Offishial news, 1/20/23: Cueto being Cueto; Chapman to KC; minor league coordinators

Marlins Podcast Episodes

• Thursday’s winter ball updates: Javier Sanoja (Cardenales de Lara) went 1-for-5 with 1 RBI.
• Aroldis Chapman inked a one-year, $3.75 million deal with the Royals, which includes up to $4 million in performance bonuses. SportsGrid’s Craig Mish and El Extrabase’s Daniel Álvarez-Montes report that the Marlins never even made a formal offer to him. Plenty of experienced relievers remain on the free agent market, thought most of them have had recent issues with health or consistency.
• On his first official day as a Marlin, Johnny Cueto flaunted his Dominican pride. The Marlins designated Daniel Castano for assignment in a corresponding roster move—he’s got a strong chance of clearing waivers and remaining with the organization.
• Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the Rockies are interested in Pablo López, along with the Cardinals and Twins (who’ve been linked to López by other reports). Heyman also follows up on his previous scoop regarding Marlins-Rockies trade negotiations. They came close to swapping Edward Cabrera for Brendan Rodgers, but Colorado ultimately declined. Moreover, Heyman adds that the Marlins tried to trade for Mets third base prospect Brett Baty even after they signed Jean Segura and New York’s deal with Carlos Correa fell apart.
• For what it’s worth, Marlins free agent target Yuli Gurriel has unfollowed the team’s Instagram account.
• The Marlins announced their 10 minor league coordinators for the 2023 season: Patrick Osborn, Scott Aldred, Tommy Phelps, Tom Slater, Jeff Livesey, Jorge Hernández, Elvys Quezada, Esmerling De La Rosa, Angel Espada and Frank Moore. All of them had roles with the Marlins organization last season.
• I think this has a lot of potential: the 2023 Marlins Call-Up Contest. On Fish Stripes Unfiltered, we picked the 15 Marlins prospects who are most likely to reach The Show for the first time this season. In 2022, there were 13 total debuts for the Fish.
• Gary Sheffield’s son, Gary Jr., confirms that his father prefers a Marlins hat to be used on his eventual Baseball Hall of Fame plaque. In his penultimate year as a BBWAA candidate, Sheffield has received support on 64.1% of public ballots (the threshold for election is 75%).
• The Pensacola Blue Wahoos held their annual Fish Fest on Thursday. Marlins prospects Will Banfield, Griffin Conine and Jordan McCants and Blue Wahoos hitting coach Matt Snyder were in attendance. The Beloit Sky Carp have their own fan event coming up on Saturday.