Miami Marlins

The San Diego Padres are showing interest in veteran starting pitcher Johnny Cueto, according to FanSided's Robert Murray and the New York Post's Jon Heyman.

Jon Morosi of MLB Network reported the Miami Marlins have weighed a move for Cueto as well and posited the 36-year-old could be a replacement for Pablo López if the 26-year-old gets traded.

Cueto posted his highest WAR (2.4) since 2016 last season, per FanGraphs. He went 8-10 with a 3.35 ERA and a 3.79 FIP in 25 appearances. Although his 5.80 strikeouts per nine innings were a career low, he had his second-lowest walk rate (1.88).

The two-time All-Star could be a good stopgap on a playoff contender or perhaps serve as a trade asset to flip ahead of the 2023 deadline.

The Padres fit firmly in the former category after reaching the National League Championship Series in 2022. They fortified their ranks by signing Xander Bogaerts to an 11-year, $280 million contract.

The rotation remains a bit of a question mark, though, considering San Diego is projected to lean on two pitchers, Nick Martinez and the newly signed Seth Lugo, who operated primarily as relievers this past year. Only 38 of Lugo's 275 career appearances have come in a starting capacity.

Whether it's Cueto or another solution, signing a veteran starter makes sense for the Padres.

As Morosi speculated, Miami's interest might hinge on another player going out. The Marlins return their entire starting rotation, a group headlined by National League Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara.

The franchise doesn't have a pressing need for pitching help at the moment, but the situation could change between now and Opening Day.

Houston Astros star Justin Verlander won his third American League Cy Young Award on Wednesday, while Sandy Alcantara became the first Miami Marlins pitcher to win the National League honor.

Alcantara earned all 30 first-place votes to secure the trophy over finalists Max Fried and Julio Urías.

Verlander also unanimously beat out finalists Dylan Cease and Alek Manoah.

Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani finished fourth in AL voting.

Alcantara led all pitchers with 8.0 wins above replacement, per Baseball Reference, thanks mostly to his impressive durability, highlighted by a major league-best 228.2 innings. He tallied 23.2 more innings than anyone else, while his six complete games doubled the next-best number.

No team in baseball posted more than five complete games this year.

The 27-year-old was lights-out, finishing 14-9 with a 2.28 ERA and 0.98 WHIP plus 207 strikeouts.

Though Urías had more wins (17) and an NL-best ERA (2.16), Alcantara's ability to consistently carry his team made him the top choice.

Verlander also stood out for his incredible season, finishing 18-4 while leading the majors with a 1.75 ERA and 0.83 WHIP. He added 185 strikeouts in 175 innings, while his 220 ERA+ was easily the best of his career.

Only twice in 28 starts did the right-hander allow more than three earned runs.

The 39-year-old has been one of the best pitchers in baseball throughout his career, but few gave him the chance to bounce back at this level after he underwent Tommy John surgery and made just one appearance over the last two years. He proved all doubters wrong with an outstanding regular season and then helped the Astros win the World Series.

Cease had a strong case for the award, including his 227 strikeouts and memorable hot streak during the summer (11 GS, 65.2 IP, 0.82 ERA, 0.96 WHIP from June 14 to Aug. 11), but he wasn't as consistent as Verlander.

Verlander is now one of only 11 pitchers with three Cy Young Awards, adding to his Hall of Fame résumé.

The Miami Marlins have promoted Caroline O’Connor to president of business operations.

O'Connor is the second woman to serve as president of a Major League Baseball team, following Catie Griggs of the Seattle Mariners, but the Marlins are the first major U.S. sports franchise to have women as both president and general manager.

Miami hired Kim Ng as GM in 2020, and she became the first woman to hold the position in one of the four major sports leagues.

"When I talk to young girls, I really like them to see me in my role because I didn’t feel like I had that role model," O'Connor said, per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press. "And I want people to see themselves when they see me and know that it is a possibility."

O'Connor has been with the Marlins since 2017, working as the chief operating officer since 2019.

She is expected to oversee all of the club's business operations, including sales and marketing.

"Her leadership will continue to guide the Marlins organization toward our goal of sustained success while strategizing additional new ventures to grow our business and enhance our brand recognition," owner Bruce Sherman said.

Derek Jeter, who hired O'Connor, stepped down as the organization's CEO in February.

The Marlins will look to O'Connor and Ng to help a team coming off back-to-back losing seasons.

Miami Marlins right-hander Pablo López is available in trade discussions this offseason, per MLB Network's Jon Heyman.

Miami nearly dealt López to the New York Yankees at the Aug. 2 trade deadline for a package that included Gleyber Torres, according to Heyman. It's unclear if the Pinstripes have reengaged the Marlins in negotiations.

López has spent his entire five-year career with the Marlins and put together an impressive 2022 campaign, finishing 10-10 with a 3.75 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and 174 strikeouts in 180 innings across 32 starts.

The 26-year-old has been consistent over his career. He has started 94 games since 2018, posting a 3.94 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 489 strikeouts across 510 innings.

In addition, López is under team control through 2024 with two seasons of arbitration eligibility before becoming an unrestricted free agent in 2025. With his consistent play and the term on his contract, he is a prime trade candidate this winter.

The Marlins desperately need hitters after batting .230 in 2022, tied for the third-lowest average in baseball. Only the Pittsburgh Pirates and Oakland Athletics were worse.

With a rotation that includes Sandy Alcantara, Trevor Rogers, Jesús Luzardo, Edward Cabrera and Braxton Garrett, the Fish can afford to lose López in order to acquire a bat to put alongside Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Bryan De La Cruz.

The Marlins had a rough 2022 campaign that saw them miss the playoffs for the 18th time in 19 seasons after finishing 69-93, fourth in the NL East. Bringing in at least one more hitter should be a priority.

However, it's unclear who the club might target.

Some good hitters are available on the free-agent market, including Anthony Rizzo, Josh Bell, Jean Segura and Xander Bogaerts. It remains to be seen whether Miami, which had a $96.3 million payroll in 2022—the fifth-lowest in baseball—would be willing to spend the kind of money it would take to bring in a marquee hitter.

Jorge Soler will return to the Miami Marlins after exercising his $15 million player option for the 2023 MLB season, according to Craig Mish of SportsGrid.

The veteran outfielder caught fire with the Atlanta Braves in the second half of the 2021 campaign, slugging .524 and hitting 14 home runs in 55 games. He carried that form into the postseason and was crowned World Series MVP after his three home runs and six RBI helped propel Atlanta to a title.

Unfortunately for the Marlins, Soler fell back to earth in a big way this year. In 72 games, he had 13 homers, 34 RBI and a .207/.295/.400 slash line. Per FanGraphs, his .305 wOBA and 98 wRC+ were his lowest since 2017.

Soler's season ended in mid-July. The Marlins placed him on the injured list July 23 because of lower-back spasms, and he never returned to the field.

It continued a trend for the Cuban. He has played a full 162-game season once in his career and eclipsed 100 games on only two other occasions since arriving in the majors in 2014.

Speaking to reporters Sept. 12, the 30-year-old said he and his agent hadn't yet given much thought to whether he would trigger his option or become a free agent. He did, however, reference the improvement he and the Marlins would need to make in 2023.

"It was not the ideal season for any of us, not for me, not for the whole team," he said. "We didn't prove the expectation that everybody was actually waiting for. We just have to keep working hard and work for the next season."

From a financial perspective, staying in Miami is the sensible decision. It's difficult to envision another team gives Soler a $15 million salary in 2023 on the back of such an underwhelming season.

The Marlins presumably expected this outcome as well and slotted him into their lineup as the starting left fielder or designated hitter.

Getting back to full health and having a clean slate may help Soler rebound next year. Some of his underlying metrics raise cause for concern, though.

Soler has struck out at a high volume across his career with a 27.2 percent strikeout rate.

In 2019, he offset that by leading the American League in home runs (48) and slugging .569 with the Kansas City Royals. As he ages and his power starts to wane, his strikeouts will become a bigger problem because when he does make contact, what used to be home runs will start to stay in the park.

There are signs the shift is happening.

Soler's isolated power hit a peak of .304 and has declined each year since then, hitting .193 in 2022. According to Baseball Savant, his hard-hit percentage has fallen from a high of 51.1 percent in 2020 to 47.0 in 2021 and 43.6 in 2022 as well. His home run to fly ball rate across the last two years (16.7 and 17.8 percent) is below his career average of 19.4 percent, per FanGraphs.

If he can stay healthy, Soler's production could tick back upward, but Miami might find itself having to work around his limitations even more at the plate.

The Miami Marlins learned this season that great pitching alone is not enough to compete for a playoff spot.

Miami entered Sunday ranked 14th in the majors with a 3.89 team ERA, led by Sandy Alcantara and a deep starting rotation. Five different pitchers made at least 14 starts while posting an ERA under four.

The problem was an ineffective lineup that ranked 28th of 30 teams entering Sunday in runs scored. It's a major reason the Marlins were a distant fourth place in the National League East throughout the season and well out of wild-card contention.

There's been virtually no consistency or power from the offense throughout the year, especially once Jazz Chisholm Jr. went down with a back injury. Garrett Cooper is the only player with an OPS+ over 100 who played more than 100 games this year, per Baseball Reference.

This means nearly every single player in the everyday lineup was a below-average hitter this season.

It makes sense the Marlins could be willing to trade their pitching in order to find more hitters this offseason.

This likely won't include Alcantara, who is reportedly "as close to untouchable as you can find," according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

Heyman reported Pablo Lopez is "more likely" to be traded and was nearly dealt to the New York Yankees ahead of the trade deadline.

Considering the quality alternatives in the rotation, including Jesús Luzardo and Edward Cabrera, this would be a genius move for Miami to improve the roster heading into 2023. Perhaps most importantly, the organization is beginning to understand how to use its home field to its advantage.

According to Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald, the Marlins will be "inclined to pursue contact hitters" this offseason and power hitters "won't be a priority."

LoanDepot Park isn't the worst hitters' park in the league—it's close to league-average in home runs this season, per ESPN—but the expansive dimensions create a lot of opportunities for base hits. The Marlins didn't take advantage of that with heavy strikeout rates at the plate.

If Miami can add more contact hitters and more speed, they can create long rallies and big innings without needing home runs.

A player like Minnesota Twins infielder Luis Arráez could fit that description after earning his first All-Star selection this season. The Marlins might also be smart to call the Boston Red Sox about shortstop Xander Bogaerts, a perennial MVP candidate who was wasted on a struggling team this season.

The Marlins aren't known to spend big in free agency, but they can be aggressive on the trade market if they find opportunities.

Lopez could fetch a strong return as one of the league's most consistent pitchers over the past few years. He finished 2021 with a 3.07 ERA and 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings, and he has kept it up this year despite receiving little run support throughout the year.

After his seven shutout innings on Sunday against the playoff-contending Milwaukee Brewers, the Venezuelan has a 3.75 ERA in 32 starts this season, adding 174 strikeouts.

Still just 26 years old with two more years under team control, the right-hander would be a quality building lock for any team.

With Miami, though, he's an expendable part of an exciting young rotation. With hitting becoming a much bigger need, the team shouldn't hesitate to deal Lopez or even more from their pitching staff.

Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, the presumptive favorite for the National League Cy Young award, is unlikely to be traded this offseason.

Per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, one source with the Marlins called the right-hander "as close to untouchable as you can find" in Major League Baseball.

Even though trading a superstar player in the prime of their career has been the Marlins' modus operandi for virtually their entire existence, Alcantara's contract situation does make it easier to envision them keeping him for at least the next couple of years.

Alcantara signed a five-year, $56 million extension in November 2021. The deal runs through the 2026 season and includes a $21 million team option for 2027.

Based on how the contract is structured, Alcantara's base salary won't be more than $9 million until after the 2024 season.

Even though the years and total value of the deals are vastly different, the structure of Alcantara's contract bears some resemblance to how the Marlins negotiated Giancarlo Stanton's 13-year, $325 million signed in November 2014.

Stanton only earned $30 million over the first three years of the deal. He was traded to the New York Yankees in December 2017, when his salary for the upcoming season was going to jump up to $25 million.

Per Spotrac, Miami only has $47.6 million in guaranteed money on the books for 2023. The total doesn't include players under team control or eligible for arbitration.

Alcantara would seem like the type of player a franchise would want to build around. The 27-year-old leads MLB in innings pitched (220.2) and complete games (five). He ranks second in the NL in ERA (2.32).

The Marlins enter Friday with a 65-91 record, fourth in the NL East. They haven't had a winning season since 2009 and have only made the playoffs once since 2004.