The Florida Marlins have acquired 27-year old righty swinging catcher Ronny Paulino from the Giants for 21-year old righty pitcher Hector Correa. Paulino will platoon with John Baker behind the plate and they should put up good numbers together. Paulino played in 40 games for the Pirates last season in which he was 25 for 118 (.212 avg, .582 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 2 homers and 18 RBIs. Paulino has now played in 304 games in his major league career in which he is 284 for 1,021 (.278 avg, .713 OPS) with 102 runs scored, 19 homers and 128 RBIs. This was a good trade for the Marlins despite the fact that they gave up their #22 prospect according to Baseball America. Correa only pitched in 5 games (all starts) last season in Rookie and A-ball last season and he was 0-1 with a 7.82 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. His season was cut short by needing Tommy John Surgery.

The Marlins have traded 25-year old righty reliever/starter Eulogio De La Cruz to the Padres for cash considerations. De La Cruz was part of the return the Marlins received for Miguel Cabrera and Dontelle Willis from the Tigers over the winter of 2007. He was the #23 prospect in the Marlins’ minor league system according to Baseball America. De La Cruz pitched in 6 games (1 start) for the Marlins last season and he was 0-0 with a 18.00 ERA and a 2.89 WHIP. He also pitched in 25 games (all starts) in AAA-ball last season in which he was 13-8 with a 4.34 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. De La Cruz was out of options so at least the Marlins will get some cold hard cash for him.

The Marlins have signed 28-year old righty reliever Levale Speigner to a minor league contract. He pitched in 35 games (1 start) in AA+AAA ball in which he was 4-0 with a 1.82 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. Speigner also pitched in 7 games (0 starts) for the Nationals last season in which he was 0-1 with a 11.25 ERA and a 2.38 WHIP. Speigner has now pitched in 26 games (6 starts) in his major league career in which he is 2-4 with a 9.19 ERA and a 2.08 WHIP. I don’t see Speigner as a pitcher with much upside at all for the Marlins.

The Marlins have returned 24-year old lefty reliever Zach Kroenke to the Yankees after picking him up in the Rule 5 Draft over the winter. Kroenke was worth the gamble based on his pitching in 2008 in which he pitched in 41 games (0 starts) in AA+AAA ball in which he was 7-0 with 1 save, a 2.85 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. But, he was awful in the spring for the Marlins working in just 2 games in which he was 0-0 with a 63.00 ERA and a 8.00 WHIP. He allowed 4 hits and walked 4 batters this spring while only working 1 inning.

The Marlins have released 25-year old righty reliever Harvey Garcia. Garcia did not pitch last season because of injury. He pitched in 8 games (0 starts) in his career with the Marlins and he was 0-1 with a 4.38 ERA and a 1.70 WHIP. Garcia was the second pitcher the Marlins have cut (Jesus Delgado the other) that was in the trade with the Red Sox for Hanley Ramirez.