Interesting new OF option for the Marlins

It's non-tender time in the off-season. Teams don't want to tender some arbitration eligible players new contracts, so instead they non-tender them. This adds potentially interesting players to the free agent market. In the last few days, we saw some division rivals fail to win awards and that was interesting. Now, with the non-tender period, we can look at some upgrades for the Miami Marlins. Specifically for the OF.

Should the Miami Marlins target OF Austin Hays?

The Philadelphia Phillies recently non-tendered OF Austin Hays. They were very high on him when they acquired him from the Baltimore Orioles, but he was disappointing with the team in the 2024 season. He batted .256/.275/.397, with 2 home runs and 6 RBI in 22 games and 78 AB. He was already disappointing in Baltimore, where he batted .255/.316/.395 with 3 home runs and 14 RBI, in 63 games and 157 AB.

This might seem like an odd thing to say that the Miami Marlins could use him then. That said, the former top prospect was much better last season. He batted .275/.325/.444, with 16 home runs and 67 RBI in 144 games and 520 AB. With the shaky OF mix in Miami, it makes sense to bring in as many players as possible. See who may have something more to offer and might actually bounce back with the team.

For his career, Austin Hays has a .261/.313/.432 batting line. He is of course already 29 years old, but he did have some solid seasons recently. Back in 2021, he was in fact worth 3.2 WAR. He batted .256/.308/.461, with 22 home runs and 71 RBI in 131 games and 488 AB for Baltimore. That was a promising campaign and they probably thought that he'd only get better. It of course didn't happen, but with his future as a Major League starter perhaps in question, there is always a chance that he can do something more in the 2025 season.

The Miami Marlins should definitely look into OF Austin Hays for the OF mix. Let's see if he has anything left to offer. Peter Bendix should check on him.