Five Marlins elect free agency

A total of five Marlins -- none of them surprises -- elected free agency today as the end of the World Series marked the start of the "Hot Stove League."

Chad Qualls, Juan Pierre, Placido Polanco, Austin Kearns and Matt Diaz were among the 147 players putting their names in the free agent hopper on Thursday. With the exception of Qualls, it's doubtful the Marlins will attempt to re-sign any of them. And Qualls could very well be out of their price range (a number of teams expressed interest in the veteran reliever before the July 31 trade deadine, but the Marlins -- thinking he would help them avoid 100 losses -- held on to him. So much for that).

Teams can begin negotiating with free agents on Tuesday at 12:01 a.m.

The Marlins performed a bit of roster housecleaning on Thursday, exercising their club option on right-hander Jacob Turner for $1 million. Again, no surprise there. The Marlins also reinstated outfielder Marcell Ozuna from the 60-day disabled list. Their 40-man roster now stands at 32 players.