of this season however. Optioned to Jacksonville out of camp, he’s surrendered six runs in three appearances totaling 4 2/3 frames. Villalobos has walked and struck out seven batters apiece. It was an exceedingly small sample but enough to squeeze him off the roster when the Fish needed a spot for long reliever Devin Smeltzer over the weekend.
Pittsburgh was operating with a de facto vacant roster spot. Cruz fractured his ankle on Sunday and underwent surgery that’s likely to sideline him at least into August. That made it a formality he’d wind up on the 60-day IL whenever the Bucs wanted to add someone else. Villalobos becomes the early beneficiary and will head to Indianapolis as bullpen depth. He has a full slate of minor league option years remaining and can shuttle on and off the MLB roster for the foreseeable future if he’s able to get back on track in his new organization.
Marlins Place JT Chargois On IL With Oblique Strain
The Marlins announced that they have placed right-hander JT Chargois on the 15-day injured list due to a right oblique strain. Fellow righty George Soriano was recalled in a corresponding move. Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reported on the moves prior to the official announcement and also relayed that Chargois will undergo an MRI to determine the severity of his strain.
Chargois, 32, is a late-blooming journeyman, having spent time in the big leagues with the Twins, Dodgers, Mariners, Rays and Marlins. He was traded from Seattle to Tampa at the 2021 deadline and posted a 1.90 ERA for the Rays down the stretch. He followed that up by registering a 2.42 ERA last year, striking out just 19.8% of batters faced but keeping his walks down to a 5.8% clip and getting grounders on 59.7% of balls in play. Those numbers from last year came over a relatively small sample of 21 appearances as left oblique tightness kept him on the injured list for about four months from April to August.
Despite that solid stretch of play, the Rays were facing a roster crunch at the end of last year. They had a batch of players that needed to be added in order to protect them from being selected in the Rule 5 draft and another big crop eligible for arbitration. They dealt with that logjam by making eight relatively minor trades in November and December, dealing away players like J.P. Feyereisen, Ji Man Choi and Brooks Raley. One of those deals saw Chargois and infielder Xavier Edwards become Marlins, with prospects going the other way. Chargois has made five scoreless appearances for the Marlins already in the young season, not even allowing a hit or a walk yet. He wasn’t going to sustain that forever, obviously, but it’s still a blow for the Marlins to lose a reliever who was off to a hot start. It’s unclear how long he’ll be out of action, with the upcoming MRI surely to provide more information, though even mild oblique strains usually lead to weeks-long absences. Chargois himself missed that lengthy stretch just last year due to issues with his left oblique.
As for Soriano, 24, he’ll be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. He was a starter for most of his minor league career but worked exclusively in relief upon reaching Triple-A last year. In 32 appearances for the Jumbo Shrimp, he had a 2.49 ERA, 25.7% strikeout rate, 12% walk rate and 34.5% ground ball rate. Based on that performance, he was selected to the 40-man roster in November to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft and was ranked the club’s #25 prospect by Baseball America.
Avisail Garcia, J.T. Chargois Exit With Apparent Injuries
- Starling Marte left today’s game against the Marlins after the first inning due to what the Mets described as a neck strain. Marte suffered the injury while stealing third base in the bottom of the first, as Marte’s slide took him headfirst into the knee of Miami third baseman Jean Segura. He remained in the game for the remainder of the inning, but Jeff McNeil moved from second base to take Marte’s spot in the right field for the top of the second. Manager Buck Showalter expressed optimism regarding Marte, telling reporters (including Laura Albanese of Newsday) “so far so good” as it pertains to Marte having avoided a concussion. Any missed time by Marte seems likely to benefit outfielder Tommy Pham in terms of playing time, though it’s also possible that the club could call up a player like Danny Mendick to take some starts if Marte requires a trip to the injured list.
- The Marlins had a pair of players leave today’s game as well, with Avisail Garcia exiting the game with what was termed “left hamstring soreness”, according to the Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson, while J.T. Chargois exited with an apparent injury just three pitches into the seventh inning. Chargois, who the Marlins acquired from the Rays via trade back in November, has been a useful reliever in recent years, recording a 2.36 ERA with a 23.6% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate in 80 innings since the start of the 2021 season. Garcia, on the other hand, is entering the second season of a four-year deal he signed with the Marlins prior to the 2021 season that he has struggled to live up to to this point. Despite entering the contract as a career 104 wRC+ hitter coming off a strong 29-homer season in 2021 where he posted a wRC+ of 116, Garcia has slashed just .216/.259/.310 (62 wRC+) in his first 106 games as a Marlin, with a 28.9% strikeout rate above his career norms and just nine home runs.
Marlins Select Devin Smeltzer, Designate Eli Villalobos
The Marlins selected the contract of left-hander Devin Smeltzer, according to the Miami Herald’s Jordan McPherson (Twitter link). In corresponding moves, lefty Daniel Castano was optioned to Triple-A, and right-hander Eli Villalobos was designated for assignment.
Smeltzer signed a minor league deal with the Marlins back in January, and the southpaw will now lock in a $1MM guaranteed salary for making the team’s Major League roster. Once he appears in a game with Miami, it will mark Smeltzer’s fifth season in the big leagues, after spending his first four years with the Twins. With a 3.99 ERA over 140 career innings, Smeltzer’s bottom-line results have been solid, even if advanced metrics haven’t been sold on his low-velocity and low-strikeout repertoire.
The left-hander has only a 16.6% strikeout rate at the MLB level, but he has shown solid control with a 6.4% walk rate. Working as both a starter and a reliever, Smeltzer was a useful swingman for the Twins, and started 12 of his 15 appearances last season. With Johnny Cueto on the 15-day injured list, Braxton Garrett has been filling in as part of Miami’s rotation, so Smeltzer could provide more starting depth.
The Marlins added Villalobos to their 40-man roster last November in advance of the Rule 5 Draft, protecting the 25-year-old from any teams intrigued by his impressive minor league numbers. Over 61 1/3 innings at Double-A and 17 1/3 innings at Triple-A in 2022, Villalobos had a combined 2.86 ERA, 32.7% strikeout rate, and 9.4% walk rate. Unfortunately, things haven’t gone nearly as smoothly for the righty this season, as Villalobos was rocked for an 11.57 ERA in 4 2/3 innings at Triple-A, with two homers allowed and as many walks (seven) as strikeouts. These numbers might dissuade teams from making a waiver claim, but it’s possible a club might still be intrigued by Villalobos’ ability to miss bats.
Marlins Discussed Tyler O'Neill In Offseason Talks With Cardinals
Tyler O’Neill’s name was part of trade talks with the Marlins and other teams this winter, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports. Back in January, Rosenthal wrote that St. Louis had shown interest in the Marlins’ pitching, and since Miami was known to be looking for outfield help, it stands to reason that O’Neill was part of those discussions. No trade materialized between the two sides, of course, and it isn’t known if O’Neill was necessarily one of the Marlins’ top targets on the St. Louis roster, or if the Cards were more open to moving O’Neill than any of their outfielders.
Given all of the Cardinals’ outfield depth and the Marlins’ rotation depth, any number of names or potential trades could’ve been floated in negotiations — likewise, any team engaging the Cardinals in outfield-related trade talks might’ve had a few options in mind. While O’Neill was coming off a relative down year in 2022, that doesn’t mean rival clubs wouldn’t have still had trade interest, perhaps hoping to nab the two-time Gold Glover in a buy-low situation.
