It was a pretty quiet day for the Miami Marlins on Wednesday, a day after trading Yunel Escobar to the Tampa Bay Rays. As the Winter Meetings begun to wind down, the Marlins continued their pursuit of a third basemen but as of now — nothing seems imminent. Named that have been tossed around include Mark Reynolds, and Ian Stewart. The Marlins also continued their attempts to sign former Marlin, Carl Pavano but that too doesn’t appear close at this time.
Reynolds is likely to see better offers elsewhere in terms of money and the chance to win a title. Still, if Miami is serious about putting a power bat behind Giancarlo Stanton they may decide to overspend a bit on Reynolds to secure his services. While the former Oriole does strike out a high rate, he is also known to be a great source of power and could cause opposing pitchers to throw strikes more often to Stanton. If Reynolds winds up not signing, the Marlins could decide to make a bigger run at a guy such as Stewart or they may opt to just have a competition in the Spring between non-roster invitee Kevin Kouzmanoff and prospect Zack Cox.
It is well known that Pavano is a fan of the Marlins’ front office dating back to his days with the Montreal Expos. Following that he had a successful run as a Marlin and left on relatively good terms. Pavano has gone on record this off-season about his interest in returning to South Florida. However, it is unknown how much money he is seeking following an injury plagued season where his production was sub-par. The Marlins have a need for a veteran starting pitcher after trading both Josh Johnson and Mark Buerhle to Toronto last month so there is mutual interest. Whether a contract with Pavano comes to fruition remains to be seen.
About Larry Walansky
