Taste the Happy, Michael: Fernandez Reunites With Grandmother

The Marlins released a heartwarming video about Jose Fernandez and his grandmother, Olga, who arrived from Cuba last weekend to see him for the first time since Fernandez defected as a teenager. Watch it below, we fucking dare you not to cry.

Also, Fernandez finished third in NL Cy Young voting. For some reason, six writers left him off their ballot.

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Jose Wins 2013 NL Rookie of the Year

Jose Fernandez has been named the 2013 NL Rookie of the Year. He earned 26 of 30 first-place votes, winning in a landslide. Fernandez is the fourth Marlin to win ROY (joining Dontrelle Willis, Hanley Ramirez, and Chris Coghlan), as well as the first Cuban-born player to win the award in the NL.

Fernandez was seated beside his mother and grandmother when the announcement was made. His grandmother, Olga, traveled to Miami Sunday in advance of the announcement, seeing him for the first time since he escaped Cuba with his mother and sister as a 15-year-old. More on that here.

Jose's resume is impressive. He was second in the majors with a 2.19 ERA, and led the big leagues in hits allowed per 9 innings with 5.8. He had the most WAR among rookies (4.2) and opponents hit .182 against him.

Our favorite Jose stat: in 28 starts he made this season, he gave up 0 or 1 earned run 15 times.

Plenty of past ROY winners have struggled to maintain their performance (cough, Coghlan, cough), but we're guessing Jose will continue to dominate in the years to come. Congrats Jose!

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Giancarlo Stays (for Now)

Newly-minted Marlins general manager Dan Jennings said Sunday that the Marlins will not be trading Giancarlo Stanton this offseason. 

"He will be in right field at Marlins Park on Opening Day," Jennings said. "We are building around him."

What exactly they will build around him is another question. Jennings said Sunday that the Angels' Mark Trumbo and Red Sox' Will Middlebrooks are enticing, but the team is "not there yet in terms of close to any deals."

This is not exactly surprising. While Stanton will be arbitration-eligible for the first time this winter, his slightly-disappointing 2013 season means he likely won't get a huge payout in arbitration. The team is expected to offer him a longer-term deal in the near future. It will be interesting to see if the Marlins can offer him enough money and/or years to offset his misgivings about the franchise.

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