The latest Miami Marlins coverage to get you through the lockout blues.
- Barely anything was accomplished during today’s 15-minute(?!) meeting between MLB and the players’ union. The league insists that a normal regular season is still achievable if a new collective bargaining agreement is completed by the end of February, but I’d be shocked if we see Opening Day on March 31. The owners remain unwilling to make meaningful compromises on core economic issues, and the MLBPA won’t be pressured into an unbalanced deal.
- Bally Sports Florida expects a rotation of color commentators to work their Marlins television game broadcasts in 2022, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. Familiar names Tommy Hutton, Cliff Floyd, J.P. Arencibia and Gaby Sanchez are all candidates for said rotation, with Jackson describing Hutton as “a front-runner” to return to the role he held from 1997-2015 (thought just on a part-time basis). Paul Severino remains as play-by-play announcer. Hutton worked alongside Severino for a series last season, and presumably, the network was satisfied with their rapport.
- Confident as he was entering Wednesday’s competition, Marlins radio broadcaster Kyle Sielaff finished with a negative point total on Marlins Jeopardy. Rewatch the full show! Fish Stripes’ own Isaac Azout secured his fourth straight victory. Fish Stripes LIVE is presented by Loupe.
- I gave Isaac an ambitious assignment: construct an all-time Marlins roster with 26 of the best individual player-seasons in franchise history, each of them from different years.
- Eno Sarris and Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic draw attention to a subset of professional baseball players who are caught in limbo: those who finished the 2021 postseason on 40-man rosters, lost their spots due to injuries/struggles without being outrighted to the minors and now aren’t even allowed to negotiate minor league contracts. The list of players being affected by this isn’t publicly available. It’s just my speculation that Lewis Brinson (non-tendered by the Marlins shortly before the lockout began) is one of them.
- PECOTA projects Jazz Chisholm Jr. to take a significant leap forward with the bat, from an 86 deserved runs created plus (DRC+) to 100 (exactly league average).
- ESPN’s Jeff Passan boldly predicts Eury Pérez will be the best pitching prospect in baseball by the end of the 2022 season.
- Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald writes about the extremely unconventional amateur career of Marlins outfielder Noah Williamson. The organization’s 19th-round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, Williamson posted a troubling 47.6% strikeout rate in his brief taste of the Florida Complex League. He will most likely begin this season with Low-A Jupiter.
- Actor Josh Gad made a guest appearance on Miami Mic’d Up with Jeremy Taché. The South Florida native reminisces about the early years of his sports fandom, including being invited by John Henry to watch a Marlins game from his owner’s suite.