off the rails

The Miami Marlins have finally given up on Chris Coghlan, four years after the Ole Miss product won rookie of the year honors as their left fielder. Coghlan, 28, eligible for arbitration this year, was non-tendered by the Marlins on Monday and is now a free agent. The left-handed hitting Coghlan batted .321 with nine homers, 47 RBIs and 84 runs in 128 games in 2009. Plagued by injuries, he has played just 265 big league games since. He got into 70 games in 2013 and hit .256. Coghlan is a .270 career hitter (.337 on-base percentage) but isn’t really a power source (21 homers) or a speed merchant (27 steals). He has some versatility, having played second base in the minors and some third base this past season. He might fit in somewhere as a bench player, but one expects he’ll have to earn such a job on a minor league contract in spring training. P.S. Former Mississippi Braves ace Tommy Hanson, who once seemed to have such a bright future in Atlanta, was non-tendered by the Los Angeles Angels and also became a free agent. … Various reports have Miami among the teams interested in ex-M-Braves catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who had a solid 2013 season with Boston but wasn’t re-signed.