Offishial news, 11/17/22: Sandy Alcantara wins Cy in unanimous vote; Glenn Geffner fired

Sandy Alcantara “22” Documentary

• Wednesday’s winter ball updates: Jesús Sánchez went 0-for-2 with two walks and Bryan De La Cruz went 2-for-3 with a walk (Toros del Este); Jerar Encarnación (Águilas Cibaeñas) went 0-for-2 with a walk; Javier Sanoja (Cardenales de Lara) entered as a defensive replacement at second base; Jan Mercado (RA12) went 0-for-4.

• Cy Young favorites Sandy Alcantara and Justin Verlander both received unanimous support from the BBWAA. The first pitcher in Marlins history to win the award, Alcantara hosted a party to celebrate that included his family and teammates. Also on Tuesday night, the Marlins released their in-house “22” documentary for public consumption (embedded above).
• The Marlins fired extraordinary radio broadcaster Glenn Geffner after 15 seasons on the job. In a Twitter thread, he thanked the listeners and many of his former co-workers and reflected on special players who he had the opportunity to cover. This departure comes a year after Hall of Famer Dave Van Horne was pushed out the door. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the Marlins felt that Geffner was too “stats-intensive” and not conversational enough (some of you may disagree with that). I’m looking forward to getting Geffner’s side of the story in the near future. Jackson describes Kyle Sielaff as a “strong candidate” to replace him as primary radio voice of the team.
• The latest edition of Fish Stripes LIVE focused heavily on Alcantara and Geffner.

• Voting for the 2022 All-MLB Team is underway. You can vote daily for Alcantara through November 22.
• The Mariners acquired Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernández, one of the biggest bats on the trade market, in exchange for Erik Swanson and Adam Macko. I saw Hernández as an ideal trade target for the Marlins last offseason, but the fit would’ve been more awkward this time around—he has only one year of club control remaining and his skillset overlaps a lot with Jorge Soler’s.
• After playing through a damaged UCL for most of 2022, Bryce Harper will undergo surgery on Wednesday to address it. Even in a best-case scenario, he’s expected to miss a portion of the 2023 season while rehabbing to full strength.
• I interviewed Marlins prospect Victor Mesa Jr. about his healthy but mildly disappointing season. There is a consensus among baseball talent evaluators that he has surpassed his older brother as an overall prospect. Whether he can stick in center field moving forward is one of the key questions.
• The Pensacola Blue Wahoos announced the hiring of Steve Brice as executive vice president and general manager, overseeing the club’s daily operations and sales.
• The annual SB Nation offseason simulation is complete. Here is the 2023 roster constructed by Fish Stripes’ own Daniel Rodriguez (with input from Kevin Barral and Adam Akbani):