Jean Segura

Orioles Release Jean Segura, Outright Nick Vespi

By Mark Polishuk | September 1, 2024 at 4:58pm CDT

Amidst an already busy day of Orioles transactions, the O’s announced two more moves, as infielder Jean Segura has been released from his minor league contract and left-hander Nick Vespi was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk.

Segura signed his minors deal in August, and hit only .137/.250/.196 over 60 plate appearances in 14 games with Norfolk. This marked Segura’s first game action of any kind since his last game as a member of the Marlins on July 31, 2023. The Marlins traded Segura to the Guardians the next day as part of the deadline deal that brought Josh Bell to the Miami, and since Segura was only included in the trade as salary offset, Cleveland immediately released the veteran infielder.

MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko (via X) notes that Segura asked to be released and the Orioles granted the request, which could be interpreted in a few ways. It could be that Segura wanted to pursue other opportunities if Baltimore wasn’t going to add him to the MLB roster, or it might be a hint that Segura might be considering retirement. Because Segura didn’t play any winter ball and there wasn’t any indication that he was seeking out another playing contract in the year since the Guardians released him, his deal with the O’s could be viewed as one final attempt at reviving his playing career.

The two-year, $17MM free agent contract Segura signed with the Marlins in the 2022-23 offseason expires at the end of this season, which could also provide something of a clean break for the official end of his playing career. It remains to be seen if Segura is indeed thinking about calling it a career, but if so, his rough results with Miami in 2023 shouldn’t obscure an otherwise very solid 12-season run in the majors that included a pair of All-Star nods.

Baltimore designated Vespi for assignment last week, and he’ll now head to Triple-A after he cleared waivers and was removed from the Orioles’ 40-man roster. This was the first time Vespi has been outrighted, and he doesn’t have enough MLB service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Vespi will instead head to Norfolk, which is a familiar path for a pitcher who has often been shuttled back and forth between the majors and minors since he made his big league debut in 2022. Vespi has looked pretty solid with a 3.88 ERA in his 53 1/3 career innings in the Show, but his lack of strikeout ability has made him somewhat of a back-of-the-bullpen arm in the Orioles’ eyes. Vespi has already been promoted and optioned to Triple-A the maximum five times this season.

Orioles Sign Jean Segura To Minor League Deal

By Darragh McDonald | August 9, 2024 at 5:25pm CDT

The Orioles announced that they have signed infielder Jean Segura to a minor league deal. The veteran has been out of affiliated ball for over a year, having been released by the Guardians at the start of August last year. He could perhaps report to Triple-A Norfolk shortly but may also go to another affiliate for a tune-up after his long layoff.

It’s a surprising signing that comes completely out of the blue. Not only has Segura not played any official games in the past year, he also wasn’t featured in any substantive offseason rumors, nor does it appear that he played in any winter or foreign leagues.

The absence comes on the heels of his worst career season. He hit .219/.277/.279 for a 52 wRC+ in 85 games for the Marlins last year, the first season of a two-year, $17MM deal that he signed with the Fish. He and Kahlil Watson were flipped to the Guardians for Josh Bell at the deadline, but the Guards immediately released Segura, indicating his inclusion was simply for financial reasons. No team signed Segura for the final two months or for 2024, until now.

Prior to his awful 2023 season, he had a lengthy run as a solid player in the big leagues. From 2016 to 2022, he got into 849 games between the Diamondbacks, Mariners and Phillies. He got to double-digit home runs in every full season of that stretch and had at least nine stolen bases in all of them. Overall, he hit 84 long balls and slashed .295/.345/.434 for a wRC+ of 107 while swiping 109 bases. He was gradually moved from shortstop to second base in that stretch, playing a bit of third base as well, and produced 21.9 wins above replacement in the eyes of FanGraphs.

Whether Segura can engineer a bounceback after his rough 2023 season and long stint away from the game is anyone’s guess, but there’s no real risk for the Orioles in trying. The Guardians are still on the hook for the final year of his contract, so the O’s would only have to pay Segura the prorated league minimum for any time he ultimately spends on their roster, which would be subtracted from what Cleveland pays.

Not too long ago, the Baltimore infield was characterized by having more good players than opportunities, but the situation has changed significantly in the past few weeks. They included Connor Norby in the Trevor Rogers deal and also saw Jordan Westburg and Jorge Mateo land on the injured list.

They still have a solid infield mix though third base is perhaps a little less impressive than the other spots. Ryan O’Hearn and Ryan Mountcastle are sharing first base while Jackson Holliday and Gunnar Henderson have the middle spots covered. At the hot corner, Ramón Urías and Coby Mayo are the top options at the moment. Mayo just got called up but his first 15 major league plate appearances have resulted in a line of .000/.133/.000. Urías has a much better line of .234/.309/.364, though that still leads to a subpar 95 wRC+. Urías does have a strong defensive reputation but his numbers in that department are down this year: -3 Defensive Runs Saved and -6 Outs Above Average from the third base spot.

The O’s can take a close-up look at the veteran Segura in the coming weeks and see how it goes. Perhaps he can convince the club’s decision makers that he’s an upgrade over their current options or simply provide them with some non-roster depth in case another injury pops up in the coming weeks. He’ll be competing with guys like Terrin Vavra and Liván Soto, who are each on the 40-man roster but currently on optional assignment, as well as non-roster guys like Niko Goodrum, J.D. Davis and Nick Maton.

Kim Ng Preferred Justin Turner To Jean Segura Last Offseason

By Leo Morgenstern | October 18, 2023 at 3:37pm CDT

Former Marlins GM Kim Ng remains a popular topic of conversation around baseball, following her surprise departure from the organization earlier this week. This morning, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald provided some insight into one of Ng’s worst errors of judgment during her tenure in Miami: signing Jean Segura to a two-year, $17MM deal last winter. According to Jackson, the executive wanted Justin Turner to play third base for the Marlins in 2023, but she was forced to change gears and pursue Segura after Turner signed with the Red Sox.

From 2020-22, Segura was an above-average hitter and a capable infield defender for the Phillies. However, the 33-year-old struggled tremendously in 2023, hitting .219 with a 52 wRC+ in 85 games for the Marlins. He also had trouble on the other side of the ball, committing 10 errors and compiling -9 Defensive Runs Saved and -4 Outs Above Average. With -1.3 FanGraphs WAR, the former All-Star was one of the least valuable players in the National League. Ultimately, the Marlins dealt Segura to the Guardians at the deadline, and Cleveland released him the same day. He has not played professional baseball since.

Turner, on the other hand, played a solid campaign for the Red Sox. His 114 wRC+ was his lowest since 2013, but he set a new career-high in plate appearances and RBI. In 146 games, he smacked 23 home runs and put the ball in play at an elite rate, finishing with the seventh-highest contact rate in the American League. That said, it’s worth mentioning that he took most of his reps at DH and first base. The 38-year-old played just 58 games in the field and only seven at the hot corner. He made three errors in 57 innings at third base, so it’s fair to wonder if he could have handled the position on a full-time basis for Miami.

It isn’t news that the Marlins were interested in Turner last winter, but Jackson’s report clarifies why they wound up with Segura instead. This new information paints Ng’s decision to sign Segura in a more positive light – he wasn’t her first choice, after all – although if she so strongly preferred Turner, it’s hard to imagine she couldn’t have beat Boston’s offer. Turner signed for two years and $21.7MM guaranteed, only $2.35MM more per year than Segura would command.

More to the point, while signing Turner might have gotten the Marlins more bang for their buck, Ng would eventually find a way to right her wrongs. She flipped Segura to the Guardians for Josh Bell, who played an instrumental role in Miami’s run to the playoffs. Moreover, she traded for Jake Burger of the White Sox, who now looks like the Marlins’ third baseman of the future. All front office executives sign bad contracts from time to time, and to her credit, Ng did an excellent job turning things around. Indeed, if the Marlins had signed Turner instead of Segura, they might not have traded for Bell or Burger, and their improbable postseason run might never have happened.

Marlins Acquire Josh Bell; Guardians Receive Kahlil Watson, Will Release Jean Segura

By Anthony Franco | August 1, 2023 at 5:35pm CDT

The Marlins announced the acquisition of first baseman Josh Bell from the Guardians. Cleveland agreed to take on the contract of infielder Jean Segura — whom they intend to release — while acquiring infield prospect Kahlil Watson.

It’s an out-of-the-blue swap that continues a surprisingly active day for the Marlins. Miami shipped out pitching prospect Jake Eder to install Jake Burger at the hot corner. That apparently set the stage for them to move on from Segura, whose two-year free agent contract didn’t work at all as the club had envisioned.

That was a means of adding offense at one corner infield spot. They’ll hope for the same across the diamond, as they swapped in Bell for Garrett Cooper. Miami dealt their incumbent first baseman to the Padres for starting pitcher Ryan Weathers.

The series of moves results in a buy-low flier on Bell. As with Segura, he signed an ill-fated two-year free agent deal last offseason. The Guardians guaranteed the switch-hitter a two-year, $33MM pact. He can opt out of the deal at the end of the first season. It’s all but a given he’ll elect to play out the contract given the way in which his time in Cleveland transpired.

Bell is hitting .233/.318/.383 over 393 trips to the plate. His 10.9% walk percentage and 20.6% strikeout rate are both solid, but his batted ball results are middling. Bell has managed just 11 home runs and a .272 batting average on balls in play. As has been an issue throughout his career, he’s had a tough time elevating the ball. Bell is putting the ball on the ground at a lofty 48.5% clip, an obviously suboptimal number for a player whose game is built around power.

Still, the high grounder tallies are nothing new. He’s had plenty of success in spite of a propensity for low-angle contact. He combined for a .264/.355/.448 line in more than 1200 plate appearances between 2021-22. At his best, he’s a middle-of-the-order caliber bat. Miami will obviously hope for a return to form in a new environment.

Miami general manager Kim Ng and her staff clearly believe there’s more untapped potential remaining for Bell than with Segura. The Fish had signed the longtime second baseman to a two-year, $17MM pact with a plan to bump him to third base. It was a risk defensively that hasn’t paid off, as the veteran received well below-average marks for his 720 1/3 innings at the hot corner.

More concerning, Segura didn’t bring anything approaching his previous offensive form. He’s long been a slightly above-average hitter, combining double-digit homer power with excellent contact skills. This was his worst offensive season, however, as he managed only a .219/.277/.279 showing through 326 plate appearances as a Marlin.

Segura’s underlying offensive marks aren’t that far off those of previous seasons. His 38.8% hard contact rate is a near match for last year’s mark. That’s also true of his 6.7% walk percentage and 14.4% strikeout rate. Segura’s results simply weren’t up to par and the Fish elected to move on.

Given that Cleveland is immediately releasing Segura, his inclusion in the trade is strictly a financial measure. Bell is making $16.5MM this season and next. Segura is making $6.5MM this year and $8.5MM next season, as well as a $2MM buyout on a 2025 option. Bell is owed roughly $5.41MM through season’s end; Segura will make $2.13MM down the stretch. Miami takes on roughly $3.28MM this year and $6MM beyond this season to upgrade from Segura to Bell.

Segura will go unclaimed on release waivers in the next couple days. The Guardians will pay out almost all of his remaining contract. Once he clears waivers and becomes a free agent, Segura will be free to choose his next employer. That signing team would only pay him the prorated portion of the league minimum for whatever time he spends on a big league roster over the next season and a half.

In addition to the financial relief, the Guardians are buying low on a one-time top prospect. Watson, a 20-year-old infielder, was the 16th overall pick in the 2021 draft. The high school product was widely regarded as a top five to ten player in the class on talent, only dropping to the middle of the first round because of a lofty bonus demand.

His first two full seasons in pro ball haven’t gone as anticipated. Watson struck out in nearly 36% of his plate appearances in Low-A a year ago, hitting .231/.296/.395 over 83 games. He also missed some time last season on a team-imposed disciplinary absence after a confrontation with an umpire, as Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs wrote in his write-up of Miami’s farm system.

Watson still ranked in the upper third of the Marlins’ top 30 prospects at both FanGraphs and Baseball America, though he’s no longer seen as a top 100 talent around the league. He’s hitting .206/.337/.362 over 243 trips to the plate in High-A this year. He’s connected on seven homers, walked at an elite 14.4% clip and stolen 14 bases. Yet he’s still striking out an alarming rate — 28% of the time. There’s clearly plenty of variability in Watson’s profile, but he has huge bat speed and the chance to stick at a middle infield position. It’s an upside play for Cleveland at a much lower cost than would’ve been required to pry him away 12 to 18 months ago.

Craig Mish of SportsGrid first reported the Marlins were acquiring Bell. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported the Guardians were receiving Segura and Watson. Zack Meisel of the Athletic reported the Guardians planned to release Segura.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Marlins Claim Eli Villalobos; Reinstate Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jean Segura

By Darragh McDonald | June 26, 2023 at 3:55pm CDT

The Marlins announced a series of roster moves to reporters, including Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. Outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. and infielder Jean Segura have each been reinstated from the injured list. Infielder Jacob Amaya and infielder/outfielder Garrett Hampson were optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville in corresponding moves. Additionally, they claimed right-hander Eli Villalobos off waivers from the Pirates and assigned him to Double-A Pensacola.

Segura is back after barely a minimum stint on the IL due to a left hamstring strain, but Chisholm’s absence has been much more significant. He landed on the shelf in mid-May after suffering turf toe when colliding with the wall while attempting to make a catch. The estimated timeline that was given at that time was four to six weeks and he’s now returning at the long end of that window.

Prior to that injury Chisholm was attempting to transition from second base to center field. The early reviews were mixed, as he earned three Outs Above Average but a -6 from Defensive Runs Saved and a score of -0.3 from Ultimate Zone Rating. He was undoubtedly slumping at the plate, however, as he’s hit .229/.291/.403 so far this year compared to a .254/.325/.535 line last year. Now that he’s back, he’ll look to get into a good groove offensively and continue getting accustomed to his new position.

As for Villalobos, he turns 26 years old today and will celebrate that birthday by rejoining his original organization. He had spent his entire career in the Marlins’ system until getting claimed off waivers by the Pirates in April but is now back with the Fish yet again.

He was originally placed on the club’s 40-man roster in November to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft. He got that roster spot based on a strong 2022 season in which he posted a 2.86 ERA in 78 2/3 innings in the minors, striking out 32.7% of opponents while walking 9.4% of them. This season, his control seems to have gone out the window as he has a 20.6% walk rate between the two organizations, pushing his ERA to 5.73 on the year.

Despite the recent struggles, the Marlins are obviously very familiar with Villalobos and will try to get him back on track. There won’t be too much of a rush as he’s in his first option year and can remain a depth option in the minors for the next two seasons, though he will have to continue to justify his spot on the 40-man roster.

Infield Upgrades Should Be A Deadline Focus For Marlins

By Anthony Franco | June 15, 2023 at 12:49pm CDT

The Marlins held onto a 4-1 win over the Mariners in dramatic fashion yesterday, pushing them to 38-31. They’re in possession of the National League’s second Wild Card spot. They’re 4 1/2 back of the Braves in the NL East but multiple games clear of the Phillies and Mets for second place in the division.

It’s a start that’ll surprise some onlookers. The Marlins are no longer rebuilding and fully intended to be competitive, but they were generally perceived as the fourth-best team in a strong division. While unimpressive starts from Philadelphia and New York have certainly helped, Miami is seven games above .500 and trending towards deadline season as a buyer.

The Marlins are already looking into ways to upgrade behind the plate. That’s understandable; neither Nick Fortes nor Jacob Stallings has done enough to deter the front office from exploring upgrades. There haven’t yet been any reports about Miami gauging the infield market, though that also figures to be a priority for GM Kim Ng and her front office.

Miami aggressively reshaped their infield over the offseason. The Fish went into the winter looking to add high-contact hitters to the lineup. They actualized that in the infield, swapping Pablo López (and a couple prospects) to the Twins for Luis Arraez while adding Jean Segura and Yuli Gurriel via free agency.

Arraez’s acquisition and return to second base pushed Jazz Chisholm to center field. Segura was signed to play third base. Brian Anderson had already been non-tendered, so Segura displaced utility types Joey Wendle and Jon Berti at the hot corner. At the end of the winter, Miami traded clubhouse leader Miguel Rojas to the Dodgers for upper minors infielder Jacob Amaya and named Wendle their new starting shortstop. First baseman Garrett Cooper was the only Miami infielder to start at the same position on Opening Day for the second straight season.

Any time a team makes that many moves, there are going to be mixed results. The contrast in the Marlins’ infield is particularly stark, though. Arraez has been everything the Fish could’ve hoped for. He’s well on his way to another batting title, with a .378/.431/.461 line that more than compensates for concerns about his defensive chops at second base. The rest of the group has not performed up to expectations. There’s no greater question mark than Segura, who has been the worst everyday player in the majors.

The veteran infielder owns a .190/.259/.234 slash over his first 225 plate appearances in South Florida. While Segura has never been a prototypical power threat, he’s reached double digit homers in each of the last six full seasons. This year, he’s connected on just one longball. Among hitters with 200+ plate appearances, Segura has easily the lowest slugging percentage. (Alex Call is second from the bottom at .295.) He’s also last in on-base percentage and tops only Nick Maton and Kyle Schwarber in batting average.

That’s disastrous offense, and Miami’s gamble in moving Segura to a position with which he’s not familiar hasn’t panned out on that side of the ball either. Defensive Runs Saved has pegged him as five runs worse than the average third baseman through just over 500 innings. Statcast isn’t quite so harsh but has him two runs below par.

Combining league-worst hitting and below-average defense has Segura well below replacement level thus far. He’ll almost certainly improve his production. It’s hard to get any worse than his current line, and Segura’s pre-2023 track record was that of a solid regular. A .224 average on balls in play calls for some positive regression, so he should at least start hitting for a better average.

The complete lack of extra-base impact is a serious concern, however. Solid as the season has gone overall, Miami still isn’t an imposing offensive club.

Playing half their games in cavernous loanDepot Park admittedly isn’t doing the lineup any favors. Miami’s offseason focus was about improving the run production, though, trying to add more balance to a club that skewed so heavily to pitching and defense last year. Many of their moves actively weakened the run prevention to increase scoring. They relinquished López to bring in Arraez, moving Segura and Chisholm off their standard second base positions in the process. They parted with Rojas — a light-hitting, plus defensive shortstop — to shoehorn Wendle into the lineup at a position he’d never played regularly.

The offense is better, but not dramatically so. They’re tied for 25h in runs scored, 22nd in home runs, 18th in on-base percentage (.318) and 19th in slugging (.397). The Fish respectively finished in 28th, 24th, 27th and 28th in those categories last season. Arraez has driven the on-base jump, while the power spike is attributable to scorching starts from holdover outfielders Jorge Soler and Jesús Sánchez. Even with Arraez flirting with a .400 clip for a while, Miami’s infield has a bland .269/.326/.361 slash. As measured by wRC+, they’re 23rd in offensive production from their infielders.

Miami has weathered that so far. That’s in large part to a 17-5 record in one-run contests, allowing them to overcome a -30 run differential that’s above only those of the Rockies and Nationals in the Senior Circuit. The Fish aren’t going to apologize for those wins. They’re in the books, and they put the club right in the thick of a muddled NL playoff picture. Yet that kind of success in close games isn’t something Miami can bank on continuing all year. They’ll need the lineup to improve if they’re to ward off that regression.

Some of that will happen organically. Chisholm has been out a month with a foot injury. Ng recently told Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman of the New York Post on their podcast that he’s likely still several weeks away, but a second-half return should be a boon to the offense. Cooper is a better hitter than this year’s .229/.268/.408 line would indicate. Sánchez is playing regularly now after missing a few weeks in May due to injury.

They’ll need to support that at the deadline, likely by bringing in a left side infielder. Curtailing Segura’s playing time a few months into a two-year, $17MM contract would be a tough pill to swallow, but it might be necessary for a team trying to hang onto a playoff spot.

Players like Jeimer Candelario, Jace Peterson and Patrick Wisdom should be available at the hot corner. There are fewer options at shortstop, though the White Sox could move Tim Anderson and the Cardinals would probably deal Paul DeJong. None of those players can carry a lineup (perhaps unless Anderson bounces back from a tough start), but they’d each provide manager Skip Schumaker some alternatives to continuing to plug Segura in every day.

This deadline season should be an exciting one for Marlins fans. Unless things fall apart within the next six weeks, they’re in position to add in hopes of bolstering a playoff push. Two decades removed from their most recent berth in a 162-game season, the front office shouldn’t hesitate to be aggressive, even if that means making the tough call to bench their biggest free agent pickup of this past offseason.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Each MLB Team’s Players On WBC Rosters

By Darragh McDonald | February 9, 2023 at 7:30pm CDT

The World Baseball Classic is returning this year, the first time since 2017. The quadrennial event was supposed to take place in 2021 but was scuttled by the pandemic, now returning after a six-year absence. Rosters for the tournament were announced today and those can be found at this link. Here is a breakdown of which players from each MLB team are set to take participate. Quick caveat that this list is fluid and might be changed as more information becomes available.

Without further ado…

Angels

Astros

Athletics

Blue Jays

Braves

Brewers

Cardinals

Cubs

Diamondbacks

Dodgers

Giants

Guardians

Marlins

Mariners

Mets

Nationals

Orioles

Padres

Phillies

Pirates

Rangers

Rays

Red Sox

Reds

Rockies

Royals

Tigers

Twins

White Sox

Yankees

Miguel Rojas Expected To Undergo Additional Wrist Procedure

By Anthony Franco | January 11, 2023 at 9:56pm CDT

After eight seasons with the Marlins, Miguel Rojas changed organizations this evening. Miami traded the infielder to the Dodgers in a one-for-one deal that sent infield prospect Jacob Amaya to South Florida.

Rojas is coming off a tough season in which he hit .237/.282/.324 through 504 trips to the plate. A right wrist issue seemed to play a role in that subpar offensive output, as the veteran underwent surgery in October to repair a torn triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC). Craig Mish of SportsGrid reported this evening that Rojas had another minor issue arise recently and is expected to undergo another procedure to address the matter (Twitter link).

There’s no indication this latest issue will affect Rojas’ readiness for Spring Training, much less the start of the regular season. It’s clearly not of much concern to the Dodgers, who were no doubt made aware of it during trade discussions. Rojas acknowledged this evening there’s “still a couple things I need to figure out with the wrist” but added he’d “be ready for Spring Training if everything goes well” (via Matthew Moreno of Dodger Blue).

Rojas, 34 next month, adds a glove-first utility option to the mix in L.A. Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times writes the club plans to bounce the nine-year MLB veteran around the infield in a multi-positional capacity. That leaves open the possibility of Gavin Lux taking the primary shortstop job, with Max Muncy and Chris Taylor on hand to see time at second and third base (and for Taylor to continue logging plenty of outfield action). Top prospect Miguel Vargas is expected to get a chance at the hot corner as well.

As for Miami, they’ve subtracted some certainty from the short-term infield mix. Mish tweets that Joey Wendle is likely to serve as the club’s primary shortstop at the start of the season. He’d pair in the middle infield with young star Jazz Chisholm Jr., while offseason signee Jean Segura is ticketed for third base duty. Mish and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald wrote last week that Chisholm was interested in getting a chance to move back to shortstop at some point. It doesn’t seem that’ll be under consideration for now, though.

Amaya, a glove-first infielder, is already on the 40-man roster. He’s coming off a .259/.368/.381 showing in Triple-A and figures to get a chance for his big league debut at some point in 2023. Fellow rookies Jordan Groshans and Xavier Edwards are also on the 40-man, as is speedy utility player Jon Berti.

NL East Notes: Marlins, Escobar, Phillies, Soto, Braves Extensions

By Mark Polishuk | January 7, 2023 at 4:41pm CDT

Jean Segura is the Marlins’ biggest addition of the offseason, even though Miami is known to have looked into several other options before inking Segura to a two-year, $17MM contract. Some of those other free agent and trade targets are already off the board, and it appears as though signing Segura ends any chance of an Eduardo Escobar trade, as Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald report that the Marlins had some talks with the Mets about a possible swap.

Timing is everything in trade negotiations, and it seems as though the Marlins checked in on Escobar after the Mets reached their 12-year, $315M agreement with Carlos Correa. Had the Correa deal been finalized fairly quickly, there would’ve been a greater chance of Escobar being moved, as the veteran infielder suddenly would’ve been out of a starting job in New York’s infield. However, the Mets’ issues with Correa’s physical have led to stalled negotiations in finalizing or perhaps even reworking the deal, to the point that other teams have reportedly re-entered the picture. As such, it isn’t surprising that the Mets have opted to hang onto Escobar, leaving the Marlins looking elsewhere for a more immediate lineup fix.

Marlins Designate Charles Leblanc For Assignment

By Anthony Franco | January 4, 2023 at 6:09pm CDT

The Marlins announced Wednesday evening that infielder Charles Leblanc has been designated for assignment. The move creates a 40-man roster vacancy for Jean Segura, who has officially signed his two-year free agent deal.

Leblanc earned his first MLB call last July. Signed to a minor league contract last offseason after seven years in the Texas farm system, he earned a look with Miami by hitting .302/.381/.503 line Triple-A Jacksonville. Leblanc held his MLB roster spot the rest of the way and hit .263/.320/.404 with four home runs through his first 169 plate appearances. That production checked in seven percentage points above league average, by measure of wRC+.

Considering Leblanc’s solid bottom line numbers, it’s a moderate surprise he lost his 40-man roster spot this winter. It’s clear the Miami front office wasn’t bullish on his ability to continue to hit at an above-average level. Leblanc benefitted from an unsustainable .374 batting average on balls in play, masking an alarming 31.4% strikeout percentage. He’d also struck out at a notable 27.2% clip in Jacksonville.

That’s surely a concern, although Leblanc actually made contact at a decent clip on a per-pitch basis. He put the bat on the ball on 76.4% of his swings, a figure that’s almost exactly league average. Leblanc took plenty of called strikes and put himself in some unfavorable counts, but he fared reasonably well at making contact when deciding to swing.

The 26-year-old has some defensive flexibility. He suited up at each of first, second and third base in the majors and logged a decent amount of left field run in Triple-A. Leblanc had some early-career work at shortstop in the minors but isn’t more than an emergency stopgap there. Nevertheless, the ability to bounce around the diamond and his solid 2022 campaign at the upper levels seemingly give him a good shot at landing elsewhere in the coming days.

Miami will have a week to trade Leblanc or try to run him through waivers. He still has all three minor league option years remaining, meaning any team willing to carry him on the 40-man can freely move him between the majors and Triple-A for the extended future.

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