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Martin Prado Suffers Setback, Will Open Season On DL

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Marlins third baseman Martin Prado has suffered a setback in his recovery from right knee surgery and will open the 2018 season on the disabled list, reports MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro. In his place, the Marlins will turn to one of their top organizational prospects, Brian Anderson, to man the hot corner early in the year.

Manager Don Mattingly tells Frisaro that while Prado was already borderline for Opening Day, the team had initially hoped he could join them by an April 9 home series against the Mets. The latest news on his knee, however, will push Prado’s return date further back. While there’s not yet a set timetable on his availability, it seems likely that Prado, who = hasn’t played in a spring game yet, will be out until at least mid-April.

Prado is still owed a total of $28.5MM over the next two seasons, and while the rebuilding Marlins would undoubtedly love to shed that contract — or at least a notable portion of it — the ongoing knee troubles all but entirely remove that possibility at present.

As for the 24-year-old Anderson, he’s fresh off an impressive .275/.361/.492 slash with 22 homers, 21 doubles and three triples through 498 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A in 2017. Anderson struck out at a 19.7 percent clip in that time against a solid 9.6 percent walk rate as he rose through the minors, and he also held his own (.265/.337/.369) in a brief 95-PA sample with the big league club. MLB.com ranks him ninth among Miami farmhands, noting that his hands, range and plus arm make him a fit at third base.

East Notes: Adams, JDM, Marlins, Eovaldi, Orioles

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Matt Adams signed with the Nationals fairly early in the offseason knowing full well that regular at-bats were going to be difficult to come by, writes Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. Adams prioritized playing for a contending club with a good clubhouse culture — he consulted his friend Chris Heisey about the organization before signing — over holding out for an opportunity for an everyday or near-everyday role. Castillo speaks to Adams himself, manager Dave Martinez and hitting coach Kevin Long about the slugger’s role with the club and the value he can bring off the bench. The Nationals, it should be noted, are giving Adams some looks in the outfield once again this spring and could play him in left field from time to time in 2017 — as the Cardinals and Braves both did in 2017.

More from the game’s Eastern divisions…

  • Red Sox designated hitter/outfielder J.D. Martinez chats with Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald about his perceived defensive shortcomings in the outfield, explaining that his reputation as a defensive liability is frustrating. Martinez acknowledges that his glovework wasn’t at its best in 2016, when he admits to having become a bit timid around the outfield wall after breaking his elbow when crashing into the wall partway through the year. “…I got scared of running into walls because I didn’t want to get hurt again,” Martinez candidly admits. “… So balls off the wall, I just let it go and I got penalized for it.” The slugger adds that his foot injury significantly hampered his range in 2017, but he rejoined the Tigers as soon as possible as a means of getting his bat back into the lineup. Martinez, to his credit, had average to above-average ratings from both DRS and UZR from 2014-15, and he’s anxious to prove that he can still play an adequate outfield corner with better health.
  • The Marlins aren’t yet certain if veteran infielder Martin Prado will be healthy enough to take the field come Opening Day, writes Andre C. Fernandez of the Miami Herald. The team’s hope is that Prado will be able to play in some Grapefruit League games by the middle of this month, but there’s still no set timeline for when he’ll get into the lineup. If Prado isn’t ready for the opneer, it could pave the way for prospect Brian Anderson, who made his MLB debut late in the 2017 season, to get a look at the hot corner and prove that he’s capable of sticking at the big league level. The Marlins won’t push Anderson into that role if they don’t feel he’s ready, though skipper Don Mattingly had plenty of praise for Anderson’s work at third, his swing and his overall work ethic.
  • Nathan Eovaldi’s contract with the Rays contains $3.5MM worth of incentives based on starting and $2.375MM worth of relief-based incentives, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. The organization maintains that it is “definitely” committed to using Eovaldi as a starter, per Topkin, and that’s the right-hander’s preference as well. “I definitely want to be a starter and hold it out throughout the entire year,” Eovaldi tells Topkin. That said, it stands to reason that if Eovaldi struggles in the rotation, a move to the ’pen is a possibility — especially given Tampa Bay’s deep stock of upper-level arms in the minors. As Topkin notes, many have long wondered what the hard-throwing Eovaldi could do in a relief role, especially when looking at his career struggles facing a lineup for the third time (.673 opponent OPS first time through the order, .692 second time, .890 third time).
  • The Orioles remain open to adding a third free-agent starter after signing Andrew Cashner and bringing Chris Tillman back, writes MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. They’re still checking in on everyone from Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn to former Oriole Jake Arrieta, he notes. That said, Kubatko adds that the O’s are heartened by the way their internal options have looked thus far, with Mike Wright, David Hess, Yefry Ramirez, and Rule 5 picks Nestor Cortes and Pedro Araujo all of interest to Baltimore decision-makers.

NL East Notes: Norris, Lagares, Stewart, Prado, Chen, Straily, Quinn

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The latest from around the NL East…

  • The Mets had Bud Norris “on their board” before the veteran right-hander signed with the Cardinals, The Athletic’s Marc Carig reports (Twitter link).  Norris’ versatility as both a reliever and a potential swingman or spot starter intrigued the Mets, who may or may not be still looking for rotation depth.
  • Juan Lagares’ name has surfaced in some trade rumors over the offseason, though MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter link) doubts the Mets would part with the defensively-gifted outfielder.  The team is thin on outfield depth as it is, and Lagares is penciled in as the starting center fielder until Michael Conforto is healthy.  Dealing Lagares (who is owed $15.5MM over the next two seasons) would free up some payroll space for the Mets, and he hasn’t hit much over the last three years, with injuries playing a role in his struggles at the plate.  Nevertheless, DiComo writes that “the Mets are super bullish on” Lagares and even plan to use him against both left-handed and right-handed pitching.
  • Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos discussed his team’s signing of Chris Stewart with reporters (including David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution), admitting that Stewart’s addition is “not a clean fit right now” since the team is set behind the plate with Tyler Flowers and Kurt Suzuki.  The hope is that Stewart will accept an assignment to Triple-A at the end of Spring Training to provide additional depth at catcher behind the MLB duo.  The Braves would’ve preferred to sign Stewart to a minor league deal, though Stewart was insistent on receiving a Major League contract, even if his deal isn’t guaranteed.
  • The idea of players asking for trades is “a little radical” for Martin Prado, the veteran infielder told reporters, including Clark Spencer and Andre C. Fernandez of the Miami Herald.  Unlike several Marlins teammates who are still with the team (J.T. Realmuto, Starlin Castro) or have since been dealt (Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich), Prado said he would never request a trade, though he “respected” those players’ decisions.  While Prado may have not have asked for a deal, Miami reportedly looked into trading the infielder and $28.5MM remaining on his salary as part of the team’s latest payroll slash.
  • Wei-Yin Chen won’t be ready to be on the Marlins’ Opening Day roster, manager Don Mattingly told media, including Spencer and Fernandez.  Chen is beginning a throwing program during Spring Training as he continues to recover from the elbow problems that limited him to only 33 innings in 2017.  Mattingly didn’t put a timetable on when Chen is expected to be ready, other than to say that he expects the southpaw to be in the rotation at some point.
  • Also from the Spencer/Fernandez piece, Dan Straily’s arbitration hearing with the Marlins will take place tomorrow.  The two sides will face the arb panel despite a rather small difference in submitted figures; Straily is asking for a $3.55MM salary in 2018, while the Fish countered with an offer of $3.37MM.  Miami has already gone to arbitration hearings twice this winter, winning one (against Realmuto) and losing the other (to Justin Bour).
  • With the Phillies stressing defensive versatility, the team will work Roman Quinn out at shortstop this spring, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Daily News writes.  Manager Gabe Kapler said the team won’t try Quinn at shortstop in an actual game before they see how he handles infield drills, though Kapler noted that “we’d be foolish not to look under that stone” given Quinn’s athleticism.  Quinn was originally drafted as a shortstop the Phillies took him in the second round in 2011, but was shifted to the outfield after some early-career defensive struggles.  Quinn can already play all three outfield spots, though adding shortstop to his defensive repertoire would only help his chances of winning a spot on what could be a short Phillies bench.

Taking Inventory: Miami Marlins

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In an effort to cut payroll, the new Marlins ownership group (headlined by Derek Jeter) has already kicked off a fire sale of major league assets. They’ve traded three significant players so far in Giancarlo Stanton, Dee Gordon and Marcell Ozuna, and only the latter of the three netted any significant prospect haul. Miami has succeeded in getting big salaries off the books, but their farm system still looks bleak and lacks top-rated prospects (though some pitchers in their system have upside).

So while the team has already completed its stated salary-slashing objective, the moves made so far have put the franchise in an in-between kind of state. Miami finished last season with a 77-85 record, and then traded away three players who were worth a combined 15 fWAR. The only major league asset who came back in return was Starlin Castro, who was worth about 2 fWAR in 2017. All told, the Marlins’ roster looks about 13 wins worse than last season, which in theory would make them about as good as last year’s Tigers club.

Of course, it doesn’t exactly work that way, but the writing on the wall here is that the Marlins aren’t going to do a whole lot of winning next season. They’d face enormous odds in challenging the Nationals for the NL East crown. Aside from that, their farm system is dwarfed by those of the division-rival Braves and Phillies, both of whom are on the rise. Clearly the club isn’t planning on improving the team through free agency, as that would counteract the enormous effort the team made to reduce payroll. As such, there appears to be no reason to stop selling now. There are a few players on the roster who could help the Fish add significant prospects to their minor league ranks and improve the organization’s future outlook…

Two Years of Control

Starlin Castro, 2B ($22MM owed through 2019, including $1MM buyout of $16MM option for 2020): When Castro came to Miami in the Stanton deal, trade speculation began immediately. There’s probably some surplus value to be had in the 27-year-old’s contract considering his reasonable salary and the fact that he’s still in his prime. With the Marlins having already met their payroll-related goals, they probably even have the flexibility to pay some of his salary in order to get better prospects in exchange. Castro is coming off a .300/.338/.454 season, but poor defensive play at second limits his value to an extent.

Longer-Term Assets

J.T. Realmuto, C ($4.2MM projected arb salary for 2018): MLBTR has already talked about Realmuto’s trade candidacy at length this month (including an in-depth piece on his market), so I’ll keep this short. Realmuto has already requested a trade, and although he doesn’t have any real leverage in the matter, he seems a likely candidate to be wearing another uniform even before he hits free agency following the 2020 season. The Marlins catcher was worth at least 3.5 fWAR in each of the past two seasons, and plenty of contenders and up-and-comers would love to have that kind of value coming from a premium position on the diamond. It would, however, take a reportedly “huge overpay” to pry him out of Miami’s hands.

"<strongChristian Yelich, OF ($44.5MM owed through 2021, including $1.25MM buyout of $15MM option for 2022): Yelich has also been one of the more common names to pop up in trade rumors this offseason. He’s easily the Marlins’ most valuable asset; the former first round pick has been worth about 16 fWAR across the past four seasons combined. With five more years of team control, however, there’s at least a chance he could be part of the next winning Marlins club at a very reasonable price, so there’s less of a reason for the team to move him there is to move other assets. Among the plusses for Yelich are good defense in the outfield, a 10.7% career walk rate and improved baserunning ability.

Dan Straily, RHP ($4.6MM projected arbitration salary for 2018): While Straily isn’t as talented (or receiving as much trade attention) as elite options like Michael Fulmer, Chris Archer and Gerrit Cole, he’s a league-average MLB talent who could be made available in a thin and expensive market for pitching. Straily posted a 4.26 ERA in 2017 along with a 2.83 K/BB ratio and comes with three years of team control.

Justin Bour, 1B ($3.5MM projected arbitration salary for 2018): Amidst Marlins rumors, it’s somewhat of a surprise to me that Bour’s name hasn’t been mentioned more often. Miami’s left-handed-hitting first baseman enjoyed a breakout season in 2017 prior to an oblique injury. Upon his return in early September, he picked up right where he left off, and ultimately finished the season with an outstanding .289/.366/.536 slash line to go with 25 home runs across just 429 plate appearances. With the Rockies, Angels and Mariners still looking for first base help, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the market for Bour heat up at some point. He wouldn’t come cheap, though, as he’s cost-effective and controllable through arbitration from 2018-2020.

Kyle Barraclough, RHRP (League minimum salary for 2018): Barraclough has a sky-high career strikeout rate 12.05 K/9), but carries the downside of an equally absurd walk rate (5.52 BB/9). The net result is a sort of effectively-wild performance that’s led to fantastic career run-prevention numbers, headlined by a 2.87 ERA. With elite relievers becoming more and more in demand, it’s conceivable Barraclough could net a hefty return.

Derek Dietrich, INF ($3.2MM projected arbitration salary for 2018): Though he’s not a full-time player, Dietrich has managed to accrue at least 1.5 fWAR in each of the past two seasons, and can play both second and third base. He’d be a cheap utility infield option on a contending team, and comes with three years of team control. He hit .249/.334/.424 in 2017 with 13 homers, making him a nearly average offensive player at 99 wRC+.

Salary Dump Candidates

Wei-Yin Chen, LHP ($60MM owed through 2020, with a $16MM vesting option for 2021): Simply put, this offseason would be the worst possible time to trade Chen. After missing most of the season due to elbow issues, Chen returned to make just four appearances out of the bullpen in September prior to being shut down. While he was generally good when on the field (3.82 ERA, 3.73 FIP), the Marlins would have an incredibly difficult time trying to move any of his salary until he can settle concerns about his elbow.

Martin Prado, 3B ($28.5MM owed through 2019): Prado is coming off a dreadful 2017 season in which he was able to muster just 147 plate appearances due to multiple injuries. He posted just a 67 wRC+ across that time, and will enter the 2018 season at 34 years of age. There have been reports that the Marlins might try to attach Prado to a trade of a more valuable asset in order to clear his salary, but like Chen, it might be the wrong time to trade him. After all, he averaged 3 WAR from 2014-2016 thanks to a .295/.341/.407 slash line and elite defense at the hot corner.

Brad Ziegler, RHRP ($9MM salary for 2018): The issue with Ziegler is his recent inability to miss bats. The righty struck out fewer than five batters per nine innings in 2018 and experienced a steep drop in velocity on his sinker. All told, Ziegler was tagged for 25 earned runs in 47 innings. Perhaps he’s another candidate to re-established value prior to the trade deadline, but he’s also 38 years old; it’s also possible the Marlins could be better served simply trying to find a taker for as much of his salary as possible.

Junichi Tazawa, RHRP ($7MM salary for 2018): See Ziegler. Okay, not exactly, but Tazawa’s outlook isn’t much more promising other than the fact that he’s seven years younger. The righty is two years removed from his last respectable season. Last year was his worst performance yet: he was valued below replacement level thanks to a 5.69 ERA and 4.96 FIP. Miami’s best chance to move his salary would be to try to include him in a trade along with Realmuto, Yelich or another contract with significant excess value.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

NL East Links: Anthopoulos, Marlins, Yelich, Kendrick, Lind, Harvey

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New Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos spoke to reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Bowman and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s David O’Brien) about his team’s offseason shopping list, which includes a third baseman, bullpen help, and a controllable starting pitcher.  The “backdrop of everything” with the Braves’ plans, Anthopoulos stressed, is an improved defense.  “If we can improve in just one area defensively, we’re going to make 12 or 13 guys on that [pitching staff] a lot better,” the GM said.  As Bowman points out, this would seem to hint that Matt Kemp or Nick Markakis could be moved, as both outfielders posted subpar fielding numbers last season.  It may still be a while before we see one of Anthopoulos’ signature major trades, however, as he said he is still familiarizing himself with Atlanta’s baseball operations department after only a few weeks on the job.  While he wouldn’t rule out some notable moves, “I would say my thought for Year 1 would be a more cautious approach,” Anthopoulos said.  He also believed that the Braves’ payroll would likely remain around the $130MM mark.

Some more rumblings from around the NL East…

  • With the Braves looking for third base help, MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro believes they could at least be open to a trade for the Marlins’ Martin Prado.  One would think Miami would have to eat a big chunk of the $28.5MM owed to Prado through 2019 to make any trade involving the veteran work, as Prado was limited to just 37 games last season due to hamstring injuries and knee surgery.  The well-respected Prado would be a good leader within a young Atlanta clubhouse, however, and Prado has a long relationship with the Braves after spending his first 10 pro seasons in the organization.
  • In two other tweets, Frisaro notes that the Marlins may be better served by trading Christian Yelich, even though the team’s “sentiment…is to retain” the young outfielder.  Getting a big haul of talent in an “overpay situation” for Yelich would greatly help Miami restock its farm system, plus Frisaro cites the factor that Yelich may simply be tired of playing for losing teams.  While Yelich’s name has surfaced in trade speculation, the Marlins are in no particular rush to deal him; the outfielder is locked up on a contract that runs through at least the 2021 season.
  • The Nationals got a lot of production off the bench from Howie Kendrick and Adam Lind last year, and GM Mike Rizzo told MASNsports.com’s Pete Kerzel and other reporters that he is open to a reunion with either player.  Playing time could be an issue, as while both Kendrick and Lind saw significant action in 2017, they theoretically wouldn’t be used as much next year since the Nats expect better health throughout their lineup.  The two veterans could therefore try to sign for teams that could promise them more regular at-bats.
  • The Mets and Orioles have had some talks about Matt Harvey, and while Dan Connolly of BaltimoreBaseball.com is “all for [the O’s] taking a flier on Harvey,” doing so in a trade for Brad Brach would be ill-advised from the Orioles’ perspective.  Dealing a proven quality reliever like Brach is too much of a risk, since Harvey is a question mark after two injury-plagued down years.  Fortunately for Connolly’s concerns, a Brach-for-Harvey trade doesn’t seem to be a likely possibility.

Reactions To And Effects Of The Giancarlo Stanton Trade

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The Yankees shook the baseball world early Saturday when they agreed to acquire 2017 National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton from the Marlins. As you’d expect, the deal has elicited no shortage of media reactions, many of which we’ve rounded up here:

  • While the Los Angeles-born Stanton would have preferred to go to the Dodgers, they didn’t make an offer that “intrigued” the Marlins, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets. Sending Stanton to the Dodgers would have required the Marlins to take on more bad contracts than they were “comfortable with,” according to Sherman, who reports that LA wanted Miami to accept one or both of Adrian Gonzalez or Scott Kazmir and absorb $30MM of Stanton’s contract. The Marlins found acquiring Starlin Castro from the Yankees much more appealing, as he’s someone they could slot in at second base or flip elsewhere.
  • The Dodgers’ wariness toward a more aggressive Stanton pursuit stemmed from the back-loaded nature of his 10-year, $295MM commitment, per Buster Olney of ESPN (subscription required and recommended). If he doesn’t opt out of his contract after 2020, Stanton will rake in $96MM over the final three years of his pact, when he’ll be in his late 30s. The Yankees will be able to slot him in at designated hitter then if his work in the field sharply declines with age, whereas the Dodgers would have had to continue running him out as a defender.
  • Adding Stanton gives the Yankees as many as six major league-caliber outfielders, thereby making Jacoby Ellsbury and Clint Frazier potential trade candidates. The Yankees will work to rid themselves of Ellsbury, even if it means eating “a lot” of the $68.3MM left on his contract, George A. King III of the New York Post reports. Ellsbury was reportedly uninterested in leaving the Yankees as of earlier this week, but that was before the acquisition of Stanton relegated him to the role of a fifth outfielder. While Ellsbury, who has a full no-trade clause, would be a salary dump, the 23-year-old Frazier would likely bring back a quality return – perhaps a starter, King suggests. Additionally, the Yankees “would certainly listen on offers” for third baseman Chase Headley, per King. Headley is entering the last year of his contract, in which he’ll make $13MM.
  • With new Marlins owners Derek Jeter and Bruce Sherman on a mission to continue paring down payroll to the $90MM range, Castro looks like their most obvious trade chip, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. By parting with Castro – who has two years and $22MM left on his pact – and not taking back another guaranteed contract, Miami would still be about $15MM above its spending goal, Jackson notes. Further payroll slashing could come from deals involving some combination of Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich, Martin Prado, Brad Ziegler and Junichi Tazawa. Moving Castro, Ozuna, Ziegler and Tazawa would likely obviate any need to trade Yelich, Jackson suggests.
  • Prior to the Yankees’ Stanton acquisition, they looked poised to go after Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper in free agency a year from now. That may be out the window now, leading Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post to posit that the trade probably helps the Nationals to some degree because it appears to erase a would-be Harper suitor. However, several other teams will make big offers to Harper, Janes points out, so retaining him on what should be a record contract still figures to be a tall order for the Nats.
  • Harper is among the losers in this trade, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic opines (subscription required and recommended). Unsurprisingly, Harper’s agent, the always colorful Scott Boras, disagrees. “A Bronx opera . . . The Three Tenors . . . Hal’s genius, vision,” Boras told Rosenthal via email, referencing Harper, Stanton, Aaron Judge and Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner. Boras added that the Harper-Stanton-Judge trio would be “a galaxy of international popularity” on the same team. While Boras clearly isn’t ruling out a Yankees-Harper union, Rosenthal sees Manny Machado as a more likely target for the club in free agency next year.
  • The fact that Stanton is set to join a Yankees team that was just one win from securing a World Series trip last season is a major blow to parity in the AL, Dave Cameron of FanGraphs argues. Cameron classifies the Astros, Yankees, Red Sox and Indians as potential “super teams” heading into next season, and the Angels could be on their way to the playoffs after winning the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes. As impressive as those clubs look, there’s now less incentive for others to play for the last wild-card spot, Cameron contends, which could lead certain fringe teams to rebuild.

Marlins Hope To Trade Stanton, Gordon, Prado

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NOV. 3: Miami is informing other teams that it is willing to listen on Stanton, Gordon, and Prado but will not entertain offers on Yelich and Ozuna at this time, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter). Whether the stance on the latter two players might change isn’t yet clear. It’s possible that the club wishes to focus first on the other pieces.

OCT. 30: The Marlins have identified a “preferred path” to paring the team’s slate of player contracts for the 2018 season down to $90MM, according to a report from Barry Jackson and Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. Specifically, the club would like to move the contract of star outfielder Giancarlo Stanton along with those of infielders Dee Gordon and Martin Prado.

Talk of a possible Stanton swap has been building in earnest for months. And it comes as little surprise to hear that the team is indeed preparing to market him, given its reported intentions of making significant payroll reductions in the first offseason under new ownership. Obvious as it may be that now is the time to part with the slugger, it’s notable that the team has evidently chosen its direction even as it prepares to sit down with him in a few days’ time. (Stanton, of course, enjoys full no-trade protection and so will have a major say in things.) And the team’s reported intentions perhaps hint that the focus could be on moving all of Stanton’s salary rather than maximizing the prospect return.

[RELATED: Miami Marlins Offseason Outlook]

It’s also hardly an eye-opener to learn of the availability of Gordon and Prado. Both have been discussed as trade candidates in the past, with Gordon drawing some interest last year and Prado cited as a deadline possibility before he went down to injury. Trading these three players has some initial logic, since their respective 2018 salaries add up to nearly $50MM — which would leave the club right at its stated goal in view of its other commitments. And that would leave untouched the Marlins’ best assets.

Of course, the trouble lies in the details here. Prado, in particular, clearly wouldn’t earn anything close to his remaining obligations — two years and $28.5MM — were he instead a free agent. After all, he just turned 34 and produced a .250/.279/.357 batting line over just 147 plate appearances in an injury-riddled 2017 season. Though Gordon still looks to be a productive player worthy of a regular job, he’s a slightly below-average hitter whose value lies in his speed and glovework at second. He’s still just 29, but age could be a bigger concern with that skillset. Regardless, the market is loaded with options at second, which makes Gordon’s remaining commitment — $38MM over the next three years (including a 2021 option buyout) — appear to be less than a screaming bargain. Even Stanton, fresh off of a 59-dinger outburst, arguably does not come with much or any surplus value as against the overall remaining guarantee ($295MM) in his mammoth contract.

Actually getting rid of the 2018 commitments to these three players, then, simply won’t be a matter of handing off their contracts. Even if competitors are willing to absorb the entirety of the Stanton and Gordon deals, they likely won’t be sending much in the way of talent back in return. And Prado clearly represents a possible salary dump at this point, meaning the Fish would need to send additional talent along with him if the hope is to clear his salary. Unless the team is willing to sell away prospects, that’d mean dealing other, more valuable assets from the MLB roster.

The realities of the situation make clear that the Marlins will need to oversee a net talent outflow — or, at least, a reshuffling that results in a reduction of their major league talent in favor of prospects. Yet the report also cites a source that indicates the team would rather not part with J.T. Realmuto, Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, Justin Bour, and Dan Straily — which doubles as a list of those Marlins players that are worth quite a bit more than they are due to earn.

Clearly, something has to give here, which the Marlins front office surely realizes. What’s perhaps most notable about the report, though, is the apparent suggestion that the team won’t independently look to deal from its base of affordable, quality talent. It goes without saying that the Marlins shouldn’t give away such players for less than a compelling return, but it’s arguably unwise to move Stanton, Gordon, and Prado while not embarking upon a broader rebuilding effort. Ozuna, especially, is getting expensive (a projected $10.9MM for 2018) and will be a free agent after 2019.

It’s understandable that the team wishes to hold onto as many recognizable players as it can, but there’d be little to no hope of a turnaround for a team that has failed to perform as hoped in recent years. Miami’s pitching staff is among the worst in baseball and obviously won’t be buttressed by any significant free-agent spending. Stanton is all but irreplaceable. Derek Dietrich could step in for Gordon, but that would mean extending him as a player and reducing his value as a utility asset. And the left side of the infield would presumably be entrusted to some combination of JT Riddle, Miguel Rojas, and Brian Anderson, an inexperienced group that hardly inspires confidence of delivering compelling output in the near future.

That being said, there is another way to read the report. Perhaps the team will still be willing to entertain offers on its more appealing assets, even if it won’t seek deals for them owing to payroll pressures. Viewed in that manner, it may be a fairly prudent approach to embarking upon a rebuild. Ultimately, from my vantage point, it would be surprising to see the Marlins open the coming season with all of Realmuto, Yelich, Ozuna, Bour, and Straily on the roster.

In other news, the Herald duo cover the latest in front office moves from the Marlins. The new ownership group has now parted ways with more than twenty employees from various departments. You’ll want to read the story for all the details.

NL East Notes: Harvey, Syndergaard, Prado, Braves

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Mets righty Matt Harvey turned in another abysmal start last night, leaving him with a 13.19 ERA in his four outings since returning from the DL. As Marc Carig of Newsday writes, Harvey seemed rather dejected after the game, calling his work “terrible all the way around” — though, perhaps, there’s at least some cause for hope in the fact that he is working in the mid-nineties with his fastball. Of course, that’s hardly sufficient in and of itself, and the results have been sobering. “Everybody’s watching,” said Harvey. “I don’t really know what there is to say except for there is nothing to say. It’s terrible. It’s not fun. There’s really nothing to say. There’s no reason for questions. There’s no answers.”

  • Meanwhile, the Mets are still waiting to see just how fellow righty Noah Syndergaard will look when he returns to the majors after a long layoff for a partial lat tear. As Mike Puma of the New York Post reports, though, it’s likely at this point that Syndergaard will only be allowed to make two appearances. It had been hoped at one point that he’d be able to make a much more significant return to end the year, but the club has understandably exercised caution. The young ace, after all, is a critically important member of a pitching staff that possesses many questions heading into the offseason.
  • It’s now unlikely that Marlins third baseman Martin Prado will make it back for any significant playing time before the end of the 2017 season, Tim Healey of the Sun-Sentinel reports. The veteran has been trying to return from knee surgery, but his rehab efforts were interrupted by Hurricane Irma. Whether or not he can suit up, it seems promising at least that the 33-year-old seems to have bounced back fairly well from the procedure. After all, he’s still promised another $28.5MM over the next two seasons.
  • The Braves appear to be closing in on yet another stadium deal with significant taxpayer money involved. As Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes, construction on a new Spring Training facility in North Port, Florida will begin in short order — if the deal is approved today by the city’s commissioners. In addition to the well-documented move to SunTrust Park for the major-league club, the Braves have found accommodating local governments to help build stadiums for several team-owned minor-league affiliates in recent years. This latest project, in Sarasota County, has already ballooned to just over $100MM in projected costs — just over half of which will be the responsibility of the ballclub.

Martin Prado To Undergo Knee Surgery

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TODAY, 12:03pm: The procedure wasn’t a major one, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald (via Twitter). Prado could return in three to five weeks after a “cleanup” operation.

9:18am: Prado will undergo surgery, according to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter). The precise nature of the procedure and anticipated recovery period are not yet known, but clearly he won’t be a trade candidate for teams looking at third base options.

YESTERDAY: With his knee failing to progress as hoped, Marlins third baseman Martin Prado is weighing a surgical approach, manager Don Mattingly tells Craig Davis of the Sun Sentinel (via Twitter). He’ll make a final decision tomorrow.

The 33-year-old infielder had drawn some interest as a trade candidate. In the midst of a roster reshaping and organizational sale, the Marlins have seemed motivated to move some of the sizable contract — three years and $40MM — that Prado just began this season.

Leg troubles and performance problems, though, had already made a trade seem like an unlikely proposition. Prado was slashing just .250/.279/.357 in his 147 plate appearances on the year, and recently hit the DL for the third time after two prior placements connected to hamstring troubles.

In any event, today’s news makes it all but certain that Prado won’t be traded in the next few days. His contract will surely clear waivers in August, so he could conceivably be dealt at a later point, though that’d likely also require that he make it back on the field in time to prove his health.

AL Notes: Sanchez, Red Sox, Indians, Logan, Yankees

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Blue Jays righty Aaron Sanchez left his start today after coming down with another blister, as MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm reports (Twitter links). While the 25-year-old says he is holding out hope of avoiding another DL stint, that may be optimistic. Sanchez had only just returned from a lengthy absence prompted by the same injury, though it does not appear to have occurred in precisely the same place. Ongoing uncertainty with such a key player doesn’t help the already murky outlook for Toronto, which fell to eight games under .500 with a loss today. It seems reasonable at this point to anticipate at least a minor sell-off of short-term veterans, though most of the players the team would be most willing to move have struggled in 2017.

Here’s more from the American League:

  • The Red Sox now have Giants infielder Eduardo Nunez atop their list of possible third-base targets, a source tells MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (Twitter link). Indeed, the clubs have discussed Boston’s interest in both Nunez and reliever Hunter Strickland, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe reports. It seems the Sox are also still engaged with the Marlins on third bagger Martin Prado (as well as reliever David Phelps) along with Pirates infielders David Freese and Josh Harrison. Of course, it’s worth bearing in mind that Prado is on the DL, while the Bucs may be hesitant to deal given the team’s improved outlook. All told, it still seems to be a wide-open search.
  • It’s not clear if talks have occurred between the Indians and Giants, but Cleveland is scouting Nunez as well, per ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter). With the defending AL champs still battling for a postseason spot, they can’t just wait idly for second baseman Jason Kipnis to return from the DL. And a player such as Nunez would also improve the team’s bench once Kipnis is back.
  • The Indians also got some bad news on the pitching front today, as lefty Boone Logan departed his appearance with an injury to his lat muscle, as MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian tweets. Logan owns an ugly 4.95 ERA on the year, but he’s producing 12.2 K/9 against 3.6 BB/9 with a 49.0% groundball rate, with a .360 BABIP helping to explain the disconnect. Ryan Merritt is on hand to give the team another southpaw matchup option to go with relief ace Andrew Miller, though it’s possible to imagine the Indians weighing alternatives if Logan’s injury turns out to be serious.
  • With Todd Frazier now in pinstripes, the Yankees intend to work Chase Headley in at first base, manager Joe Girardi told reporters including MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (Twitter link). The switch-hitting Headley will pair with new addition Garrett Cooper for the time being, though that duo doesn’t promise to deliver the kind of offensive output that might be hoped for from the position. It remains to be seen whether the Yankees will continue to dabble in the market for first basemen.
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