As expected, the Marlins chose to not tender a contract to Miguel Olivo so he is a free agent. Justin Miller, on the other hand, signed a one-year deal for $750,000. The remaining arbitration eligible players are heading to arbitration.
Update: Since he was once a member of the Marlins it is no surprise that Detroit wants him.
The Marlins added some organizational depth at the catcher position by signing Jason Phillips and assigning him to AAA Albuquerque. You may remember the 7-year veteran from his days with the New York Mets. This past season he has been with the Toronto Blue Jays where he hit .208 with 1 home run and 12 RBI.
The Marlins lack real depth or talent at the catcher position both in the majors and in the minors. I am thinking (and hoping) that this means that Miguel Olivo won’t be with the Marlins next year. I have said before that his offense is simply not good enough to make up for his defense and his handling of the pitchers.
A brief paragraph in the Palm Beach Post suggests the Marlins are looking at some trades:
One baseball source said the Marlins are telling teams that catcher Miguel Olivo, right-hander Byung-Hyun Kim and relief pitcher Armando Benitez are available. The team does not plan to trade Dontrelle Willis, the source said.
This is one Marlins fan who hopes we can get some value for all these guys. Olivo‘s catching and handling of the pitchers has been pretty weak this season and Benitez has been shaky at best. We’ll probably miss BK Kim because we don’t have that many healthy starting pitchers left. Lets hope we can convince a team to give up some decent minor-league talent.