The Miami Marlins officially released their Opening Night 25-man roster on Sunday after making a final round of cuts.
When the spring began, Miami had several roster spots that were up for grabs. The Marlins invited a laundry list of players to participate in camp, and gave fair chances to most of them. There were slots in rotation, bullpen and bench open for competition, and multiple non-roster invitees ended up with those slots.
The starting rotation had three pitchers who entered March with secured jobs. That left two spots up for a competition among young arms. Landing those rotation jobs were Adam Conley and Jarred Cosart. Missing out were names such as Justin Nicolino and Jose Urena who will both begin 2016 in AAA New Orleans.
In the bullpen, Craig Breslow and Dustin McGowan both landed jobs after entering the spring as non-roster invitees. Competing against pitchers who were already in Miami's system last year, both veterans put up solid numbers and pitched their way onto the roster. Among those missing out on a roster spot was young lefty Cody Ege who had a great spring.
On the bench, Miami opted to go with Derek Deitrich and Miguel Rojas over others in the competition such as Robert Andino and Cole Gillespie. Working in Deitrich's favor was an ability to play both the infield and outfield, while providing home run potential off the bench. Deitrich was also out of options, and the Marlins would have risked losing him to another club if he failed to make the team.
Brad Hand and Gillespie were designated for assignment and may now be lost from the organization. Chris Narveson was added to the roster in place of Mike Dunn who will begin the season on the 15-day disabled list. Narveson gives Miami another potential long relief option and could stick around long-term.
The Marlins and Detroit Tigers will begin the 2016 season on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m.
