Marlins outright Brian Sanches and Vinny Rottino

The Marlins outrighted Brian Sanches and Vinny Rottino.

The story.

Over the past three seasons, Brian Sanches has been one of the Marlins' most versatile and dependable relievers.

But late in the season, the 33-year-old dealt with a right elbow injury that limited him down the stretch. Now, his tenure with the club may be finished.

On Wednesday, the Marlins announced that they've outrighted Sanches and outfielder Vinny Rottino. The two moves reduce the Marlins' 40-man roster to 38.

Personally, I counted the Marlins forty-man roster to be at 33. May have missed one or two, but not five.

Marlins forty-man roster

The ones on the 60-day DL will not be activated until the start of the season, assuming they are ready to go. The reason being is that it leaves more room to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft. Not really sure how many Minor League players the Marlins may need to protect, if any, but they have ample room.

Or, if there aren't many, and the Marlins are active with signing free agents they can easily be added to the forty-man with the tough decisions coming later.

Whatever the case, the Chief is probably never going to wear a Marlins uniform again. He has the amount of service time to refuse the assignment and become a free agent. Which I fully expect him to do. While it is possible he could re-sign with the Marlins, I doubt that will happen.

Sanches was pretty solid while a Marlin, but an injury ended career with the Fish. But that happens all the time in baseball.

As for Rottino, he really didn't get enough playing time to matter. However, we wish him the best,  the same as do we Sanches.