The Miami Marlins and starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez went to arbitration this weekend to decide between a salary of $6.9 million (Marlins) and $8 million (Sanchez), and in this case, Sanchez won his offer (H/T MLB Daily Dish). It turns out that this deal is actually the largest that a pitcher has ever received when going to arbitration, though obviously pitchers have earned much more during their arbitration years due to extensions and such.

Sanchez will earn about $2 million more than was expected of him by MLB Trade Rumors' projected arbitration salaries, but the Marlins anticipated this and actually offered around $7 million for the righty starter. Either way, this ensures that Sanchez will be a Marlin through 2012 and that he will also test the free agent waters following this year. If you will recall, I have previously advocated signing Sanchez to an extension to ensure that he is on the team for the next four seasons after 2012. With the Marlins unlikely to get a deal done with free agency imminent, it is very likely the team will let him sign on with a bigger fish.

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With yesterday's announcement that Yoennis Cespedes has been granted free agency (H/T MLB Daily Dish), let the derby begin for his 2012 and future services. You have better believe that the Miami Marlins are major suitors for Cespedes's services according to MLB.com's Joe Frisaro, as they have been linked to him ever since his first viral workout video came out. The Marlins are said to be "aggressive right to the point of stupidity" in terms of their chase for Cespedes's services.

Of course, the Fish are not the only suitors for Cespedes. In Frisaro's piece, he lists five other teams besides the Marlins who may have some interest.

Recently, Cespedes said the Marlins, Cubs, White Sox, Orioles, Tigers and Indians had expressed the most interest.

He also mentioned that the Marlins would be willing to go four to six years with Cespedes. In an offseason that has already been jam-packed with free agent goodies, picking up a supposedly premium power hitter like Cespedes, even if he is raw, seems like an interesting situation. But with the competition the team could have, we should at least consider which team might want Cespedes the most.

Marlins

Depending on who you ask, Cespedes could either a capable center fielder or a future corner outfielder; the Washington Nationals actually believe he may be a future first baseman. But right now, the Marlins' only remaining "hole" in terms of position players is center field, and Cespedes would fit nicely in that area. Add the potential for great development, and Cespedes could be a perfect long-term fit for the Fish even when the immediate core of players potentially leave the team.

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Yesterday I pointed out (once again) the foolishness of the Miami Marlins re-signing Juan Oviedo. Today, Juan C. Rodriguez mentioned a conversation with Oviedo in which he mentions that he is prepared for the possibility of being traded.

"I can't say anything about that," said Oviedo, about the Bell signing. "Those are things the Marlins decide. I'm prepared for whatever they want and will give 100 percent. It's a business. I'd like to stay in Miami, but those are things they decide.

The possibility is there certainly, but the question is what team would really acquire Oviedo, and what could the Marlins possibly get in return? After all, at Oviedo's salary, he almost has to be paid as a closer for a team to offer anything in return, even if the Marlins pay some amount of money for the other team. Let us consider the market for closer-type relievers (if one can even consider Oviedo that type of player) and what teams could still be interested in a late-inning reliever.

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Editor's note: I apologize for the radio silence yesterday. I just started up school again and have a major test on Friday, so it might be a little quiet here this week. I did feel the need to talk about this, however

As Terrence Hunley pointed out yesterday, the Miami Marlins have agreed to a one-year deal with the former Leo Nunez, Juan Oviedo. We all saw this coming a long time back, and Fish Stripes was on it from the beginning. Here's the last thing I said about Oviedo and the prospects of the Fish re-signing him:

However, there is simply no argument for the Oviedo blunder, even without the retrospective knowledge of his legal problems. There should be no reason that the Marlins are interested in retaining Oviedo for 2012. As a solid but unspectacular reliever, he should not be earning anywhere close to what he would have earned as a "closer." And when the Marlins signed Bell, it should have ended any reason for the Marlins to require Oviedo's "proven closer" credentials. Yet the Marlins tendered an offer to him last night, assuring that he would either stay with the team in 2012 or be traded.

Sure enough, Oviedo earned himself the estimated $6 million that he would have gotten in arbitration despite the fact that he is not a great reliever and will not be occupying the closer role this season. Not only is it likely that he would not have made back his salary for the Marlins had he been the closer, but now he is almost guaranteed to fall short of the salary the Marlins will be paying him since he will be working as a setup man or worse.

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On news that the Marlins will be "aggressive right to the point of stupidity" with their pursuit of Yoennis Cespedes, it seems about right for us to take a look at everything there is to know about Cespedes. Since we may be in the lead for the biggest name in Cuban prospects since Aroldis Chapman, we should know what we are getting ourselves into.

With that in mind, here are some commentaries of what we have heard about the young man since he debuted in our hearts in minds almost two months ago.

The Video

If you haven't seen all of the video, I would suggest it. This is what most of us initially got a glimpse of, and it was impressive. The first thing that stands out (outside of the video's oddness) is Cespedes's physicial prowess. Even today, the absurdity of some of the things he was able to do in his training are beyond me. His standup from a sit-up position still kills me today. He is a physical freak.

In case you missed it the first time, make sure you have the video on with Baseball Prospectus' Kevin Goldstein's blow-by-blow review next to you. It's a must-have.

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The Miami Marlins have completed many tasks during this offseason. The club has tentatively improved their rotation by a smidgen by signing Mark Buehrle (essentially replacing the presumably-retired Javier Vazquez) and trading for Carlos Zambrano. The club has filled its third base gap by signing shortstop Jose Reyes and sliding Hanley Ramirez to third base (a move that he perhaps finally approved recently).

So the 2012 Marlins are almost set, and if you buy into the rough projections I posted a few weeks back, you could see them right now as anywhere between an 80- to 85-win team. The most recent iteration of the CAIRO projected standings as published by SG over at the Replacement Level Yankees Weblog has the Marlins at almost 82 wins without the addition of Zambrano. Given the possibility of the second Wild Card being implemented in 2012, the upper area of that projection is a bit below where a team would have to be to win the second playoff spot.

Should the Marlins be content with that? Apparently they may not yet be finished, as MLB.com's Joe Frisaro reports that the team will be a player in the Yoennis Cespedes sweepstakes. We have heard numerous reports that the Marlins were the favorite, but that there was a rift in the front office regarding pursuing the 26-year old Cuban center fielder. What are the Marlins expecting to get out of the Cuban prospect and scouting video sensation?

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WIth the Gio Gonzalez trade to the Washington Nationals completed, the Marlins are down one more player that they could have acquired for their rotation. Of course, earlier this week I mentioned that the Marlins would have had a difficult time acquiring a pitcher like Gonzalez anyway, given what the Oakland Athletics were looking for in a return package. The return that they got from Washington only reaffirms this; according to Baseball America, the Nationals gave up their third, fourth, and ninth best prospects in addition to another decent player to acquire Gonzalez.

Consider the package the Nationals gave up versus what the Marlins have in their minor league contingent. John Sickels of SB Nation's fantastic baseball prospects blog Minor League Ball had a more in-depth take on the prospects that went over from Washington to Oakland. He graded all four prospects at least as a Grade B-, with top prospect A.J. Cole at a B+ and Brad Peacock as a "strong Grade B, almost a B+" in his words. In comparison, look at the grades Sickels gave to the Marlins' top 20 prospects. The Fish had only one Grade B+ prospect in Christian Yelich and only two Grade B prospects in Jose Fernandez and Marcell Ozuna. In order to match the sort of package the Nationals gave up, the Marlins would have had to surrender their top four prospects (the above mentioned plus Matt Dominguez or J.T. Realmuto) in order to pick up Gonzalez; such a haul would have devastated an already terrible minor-league system.

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It seems Marlins baseball operations head Larry Beinfest is still interested in acquiring another pitcher, whether it be by free agency or trade. The Marlins still want another starter to add to this current team of four solid starting pitchers.

"It’s very difficult to buy pitching, to trade for pitching, but we’re on it," Beinfest said. "Ideally, we would love to add another top-of-the-rotation starter. Whether that’s practical, that remains to be seen."

Beinfest's question of whether it is or is not practical is actually a very good one. As a team traditionally built via prospects, the Marlins have been known as a team rich with young players whom, were the team so inclined, could be traded for major pieces in the future. However, the status of the Marlins' minor league system has been shot by promotion over the last two seasons, and recent discussions of the team's system by experts such as John Sickels of Minor League Ball or the guys at Bullpen Banter confirm this distinct lack of depth.

This leaves the Marlins in a quite a predicament: how can they acquire top-notch starting pitching with no minor league depth and no willingness to trade starting position players? While it is understandable that the Fish would be interested in pitching depth, the Marlins simply lack the depth to make the acquisition via trade, and there are options still available in the free agent market.

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