Marlins acquire Andre Rienzo from White Sox

The Marlins’ busy off-season continued today, as a flurry of moves have been made in the last 24 hours. The latest acquisition will add some international spice to the pitching staff, in the form of Andre Rienzo. A native of Brazil, Rienzo broke into the big leagues with the white sox in 2013. Jon Morosi reported the story.

Rienzo made 11 starts last season, and he had a tough time; going 4-5 with a 6.82 ERA and a 1.7 WHIP across 64.2 innings. Little can be taken from such a small major league sample size, more can be learned from his minor league endeavors. In 2012, Rienzo pitched over 100 innings across AA and AAA, recording a 2.53 ERA. Maybe that is just wishful thinking.

The Marlins gave up Dan Jennings in this deal, who had his ups and downs as a member of the Fish. A true “roster bubble” type, Jennings was frequently moved up and down from AAA New Orleans to Miami last year. He threw 40 innings out of the Marlins pen last year, and compiled a very misleading 1.34 ERA. Jennings was the type of guy who would inherit a lot of runners and let them all score, hurting the guy who he replaced that inning. It’s easy to say Jennings’ services will not be horribly missed, and the Marlins’ bullpen will be just fine.

After losing Hatcher and Jennings, Rienzo will likely get some work out of the bullpen for the Marlins in 2015. Given the Matt Latos acquisition, their rotation is out of spots.

All in all, this move is of little consequence, but Rienzo has some upside and could prove to be a solid addition to the bullpen. With the Marlins looking to contend in 2015, they have come a lot closer in the past few hours. Hopefully, Rienzo will be a part of that. Only one item remains on the Marlins’ offseason checklist: A first baseman…stay tuned to Marlin Maniac for updates.

Next: BREAKING NEWS: Marlins Trade For Mat Latos