The Marlins have designated first baseman Jesus Aguilar for assignment, general manager Kim Ng announced to reporters (Twitter link via Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald).
Now that the trade deadline has passed, the only course of action for the Marlins will be to place Aguilar, 32, on waivers and hope that another club claims him. Given the $7.5MM guarantee on the struggling Aguilar’s 2022 contract, however, that appears quite unlikely. While Aguilar’s deal does carry a mutual option for the 2023 campaign, mutual options are rarely exercised, so teams will look at him as a pure rental.
There’s still about $1.6MM left to be paid out on Aguilar’s contract, plus a $200K buyout on that option. It’s hard to imagine a contending club dropping $1.8MM to claim a player who is hitting just .236/.286/.388 on the season as a whole — including a dismal .188/.246/.347 slash since the All-Star break. The overwhelming likelihood is that Aguilar will clear waivers and become a free agent — whether by being released or rejecting an outright assignment.
At that point, Aguilar would be free to sign a new contract with any team, and the new team would only owe him the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the MLB roster. The mutual option would no longer be a consideration, as he’ll have been released from the contract containing that clause. Aguilar would be postseason-eligible for a new club as long as he is signed (or, far less likely, claimed) prior to Sept. 1.
More to come.
.