Miami Marlins: All quiet on the Brandon Kintzler front
The Miami Marlins want to bring Brandon Kintzler back. To this point, there has been absolutely nothing happening on that front.
The Miami Marlins had said all the right things regarding Brandon Kintzler. The former All Star closer had once again claimed the ninth inning, establishing himself as a reliable piece of the surprising Marlins bullpen. He was a key piece in their push to the playoffs, throwing three scoreless innings with five strikeouts during the postseason.
Given that success, it is not a surprise that the Marlins hope to bring him back. While they declined his $4 million option for 2021, it was expected to simply be a matter of time before Kintzler was back on a new contract.
Since that point, nothing has happened. There are been no rumors about Kintzler, nor about the Marlins making an attempt to bring him back. Just radio silence.
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To a degree, that is understandable. The Marlins have revamped their front office, hiring a new general manager in Kim Ng. They have been looking to find additional ways to not only strengthen their baseball operations department but also improve the roster. These changes take time.
It may behoove the Marlins to act sooner rather than later, however. Kintzler had a solid 2.22 ERA and a 1.315 WHiP while recording 12 saves. There may have been a good degree of luck involved, as he posted a 5.00 FIP, issuing 11 walks with only 14 strikeouts in his 24.1 innings. His decreased strikeout rate, and increased walk rate, could be enough to give a team pause.
Despite those low strikeout totals, Kintzler has been a solid reliever throughout his career. His penchant for weak contact has made him a reasonably trustworthy arm, and while he may not be closer material, he is still the type of reliever a contender would want. That is particularly true in the case of the Marlins.
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Nothing is happening with Brandon Kintzler and the Miami Marlins just yet. But that does not mean that those conversations will not happen soon enough.