Gaby Sanchez emerging as Florida Marlins first baseman after Jorge Jimenez cut from camp?

IF Jorge Jimenez, a rule 5 draft who came to Florida to complete the Matt Lindstrom trade, has been cut and offered back to the Boston Red Sox. That means the Marlins got no major-league experience for Lindstrom, whose trade from Houston also gave Florida two A-level prospects.

Jimenez’s departure brings into a focus the battle for first base and the battle for two bench spots, competitions that manager Fredi Gonzalez expects to go down to the final days of camp.

Jimenez was a candidate to start at third base, if Gaby Sanchez or Logan Morrison struggled in their bids for the first base job. (Jorge Cantu would have moved from third to first). But Jimenez’s departure suggests the Marlins are confident one of their two prospects can win the first base job.

And Sanchez appears to have the edge: He’s batting .387 with one homer and 4 RBI in nine games Morrison is batting .194 with 2 homers and 2 RBI in 10 games.

As for the bench spots, IF Wes Helms, C Ronny Paulino and OF/IF Emilio Bonifacio are locks, which means two spots are up for grabs from a group that includes Brett Carroll, Brian Barden, Mike Lamb, Hector Luna and Donnie Murphy.

Barden is primarily an infielder but he’s in left field today, as the Marlins want to see his versatility.

That doesn’t bode well for Brett Carroll, who could see himself as the odd man out if the Marlins opt to go with Barden and Lamb, two players who show they can play both infield and outfield.

Carroll is an above-average defensive outfielder and he might have the best arm on the team. On his own initiative — without any direction from the coaching staff — he took grounders at third base at least once last week, as a way to make himself more versatile.

Gonzalez said he’s keeping an open mind with his options.

“I’ve got two or three different rosters in there, counting bullpen arms and starters and how you want to handle the bench,” he said.
“If the roster we start off with in April is not what we think, we’ll make adjustments April 15th or the next day.” …

RHP Clay Hensley and LHP Andrew Miller will start against each other in an intrasquad game Monday morning on a back field. Each will go five innings…

Catcher John Baker and infielder Joe Espada both stayed out of camp today because they weren’t feeling well. “It’s not the flu, it’s a stomach virus,’’ Gonzalez said. “Hopefully it’s just a couple of days.’’



(palmbeachpost.com)