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The Marlins remain interested in building a top bullpen and adding starting pitching depth but don’t appear close to doing either as of Tuesday afternoon.
Miami signed Edinson Volquez to a two-year deal last week, and as a result, the club has only one rotation spot to fill. Adam Conley, Wei-Yin Chen, Tom Koehler and Volquez are expected to open the season in the Marlins rotation.
Still, the Marlins seem to be conducting a comprehensive search for a fifth starter, according to Clark Spencer of The Miami Herald.
Grab bag of names the #Marlins have kicked around for starting pitching help: Fister, Niese, Locke, Norris, Peavy, Vogelsong. Likely more.
— clarkspencer (@clarkspencer) December 6, 2016
The Marlins have been linked to Doug Fister for a few weeks, but there are several veteran starters for the Marlins to consider. Jeff Locke, Jon Niese, Bud Norris, Jake Peavy and Ryan Vogelsong are among them, according to Spencer.
Miami anticipates its starting staff might not pitch deep into games consistently and a result plans to build a dominant bullpen. Now that Mark Melancon signed, the club has only Kenley Jansen and Aroldis Chapman to choose from, because a trade for Royals closer Wade Davis is probably unrealistic.
The Marlins have been quiet to this point at the Winter Meetings, but that can change quickly.