The Marlins have acquired 28-year old righty swinging catcher John Otness from the Dodgers for future considerations. Otness has already played in 2 games in AA-ball for the Marlins this season and he is 1 of 7 (.143 avg, .286 OPS) with 1 run scored. He has now played in 465 games in his seven years in the minors and he is 480 of 1,712 (.280 avg, .721 OPS) with 196 runs scored, 20 homers and 215 RBIs. This was a good pickup for the Marlins as they needed some depth behind the plate in the organization.

The Marlins have acquired 27-year old lefty reliever/starter Wes Whisler from the White Sox for future considerations. Whisler has pitched in 21 games (2 starts) in AAA-ball so far this season and he is 0-0 with a 4.54 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP. He got his first taste of the majors last season with the White Sox working in 3 games (0 starts) in which he was 0-0 with a 13.50 ERA and a 2.25 WHIP. Whisler was likely nervous in his first three games in the majors as he walked 3 batters in only 1 1/3 innings but he still hasn’t given up a major league hit. The Marlins will give them a call if he pitches well in AAA and the need arises.

26-year old starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez is pitching solid baseball for the Marlins this year. Sanchez has pitched in 15 games (all starts) for the Marlins this year and he is 7-4 with a 3.18 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. Sanchez’ control is the only thing keeping him from being a elite pitcher this year as he has walked 35 batters in 93 1/3 innings for the Marlins. That is nitpicking as the Marlins have to be very happy with Sanchez this year. Sanchez was part of the return the Marlins got from the Red Sox in the Josh Beckett/Mike Lowell trade. He has now pitched in 65 games (64 starts) in his five years with the Marlins and he is 25-21 with a 3.69 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. Sanchez has career highs of 18 starts and 10 wins in a season and he looks on pace to smash both of those marks.

The Marlins have designated 25-year old lefty reliever James Houser for assignment. Houser only appeared in one game for the Marlins this season working 1 1/3 innings in which he gave up 3 hits (1 homer) and 3 earned runs. The Marlins have recalled 29-year old righty reliever Jose Veras to replace Houser in the pen. Veras pitched in 4 games (0 starts) earlier this season for the Marlins and he was 1-0 with a 15.43 ERA and a 2.36 WHIP. Veras also has pitched in 24 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball this season and he is 1-1 with 2 saves, a 4.60 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. Veras whiffed 37 batters in 29 1/3 innings in AAA so the Marlins have hope that he’ll be better this time around.

The Marlins have signed 37-year old righty reliever Armando Benitez to a minor league deal and they have sent him to AAA. He made his season debut last night working a shutout inning allowing only 1 baserunner (a walk). He last pitched in the majors in 2008 with the Blue Jays. He has now pitched in 762 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 40-47 with 289 saves, a 3.13 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Benitez was amazing for the Marlins back in 2004 when he was a All-Star. He pitched in 64 games in 2004 for the Marlins and he was 2-2 with a league leading 47 saves, a 1.29 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP. Benitez only gave up 36 hits in 69 2/3 innings for the Marlins that year. If Benitez gets off to a good start in AAA the Marlins will be calling him up soon.

UPDATE: (7/16/2010) - The Marlins have released Benitez. He pitched in 8 games in AAA-ball for the Marlins and he was 0-1 with 4 saves, a 2.70 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP.

The Marlins have fired 46-year old manager Fredi Gonzalez. The Marlins are currently in 4th place in the N.L. East, 7.5 games behind the Braves with a 34-36 record (48.6%). Gonzalez led the Marlins to a 276-279 (49.7%) record in his four years with the team despite operating with the lowest payroll in the league over most of that time. The Marlins also canned bench coach Carlos Tosca and hitting coach Jim Pressley. The Marlins have promoted Edwin Rodriguez from being the manager of the AAA team in New Orleans to replace Gonzalez. This is a bad move for the Marlins as Gonzalez often had the team playing way above their heads.

Recently signed 29-year old righty starter/reliever Tom Mastny has started off well in AAA for the Marlins. Mastny has started 3 games in AAA-ball so far this season for the Marlins and he is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. He last pitched in the majors in 2008 for the Cleveland Indians. Mastny has pitched in 80 games (1 start) in his major league career and he is 9-5 with a 6.13 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP.

The Florida Marlins have released 26-year old lefty reliever Hunter Jones. Jones pitched in 3 games (0 starts) for the Marlins this year and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.60 WHIP. He also pitched in 10 games (7 starts) in AAA-ball this year and he was 0-5 with a 4.17 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. Jones was half of the haul for Jeremy Hermida making the trade look worse. Because he’s a lefty I don’t think he’ll be out of work too long.

The Marlins have designated 32-year old righty reliever Jorge Sosa for assignment. Sosa pitched in 8 games (0 starts) for the Marlins this year and he was 1-2 with a 7.71 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. His control did him in with the Marlins as he walked 6 hitters in only 9 1/3 innings. It’s a shame he didn’t know where the ball was going as he only gave up 7 hits this season.

The Marlins have very little depth on their baseball team this year. In fact only 34-year old righty swinging 1B/3B Wes Helms has been a solid player for the Marlins off the pine. Helms has played in 46 games this season for the Marlins and he is 22 of 81 (.272 avg, .774 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 2 homers and 9 RBIs. He comes up to the plate hacking as he has only walked 6 times this year while whiffing 27 times but the Marlins won’t worry about that as long as he continues to hit the ball when called upon.