Miami Marlins designate Wei-Yin Chen for assignment in 40-man roster crunch

The Miami Marlins have finalized their 40-man roster by Wednesday’s deadline to set their 40-man roster in advance of the upcoming Rule 5 Draft. in order to protect prized prospects from being selected in the Rule 5 Draft a week from today at the conclusion of the Baseball Winter Meetings.

Pricy pitcher Wei-Yin Chen was the odd man out and was designated for assignment. This means the Marlins now have seven days to try to trade him or release him.

Trading Chen will be difficult, as he comes with a salary of $22M in 2020. He finished the 2019 season with a 6.59 ERA in 45 appearances as a reliever.

“This decision was not about money,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said on a conference call. “It was about building the best and deepest 40-man roster, to allow us to compete in 2020 and beyond.”

It may feel like a hard thing to do but it was also the right thing to do. Chen finished the season with a -1.1 WAR. That means any of the minor league prospects that were added to their 40-man roster would have a much more positive impact on their record than Chen.

Having signed a five-year, $80 million contract in 2016, Chen was supposed to be the missing piece to the Marlins’ starting rotation behind Jose Fernandez. Unfortunately, it never materialized. His best year was 2017 when he recorded a 3.82 ERA but that year was curtailed by injury. In 2018, he had a 4.79 ERA but somehow posted a 1.62 ERA in 13 home starts.

The Marlins opted to move Chen to the bullpen in order to load their rotation with young studs such as Pablo Lopez, Sandy Alcantara, Caleb Smith and Trevor Richards to go with Jose Urena at the start of last year. This experiment fell flat from the start and Chen was reduced to being the human white flag. It was better to move on rather than spend another season hiding him in the bullpen only to send him out when the game is already a lost cause.

Chen may end up with another team in spring training and try to capture a starting pitching role. It would most likely be for the league minimum and the Marlins will still be on the hook for vast majority of his 2020 salary.

Not the only expensive dump

Designating and potentially releasing Chen wasn’t the most expensive player to get left off a roster this week. The New York Yankees released Jacoby Ellsbury with $21 million remaining on the seven-year, $153 million contract he signed prior to the 2014 season. The Yankees are also on the hook for a $5 million buyout for the 2021 season. Ellsbury hasn’t played a game in the last two season due to injury.

Who made the Marlins 40-man roster

The Marlins filled their roster openings with pitching prospects Sixto Sanchez, Edward Cabrera, Nick Neidert and Humberto Mejia, along with shortstop Jazz Chisholm and first baseman Lewin Diaz. Those prospects, which the exception of Cabrera and Mejia, were acquired in trades. Sanchez, the No. 1 ranked Marlins prospect according to MLB Pipeline, was acquired in the JT Realmuto trade with Philadelphia. The Marlins got Neidert from Seattle for Dee Gordon, Chisholm from Arizona for Zac Gallen, and Diaz from Minnesota for a Single-A prospect and Sergio Romo.

The Marlins left out Will Stewart, Tommy Eveld, Bryson Brigman, Dylan Lee and Christopher Torres, which leaves them open for selection in the Rule 5 Draft. Eveld and Brigman were acquired in 2018 trade deadline period for veterans Cam Maybin and Brad Ziegler. Torres was a part of the same trade package as Neidert to the Seattle Mariners for Dee Gordan prior to 2018. Stewart was part of the Realmuto Trade and while his stats in Single-A weren’t so hot, he did show flashes of a potential big leaguer.

“It is a challenge, and it’s a good challenge to have,” Hill said. “As we’ve built the layers of talent throughout the system, we still believe he is a very good Major League prospect.”

If a player is taken in the Rule 5 Draft, he would have to make the opening day roster or be sent back to his original franchise.