Miami Marlins All-Star Candidates

Miami Marlins All-Stars; The Value of Mid-Season Trade Candidates

All-Stars or not; being a rookie is part of the bigs. Trevor Rogers, the Miami Marlins’ standout rookie pitcher and an early frontrunner for the National League Rookie of the Year, and the rest of the Marlins’ rookies were going on a coffee and doughnut run to pick up breakfast for the rest of the team. Nine rookies in full gameday gear — black jerseys, black caps, and gray pants — on a field trip to the Dunkin’ Donuts across the street from the ballpark.

Left-hander Trevor Rogers and infielder Jazz Chisholm of the Miami Marlins have been among MLB"s best rookies this season. With a record of 6-2, Rogers ranks among the major league leaders in victories, and also in ERA (1.75) and strikeouts (70). Chisholm is batting .275 with an .817 OPS, 5 homers, and 8 stolen bases.

Sterling Marte is worthy of an allstar nod. He’s having a career year at the plate. He’s hitting .293/.402/.473 with six HRs in 179 plate appearances. The resulting 148 wRC+ is the best mark of his nine-plus seasons. Marte getting on base at an unprecedented level this season. Ng has confirmed the Marlin"s interest in a longterm deal.

He turns 33 years old in October. While his speed is above league average and his defense remains solid; it"s a matter of time. He is able to play until he isn"t. He maintains a hard-hit balls rate in line with his career. From a business perspective, the market penalizes age. There is no need to over pay or lock in a long term deal. His value is in a trade chip.

If Marté and the Marlins don’t progress on an extension in the coming weeks, he will be traded. At 33-44, the Marlins don’t look likely to contend in 2021. As mentioned yesterday, Miami is sending outfielder Corey Dickerson (along with controllable reliever Adam Cimber) to the Blue Jays.

Marte offers an affordable, productive option. Marte is owed the balance of his $12.5 million salary for the rest of the season. The other option plays out like this; Miami offers Marté a qualifying offer but don’t agree on an extension. the value of a midseason trade package seems likely to exceed that of a compensatory draft pick.

Shortstop Miguel Rojas‘ contract includes a $5.5 million option but it doesn’t seem the Marlins are particularly eager to move him. Ng suggested (via Mish) it was more likely Rojas remain in Miami past the July 30 trade deadline.

Rojas is a beloved member of the clubhouse who is having a third consecutive productive season. He is the guy who texted the rookies about the dunkin donuts hazing. The 32-year-old is hitting a league average .256/.328/.406 this year while playing quality defense at shortstop. That’s valuable enough even before considering his off-field importance to the organization.

Miami Marlins All-Stars: A sweet Jazz tune

The two youngest are mirror opposites on the field. Rogers tries to keep his emotions under wraps, while Chisholm plays with a flair to match his purple hair. He was happy to offer advice to Marlin"s minor leaguers during a recent rehabilitation assignment. "I"m like, yeah man, you’ve just got to be yourself and trust your ability," Chisholm said." Just know that if you"re going to do that stuff, you’ve got to play the game hard."

Chisholm, a native of the Bahamas, was acquired two years ago in a trade that sent right-hander Zac Gallen to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Trevor Rogers

Rogers, by contrast, strives to be fiery on the inside but calm on the outside. Rodgers is sumed up in his words, “I have my best success when I have a calm aggression, I like to say." Rogers is fourth in the NL in ERA and sixth in wins.

The 6-foot-5 Rogers, a New Mexico native and Marlins first-round draft pick in 2017, took his lumps when called up to start 7 games last year. He filled out during the offseason and fine-tuned his slider, which he mixes with a 95 mph fastball and changeup.

Rogers, who very likely could be named the NL Rookie of the month for a third consecutive time to begin the season. Trevor Rogers made his latest case on Tuesday night to be the Miami Marlins’ All-Star representative.

Rogers held the Phillies (37-40) to just two hits on Tuesday although both resulted in runs.

The first was an Andrew McCutchen RBI single in the first that scored Jean Segura, who reached on a hit by pitch and advanced to second on a Bryce Harper walk. The second was a Rhys Hoskins solo home run with two outs in the sixth against a Rogers changeup — his 99th and final pitch of the game — that leaked over the heart of the plate.

Through 16 starts this year, Rogers has a 2.14 ERA with 110 strikeouts against 32 walks in 92 1/3 innings. He has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his starts this season.

"This has obviously been impressive," Mattingly said. "You feel comfortable that Trevor"s not going to all of a sudden relax and stop working. Some guys you feel they may take their foot off the gas. You don’t feel that with Trevor." (Don Mattingly)

Don Mattingly, https://www.fox44news.com/sports/long-season-tests-miami-marlins-rookies-chisholm-rogers/

Rogers’ performance by month:

▪ April: five starts, 28 innings pitched, and a 1.29 ERA with 38 strikeouts against 10 walks and one home run allowed.

▪ May: six starts, 34 2/3 innings pitched, and a 2.34 ERA with 38 strikeouts against 12 walks and two home runs allowed.

▪ June: five starts, 29 2/3 innings pitched, and a 2.73 ERA with 34 strikeouts against 10 walks and 2 home runs allowed.

My guy Trevor Rogers faces the Phillies for the third time this season. He has been a top performer this season. Sandy has out shown him the last few weeks but Rodgers has plenty of spotlight abiltiy. Through 16 starts this year, Rogers has a 2.14 ERA with 110 strikeouts against 32 walks in 92 1/3 innings. He has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his starts this season.

Miami Marlins All-Stars: Starling Marte

The Marlins have been in talks with outfielder Starling Marté about a potential contract extension, general manager Kim Ng told reporters (including Craig Mish of SportsGrid) of Miami"s talk about a contract extention.

Earlier this month, she told reporters the team hadn’t approached the star outfielder about a potential long-term deal. Marté suggested then that his preference was to come to an agreement with the Marlins on a contract that took him through the end of his career. It seems the front office and his representatives at Rep 1 Baseball have now at least opened those talks.

Marté is on track to hit free agency at the end of the season, and he’s presently amidst a career year at the plate. He’s hitting .293/.402/.473 with six home runs across 179 plate appearances. The resulting 148 wRC+ is the best mark of his nine-plus seasons. Excepting 2017, Marté has been an above-average hitter in every year of his career, but he’s getting on base at an unprecedented level this season.

Before 2021, Marté had never drawn walks in more than 6.1% of his plate appearances. This year, he’s bumped his walk rate to a stellar 13.4%. That seems to reflect a deliberate decision to be more patient, as the right-handed hitter is swinging at a career-low 46.5% of pitches he sees. (He’s also swinging less often than ever at pitches outside the strike zone). That increased selectiveness hasn’t resulted in any sort of uptick in strikeouts or impacted his power potential.

Marté presents something of a tricky evaluation for the Marlins (or potential free agent suitors). He’s always been productive, but he looks to have revamped his approach nearly a decade into his career. Whether he’ll continue to be this patient after such a long run of being a highly-aggressive hitter is unknown.

There’s also the matter of Marté’s age to consider. He turns 33 years old in October, which could give Miami some pause. He hasn’t shown much sign of slowing down, though. Marté’s not quite as fast as he was in his 20’s, but he still has 86th-percentile peak speed, according to Statcast. His defensive metrics in center field remain positive. And his rate of hard hit balls (those that leave the bat over 95 MPH) is at 36.2%, right in line with his career mark. A handful of mishits have brought down his average exit velocity to a career-worst 85.6 MPH, but there’s no indication he’s suffered any sort of drop in bat speed or raw power.

If Marté and the Marlins don’t make progress on an extension in the coming weeks, he’d be one of the more obvious trade chips on the market. At 33-44, the Marlins don’t look likely to contend in 2021. They’re planning to move some of their impending free agents, a process they began this morning by sending outfielder Corey Dickerson (along with controllable reliever Adam Cimber) to the Blue Jays. As perhaps the premier center fielder who could be available, Marté would draw no shortage of interest, especially since he’s only due the balance of an affordable $12.5MM salary for the remainder of the season. The Marlins could offer Marté a qualifying offer if they hold onto him until the end of the year but don’t agree on an extension, but the value of a midseason trade package seems likely to exceed that of a compensatory draft pick.

Shortstop Miguel Rojas would also draw plenty of interest from contenders if made available, but it doesn’t seem the Marlins are particularly eager to move him. Ng suggested (via Mish) that Rojas was more likely than not to remain in Miami past the July 30 trade deadline. His contract contains a $5.5MM option for 2022 that vests if he accrues 500 plate appearances this season. He’ll need a manageable 271 trips to the plate over Miami’s final 85 games (3.19 PA per game) to lock in that money, although it seems likely the Marlins would exercise the option even if it doesn’t vest.

Rojas is a beloved member of the clubhouse who’s amidst a third consecutive productive season. The 32-year-old is hitting a league-average .256/.328/.406 this year while playing quality defense at shortstop. That’s valuable enough even before considering his off-field importance to the organization.

I"ll end with this. Rojas said of Rogers, “He’s the most responsible guy,"

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Main image credit: Embed from Getty Images