Marlins Designate Pair of Lefty Relievers for Assignment

The Miami Marlins designated left-handed relief pitchers Jarlin Garcia and Jose Quijada earlier today to clear space on their 40-man roster.

As an unapologetic Marlins apologist, I find myself scratching my head at their recent decision to designate two left-handers to make room for recently acquired Matt Joyce and Brandon Kintzler.

There were far more reasonable players to designate than Jarlin Garcia and Jose Quijada. Granted, Quijada failed to live up to his minor league pedigree, with a 7.9 walk rate and a 1.797 WHIP. But Garcia?

Garcia ranked seventh on the 2019 Marlins with 1.3 Wins Above Replacement, the highest mark in the bullpen. His 141 ERA+ was easily the best mark on the team, well over the 116 figure that since-departed Tyler Kinley posted.

True, Garcia didn’t strike out a lot of batters, with just 39 in 50 1/3 innings, but his 1.105 WHIP was also the best that any Marlin could muster in 2019.

I can only hope that on his way through waivers, someone tries to pick Garcia up and Miami is forced to keep him or trade him. I don’t see such a quality lefty with four seasons of control remaining making it very far past the Baltimore Orioles.

Then again….

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Could this be a back-door trade with the Orioles after all? Miami got 4.0 WAR stalwart Jonathan Villar for next to nothing two months ago. They just be returning the favor to Baltimore. However, why would they avoid a conventional trade in the first place? I just don’t know.

Conspiracy theories aside, this move paves the way for Kintzler and Joyce to slide onto the 40-man roster. If this is indeed the end of Garcia’s time with Miami, they’ll be missing a player who posted an 8-7 record with a 4.29 ERA over three seasons with the team. He had a career 1.218 WHIP and 121 K’s in 170 frames.

Quijada made his major league debut last season after five+ seasons rising through Miami’s minor league affiliate feeder system. He was 2-3 with a 5.76 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings for a solid 13.3 K/9.