Reviewing the Miami Marlins February transactions

The Fish only made four moves in the second month of 2016, and three of them involved hurlers. Below are recaps of all the proceedings the Marlins made in February.

February 3 - Marlins sign veteran utility man Don Kelly to a minor-league deal.

The 36-year-old played in two contests for the Marlins last year only before fracturing his ring finger. During his recovery, he injured his right elbow and underwent Tommy John surgery in July. He's spent the bulk of his career with Detroit Tigers from 2009-2014 where he compiled a .234/.297/.340 slash line with a .9 WAR. Kelly as a utility man is an understatement, as he has played every position on the field throughout his eight-year career, primarily as an outfielder. Our own Scott Gelman predicted that the Marlins should have the best outfield this year, and Kelly (if he can stay healthy) could help Miami out tremendously providing depth as a pinch hitter/defensive replacement and occasional starter.

February 12 - Marlins ink left-hander Craig Breslow to a minor-league deal with a spring-training invite.

Coming from the Red Sox via free agency, the 35-year-old southpaw played a large part in helping Boston win a World Series in 2013 during his four-year tenure with the team. He saw his ERA spike from 1.81 in 2013 to 5.96 in 2014, which also didn't help the amount of home runs he gave up. 2015 saw him pitch to the tune of a 4.15 ERA while punching out 6.4 batters per nine innings and allowing 3.2 BB/9 and 1.7 homers per nine frames. Breslow got owned by righties at the smaller confines of Fenway Park, where a good amount of base-trotting occurred when he was on the mound. I didn't mean to scare you there, because now that he's at the larger Marlins Park with a good outfield behind him, he hopefully won't be giving up as many home runs. There really isn't a huge downside to this deal, as Breslow is a relatively average reliever who at 35, still has some good years left.

February 22 - Pitcher Troy Patton is released by the Marlins.

The 30-year-old lefty signed with the Marlins in December after pitching well in Triple-AAA with the Padres. Now, he's on the open market searching for another team to use his services. This move really puzzled me. Why would Miami let go of a left-hander who is younger and statistically better than the aforementioned Breslow? Last season, Patton was suspended 25 games for using PEDs, so maybe there was some suspicion there, but other than that, how would the release be justified? We still haven't heard from the Marlins on why he was let go, but I'd love to find out. Hit up the comments if you have a theory as to why Patton was let go.

February 23 - Right-handed free agent Cecil Tanner is signed by the Marlins.

The final move of February was less than noteworthy. Tanner's got a nice fastball and a pretty good slider, but command has always been his issue. That's one of the driving factors behind the fact that he's never been played above the Advanced-A level, and even in the low levels of the minor leagues, he's put up atrocious numbers. Patton has consistently posted bad ERA marks and hasn't collected a single win throughout his professional career. My judgement says he might not ever make it to Double AA, but I'd love to see him prove me wrong.