20 days away from Marlins Opening Day.
Game Preview: Coming off a 8-3 road win over the Nationals in their Grapefruit League opener on Friday, the Marlins will be hosting the Astros today at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium at 1:05 p.m. Probable starters are Pablo López and Jimmy Endersby (no, I’ve never heard of him, either). Safe to assume that a lot of the players who were sidelined for these teams on Friday will make their spring debuts in this one. That means we could get a Lewis Brinson sighting! He inked a minor league deal with Houston last weekend.
How to watch, listen and follow: Glenn Geffner has the radio broadcast on FOX Sports 940 Miami. The Marlins will once again set up a grainy-but-better-than-nothing video livestream from the press box. Check the MLB app around first pitch for a link to that (I’ll also tweet it out from the @fishstripes Twitter account). We’re thrilled to have Hector Rodriguez (@Hector_Baseball) at Roger Dean providing credentialed coverage of the game.
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Marlins Communications
- The Marlins finally did something to modify their 40-man roster coming out of the lockout, designating Monte Harrison for assignment to make room to claim right-hander Yoan López off waivers. Formerly a Top 100 MLB prospect, Harrison is now 26 1⁄2 years old and out of minor league options without any major league success to speak of. I would expect him to be claimed by another team, but don’t be completely shocked if he clears and gets outrighted. In announcing those moves, the Marlins also added Delino DeShields on a minor league deal. DeShields and Roman Quinn could be battling for the final outfield spot on the Opening Day if Miami doesn’t acquire a bonafide starting center fielder in time.
- Kim Ng addressed the media on Friday night about that center field search (via Christina De Nicola, MLB.com). She insists the Marlins will not “force” a trade or signing that they’re uncomfortable with. They are ready to pivot to “Plan B” if a steep price tag gets in the way of their “primary objective” of getting “a center fielder who is an offensive threat.” These comments would have been understandable a full week ago, but Ng’s lack of urgency is baffling at this stage of the offseason with so few CFs realistically available.
- Splashy MLB transactions from Friday/early Saturday morning: Carlos Correa signed with the Twins; Nick Castellanos signed with the Phillies; Kenley Jansen signed with the Braves; Tyler Anderson signed with the Dodgers; Michael Pineda signed with the Tigers.
- Fish Stripes’ own Alex Krutchik set up a poll asking whether Marlins fans would have been willing to match Atlanta’s one-year, $16 million offer to Jansen. The majority have come out against it, which I strongly disagree with. It’s inefficient, yes, but any one-year deal with no strings attached has limited downside.
- Aram Leighton of Just Baseball excitedly writes about his first-hand look at Marlins top prospect Eury Pérez, who carved up Nationals prospects on the backfields on Friday.