Detroit Tigers Unheralded Pitching Prospect Will Emerge in First Professional Year

The Detroit Tigers have more than Jackson Jobe to pay attention to among their pitching prospects.

Kenneth Teape | 9 Minutes Ago

A lot of attention has been given to the Detroit Tigers pitching staff this offseason, and rightfully so.

It was arguably the biggest need they had coming into the winter after injuries and trades decimated the unit in 2024. It didn’t end up hurting them in the second half, as they went on their torrid run with a unique strategy developed by manager A.J. Hinch.

“Pitching Chaos” was only made possible because they had a star anchoring the rotation in Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal. Everyone else stepped up in unorthodox roles as well, but the team knew it wasn’t a sustainable strategy.

Looking to bolster the starting rotation, the Tigers made two moves this offseason; signing veteran Alex Cobb to a one-year, $15 million deal and reuniting with Jack Flaherty on a two-year, $35 million deal.

As long as Cobb can stay healthy, he has proven to be a solid contributor. Flaherty was excellent after signing a one-year deal with Detroit ahead of the 2024 campaign, and was flipped to the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of the deadline.

They will assuredly be part of the mix behind Skubal along with some combination of Reese Olson, Keider Montero and top prospect Jackson Jobe.

Unanimously ranked in the top 10 across every outlet, there is a lot of excitement surrounding Jobe as he has the potential to be an ace at some point.


However, he isn’t the only young pitcher that the Tigers have in their system worth keeping an eye on.

Another player to watch is lefty Ethan Schiefelbein, whom Detroit landed out of Corona High School in Corona, California in the 2024 MLB draft.

“I loved Schiefelbein in my look at him last spring before the Tigers gave him $1.8 million after the second round. What stood out most to me was the Zack Greinke-esque way that he toyed with hitters, adding and subtracting to every pitch in velocity and shape. He has the classic projection characteristics that indicate more stuff is coming and the feel for the game to make the most out of his stuff if it ends up being fringy,” wrote Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.

His competitive spirit is something that cannot be ignored on the mound as the young lefty doesn’t back down from anyone.

Schiefelbein has command and control beyond what high school prospects normally possess, and his feel to snap off breaking pitches is also very impressive.

Right now, he has three solid pitches, including a fastball that touches 92 mph and can be pinpointed around the zone. He has two off-speed breaking pitches, a slider and a curveball, that he uses to keep batters guessing.

With his skill set and high ceiling, he could be the Tigers' next star pitching prospect who gets on a Jobe-esque track and rockets through their pipeline.

Schiefelbein will be someone Detroit fans should keep an eye on going forward.

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As long as Cobb can stay healthy, he has proven to be a solid contributor

IF is the operative word to start that sentence.

Cleveland also drafted some highly regarded high school pitchers. Check back in 2028 or 2030 to see if any of them are successful

Padres, Gavin Sheets Agree To Minor League Deal

No sooner that I was going to post whether is would be worth while giving Sheets a 1 year contact and an invite to spring training, the Sheets signing popped up.

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Former Cleveland Guardians Fan Favorite Joins NL Contender

Matthew Schmidt | 1 Hour Ago

Cleveland Guardians fans surely remember Oscar Gonzalez, who took Progressive Field by storm when he burst onto the scene with a spectacular rookie campaign in 2022.

Well, Gonzalez is now on the move.

The 27-year-old outfielder, who departed Cleveland after being clamed off waivers by the New York Yankees in December 2023, has been invited to San Diego Padres spring training on a non-roster invite, the Padres announced.

Gonzalez didn't see any big-league action in 2024 but did spend time in the Yankees' minor-league system, slashing .294/.337/.484 with 10 home runs and 51 RBI over 329 plate appearances.

The Dominican native originally signed with the Guardians as an international free agent back in 2014 and eventually broke into the majors eight years later.

During his debut season in Cleveland, Gonzalez slashed .296/.327/.461 with 11 homers and 43 RBI across 382 trips to the dish. He then smashed a long ball with four RBI in the playoffs.

It was looking like the Guardians had unearthed a hidden gem, but the following year, Gonzalez fell flat, slashing a meager .214/.239/.312 with a couple of dingers and 12 RBI through 180 plate appearances. They parted ways with him that ensuing offseason.

Now, Gonzalez will get a shot with a San Diego ballclub that won 93 games and ultimately fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a tight five-game NLDS last year. The Padres also advanced all the way to the NLCS in 2022.

We'll see if the former Cleveland fan favorite can revitalize his career with the Friars.

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What Does the Dodgers Active Roster Look Like With Kiké Hernandez?

It’s official: Kiké Hernández is back on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

An offseason that could not have been more sweet for a team coming off its eighth World Series title in franchise history just got infinitely sweeter.

Per The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya on X, the fan favorite utility man is back in Dodger blue on a one-year deal, pending a physical.

It was unofficially announced on Hernández’s social media accounts with a somewhat cryptic post.

Hernández posted a video of highlights from the Dodgers’ 2024 championship run with the caption “Walking through the open door.”

The utility man also made an Instagram post with the same caption, but this time followed by #26th man.

With so much talent now signed with L.A., this brings up a great point as to who will be joining him on the active roster.

MLB only permits a 26-man roster from Opening Day through Aug. 31. Starting Sept. 1. through the end of the regular season, clubs are able to carry 28 players, and a limit of 14 pitchers.

With the core players obviously safe from not making the Opening Day team, a few outliers are now a part a conversation about where they will end up when the 2025 campaign begins.

Hyeseong Kim, James Outman, Chris Taylor, and Andy Pages will seemingly be competing for a spot.

Taylor is an interesting case as his contract has a $2 million assignment bonus with each trade his, plus his 2026 option increases by $1 million if traded after the 2024 season and before start of 2026 season.

Kim, the newly acquired KBO standout would be an unlikely trade candidate, but if he shows that his defensive prowess is enough to earn a roster spot amid the other offensive juggernauts in L.A., this will save him a stint of Triple-A play.

Outman already had an abysmal 2024 and was optioned to Triple-A to clear room for Miguel Rojas when he returned from injury. Pages too was optioned to Triple-A last August as the Dodgers made room for newly acquired Tommy Edman.

It appears the Dodgers will have to make another roster crunch, but who the odd man out will be remains a mystery.

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You mean the expert with the inside info on Kiko was wrong?! I'm stunned

Dodgers To Re-Sign Clayton Kershaw

By Darragh McDonald | February 11, 2025 at 2:50pm CDT

The Dodgers and left-hander Clayton Kershaw have agreed to terms on a new deal, reports Alden González of ESPN. It was previously relayed by Dylan Hernández of the Los Angeles Times that the lefty is in camp with the club. The deal isn’t official yet because the Excel Sports Management client still has to undergo a physical. The details of the new agreement aren’t yet publicly known. The Dodgers will need to open a 40-man spot but have several candidates to be moved to the 60-day injured list.

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Pirates’ Spencer Horwitz To Miss Time This Spring Following Wrist Surgery

By Anthony Franco | February 11, 2025 at 9:37pm CDT

Pirates first baseman Spencer Horwitz will miss time in Spring Training because of a right wrist injury, report Andrew Destin and Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. While specifics on the injury are unclear, Destin and Hiles write that Horwitz underwent surgery at some point and remains in a cast.

It’s an alarming start for the Bucs as camp gets underway. Pittsburgh acquired the 27-year-old Horwitz at the Winter Meetings in what amounted to a de facto three-team trade involving the Blue Jays and Guardians. They sent back-end starter Luis Ortiz and a pair of pitching prospects to Cleveland for Horwitz, whom the Guards had acquired from Toronto hours before in the Andrés Giménez deal.

Without a timetable on the injury, it’s possible he’ll still be available on Opening Day. Yet it’s clearly not an ideal beginning to his Bucs tenure. Horwitz is the favorite for the first base job once he’s healthy. The Pirates are betting on his minor league numbers and relatively small-sample production in the big leagues. Horwitz had an impressive .265/.357/.433 showing across 381 MLB plate appearances last year. He connected on 12 homers while showing strong strike zone awareness. The lefty hitter walked at an 11% clip while striking out just 18.4% of the time.

Plate discipline has been Horwitz’s calling card throughout his career. He has posted excellent minor league numbers, including a .316/.433/.471 slash over parts of three Triple-A seasons. The statistical profile is robust, but most scouting reports have been less bullish on Horwitz’s bat translating against big league pitching over the long haul. He’s a middling defender who fits best at first base, though he logged nearly 300 innings at second base for Toronto last season. There’s a lot of pressure on the bat if he’s to be an average or better regular at first base. Horwitz doesn’t have huge raw power. Last year’s 16 combined homers between Triple-A and MLB represented a career high.

Pittsburgh got very little offense from the position last season. Their first basemen hit .230/.295/.380, landing in the bottom third of MLB in all three categories. That was almost entirely on the Rowdy Tellez/Connor Joe platoon. The Bucs parted ways with both players. Aside from Horwitz, they haven’t made any notable additions there.

Should Horwitz begin the season on the injured list, 26-year-old Billy Cook is probably the top in-house option. He hit .224 with 19 strikeouts and zero walks in his first 16 major league games late last season. The righty-hitting Cook posted a solid .275/.375/.474 showing in the upper minors between the Baltimore and Pittsburgh systems. Baseball America ranked Cook the #12 prospect in the Bucs system this winter, writing that he has decent power and athleticism but concerns about his pure hitting ability.

The Pirates already planned to get Bryan Reynolds work at first base this spring. That could take on added urgency now, though it’s unlikely that the Bucs would move him to the position on an everyday basis. Pittsburgh got almost nothing out of their right fielders last season. They’ve agreed to terms with Tommy Pham on a $4MM deal to raise the floor at that position, but the outfield would again become a significant concern if Reynolds moved to first base.

There are a few unsigned first basemen who are still available. Justin Turner and Anthony Rizzo seem likely to secure big league deals. Mark Canha might get an MLB contract as well, while Yuli Gurriel and José Abreu are potential minor league options. Whether the Bucs expect Horwitz to miss time in the regular season could impact their decision to potentially bring in a veteran on at least a minor league contract. Former Phillies first baseman Darick Hall will be in camp as a non-roster invitee. Tomorrow is report day for pitchers and catchers, so the team may provide an update on Horwitz’s injury in the coming days.

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Josh Naylor Speaks About The Trade That Sent Him To Arizona

February 11, 2025

By Andres Chavez

The Cleveland Guardians traded first baseman Josh Naylor to the Arizona Diamondbacks this offseason.

The writing was always on the wall, as the Guardians weren’t going to extend his contract and they usually trade a player with some value who is about to become a free agent.

They received Slade Cecconi and a pick in the 2025 MLB Draft.

Naylor recently referred to the trade in a conversation with Bernie Pleskoff of Forbes, who said the slugger seems happy in Arizona.

“Naylor said he had heard rumors about a potential trade from Cleveland for ‘a couple of years’ but that he enjoyed his time in Cleveland. At one point, he said he realized that ‘baseball is a business.’ He noted the D-backs are his fourth organization,” Pleskoff wrote.

Naylor had a power explosion in 2024 with career-highs of 31 home runs, and 108 RBIs.

His performance dipped considerably in the second half, though.

Now, he is looking to have a good season in the National League so he can increase his earning opportunities on the open market.

This offseason showed that MLB teams aren’t valuing slugging first basemen very highly, but Naylor has probably learned about the dynamics of the market and will likely adjust his approach.

Naylor said there just wasn’t much interest on the Guardians’ part in a new deal.

“It was surprising when Naylor told the Arizona media the Guardians did not approach him with any contract negotiations last year,” Pleskoff wrote.

The Guardians always knew they traded for Kyle Manzardo to be the first baseman of the future, and they also brought in Carlos Santana on a one-year deal.

All things considered, both parties have successfully moved on.


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Guardians’ Slugger Josh Naylor Seems Happy In Arizona

Bernie Pleskoff

Contributor

Bernie Pleskoff is a former professional Major League Baseball scout

First baseman Josh Naylor is now a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The left-handed hitting Naylor, 27, was traded to the Dbacks by the Cleveland Guardians December 21, 2024, for pitcher Slade Cecconi.

Naylor met members of the media February 10 at the Diamondbacks spring training facility in Scottsdale, Arizona.

This old scout was in attendance as Naylor was introduced as a member of the Diamondbacks.

To this observer, Naylor seemed very much at peace, and seemed to be enjoying the transition to his new team.

Prior to meeting the media, Naylor was seen taking ground balls on a back field at the Diamondbacks complex. He looked relaxed and ready for a new challenge.

About Josh Naylor:

Josh Naylor was a 1st round selection of the Miami Marlins in the 2015 draft.

The Marlins chose Naylor at No. 12 overall, and made him the highest drafted Canadian position player ever.

At the age of 21, Naylor made his debut with the Padres, serving as the team’s designated hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Naylor played 112 games with the Padres before being traded to the Cleveland Indians on August 31, 2020.

Naylor was one of six players sent to Cleveland in exchange for pitcher Mike Clevinger, and outfielder Greg Allen of the Indians.

The deal was one of the more consequential transactions in Cleveland baseball history, as Naylor, Gabriel Arias, Joey Cantillo, Austin Hedges, Owen Miller, and Cal Quantrill have all appeared in the big leagues for Cleveland.

Last year, Naylor hit 31 home runs, and drove in 108 runs for his Cleveland team, which fell one game short of representing the American League in the World Series.

The Guardians lost to the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series, with Naylor being a major component of the playoff quality team.

Naylor finished the 2024 regular season with a stat line of .243/.320/.456/.776 in 633 plate appearances.

Naylor made the American League All Star Team in 2024.

Naylor has one year remaining before he can become a free agent at the end of the 2025 season.

The Guardians elected to trade Naylor to the Diamondbacks before he became a free agent on their watch.

Naylor will be playing on a one-year, $10.9 million contract with Arizona.

It was surprising when Naylor told the Arizona media the Guardians did not approach him with any contract negotiations last year.

Naylor shared the fact he entered last season wanting to hit more home runs. It was a personal goal.

For this coming season, Naylor indicated a desire to be a more complete hitter, improving his batting average, and still hitting home runs.

Naylor expressed great respect and admiration for Christian Walker, Naylor’s predecessor with the Dbacks. Walker signed a free agent contract with the Houston Astros.

Naylor said, he is “never satisfied with the things I do.” To this writer, Naylor seems driven to continue his success, and build on his past.

Naylor said he had heard rumors about a potential trade from Cleveland for “a couple of years” but that he enjoyed his time in Cleveland. At one point, he said he realized that “baseball is a business.” He noted the Dbacks are his fourth organization.

To this old scout, Naylor looked to be strong, healthy, and in improved physical condition.

Josh is one of three Naylor brothers playing professional baseball.

The sons of Chris and Jenice Naylor of Mississaugua, Ontario, Canada, Josh, and his brothers Bo (Guardians) and Myles (Athletics) all train in Arizona. Josh indicated they like to spend time in the Phoenix area (or Texas) where it is warm, and where they can work out and live together.

Naylor also expressed extreme gratitude to his parents for teaching him the value of hard work and “being a kind, nice person.”

That he is.

Naylor now brings his potent, home run bat to the Arizona desert.

Josh Naylor seemed very comfortable, at ease, and very much at home in his new, Arizona Diamondbacks environment.

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Alex Cobb out for the next month with a hip problem. Jose Z says can we trade for him now ? Wasted 15 million.

Same team that gave Flaherty a 25 million dollar contract, Yes the same guy that the small market Yankees traded for last year and immediately rescinded the trade once they seen his medicals. They were not comfortable with him getting hurt and they were only going to finish the season with him. Yet some guy in Chicago wants to give him 25 million.

After a surprising run to the playoffs in 2024, the Detroit Tigers are looking to run it back in 2025. However, before the team even began spring training, Detroit is already dealing with an injury to their pitching rotation.

Alex Cobb underwent a PRP injection for his right hip inflammation. Manager AJ Hinch said the right-hander is set to be out for about a month, via Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic. Hinch isn’t expecting Cobb to be ready for Opening Day.

Which is a major blow for the Tigers after signing him to a $15 million contract. As they plan their 2025 campaign, Cobb is expected to fill a major role in the back end of the rotation. However, Detroit will need to find a different option to at least start the campaign.

Tigers Made Six-Year Offer To Bregman

By Anthony Franco | February 12, 2025 at 11:23pm CDT

Alex Bregman is headed to Boston on a three-year deal that comes with a massive $40MM average annual value (albeit with deferrals). The two-time All-Star was also known to have multiple six-year offers on the table, one of which was from the Astros.

The Tigers also proposed a six-year offer, as first reported by Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press. Petzold initially reported that Detroit’s offer was for narrowly above $170MM and included an opt-out clause after the second season. It had some amount of deferred money. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale specified it as a $171.5MM offer.

Detroit’s offer came with an approximate $28.58MM average annual value, before accounting for deferrals. Bregman obviously fared much better on an annual basis on the agreement with Boston. It seems as if Detroit offered the highest overall guarantee. The Astros had a six-year, $156MM offer on the table for most of the winter. While they reportedly bumped that towards the end of the process, they didn’t seem optimistic about getting a deal done.

Indeed, it doesn’t seem that Houston was even in the running by the end. Nightengale reports that the Cubs, Tigers and Red Sox were the finalists. As with Boston, Chicago only seemed interested on a short-term deal. However, they weren’t willing to match the Sox’s offer on an annual basis. Nightengale reports that the Cubs proposed a four-year, $120MM deal. According to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, that would have included opt-outs after the second and third seasons.

The Tigers and Cubs would each have kept Bregman at his traditional third base position. They’re likely to turn the hot corner to young players with top prospect pedigree but little to no MLB experience (Jace Jung and Matt Shaw, respectively). Bregman is ticketed for second base work in Boston, where Rafael Devers will stick at the hot corner.

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Padres, Nick Pivetta Agree To Four-Year Deal

By Anthony Franco | February 12, 2025 at 8:13pm CDT

The Padres are reportedly in agreement with Nick Pivetta on a backloaded four-year, $55MM deal. The righty receives a $3MM signing bonus and a $1MM salary for the upcoming season. He’s guaranteed $19MM, $14MM, and $18MM salaries over the following three seasons and can opt out after the contract after the second and third years. While the salary structure helps the Padres navigate short-term payroll constraints, the $13.75MM average annual value counts evenly against the team’s luxury tax calculation. The deal is pending a physical and has not been officially announced by the Padres, who have two opening on their 40-man roster.

Pivetta, who’ll celebrate his 32rd birthday on Friday, was the best unsigned starting pitcher. He had declined a $21.05MM qualifying offer from the Red Sox at the beginning of the offseason. That was a bit of a surprising decision that presumably played a role in holding up his market into Spring Training. He finds a multi-year deal with a much greater overall guarantee than he would have received had he accepted the QO, though he’s taking a notable pay cut for the upcoming season in the process.

The 6’5″ righty debuted with the Phillies in 2017. He struggled for most of his four-year tenure in Philadelphia. A 2020 deadline trade sending him to Boston turned his career around. Pivetta has been a mid-rotation workhorse over the last four years. He ranks 23rd in MLB with 623 innings since the start of the 2021 season. He owns a cumulative 4.33 earned run average and has allowed an ERA between 4.04 and 4.56 in each season.

Pivetta was a fixture in Alex Cora’s rotation over his first two seasons in Boston. He remained in that role early in the ’23 campaign, but the Sox kicked him to the bullpen in the middle of May. Pivetta was sitting on a 6.30 ERA over his first eight starts of the season. He had a fantastic turnaround in a long relief capacity. Pivetta allowed 1.98 earned runs per nine with an exceptional 36.9% strikeout rate over his first 17 relief appearances. Boston gradually stretched him back out to a rotation workload as the season progressed, putting him back in the starting five entering last season.

A flexor strain in his elbow sent him to the injured list in early April. That was remarkably the first non-virus IL stint of his nearly seven-year MLB career. Pivetta returned no worse for wear a month later and stayed heathy from May onwards. He wound up taking the ball 27 times and worked to a 4.14 ERA across 145 2/3 innings.

Pivetta’s run prevention numbers are those of a league average starter. That alone would be a significant boost to a San Diego rotation that needs reliable back-end innings. Pivetta’s strikeout and walk profile has been more intriguing than the bottom line results. He punched out 28.9% of opposing hitters against a modest 6.1% walk rate last season. That was the third season of the past four years in which he has posted a well above-average strikeout rate.

However, the swing-and-miss ability has been somewhat undercut by longstanding issues keeping the ball in the park. Pivetta has allowed a higher than average home run rate in every season of his MLB career. He gives up a lot of hard contact. While Statcast’s park factors grade Fenway Park as one of the sport’s most hitter-friendly venues overall, it has played around neutral for home runs over the past few seasons. Petco Park has been around average for home runs as well, though it broadly plays more favorably for pitchers.

Pivetta slots fourth on Mike Shildt’s rotation depth chart for the moment. He’s behind Dylan Cease, Michael King and Yu Darvish in what had been a very top-heavy rotation. It’s a lot more balanced now, as Pivetta can provide innings that San Diego lost when Joe Musgrove underwent Tommy John surgery last fall. That’d leave one spot up for grabs among the likes of Randy Vásquez, Matt Waldron and potential reliever conversion candidates Bryan Hoeing and Stephen Kolek.

That’d only be the case if there are no other moves before Opening Day. The Padres have been hamstrung all offseason by payroll restrictions. It’s the second straight winter in which the front office has had limited financial leeway. They’ve inked a trio of cheap one-year deals to plug holes at catcher and left field. They signed Elias Díaz for $3.5MM to start behind the plate while bringing in Connor Joe and Jason Heyward for a left field platoon at a combined $2MM cost.

Pivetta won’t make much more than that in year one. The bigger ramifications are from a luxury tax perspective. The Padres snuck below the tax line in 2024. They’ve seemingly preferred to do so again this offseason. The Padres had projected narrowly above this year’s $241MM base threshold. Pivetta pushes them close to the second tax tier. RosterResource calculates their tax number around $258MM. The actual fees are relatively small. They’re taxed at a 20% rate on spending between $241MM and $261MM. They’ll pay a $2.75MM tax on the Pivetta deal and are currently lined up for about $3.4MM in taxes overall.

While ownership may simply be willing to live with that relatively small tax bill, the front office could consider payroll-clearing trades in the coming weeks. Cease, who has a $13.75MM tax number himself for his final arbitration season, has been in trade rumors all offseason. King ($7.75MM) has been the subject of lesser trade chatter, while Robert Suarez and Luis Arraez have also been speculated about. Trading Cease or King would again raise questions about the rotation’s stability, though any such deal would almost certainly include at least one affordable MLB rotation piece in the return package.

The money isn’t the only cost for San Diego. They’ll surrender their second-round pick (#64 overall) in the upcoming draft, as well as $500K from their 2026 bonus pool for international amateurs, because Pivetta had declined the qualifying offer. The Red Sox get a compensation pick in the ’25 draft, which will land 77th overall.

Pivetta winds up being the only free agent starter of this offseason to sign a four-year deal. Michael Wacha, Yusei Kikuchi, Sean Manaea, Nathan Eovaldi and Luis Severino each signed for three years but pulled higher annual values. All but Wacha landed a larger overall guarantee. Severino and Manaea had also declined qualifying offers, while Wacha would have received one had he not re-signed with Kansas City just before QO decisions were due. Pivetta will collect $23MM over the next two seasons. His opt-out decisions will come when there are two years at $32MM and (if he doesn’t take the first out) one year at $18MM remaining.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first to report the signing and the salary breakdown. Image courtesy of Imagn.

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Marlins Sign Cal Quantrill

By Darragh McDonald | February 12, 2025 at 1:25pm CDT

The Marlins announced that they have signed right-hander Cal Quantrill to a one-year deal. Left-hander Braxton Garrett has been transferred to the 60-day injured list as the corresponding move. Quantrill’s deal reportedly guarantees him $3.5MM, though the Excel Sports Management client can potentially earn another $500K via incentives.

Quantrill, 30, just finished a season pitching for the Rockies. After a few years pitching for the Guardians, he was flipped to Colorado and had to navigate the challenge of pitching at altitude in 2024. Given the conditions, the results were passable. He made 29 starts and logged 148 1/3 innings, allowing 4.98 earned runs per nine. His 16.8% strikeout rate was subpar but pretty normal for him. His 10.5% walk rate was a bit higher than average while his 44.4% ground ball rate was right around par.

The Rockies could have brought Quantrill back for 2025, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $9MM salary, but they opted to non-tender him instead. That sent him to free agency without being exposed to waivers, which made him available to work out this deal with the Marlins.

He has had some better numbers in the past. Over the 2021 and 2022 seasons with Cleveland, he worked a swing role, making 54 starts and 18 relief appearances. Over those campaigns, he posted a 3.16 ERA with an 18% strikeout rate, 6.8% walk rate and 42.6% ground ball rate. He benefited from a .274 batting average on balls in play and 77.9% strand rate in that time, which were both on the lucky side. His 4.10 FIP and 4.50 SIERA over that span were perhaps better reflections of his performance but still solid numbers for a back-end starter or swingman.

In 2023, things regressed for him a bit. He spent some time on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation and was only able to make 19 starts. He had a 5.24 ERA and was designated for assignment after the season, which led to his trade to Colorado.

The Marlins are likely looking for Quantrill to serve as a steadying force in a rotation that has talent but is in flux. With the club rebuilding, they have had a strong willingness to deal players over the past year. In the rotation, they traded Trevor Rogers to the Orioles at last year’s deadline and then Jesús Luzardo to the Phillies in this offseason. Garrett is also going to miss the 2025 season while recovering from surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing elbow. Eury Pérez is recovering from Tommy John surgery and isn’t slated to return until around the All-Star break.

As of now, the on-paper rotation consists of Sandy Alcántara, Ryan Weathers, Edward Cabrera and Max Meyer, with plenty of uncertainty in those remaining options. Alcántara is returning after Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2024 campaign. Even if he’s successful in coming back healthy, he will likely be in trade rumors this summer. Weathers had some good numbers last year but spent a decent chunk of time on the IL due to a finger strain and still hasn’t thrown 100 innings in an MLB season. Cabrera has also never hit the 100-inning plateau and has walked 13.3% of opponents in his career. He’s also been in plenty of trade rumors and could be flipped if he shows some hints of improvement. Meyer missed the 2023 season recovering from Tommy John surgery and came back last year to make 11 big league starts with a 5.68 ERA.

The Fish have some depth options like Valente Bellozo, Adam Mazur and Connor Gillispie, but those guys all have options. Quantrill can take a rotation spot and bump those guys down to the Triple-A rotation, at least until an injury or a trade opens up an opportunity. If Quantrill pitches well, he’ll likely end up on the trade block himself.

RosterResource currently pegs the Marlins for a competitive balance number of just over $83MM, which should jump to around $86-87MM once Quantrill’s deal is factored in. It has been reported that they may need to get up to $105MM to avoid being subject to a grievance from the MLBPA, in relation to the use of their revenue-sharing funds. If the club plans to get to that number, then perhaps they will look to make further upgrades to their roster in the coming weeks.

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