The Miami Marlins management sent a clear message when they decided to part ways with Luis Arraez: trading the batting champion was a response to the team’s appalling start to the 2024 campaign.
Following Arraez’s trade to the San Diego Padres, Peter Bendix, in his first season as Miami’s chief of baseball operations, told reporters as much, adding, “We are unlikely to make the playoffs this year.”
With a record of 9–26, the Marlins are already 14.5 games behind the leaders in the National League East. After qualifying for the playoffs in the fall for the first time in a full season since 2003, their elimination seems especially hurtful. Other front offices assume Miami will soon be prepared to discuss more moves, even though they haven’t publicly informed other teams that they are available for business.
The issue is that some opposing executives who are considering the Marlins’ roster don’t think there is much value left on the team and think Miami will have trouble getting good bids for other players.
Here are some of the players that make up Miami’s roster, along with some opinions on those who could be trade candidates.
Closer Tanner Scott may be of interest to other teams after a successful 2023 campaign, but his command has always been an issue; in 13⅓ innings this season, he has issued 14 walks. Another team might take a risk on him if it thinks it can return him to the form he showed in the previous campaign, when he had a 2.31 ERA in 74 appearances while exercising more control. Even so, the investment would only last for a short while because Scott will become a free agent in the autumn. “He’s the guy you’d look at on their roster,” one assessor told ESPN on Sunday.
First baseman Josh Bell, 31, of the Marlins, is in the final year of a two-year, $33 million contract. Even in the best of situations, a guy with Bell’s profile and salary won’t necessarily be appealing to teams after an offseason in which skilled designated hitters and corner infielders, like Justin Turner, were drawing offers of $12 to $13 million. And he is currently hitting.197 with an OPS of.604 at the plate.
Late in the winter, Tim Anderson agreed to a $1 million one-year contract; a player with his background and his pitiful pay would ordinarily attract attention. However, he has had a dreadful start to the season with just 111 plate appearances, three extra-base hits (all doubles), and a.504 OPS.
The 28-year-old Jake Burger hit 34 home runs in the previous season while playing for the Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins. After this season, any team that signs him would have four more seasons of control. However, he is presently on the injured list, and some teams see him as a future first baseman with a subpar on-base percentage history following a sluggish start at third base (.228/.281/.421). “He’ll hit you some home runs, but unless the OBP changes, that kind of player isn’t going to get you much [in a trade],” a different evaluator stated.
Jazz Chisholm Jr., a 26-year-old with more than three years of service time and a few flashes of brilliance in the past, hasn’t lived up to the anticipation surrounding him as a promising young player. Teams are examining the possible value they will receive for their money now that he is entering his arbitration years, and they have some reservations. One official remarked, “He’s a.300 OBP guy, and he’s already gone through position changes.” “You’d have to believe there’s more than what he’s shown so far.”
Sandy Alcantara, the 2022 Cy Young Award winner, is sidelined for the current season following Tommy John’s surgery in October.
After missing most of the previous season due to a hamstring injury, Avisail Garcia is making $12 million this year and is already on the injured list.
As other front offices looked to acquire starting pitchers, left-hander Jesus Luzardo was a player who sparked a lot of conversation throughout the winter. Luzardo had more than three years of service time left after finishing the season with a 3.58 ERA in 32 starts. As the most desirable commodity on the market, he was considered by some evaluators to be in the same league as Corbin Burnes and Dylan Cease, both of whom were moved. “What you were looking at was the years of control a team would’ve had left,” a government source stated. If Luzardo doesn’t heal from an elbow injury sustained early in the season—for which he is currently on the injured list—the time for a successful return may have closed. With the advantage of 20/20 hindsight, this past summer may have been the ideal time to trade him.
Adding to all of those depressing occurrences is this: After winning NL Manager of the Year in his first season leading the Marlins, manager Skip Schumaker gained a great deal of respect in the profession. However, he finds himself in a mediocre position. Then-general manager Kim Ng hired him after the 2022 season; however, Ng is no longer with the company; she departed after the previous season after receiving an offer that amounted to a demotion. Following that choice, Schumaker requested that the Marlins remove the 2025 option year from his contract. This implies that he will also be a free agent in the fall, and many in the business believe he will leave.
What is the meaning of all this? It seems that the journey to regain Miami’s prominence from just six months ago will be arduous and drawn-out.