Offishial news, 1/18/23: Yuli Gurriel nearing deal; Pablo López for Luis Arraez?

Marlins Podcast Episodes

• Tuesday’s winter ball updates: J.D. Osborne (Melbourne Aces) had a sacrifice fly and came off the bench to catch.
• For the second time, free agent Yuli Gurriel met with the Marlins, reports Alejandro Villegas of Five Reasons Sports (Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase mentioned their previous meeting). There is serious mutual interest, according to Fish Stripes’ own Grant Kiefer, and a deal could get finalized soon. First base is a thin position for the Marlins and they’ve been targeting contact hitters throughout this offseason. I’d expect the two-time World Series champ to be attainable on a slightly cheaper one-year deal than what Carlos Santana got from the Pirates ($6.75 million guarantee).
• Speaking of contact hitters, Dan Hayes of The Athletic has great insight on Miami’s negotiations with the Twins regarding Luis Arraez. Minnesota likes Pablo López, but insists that Arraez carries more trade value (“they wouldn’t do a one-for-one deal”). Hayes reports that the sides haven’t spoken in several days. The ship has seemingly sailed on possibility of acquiring Arraez, hence the pursuit of Gurriel, though I could see a López deal being reconfigured with different young position players involved.
• Lots of nuggets in the latest Miami Herald column from Craig Mish and Barry Jackson. They confirm the Marlins’ interest in Gurriel and The Athletic’s reporting regarding Michael Hill as a candidate for the Astros general manager job. Before the Marlins traded Miguel Rojas to the Dodgers, they also “initiated” talks with the Red Sox and Yankees. The Herald also notes that former player agent Matt Marks has joined Miami’s front office. Marks was involved in negotiating deals with the club’s arbitration-eligible players.
• Brian Anderson is finally off the market after agreeing to a contract with the Brewers. It doesn’t look like he has a clear-cut, everyday role, but there should be ample plate appearances available at third base and the corner outfield spots.
• Listen back to Tuesday’s State of the Fish, hosted by Grant Kiefer. Thanks to the handful of listeners who signed up for Twitter subscriptions during the show!
• We’ll have a ton to cover on tonight’s Fish Stripes LIVE, streaming on YouTube/Twitch/Twitter from 7:00-8:00 p.m. ET.

• Sixto Sánchez is attempting to contribute after two seasons without any professional regular season appearances. I found a handful of other pitchers who had success after such a prolonged absence.
• Marlins members now have access to World Baseball Classic single-game tickets for games at LoanDepot Park. The general public gets access on Thursday at 10 a.m. ET.
• Dax Fulton and Jake Eder rank fifth and eighth, respectively, on MLB Pipeline’s list of top left-handed pitching prospects. This all but confirms that Fulton will be featured on their Top 100 overall list being released next week.
• Matt Heckman of Pitcher List ranked the top 15 Marlins prospects for fantasy baseball purposes.
• Céspedes Family BBQ explores why the Marlins have been stuck in mediocrity for so long.

• @mchaps55 is fed up with Bruce Sherman as Marlins owner.
• A new sports blog, Miami Stands, is launching this year. Writers interested in covering South Florida teams for them can reach out here.