2 duds that the Miami Marlins were right not to sign in the offseason

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I talked about the Miami Marlins making a splash during the last offseason. It made sense at the time and allegedly led to Derek Jeter leaving, but you know what maybe Kim Ng was right not to sign these players. Are you shocked? Let’s look at these big bats that the Miami Marlins didn’t sign and maybe you’ll agree that she made the right call.

The Miami Marlins were smart to pass on signing these hitters.

2. The home run machine with issues

PHILADELPHIA, PA – MAY 31: Kyle Schwarber #12 of the Philadelphia Phillies in action during a game against the San Francisco Giants at Citizens Bank Park on May 31, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

There was a lot of hype for Kyle Schwarber when he hit free agency last off-season. He was a power hitter that the Miami Marlins seemingly needed as he hit .266/.374/.554 with 32 home runs and 71 in 113 games and 399 AB’s last season. This looked very impressive but his poor defense was a concern. He had a -1.3 dWAR last season.

Kyle Schwarber was a defensive liability when he signed with the Philadelphia Phillies. Still, many people looked at his power numbers and wondered how he could do if he played with the Miami Marlins. Didn’t putting him at DH make sense? Wasn’t paying him $80 million for 4 years a good deal? Locking up the DH spot with a streaky low-average hitter clearly proved to be a mistake for Philadelphia.

Kyle Schwarber is currently batting .192/.314/.429 with 12 home runs and 25 RBI in 49 games and 177 AB’s. He’s worth 0.3 WAR and has an atrocious -0.5 dWAR as Philly is using him as their left fielder. Can you imagine if the Miami Marlins wasted money on him instead? I don’t think that most of us would’ve praised this signing. Schwarber doesn’t have that much upside either due to the aforementioned issues with his defense and contact.

1. The SS the Miami Marlins could’ve built around

KANSAS CITY, MO – MAY 21: Carlos Correa #4 of the Minnesota Twins looks on against the Kansas City Royals on May 21, 2022 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images) /

It’s no secret that SS Carlos Correa was an elite free agent during the last offseason. He seemed like a natural target for the Miami Marlins, as the incumbent Miguel Rojas just wasn’t really cutting it as a starter at the position. Correa was phenomenal last season with a .279/.366/.485 batting line and more importantly an elite defense that led to an impressive 7.2 WAR.

It certainly looked as if some team was going to give Carlos Correa a massive contract. I mean an elite defensive short stop with power who was only 27 years old?! That looked like a general manager’s dream signing. A 10 year deal for a player like that is still only taking him through to his age-37 season. How could anything really go wrong here? Well imagine everyone’s surprise when he had to “settle” for a 3 year/$105 million deal with the Minnesota Twins?! The deal even has opt-outs after every season.

It became clear that something was seriously wrong with the signing. Why couldn’t Carlos Correa get the massive contract that he was expected to get? What was wrong? It appeared that his serious injury history played a part in the contract and then there were likely other factors, such as likely negative evaluations by other teams.

What am I talking about? Well he’s only batting .279/.344/.407 right now which isn’t really worth the salary that he was commanding. He has 3 home runs and 16 RBI in 35 games and 140 AB’s, so he’s been having more health problems and his power isn’t there, despite an identical batting average. He has a 1.1 WAR for the season so far, which isn’t bad but FanGraphs projects only a 2.7 WAR going forward. That’s good, but not worth the money. He also has a .360 BABIP and is expected to hit worse going forward. Was he worth $35 million a year?

The Miami Marlins were right to pass up on signing Kyle Schwarber and Carlos Correa. It ended up having the team avoid bad investments and limiting our futureexpenses. The best part is that if Correa actually bounces back to last season’s results, he’s a free agent again after this season.

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The Miami Marlins were smart to pass on signing these hitters.

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