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Miami Marlins Might Deal Starting Pitcher

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  • Miami Marlins Might Deal Starting Pitcher

    ORLANDO Never mind Giancarlo Stanton.

    When it comes to hot trading commodities, the Marlins have what other teams desire most: young starting pitching. And odds are the Marlins will deal one or more of their young hurlers in order to acquire a young hitter of equal talent.

    “That’s the only scenario that makes sense,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said Wednesday at the general managers meetings. “Our close-to-major-league-ready pitching, our young major-league starting pitching, is attractive. There’s been interest in that, and for good reason.”

    Hill said he will leave the meetings “encouraged” that he can get a deal done in the near future.

    “When you have starting pitching that you’re willing to part with, you should be able to make some deals,” Hill said. “I don’t think we’ve focused specifically [on one particular trade or player], but there are some situations that you feel encouraged by, and you think that there’s something to be done.”

    Jose Fernandez, the newly crowned National League Rookie of the Year, is untouchable. The Marlins have no plans to deal their ace. But everyone else is fair game, some more so than others.

    Hill said the preference would be to acquire a hitter with proven major-league experience but also one the team can control contractually for three years or longer before the onset of free agency hits.

    Thus, even though they are targeting catchers and third basemen, the Marlins are not as enthralled with Baltimore catcher Matt Wieters or St. Louis third baseman David Freese, both of whom are on track to hit free agency after two more seasons.

    As for acquiring minor-league prospects, Hill said: “We want talent, but we’ve done our prospect deals. We’re trying to get better and acquire players that help us now, and in the future.”

    Ruggiano’s role

    If Stanton, Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna are the Marlins’ Opening Day outfielders, where does that leave Justin Ruggiano, whose 18 home runs last season ranked second on the club?

    Ruggiano is eligible for salary arbitration for the first time, and there has been speculation the Marlins could non-tender him rather than cough up the $2 million it might take to keep him.

    More than likely, with Chris Coghlan and Jake Marisnick looming as potential backup outfielders, the Marlins are floating Ruggiano’s name in trade discussions. Hill hinted at that possibility.

    “He definitely has value,” Hill said. “He can play all three outfield positions. We’re not looking to move anyone who we think can help us win ballgames. But, I know we’re going to have to part with some talent to bring talent back.”

    Cubs’ appeal

    Not surprisingly, teams are asking the Marlins about their surplus of pitching. But Hill made it clear the Marlins are going to drive a hard bargain if it’s a pitching-for-hitting trade.

    Jon Heyman of CBSsports.com said the Chicago Cubs, with their wealth of hitting prospects, could be a match for the Marlins. Heyman mentioned Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, Albert Almora and Jorge Soler as possible trade targets for the Marlins.

    Bell still costly

    Heath Bell continues to haunt the Marlins.

    Even though he’s no longer costing them wins on the field, the reliever is impacting them off it. As part of the deal that sent Bell to Arizona, the Marlins will be required to pick up $6 million of his salary next season.

    That could make Bell the highest-paid player on the Marlins’ payroll next season depending on what Stanton ends up receiving through salary arbitration.

    The good news for the Marlins is that Bell will finally be off the books after 2014.

    • Despite reports to the contrary, the Marlins were not close in the bidding for Cuban first baseman Jose Abreu, who ended up signing a six-year, $68 million deal with the White Sox.

    According to multiple sources, the Marlins made a legitimate initial offer for the Abreu but dropped out of the bidding early.
    Miami Marlins might deal starting pitcher

  • #2
    Hill said the preference would be to acquire a hitter with proven major-league experience but also one the team can control contractually for three years or longer before the onset of free agency hits.
    Ok so Trumbo or Gyorko are the only two that come to mind.

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    • #3
      Will Middlebrooks

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      • #4
        They should deal more than one starting pitcher. So much pitching depth and no position depth. Every starting pitcher minus Fernandez/Heaney is expendable. That Cubs package doesn't make sense, but I'm sure there's a 3B/SS/C that team's are willing to trade to get Alvarez/Turner/Eovaldi/Flynn/Desclafani/Nicolino/Urena. All of these guys minus Urena have potential to be capable starters at the major league level before 2015.

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        • #5
          You can never have enough pitching.

          We trade 2 of them and then someone tears a ligament and someone flops and all of a sudden we've got some asshole with a 5.5 ERA in the rotation.

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          • #6
            We're not gonna do anything this year anyways. Just keep all our young pitchers and make decisions on who to keep long term and who to trade later when we know more.
            Need help? Questions? Concerns? Want to chat? PM Hugg!

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            • #7
              Originally posted by dim View Post
              They should deal more than one starting pitcher. So much pitching depth and no position depth. Every starting pitcher minus Fernandez/Heaney is expendable. That Cubs package doesn't make sense, but I'm sure there's a 3B/SS/C that team's are willing to trade to get Alvarez/Turner/Eovaldi/Flynn/Desclafani/Nicolino/Urena. All of these guys minus Urena have potential to be capable starters at the major league level before 2015.
              Don't forget Brad Hand

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Hugg View Post
                You can never have enough pitching.

                We trade 2 of them and then someone tears a ligament and someone flops and all of a sudden we've got some asshole with a 5.5 ERA in the rotation.
                I agree, but in this case the lineup is far too sh*tty to ignore, and with the pitching depth it's smart to trade two or three of those guys to fill key positional needs. Last season was literally the worst lineup I've ever seen the Marlins put on the field.

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                • #9
                  You guys know my thoughts on the pitching, but I don't think we should trade any more than one unless the offers are just too good to pass up.

                  Like Hugg said, you trade two guys and now you're an injury or a bust away from having a mess on your hands.

                  Plus, I think it's easier to scrape offense from free agency/waiver wires/trades, etc. Look at our successes with Cody Ross, Cantu, the Baker/Paulino platoon. We also have a decent amount of of offensive help on its way so we're probably not going to be the worst offense in the last 20 years again just by the virtue of having full seasons of the kids.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Mainge View Post
                    Plus, I think it's easier to scrape offense from free agency/waiver wires/trades, etc. Look at our successes with Cody Ross, Cantu, the Baker/Paulino platoon. We also have a decent amount of of offensive help on its way so we're probably not going to be the worst offense in the last 20 years again just by the virtue of having full seasons of the kids.
                    This. Smart platoons is what makes the A's and Rays successful on a limited budget.

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                    • #11
                      There are also some very good pitchers in this upcoming draft class. It's a ways away, but a pitcher will probably be the BPA at 2 and add even further to their surplus.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Mainge View Post

                        Plus, I think it's easier to scrape offense from free agency/waiver wires/trades, etc. Look at our successes with Cody Ross, Cantu, the Baker/Paulino platoon.
                        I don't think that this is true. Value is value and I'm guessing you could look back at the history of the team and find a similar list for pitchers.

                        As a matter of fact, every guy with the exception of Fernandez is a guy you're probably not high on, yet they put up pretty good ERA's last year.

                        I'd say we'd probably have a better chance of making a mediocre pitcher look better than he is due to our ballpark, etc.

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                        • #13
                          Is it not often said that offense is easier to buy in free agency than pitching? I suppose it could be something that isn't true. Care to provide examples? Relievers it's definitely true, but starting pitching?

                          The ballpark isn't a pitching advantage, either. The opposition's pitching pitches in the same park. Even still, the goal shouldn't ever be acquiring mediocre players. Even if our ballpark, (or more importantly defense because that's team specific) turns mediocre pitchers into good ones; the goal should be to acquire good pitchers and turn them into elite pitchers. Or acquire elite pitchers and turn them into Fernandez.

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                          • #14
                            Well, the point would be that our ballpark could have a tendency to overrate the abilities of the pitchers pitching in it, allowing the front office to then trade them off for players with a higher true skill level.
                            poop

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                            • #15
                              Could be, but with the prevalence of stats, splits, etc. in todays game, does that seem likely?

                              Also, that was not the point made.
                              Last edited by Mainge; 11-15-2013, 06:06 PM.

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