Miami Marlins Sign A.J. Ellis: Is This A Play For Jansen?

The Miami Marlins just made their second free-agent splash of the day, filling their backup catching vacancy with acquisition of veteran backup A.J. Ellis this Wednesday evening.

Special thanks to the much respected but never met Buster Olney of ESPN on breaking the news. That said, he was kind enough to tweet back to me once when I asked whether it was him or his doppleganger in a local coffeehouse.

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Hey, he could have been scouting the local college team and dabbling in prospect analysis.

As for Ellis though, he checks a box that appeared on the Marlins to do list when Jeff Mathis left for Arizona. As Olney notes in the cited tweet, the terms are a one year deal in the $2.5 million range.

Which is interesting, considering that is more 2016 money than Mathis will be making with the Diamondbacks.

While Ellis is the moderately better player, it is fair to question whether what he offers supplants the chemistry and report Mathis had established with his teammates. Again, I do think Ellis has the talent to win this, but it’s a narrow win.

And that brings us to what I’m officially stamping as our latest contribution to the Hot Stove MLB rumor mill: signing Ellis is all about enticing Kenley Jansen to sign with the Marlins. If nothing else, this is the best evidence I’ve seen yet that the Marlins might have a true preference when it comes to the two top-tier relievers on the market.

Check out this story from this past August, when Ellis was dealt to the rebuilding Phillies to snag the venerable Carlos Ruiz. You won’t struggle to find similar pieces. Jansen is on record as enjoying working with Ellis, and for those pointing out that J.T. Realmuto is much better than Yasmani Grandal, you’d do well to remember that Mathis did make more than a few defensive replacement cameos this season. Also, J.T. only started 137 games, despite being relatively healthy all season long.

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So there will be plenty of chances for Jansen to work with his former batterymate if he does indeed sign on with the Marlins. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me at all to learn there’s been some “wink and a nod” chatter between Jansen and former manager Don Mattingly already on this score. Remember back in 2010, when the Heat practically tripped over themselves signing former LeBron teammates? Stars get special consideration.

Stay tuned, but I’m expecting one more big signing before the week is out.

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