Marlins Callously Cut Ronny Simón, Pirates Nicely Picked Him Up

The Miami Marlins signed second baseman Ronny Simón as minor league free agent this past off-season. After tearing up the minor leagues (hitting .354 with a .962 over 15 games at Triple-A Jacksonville), he came up to the big club about three weeks ago. In 19 games, he got eleven hits, and had a slash line of .234/.327/.277.

Last Wednesday night made three errors in the first four innings of a game against the San Diego Padres. He could have been charged with a fourth, but the official scorekeeper changed it to an infield single. When the fourth inning ended, Simón could be seen wiping tears from his eyes as he walked off the field. He went directly to the clubhouse, never to be seen as a Marlin again. The Marlins designated him for assignment just two days later.

Fernando Tatís Jr., Manny Machado, and Luis Arráez, all of whom witnessed Simón’s travails from the opposing dugout, offered words of encouragement after the game. Former All-Stars Robinson Canó and Luis Castillo reached out to Simón via text. It didn’t matter.

Most people around baseball thought the best course of action was to have Simón back in the lineup the next day — allow him to jump back on the horse and let the club show a certain level of confidence in his abilities. Rather than do that — the Marlins rarely do what conventional wisdom would prescribe — they benched him on Thursday, and on Friday the designated cut him.

As recently as last July, FangGraphs had Simón as one of the top twenty prospects in the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization. When he didn’t make the big club, he became a free agent and signed in the off-season with the other Florida team. A switch-hitter who can play multiple infield positions, he possesses above-average speed and some surprising power. The Marlins thought enough of the player to sign him, and with his success in the minors, felt good enough about his prospects to bring him up to the big club.

Of course, we are not in the clubhouse and we don’t know what is happening behind the scenes. Maybe Simón was a malcontent who told off manager Clayton McCullough. Maybe he was so ashamed of his performance that he asked to be released. But, his reaction after-the-fact belies any such behavior. Interviewed the next day, Simón was quoted through an interpreter as saying:

“A lot of emotions yesterday. I feel bad and sad for that one. Try to keep working hard every day, I try to go to the field and be better every day.”

To date, no (now former) Marlin teammate has publicly uttered any negative words about Simón. In a show of confidence the hapless Miami team could not muster, the also-feckless Pittsburgh Pirates claimed the infielder off waivers and added him to their 40-man roster. This is a considerably better outcome then winding up back in the Marlins’ minor league system.

Simón may not have a long, illustrious major league career ahead of him. Originally signed by the Cubs as a free agent in 2018, he has played in the Diamondbacks’ and Rays’ organizations before landing in Miami. He is undersized with 60-grade speed (on the 20-80 scale) and 50-grade power, but FanGraphs has him only a 40-grade Future Value player. He is currently in Triple-A Indianapolis hoping to get another call to the show. But whether or not that ever happens again, Simón can hold his head high knowing that as between him and the Marlins organization, he has considerably more character.