Miami Marlins are looking for catching help
The Miami Marlins are entering the off-season... We recently found out that ironically enough a top Philly slugger wanted to play for The Fish instead! Looking ahead, there are player option decisions to worry about. There's also a need for a new SS and just as much for a new catcher. Did you know that The Fish had the 28'th best WAR from catchers this season?!
The Miami Marlins need to acquire catching help this off-season.
The production that the Miami Marlins received from the catching position this season has been quite frankly unacceptable. The once major acquisition Jacob Stallings never did work out. He batted an abysmal .223/.292/.292 last season, and an even worse .191/.278/.286 this season. He's completely bombed in Miami and has been worth a combined -1.3 WAR for the two seasons. He was paid $3.35 million this season, and he's headed for free agency after next season. It's time to non-tender him.
There's also Nick Fortes. Fortes batted a promising .290/.353/.677 in 14 games and 31 AB in 2021. He couldn't follow it up well however. He batted .230/.304/.392 in 72 games and 217 AB. This season he batted .204/.263/.299 in 108 games and 294 AB. Fortes's Exit Velocity has declined annually since 2021, going from 91.3 to 89.2 to 87.4. He had a -0.1 WAR this season and has a 1.3 career WAR. He did have a pretty good 0.8 dWAR in 2023.
It makes sense to keep Nick Fortes but non-tender Jacob Stallings. That still means looking for an upgrade via trade and in free agency. Yasmani Grandal will be available and has a somewhat decent track record, but is coming off of a .234/.309/.339 batting line in 2023. That performance was worth 10.7 WAR. How about trading with the San Francisco Giants for Joey Bart? He is a former top prospect who batted .207/.263/.264 this season. He was worth -0.4 WAR so would need to be "fixed".
Omar Narvaez is a free agent, but batted .211/.283/.287 and was worth 0.0 WAR. Good options are not out there, but someone has to be acquired, because the Miami Marlins' catching situation is really bad