There is reason for cautious optimism regarding the Miami Marlins.

Ace Jose Fernandez is scheduled to make his next-to-last rehab start Monday at Class-A Jupiter and could be back from Tommy John surgery early next month. Over the weekend, lefthander Justin Nicolino threw seven shutout innings in his major league debut.

The Marlins could soon have a pitching surplus, but don’t expect a starter to be shopped on the trade market. President of baseball operations Michael Hill “firmly stated that the front office has no intention of trading away ‘any of our major rotation pieces’ in order to alleviate the looming logjam,” writes Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.

The options could include moving Tom Koehler or David Phelps could go to the bullpen.

Here’s a quick look at a few more rumors making the rounds on Monday:

• Daniel Murphy: The New York Mets wasted another solid effort from Matt Harvey in Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Atlanta, and the hope was Murphy would be back in the lineup on Tuesday to help a sagging offense. The Mets now are proceeding with additional caution and Murphy, who landed on the disabled list on June 5 with a strained left quadriceps, is not expected back until next weekend against Cincinnati, reports Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.

• Ryan Braun: There probably is no market for the 2011 National League MVP even if the Brewers tried to shop him, predicts Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Braun has had issues with his thumb and his five-year, $105 million extension kicking in next year.

• Ryan Howard: The Phillies are ready to absorb a lot of the remaining money on Howard’s contract, about $50 million, if they can get “something reasonable in return,” writes Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. The Rays and Angels have been mentioned as possible suitors for Howard, who has 13 homers.

• Scott Copeland: The Blue Jays demoted the right-hander to Triple-A after another rough outing Sunday against Baltimore. The Jays have time to decide on a replacement since they won’t require a fifth starter until June 30 at home against Boston. The Jays could bring back Daniel Norris or chose from veterans Randy Wolf, Felix Doubront and Jeff Francis, all of whom are at Triple-A Buffalo.

• Michael Lorenzen: The rookie right-hander won his second straight start Sunday with seven strong innings against the Marlins. Reds manager Bryan Price has not closed the door on using Lorenzen as an outfielder if the need arose. "Defensively, I'd still trust him out there," Price told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "He was a really good college position player." Lorenzen played center field and was the closer for Cal State-Fullerton in 2013.