Miami Marlins have decisions to make as another key offseason deadline approaches

The Miami Marlins have already made a pair of moves this week. They traded with the Cleveland Indians for sidearm relief pitcher Adam Cimber and designating Jose Urena for assignment on Monday.

Expect more to come Wednesday.

The reason: It’s MLB’s nontender deadline, the final day for teams offer the players on its 40-man roster with fewer than six years of service time a contract for 2021. Teams have until 8 p.m. to finalize their decisions.

And the Marlins have a few decisions to make.

This deadline generally impacts players who are eligible for arbitration. Miami entered the offseason with nine players who fell into this category and as such were eligible for raises going into 2021. Two of them are off the roster in Drew Steckenrider (outrighted in November and opting to elect free agency) and Urena (DFA’d on Monday).

Tendering a contract means a club commits to signing a player to a salary usually determined later. Players who are tendered a contract can still be traded. Teams have until Jan. 15 to agree to terms with arbitration-eligible players. If not, each side submits a salary figure it believes the player should make for the upcoming season. In that case, a panel of three arbitrators will hear cases from both sides in early-to-mid-February and make the final decision on which salary the player will earn.

Most of the Marlins’ arbitration-eligible players feel like locks to be given contracts.

How the Marlins plan to address one position, however, provides intrigue into their plan for the 2021 season.

What to do at first base?

That position is first base, specifically the duo of Jesus Aguilar and Garrett Cooper. Both are eligible for arbitration this year. Aguilar is heading into his second of three seasons of arbitration, while Cooper is going into his first.

With the uncertainty of a universal designated hitter for 2021, the thinking goes that the two could essentially fill the exact same role — power-hitting, right-handed first basemen.

Both are good at that role.

Aguilar hit .277 with 10 doubles and eight home runs last season and was a steady force early when 19 players were sidelined by COVID-19. He looked like the Aguilar of 2018, the one who was an All-Star and hit 35 home runs with 108 RBI for the Milwuakee Brewers.

Cooper, after missing time due to COVID-19, hit .283 with eight doubles, six home runs and 20 RBI in 34 regular-season games. His .853 OPS (on-base plus slugging) ranked second only to Miguel Rojas’ .888 mark. Cooper also started four of the team’s five playoffs games at first base, which Marlins manager Don Mattingly at the time said was because Cooper has more range in the field than Aguilar.

Plus, don’t forget, the Marlins have prospect Lewin Diaz waiting in the wings. Diaz is the eighth-ranked prospect in the organization according to MLB Pipeline and played in 14 games in 2020. Should the Marlins believe Diaz is ready to be on the big-league club full-time, an evaluation that likely won’t be made until the end of spring training, it would make sense that they would lessen the logjam in front of him, especially if they can get a return via trade.

And then there’s the topic of money. Based on MLB Trade Rumors’ arbitration projections, which are a bit unpredictable this year considering it’s unknown how arbitrators will extrapolate counting stats like home runs and hits from last year’s 60-game season when making decisions on salaries should player and team not come to terms beforehand.

With that said, Aguilar is projected to make anywhere from $3.6 million to $6.1 million (although the number feels like it would be closer to the former considering he was scheduled to make $2.575 million in 2020 before salaries were prorated). Cooper is projected to make between $1.5 million and $2.2 million.

Who else is up for arbitration?

The Marlins have six other players up for arbitration in addition to Cooper and Aguilar. All six should be no-brainer decisions to be tendered contract. The six, with salary projections by MLB Trade Rumors, are:

▪ Catcher Jorge Alfaro, projected to make between $1.7 million and $2.2 million.

▪ Third baseman Brian Anderson projected to make about $2.2 million.

▪ Left-handed relief pitcher Richard Bleier, projected to make $1.1 million and $1.5 million.

▪ Cimber, projected to make $800,000.

▪ Right-handed relief pitcher Yimi Garcia, projected to make between $1.4 million and $1.8 million.

▪ Right-handed relief pitcher Ryne Stanek, projected to make $800,000.

Any deadline-day trades?

The Marlins made a pair of acquisitions at the non-tender deadline last season, claiming Aguilar off waivers and trading with the Baltimore Orioles for Jonathan Villar.

A similar move could take place Wednesday.

Eight teams entered the offseason with at least 10 players up for arbitration, including the Pittsburgh Pirates with a league-high 15, the Colorado Rockies and the New York Mets each with 13, the Chicago Cubs with 12, the Los Angeles Angels and New York Yankees each with 11, and the Oakland Athletics and Milwaukee Brewers each with 10.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there are four players currently on waivers: left-handed pitcher Foster Griffin, right-handed pitcher Robert Stock, right-handed pitcher Thomas Eshelman and first baseman Will Craig.