Offishial news, 12/28/22: Another Braves extension; Sandy’s parade; least aggressive team

Marlins Podcast Episodes

• Tuesday’s winter ball updates: Jerar Encarnación (Águilas Cibaeñas) went 1-for-4 while playing first base; Javier Sanoja (Cardenales de Lara) went 3-for-7 with 2 RBI during a doubleheader; Anthony Maldonado (Criollos de Caguas) pitched a perfect inning of relief (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K); Santiago Chávez (Charros de Jalisco) caught both ends of a doubleheader while going 1-for-4 with 1 RBI; Jan Mercado (RA12) had a pinch-hit, two-run double; Norel González (Cangrejeros de Santurce) made his debut in the Puerto Rican Winter League, going 1-for-5 during a doubleheader.
• Sean Murphy inked a six-year, $73 million contract extension with the Braves, which includes a club option for 2029. One of the sport’s most talented all-around catchers won’t earn more than $15 million in salary during any individual season [insert “They can’t keep getting away with this!” meme]. Barring some clever cost-cutting, the perennial National League East division champs are projected to pay luxury taxes for the first time in franchise history.
• Rich Hill agreed to a one-year, $8 million deal with the Pirates. It’s been speculated that Miami and Pittsburgh would match up well in a potential Bryan Reynolds trade due to the latter’s lack of quality starting pitching. I believe that still holds true despite this veteran addition—the soon-to-be 43-year-old isn’t a long-term building block for the Bucs.
• We’re doing Marlins Jeopardy tonight! As usual, the competition streams live on YouTube/Twitch/Twitter from 7:00-8:00 p.m. ET. Please submit trivia questions here for a chance to be featured on the show.

• ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle ranks the Marlins 20th among all MLB teams as currently constructed and projects them for 76 wins. His rankings include an aggression component, estimating the impact that offseason acquisitions will have in 2023. Unsurprisingly, Miami is dead last in this category.
• Speaking of rankings, Skip Schumaker tops Craig Calcaterra’s list of Baseball’s Most Handsome Managers. Don Mattingly routinely appeared in the bottom half of the list throughout his Marlins tenure.
• Sandy Alcantara’s hometown of Azua, Dominican Republic hosted a parade in honor of his NL Cy Young award-winning campaign.
• Seeing the joy a young boy had when receiving a Jazz Chisholm Jr. shirsey and Marlins game tickets for Christmas “might be one of my favorite moments ever,” the All-Star tweeted.