Marlins designate Jose Urena for assignment, add a reliever in first offseason shakeup

The Miami Marlins made a pair of roster moves on Monday, designating for assignment their longest-tenured player and trading for a reliever.

In: 30-year-old relief pitcher Adam Cimber, acquired from the Cleveland Indians for cash considerations.

Out: 29-year-old starting pitcher Jose Urena, the Marlins’ Opening Day starter in both 2018 and 2019 but has had lackluster results over the past two years.

Urena being designated for assignment despite his veteran presence and almost 100 career starts for the Marlins is only a mild surprise. The right-handed pitcher was considered a likely candidate to be non-tendered by Wednesday’s deadline considering he would be due about $4 million in arbitration this year and the Marlins’ up-and-coming starting pitching depth likely would have pushed him out of the rotation.

Urena, who has been part of the Marlins’ big-league roster since 2015, had a career 4.60 ERA in 142 games with the Marlins (98 starts). His 406 career strikeouts ranked 12th in franchise history.

He started five games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, missing about a month after testing positive for COVID-19, and went 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA over 23 1/3 innings. He fractured his right forearm in the regular-season finale.

Cimber has made 152 career appearances over three MLB seasons and has a 3.89 ERA with 104 strikeouts against 38 walks in 136 1/3 innings of work. He pitched in 11 1/3 innings over 14 games in 2020, posting a 3.97 ERA and allowing opponents to hit a career-high .289 against him (his career average against is .263). The San Diego Padres drafted him in the ninth round of the 2013 MLB Draft.

While he has finished 33 of his 152 games and has converted one save, Cimber has primarily worked the seventh and eighth innings during his career.

He could likely continue in that set-up or bridge role with the Marlins, who need to address their late-inning relief pitching situation. Brad Boxberger and Brandon Kintzler, two of their three reliable back-end bullpen pitchers in 2020, are free agents.

That leaves Yimi Garcia as the leading closer candidate on the roster based on its current construction. Ryne Stanek, James Hoyt, Richard Bleier, Stephen Tarpley, Jeff Brigham and Alex Vesia are other in-house bullpen candidates for 2020.