SPOILER ALERT: The Miami Marlins will be sellers this season. Which players are the most tradable?
The Miami Marlins have been a big pile of poopy diapers this season. They shipped Luis Arraez to San Diego after a putrid first month of the season, lost starting pitchers like Eury Perez, Ryan Weathers, Jesus Luzardo, and Braxton Garrett to injuries of varying lengths, sent Max Meyer to the minors to better manage his workload (which seems dumb), stripped manager Skip Schumaker of his option in 2025, as per his request, and have dealt with major regression from middle-of-the-order bats like Josh Bell, Jake Burger, and Jesus Sanchez. Oh, and their catchers have a combined OPS under .500. The 2024 Marlins are a product of bad luck and poor decision-making, the latter of which has compounded the effect of the former. They suck the worst thing you can imagine.
They will be sellers this season, naturally, and have a few intriguing pieces to deal to contenders and wannabe contenders. First-year General Manager Peter Bendix finds himself in an interesting position. On the one hand, it appears blowing this whole bad boy up is the right course of action. This is not a good team, last year’s playoff run was fueled in part by unsustainable good fortune, and the farm system ranks near the bottom of the league. Sell what you can and build for a few years down the road.
On the other hand, the team is effectively signing some major free agents next season via returns from injury. Eury Perez had a 148 ERA+ last season as a 20-year-old. Sandy Alcantara was among the premier workhorses in the Majors at the time of his injury in late 2023. They’ll both be back. You also have guys like Max Meyer, who would presumably be without limitations next season. Add in the aforementioned Weathers, Luzardo, and Garrett, along with any of Trevor Rogers and Edward Cabrera, and you have quite a stable of horses available to you. A team with this amount of starting pitching at their disposal doesn’t quite fit the bill of a rebuilding organization. Does Bendix instead sell off only some pieces that won’t be part of a 2025 Marlins squad that has a chance to contend?
As a fan, of course, I’d like for them to load up for 2025. Another rebuild would be excruciating. But business is business, and as a product of the Tampa Bay Rays organization, Bendix will surely make the moves that are the most sensical on paper. No player is safe. Building a winner on the cheap is his lone objective.
Here are the most obvious trade pieces that Marlins fans should be prepared to bid farewell to by July 30th. I'm omitting players like Weathers, Luzardo, and Garrett, who are on the shelf but will be back relatively soon.
Tanner Scott
Tanner Scott has been one of the best late-game relievers in the Majors over the past few seasons. He’s not missing as many bats and his control has escaped him at times, but hitters just aren’t squaring him up. His average exit velocity is the best in the league, and this has manifested via his 1.42 ERA, .142 batting average against, and his first All-Star Game selection. He’s also a workhorse who’s appeared in 178 games since he joined the Fish in 2022. Scott seems to thrive the more you use him, which is music to the ears of teams looking ahead to the playoffs, when relievers often become more important than starters.
He’ll have just turned 30 by the time the deadline comes around and will be a free agent this offseason. It would be a 4D chess move for the Marlins to trade him for a few solid pieces, only to re-sign him in the offseason. It seems like he has a lot of tread left on his tires and could be a game-changer for years to come. But it might not be in Miami, unfortunately.
Tradability: 10/10
Jazz Chisholm Jr.
This one would hurt. Jazz Chisholm Jr. is not without his faults, but he is a supremely talented player who is undoubtedly the face of the franchise. He’s also molded himself into a serviceable centerfielder and has managed to stay healthy this season, something that has eluded him in recent years. He might not ever be an MVP-caliber player, but with a better lineup around him, there’s no reason he can’t be a perennial All-Star.
Sadly, Jazz is at the point in his Marlins tenure where the star player typically gets shipped out (Hanley Ramirez, Dontrelle Willis, Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, Miguel Cabrera, etc.). The Marlins give you your shot, you do your thing for a handful of years or so, then see ya. Off to greener pastures. I’m a firm believer that Miami can support a baseball team, but you’re asking a lot if you don’t retain a single star across 31 years of existence. Would Peter Bendix consider keeping Jazz? I hope so, but I’m not banking on it. The only thing potentially keeping him in Miami, apart from the risk of alienating many fans for good, is the fact that he’s just been so-so this season.
Tradability: 7.5/10
A.J. Puk
It’s been the tale of two Puks this season. He began the season as a starter, largely due to the rotation being ravaged by injuries. This resulted in a 9.22 ERA across four starts and 13.2 innings. He then moved back to the pen and has had a 2.59 ERA across his next 24.1 innings. Teams will certainly be intrigued by the 6’7” lefty, perhaps not as a closing option, but certainly as a late-game fireman. He also won’t be a free agent until 2027, so a team interested in him could potentially have an affordable, high-end reliever for a few more seasons.
Tradability: 9/10
Bryan De La Cruz/Jesus Sanchez
I’m just gonna pair these two together. They’re both corner outfielders, have almost identical stats this season (Sanchez: .698 OPS, 91 OPS+. De La Cruz: .700 OPS, 92 OPS+), are less than a year apart in age, and will both be free agents in 2028. Sanchez is a lefty who can’t hit lefties. De La Cruz is a righty who can hit either handedness of pitcher decently. Sanchez is a better defender. They both offer the same thing to a playoff-caliber team: a fourth outfielder with a little bit of pop. Neither one is having a stellar season, but they’ve had their moments. Enough moments to get a decent prospect in return. Seattle is a potential fit, as the Mariners are in first place but are desperate for offense.
Tradability: 5/10
Josh Bell/Jake Burger
Another worthy pairing. Both Bell and Burger were brought in last season to provide some oomph in the middle the order, and they did just that. Burger hit .303 with an .860 OPS after joining Miami, and Bell hit .270 with an .818 OPS, helping the Marlins to 84 wins and a playoff spot. They have been horrific in 2024. Burger has put together a -1.0 bWAR and a 66 OPS+, while Bell is at -1.4 bWAR and a 77 OPS+, i.e. they are worse than replacement level players. The last guys on the bench.
Both of them have been good, though, which is what a potential trade partner would be banking on. Perhaps something mechanically just isn’t right, and the Marlins’ hitting coaches just haven’t been able to identify it. Could one simple change in approach or mechanics unlock the Jake Burger and Josh Bell of years past? Whoever calls about these two will likely believe they have the answers, because no one is looking to add players who stink this bad. I would imagine they are not traded, since their value is so low right now.
Tradability: 3.5/10
The 2024 Miami Marlins will certainly look different after July 30th of 2024. How different remains to be seen. I sincerely hope they retain as much talent as they can and plan for the reinforcements arriving next season. Even the most diehard of fans have their limits.
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