The Marlins have already made one big outfield acquisition this winter, signing Avisail Garcia to a four-year, $53MM deal before the lockout began, but recent rumors have indicated they are still looking to add another. One name on their list is Michael Conforto, as Joe Frisaro of Man on Second Baseball reports that “the Marlins have had discussions with Conforto’s camp, and he remains a possibility.” (Presumably, these discussions took place before the lockout, as teams and players are now not permitted to have such talks until the lockout ends.)

Conforto would make for an interesting fit in the Marlins outfield, given that he and Garcia were both primarily right fielders in 2021. However, it is worth noting that general manager Kim Ng recently said the team believes Garcia could be an everyday center fielder, if needed. Conforto also has some center field experience, but not since 2019. Even then, it was only 39 games. The club still lacks a proper everyday option in center and has been connected to both Ketel and Starling Marte this winter to try to address that need. It seems that installing Conforto in right field and sliding Garcia to center is another route they’ve considered.

Conforto is one of the more difficult markets to predict, due to the fact that he had a tremendous four-year run from 2017 to 2020 but is coming off an ill-timed downturn in 2021 as he entered free agency.