Miami Marlins minor leagues: New names in Triple-A New Orleans

The Miami Marlins Triple-A affiliate, the New Orleans Zephyrs, have a pretty boring 2013 roster in terms of prospects. However, as with all Triple-A clubs, the further you delve into new acquisitions, the more interesting (and sometimes trivial) tidbits of information you find. Here are some of the Zephyrs new acquisitions, when they could see time in the majors, and what makes them interesting.

Mitch Talbot: Mitch Talbot signed as a minor-league free agent with Miami in late January after spending the 2012 season pitching in Korea. Talbot, 29, had his finest season pitching for Cleveland in 2010. Talbot's best pitch is his change up, which he throws often for strikes. In 28 starts, Talbot posted a 4.41 ERA, despite striking out less than five batters per nine innings. Talbot could see time in the majors this year if more injuries strike the Marlins' pitching staff. The day Talbot was born, October 17th 1983, was the same day that French author and political scientist Raymond Aron died. Aron is known for his great quote, "In politics the choice is never between good and evil but between the preferable and the detestable." What this has to do with Triple-A baseball, I have absolutely no idea.

Jonathan Albaladejo: Albaladejo has the frame of a shutdown closer. However, due to the lack of a fastball and a plus out pitch, Albaladejo has bounced back and forth between Triple-A and the majors with the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees over the past couple years. Albaladejo throws a fastball around 89 mph, as well as a curveball and a fairly new changeup. Albaladejo will probably spend the entire season in New Orleans, but he could be moved up to Miami if he improves his off speed pitches. Albaladejo once was called up to the Yankees roster with not one, but two black eyes after being hit by a pitch.

Ed Lucas: Ed Lucas has never seen the major leagues and he has been in Triple-A since 2009. Lucas, a 6'3'' third baseman who went to Dartmouth, hit .262/.316/.408 for the Los Angeles Angels Triple-A Salt Lake Bees. Lucas has played every position on the field besides catcher, so he should be able to provide a lot of value to the Zephyrs with his versatility.

Scott Maine: A 6'3'' left-handed pitcher with a fastball in the low 90's will impress a lot of people if he can post strikeout rates at over one batter per inning. Maine did this last year, and has already started in two games this year. In 46 2/3 MLB innings from 2010-2012 with Chicago and Cleveland, Maine posted a subpar 5.59 ERA. However, his 4.43 xFIP suggests that maybe Maine does have a legitimate shot at becoming an above-average middle reliever for a second division team. Maine, 28, is a Jupiter native, who I'm sure would love to be pitching in his home state. It's not silly to think that Maine could be up in the majors at anytime this season, especially when rosters expand in September.

Koyie Hill: Koyie Hill, whom you may remember from his -1.4 WAR with Chicago despite playing in over 300 games from 2007 to 2012, will serve as the Zephyrs starting catcher. Being the odd, statistically-driven person I am, I looked at the USA Social Security Administration statistics for the popularity of baby names. Koyie, pronounced "Koy", is not in the top 1000 names for any year of birth for the last 20 years.