The Twins released Luis Ayala on Monday after showing his disgust to Twins manager Ron Gardenhire about not being used in the setup role, never mind that role has belonged to Jose Mijares all season.
With the Marlins looking for help in getting someone for relief, Ayala is available if the team is interested.
Ayala is probably not going to get a setup role with Dan Meyer taking that role for now, and Leo Nunez being the closer while Matt Lindstorm is on the disabled list, but there are no other setup jobs in baseball right now, so Ayala will have to deal with being a situational reliever.
Ayala can't be any worse than what the rest of the Marlins relievers are doing right now. Sure he is mediocre, but at least, he will get his fair share of outs, and he is capable of going through a stretch of pitching well, like he did with the Twins the last few weeks after a rough start.
That could be good enough for the Marlins, who can try anyone at this point.
The fact Jorge Cantu is campaigning for the Marlins to sign Ayala comes down to two things. He does not trust any of the relievers on the team, and he feels Ayala's familiarity with the NL East can help him do well against teams in that division.
Also, Ayala is not going to cost much with the Twins paying the portion of his salary from his one-year contract that took place in spring training. If Ayala is horrible, the Marlins can release him and not pay much.
The Marlins have to try something in building a bridge to Lindstorm, unless Nunez does so well as a closer that Lindstorm will have to settle as a setup guy.
They can't afford to be losing games in the seventh or eighth inning after having a great performance from their starter or having that lead.
Considering the Marlins have three of their best relievers in the disabled list, they are going to have to sign Ayala out of need in fill a spot. That way, Renyel Pinto and Brian Sanches will have no business pitching in the eighth inning like they did last night, which was the reason why the Marlins blew a lead and lost to the Rays in the end.
What do the Marlins have to lose in signing Ayala?
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