The Marlins are in agreement with free agent right-hander Johnny Cueto, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post (via Twitter). Cueto, a client of Primo Sports Group, will be guaranteed $8.5MM on a one-year deal with a club option for the 2024 season, per Craig Mish of SportsGrid and the Miami Herald (Twitter link). That’ll be paid out in the form of a $6MM salary for the upcoming season, plus a $2.5MM buyout on a $10.5MM option for a second year. If the Fish pick up that option, Cueto would earn $16.5MM over the next two seasons.
Cueto, who’ll pitch next season at age 37, began his career with the Reds in 2008 and was among the best pitchers in baseball for them from 2011 to 2015, when he was dealt to the Royals midseason in exchange for Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb, and Cody Reed. The highlight of Cueto’s tenure in Cincinnati was the 2014 season, when he led the NL in innings pitched (243 2/3) and strikeouts (242) while also posting a sterling 2.25 ERA (163 ERA+) en route to his first All-Star appearance and a second-place finish in Cy Young award voting.
Cueto went on to win a World Series with the Royals in 2015 before departing for free agency, where he eventually landed with the Giants on a six-year, $130MM deal. In the first year of his deal with San Francisco, Cueto was excellent. An ERA of 2.79 (144 ERA+) with a FIP of 2.95 over 219 2/3 innings led him to his second All-Star appearance and a fourth-place finish in Cy Young award voting as the Giants secured a spot in the Wild Card game, defeating the Mets in a one-game playoff before falling to the Cubs in the NLDS.
While the contract appeared to be a resounding success after the first year, things quickly took a turn as Cueto began to struggle to stay on the field. From 2017 until the end of his Giants tenure in 2021, Cueto posted a 4.38 ERA (95 ERA+) and 4.47 FIP in just 394 1/3 innings while spending time on the injured list in each of those seasons except for the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. Given his injury history and the fact that his numbers were closer to those of a back-end starter than the dominant ace he once was, Cueto settled for a minor-league deal with the White Sox in 2022 — albeit one with a notable base salary of $4.2MM (quite a bit higher than most minor league deals).
That deal worked out phenomenally for the White Sox, as Cueto posted a resurgent season in 2022 and looked like a bit more like his old self as he posted a 3.35 ERA (118 ERA+) and and 3.79 FIP across 24 starts and 158 1/3 innings. While Cueto no longer struck batters out at an above-average rate as he did in the prime of his career, he maintained his excellent control, posting a 5.1% walk rate that ranked in the 88th percentile of all MLB hurlers, per Statcast. Despite Cueto’s resurgent season, however, there’s reason to think regression could be on the way in 2023. Cueto’s homer-to-flyball rate dropped considerably from a 12% rate in 2021 to a 7.7% rate in 2022. While changes to the pitching environment could factor into this, Cueto’s mark in 2022 was below even his career 10.4% mark — even as he gave up barreled balls at his highest rate since 2019.
Despite these concerns, Cueto should still be a quality arm for the Marlins in 2023. He joins a Miami rotation already overflowing with options: ace Sandy Alcantara is followed by Pablo Lopez, Jesus Luzardo, Trevor Rogers, Edward Cabrera, and Braxton Garrett in addition to Cueto.
That’s also not including young arms who could contribute in the future, such as Sixto Sanchez, Eury Perez, Jake Eder and Max Meyer. Tommy John surgery has sidelined both Eder (Aug. 2021) and Meyer (July 2022) recently, and Sanchez has dealt with recurring shoulder troubles. Still, that trio are all fairly well regarded, while Perez is arguably the top pitching prospect in the sport at this point.
Rumors have swirled throughout the offseason of the Marlins dealing from their deep stable of rotation players, and signing Cueto provides them with additional depth in the rotation in order to more comfortably make those deals. Currently, the Marlins are reported to be listening to offers on four members of the rotation: Lopez, Rogers, Cabrera and Luzardo. With plenty of teams still looking to add to their rotation this offseason, including the Red Sox, Dodgers, Cardinals, and Padres, signing one of the best remaining starters on the free agent market has surely strengthened Miami’s position in trade talks.
With Cueto now in place, the Marlins’ projected payroll is up to about $106MM, per Roster Resource. That’d represent the team’s highest mark since trotting out a franchise-record $117MM Opening Day payroll back in 2017, though it’s of course still one of the smaller financial outlays of any team in the sport. It also bears mentioning that a trade from that stable of young starters could reduce the total expenditure; Lopez is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $5.6MM in 2023. Luzardo is projected to earn $2MM. Rogers and Cabrera are not yet arbitration-eligible.
The Padres and Reds are among the clubs that have shown interest in Cueto this winter previously. The starting options on the free agent market this offseason are quickly dwindling, but Michael Wacha and Zack Greinke still offer the ability to solidify a club’s rotation. Otherwise, rotation upgrades likely would need to come from the trade market, where the Marlins seem to hold the majority of the cards.
Yes, you saw my suggestion.
They meant to say “the highlight of Cueto’s career in Cincinnati came in 2010 when he ended former longtime Reds catcher Jason LaRue’s career by kicking him in the head several times while pressed against the backstop in a scuffle started when Brandon Phillips tapped Yadier Molina’s shin guard?”
I agree great suggestion, anyway we can edit that in?
Maybe you can, but other people obviously didn’t know or care about it.
Now who is getting traded?
Personally I lean López to San Diego or Cabrera to Boston
The Orioles have a bigger need and more to offer than…..maybe any other team. No reason they shouldn’t come away with 1 or even 2 of the available Marlin’s SPs IMO
1 will be costly for the O’s. Can’t imagine 2 SP’ers leaving Mia to Balt.
Our ML roster could lose Mullins, Hays, Urias, Mateo, or Santander and be pretty easily replaced. Even 2 of them. We also have a concensus top 3 farm system that is overflowing with OF and middle IF. We could definitely acquire two if the deal was right.
Or they could have just kept their young talent and signed Cueto. Os are clueless !
Big W,
I was thinking the same about many clubs. My guess though is Cueto wanted to play in FL. Add to it the no state income taxes and most other clubs would have had to offer more just to make it equal.
@ Big whiffa
Signing a 37 year old for 1-2 years is better for the Orioles than getting a under 30yo SP that is controlable 4-6 years?
Not sure it’s the Orioles that are clueless.
Oriole’s aren’t clueless and neither are the Fish. Ng wants Mullins and Elias wants to keep him. Stalemate.
I agree. Of those you listed, Mullins would be the one I would definitely keep. The O’s need to find a way to get one of the Marlins starters.
Santander and a low level prospect for Lopez. There. Bacardi & diet, do it, do it.
Steak dinner BOOM!
The O’s could also take on Avisail Garcia if they really wanted two Marlins pitchers. Baltimore doesn’t need him per say, but he could possibly offer what Odor offered last season.
Lopez to the Cardinals, hopefully
Rather have Luzardo.
I actually love that suggestion! Former top prospect, underdeveloped yet going into his prime w a fresh start w cardinals ? That’s gotta chance to work out real nice Clark
Rather have the 57 year old Cueto
Yeah but I feel Ng would rather move Pablo.
Sandy Alcantara is going back to STL for Matthew Libratore, Alec Burlson, and Ivan Herrera
Keep up your wishful thinking.
This would of made more sense for the Jays instead of 9.3 on Belt
Agreed
Apparently free agents get to pick where they go.
@Dusty: That’s what free agents have earned the right to do.
Wow. what will they think of next??
Pre buttered sliced bread
Not to be “that guy”, but “have” and “of” aren’t even the same word lol ♂️
It’s called spellnomics. Could’ve and “could of” sound almost identical, and we tend to spell things the way we say them.
Jo Braidy: U R SEW RONG. People are just either nonchalant or just to lazy to look at what they’re typing. That’s the dumbing down of America.
@JoeBrady: Spellnomics, aka sounding ignorant if at all possible.
The mobile app also has weird alignment issues where you can’t see what you’re typing in half of the reply box, making it impossible to check your spelling before posting.
As in “too lazy to…”?
Wait what, all we have been reading about is the plethora of Marlins’ sps.. Oh well good for Cueto as it makes the NL East a bit better.
Going to be a big fight for the top 4, with the Marlins in at 4, sorry Wash….
I think this move allows the Marlins to trade those young SPs to build a new core.
I agree this is the goal, but they already had a surplus. You can never have enough pitching but jeesh.
You can never have enough pitching but jeesh.
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If a team’s excess of pitching means a deficit in hitting, then you have too much pitching. They could’ve just spent the $8.5M on hitting.
Who at this point?
Correct . Don’t see the logic here.They need hitting they could had sign Belt or Mancini or Guriel to play first fir way less not one more pitcher. But these are the Marlins clueless. I suggest they are about to make another of those trades that give away talent in return for nothing. Let’s see Stanton, Yeli,…
The only fit I see is Baltimore, maybe Rangers. San Diego, their centerfield player alone for any Marlins pitcher will be robbery, but they are used to make this type of deals.
Who at this point?
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Belt comes to mind. And there is also the possibility of trading for someone with 3 years of control and a current salary of $8.5M.
Signing Cueto and trading one of their pitchers offers a better opportunity to improve the offense (now and long-term) than signing one of the remaining FA bats.
Think bigger than Belt or Mancini.
Cueto will be dealt at the deadline to a contender for more prospects.
Marlins decided to take Cueto off the market – so any team that wants pitching now needs to come to them.
Come to Butthead
A 1-5 of Alcantara, Lopez, Luzardo, Cabrera and Cueto would be pretty dangerous. They should try to trade Rodgers or Garrett for the bat they’re looking for. I’d also think about making Sixto their closer or somewhat of a multi inning reliever next year to get him back to speed.
A 1-5 of Alcantara, Lopez, Luzardo, Cabrera and Cueto would be pretty dangerous.
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They had dangerous pitching before this.
@stretch123: They will need to offer Lopez or Luzardo for the kind of bat they want. You need to trade somebody the other team wants, not just who you want to give up.
Report today out of Miami suggests that they are more likely to not trade Luzardo actually. I expec them to trade one out of Rodgers, Lopez or Cabrera. I think Lopez and then Cabrera are the likeliest to go. In that order.
Trade will be Cabrera, Garrett, Bleday a pick from minors for Reynolds. Also I hear those above mention and Jazz for Reynolds and Hayes. Is coming sooner than later. Be ready, can happen in the next 48 hours. Go Fish.
Interesting… I don’t see Reynolds as a player who can be the foundation of an offense, but he’s a huge upgrade from anything they have now. Pitt would get a nice return if this is true.
Don’t sleep on MIA. Putting a competitive team together bit by bit
They’ll compete for fourth, maybe third if another team is hurt by injury. Gotta find a way to put some O in Miami Marlins.
Unless they win every game 1-0, I don’t see it
I don’t see it either, but every season we see over and under achievers. The Marlins are at least good enough to play spoiler in the NLE. With their rotation they can surprise us even more. A WC seems unlikely, but I wouldn’t be shocked.
I would be shocked.
I suppose we can’t guarantee that the six NL playoff teams will be ATL, PHI, NYM, STL, SD, LAD but….
Last year the NL worked out perfectly. The best 6 teams and also the top 6 payrolls were the playoff representatives. I expect at least 1 surprise this year, but one would think it’d be more likely coing out of the NLC than NLE or NLW.
I think 70-80 win teams last year improved across the board. Hopefully it’s a really fun September
@abc123baseball: “We” can’t guarantee anything.
I think they’d have a better chance of surprising if in the NL central, but the East is just so strong right now
Love the signing but have never had respect for him since the Jason LaRue incident
100% agree
Now Miami can trade Sandy, Eury, and Pablo to the Pads for Grisham or to the O’s for Santander.
Win/win.
Lopez and Rogers to the O’s for Santander and a top tier infield prospect.
Marlins would need to add Sandy, along with Lopez and Rogers PLUS pay off their salaries for Santander.
This is unrealistic, unless you expect the incompetent GM to do 100% of the negotiations with no oversight, in which case it is certainly possible. Still, you are offering trash for gold here.
Now you’re sounding like a Yankee homer.
I’d do that as long as they aren’t named Gunnar.
that’s terrible
The Padres would trade do that in a heart beat
lol only getting one
He couldn’t get a better deal than 6 million after putting up 3.5 WAR??
With the buyout it’s a slightly higher commitment at $8.5M. Still, with the limited options remaining it’s hard to believe another team didn’t offer more.
Wouldn’t delaying the 2.5 buyout make it less valuable as they don’t pay it until they make that decision afterwards and if Cueto pitches well they have the ability to pick up the option. Remember it’s not 8.5 plus 2.5. The 8.5 includes a buy out of 2.5 so his salary is 6
Crap. You blew it again, Bob.
Another guy I would have liked to have seen them sign a few years ago when their rotation was much younger, and they could have used a depth arm…
They did lose some of their depth this offseason, so for that reason, this is still ok, but if it leads to a shortsighted trade that doesnt really do much besides just making a trade, and they also dont address the bullpen with 2-3 arms, preferably 2 that could pitch in high leverage situations, then they’re better off laying off spending money, the way I said last year, and then maybe they could have done more in free agency in a year like this, or next year, when you can maybe have a better shot at getting out of at least Soler’s deal, and maybe you find a way fo get rid of the last 2 on garcia(doubtful),
Adding another starter on a team that already had ample quality rotation depth. It appears a trade or two is forthcoming for a Marlins team in need of more offense.
Miami may have entered the bidding for Reynolds.
Agreed. This allows Miami to throw two young arms at Pittsburgh for Reynolds or Baltimore for Mullins.
Ohtani to Miami. I don’t see it happening, but I’m starting the rumor.
Trout to the Fish seems more appropriate, Von. I mean, that’s a match made if there ever was one.
@VonPurpleHayes
Ohtani is going to get a contract worth more than Bruce Sherman is worth.
He’s become the guy who makes you go fishing on the days he pitches.
Cements the Alcantara to the Cubs deal discussed earlier in the off-season
Agreed. Sandy, López, and Eury to the Cubs for Amaya and Happ
Cubs might have to throw in Madrigal, too. That would make it fair.
I don’t see the Fish giving up Alcantara. More likely Lopez.
I can’t imagine the package of prospects it would take to get Alcantra. He’s probably the one pitcher I’d gut my farm though. 27 with a great contract signed until 2028.
It would be close to a Soto-like haul.
Never been more frustrated as a Padres fan. I swear the team needs a veteran arm/arms to provide stability at the back end of the rotation. Cueto would have given that but nope. 2021 this team severely lacks depth in its rotation and will make a desperation trade when a guy like Cueto wouldn’t break the bank. What the heck Padres?!
Y’all can trade for Lopez if you’d like
You make it sound like Johnny had no say in the matter… do you really think the Padres didn’t try? Players decide where to sign, full stop.
He was a lot of fun to watch as a Red and Giant. Hope he can leg out his career for a couple more years.
We know his legs work pretty well, ask Jason LaRue.
Isn’t that a kick in the head…?
no one else wanted him for 8.5mill?
I’ll predict either:
Luzardo to Minnesota for Jose Miranda
Or
Rogers to Baltimore for Cedric Mullins
If Mullins is that cheap, why hasn’t Texas traded Owen White and Cole Winn for him yet?
Mullins would require Rogers and another significant piece. Even Lopez would probably require a throw in for Mullins.
agree, and I’m someone who thinks mullins gets overvalued on these boards sometimes… but Rogers won’t get it done, no way
I assume the objective is to trade other guys for more hitting, but this kind of signals that you are all-in on trading a pitcher, thus reducing your leverage. Everyone knows that Cueto (and Rogers) will start the year in the BP.
They are not giving him that kind of bread to pitch out of the pen.
They are not giving him that kind of bread to pitch out of the pen.
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Probably not, but I can make a case that he is the Marlins #6 SP, even if Rogers doesn’t revert to his 2021 stats. The Marlins #5 ERA is 3.75 (Lopez). Their #5 FIP is Cabrera at 4.59.
At their ages and level of talent, I wouldn’t move either of those two to the BP.
I don’t see Cueto starting in the BP at all.
Cueto will be in the rotation, I doubt he signs without some sort of assurance that he will be getting starts.
You don’t sign a starter at 37 years of age and then dump him in the bullpen, because he will take the season off and drink Pina Coladas – but in the rotation, Cueto can be a nice addition, he fills in for Max Meyer, has incentive to pitch well with the team option, and had a great season last year.
Sixto Sanchez will likely be working out of the bullpen, he could be an elite closer if he gets his shoulder strength back, and it might be a good role for him having had the shoulder surgeries.
Leaves the Marlins with a few MLB ready starters on the trading block.
Alcantara
Cabrera
Luzardo
Lopez
Cueto
w/
Rogers
Garrett
Perez
Eder
Fulton
Meyer (DL)
waiting in the wings, seems they have two starters to trade, and the fact that they are open to dealing Luzardo and Cabrera really says that they do have a good amount of leverage in terms of having so much depth —because there will be a team that might really like Luzardo or really like Cabrera, and for those two the prospect cost will be higher than for Garrett or Rogers, if teams aren’t willing to offer what it takes to land a Cabrera or a Luzardo, Miami keeps them both in the rotation and works to trade Rogers and Garrett.
And they still have four of the top 50 SP prospects in all of MLB – they are in a pretty good spot, all in all I like the Cueto signing. Makes it easier to let go of one or two of the prospects, all who have the capabilities to be front line starters.
I just don’t see the marlins trading sandy luzardo or eury. I’d be shocked. They have all those other options to move, and most have decent value.
That can happen in a lot of cases, but Miami will have so many clubs interested in its multi-year affordable young starters that leverage should be a non-issue. Kicking off a notable trade is exciting with FAs pretty much gobbled up!
Cheaper than expected. I’d be interested to know whether there were better offers earlier in the post-season, or this is what the market was willing to bear.
Common Cubs
Time to try to get Rodgers and Groshans
Just FYI the Marlins have a young LHP Dax Fulton that may be better than anyone not named Alcantara and he is close.
Does he still have a mop for hair? Just axin. Know what I’m sayin? Sheet.
Marlins reeled in trade bait!
Great signing! It must have been an owner-level decision, given the GM’s lack of action. As a resident of Florida, I can say it’s great the teams are committed to winning more games. I really wonder whose idea it was to sign Cueto. Whoever it was, good move to get him at a third of the price of Martin Perez. Better and way cheaper, imo
So they already have:
Alancantara
Lopez
Rogers
Luzardo
Cabrera
Garrett
Plus Sixto and Max Meyer. They could almost run out two solid rotations with the addition of Cueto.
And that doesn’t include other solid SP prospects.
Didn’t expect Miami.
Was hoping here but I think we’re done.
What kind of sorcery!!!
With an over abundance of SP, the Marlins lose a bit of leverage in negotiating a trade. It becomes almost necessary to trade a pitcher now. Gonna be some upset pitchers on that roster seeking innings.
Funds could’ve gone towards a quality utility player
No this only gains their trade leverage. Aside from Cueto and prospects like Eury, Eder, Meyer fulton etc, every SP has AT LEAST 2 arb years, most with over 4.
They don’t have to trade anyone and continue to develop SP’s like Rogers, or Cabrera and take it even slower with Sixto.
Marlins have all the leverage.
Mjm117: you can’t just look at arbitration eligibility. You also have to consider player options. Meaning if a player can be moved down to the minors and off the 25 man roster. If a player is out of options then they will have to pass through waivers if you want to move them down, and then you can lose them to other teams putting in a claim. Teams only get 3 options on each player.
How many options do Rogers, Luzardo, and Garrett have left? I can’t find a website to list that but it appears they may have at most one left. They all could potentially be out of options depending on transactional moves that’s hard to determine just from looking at MLB vs minor league activity.
If Rogers, Luzardo, and Garrett don’t have any options left, the Marlins have very little leverage.
They all have options left.
Source?
@RodBeckBurnerAccount
The Marlins can simply place some of the young arms in the bullpen since our bullpen does suck.
The leverage is not lost.
You don’t think a pitcher’s value greatly decreases once he is removed from the rotation to the bullpen?
This is a surprising move. They have a lot of holes on the roster, starting pitching isn’t one of them. They must be thinking they will fill other gaps by trading someone off the staff currently. Interested to see how this plays out and who gets moved.
I would take Rogers or Lazardo to battle in our 4-5 slot but not sure what it would cost. We are lacking mlb ready prospects right now which is what I think Miami wants in return for those 2 players.
Admittedly I don’t follow the Marlins as close as my own team, the Angels. What position do the Marlins need offensively most?
3b, DH, SS
Thanks! Angels don’t have anything to give from those positions.
This essentially guarantees a trade or 2 coming from that pitching depth
The Marlin’s surplus of pitchers really does put the in the driver’s seat in regards to trading. If they trade young arms they could focus on short-term controllable position players (guys with 2-3 years left on contracts). If they sell off Sandy, Rogers or Lopez they can hunt down players with a window thst more closely matches up with their younger talent. They just need to choose what calendar years they want to go for it in.
I did not see anything on whoever Cueto has a no trade clause. Maybe he could be traded before he throws a single pitch for them!
Trade forthcoming or are the Marlins just hoping Cueto can duplicate last year enough to be a trade candidate himself later this season
If Cueto pitches like a solid #5, they got all they need out of him. This is a signing that is positioning for a trade.
Not a bad signing
Interesting. The Fish really needed to trade a couple of those young starters for some help on offense, and even more so now.
So strange… a pitching rich team to sign an aging pitcher? Trade coming soon?
Good signing.
Definitely a trade coming, the only question is when? They could wait until spring training, to wait for injuries to create a need on opposing clubs and let teams see which version of Rogers they’re likely to get (2021 or 2022)..
He would have been great for the Angels… Totally lost franchise
So Ng is playing catchup. When are the Marlins getting a Closer?
On a side note, this move could’ve happened 5 offseasons ago, but the death of Fernandez had a domino effect of the Marlins not being able to sign Cueto back then. As the Marlins were at the end of the season, prior to Fernandez’s death, it was known that the Marlins were going to make a major run for Cueto to be the #2 after Fernandez. However, weeks later, the tragedy occurred. The Marlins still made a run at Cueto that offseason and offered him the largest contract offer, but he chose the Giants, and it was believed that one of the main factors was the difference in the team’s outlook with the biggest difference being a young ace that Cueto would join versus having to come in to be the primary ace with very little else after.
Thoughts on Chapman? Supposedly fish are the only team interested.
I’ve been wanting for him the very second his break from the Yankees happened. I’m actually puzzled as to what is keeping Ng from signing him. He should’ve been signed already.
As for the player, while he may certainly have seen his better days, if he can’t secure our Closer role, he is still a veteran lefty who has better stuff than most Set-up and MR lefties. And the added bonus is that he could be a good mentor for a young arm that could be tried as a Closer (like Sixto Sanchez for example).
With the Segura and Cueto signings, along with a big trade for a bat using one of our SPs, adding Chapman would check off all the boxes this offseason…with the annoyance being why the holdup of waiting to pull something off until we’re weeks from pitchers and catchers reporting.
This could be the offseason if the final two moves are done:
Segura
Cueto
perhaps Reynolds or Casas for a pitcher (Lopez)
Chapman
Result:
SPs – Alcantara, Cueto, 3 of either Lopez, Luzardo, Rogers, Cabrera
CL – Chapman or his mentee
Sixto Sanchez as a possibility in the rotation or as a Closer.
Position players
C-Fortes, Stallings
1B- Cooper or perhaps Casas
2B – Segura or Jazz
SS – Rojas or Jazz
3B – Segura, Wendle or Groshans
OF – Garcia, and any combination of de la Cruz, Jesus Sanchez, Bleday, Burdick, Encarnacion and perhaps an addition of Reynolds.
DH – Soler
This would seem more satisfying to enter the season with instead of what we have been looking at.
A trade is coming. I hear Marlins are sending Cabrera, Garrett, Sixto Bleday and Jazz for Hayes and Reynolds. So is coming in the next 48 hours. Pittsburgh seems to want Fulton to be included so it could happen. I won’t include
Fulton though. But I thing that’s a lot for the Marlins since they have to pay Hayes, and Reynolds would cost north of 140 for 6 or 7 years.
Yup heard it too, but sources also say that on top of the players you Mentioned Marlins also sending Sandy, Eury, and Lopez. Plus money to cover all their future salaries and rights to the next ten 1st round picks plus obviously the salary to cover it.
Looks like a slam dunk Win/win for both squads
Why do Pirates fans like doing this to themselves? Haven’t you all suffered enough?
If the Marlins trade with the Pirates for Reynolds, it most likely will be either one of Rogers, Cabrera or Luzardo, the addition of another SP like Garrett or Daniel Castano, and perhaps one of Burdick, Jesus Sanchez, Bleday, or de la Cruz.
Adding Jazz and Hayes to the equation makes no sense for either team.
None of that is happening, better add some premium talent, Yankees, Toronto, dodgers will pony up some top tier takent, may be at trade deadline
None of the teams you just mentioned have have as much minor league talent as the marlins…
So GMs here say that Marlins need to give Lopez and Roger’s for a player that after 5 yeara his BA is 258, OBP is 328 and last season SO 126 times. Wow, that is a strange proposition. People forget how much teams are paying for mediocres pitchers. I would trade Roger’s and a lesser prospect for Mullins but that’s it.
Marlins are surprisingly solid in the rotation. You would think they would focus on upgrading their bats or pen before the rotation. That said, I wonder if this move is the allow them flexibility to trade one of the younger rotation arms (which they are overflowing with) in and effort to get a few solid prospects or simply upgrade elsewhere.
@bravesfan It’s indeed likely a trade setup. Prior to this signing, the Marlins could’ve traded a pitcher and still had arms. With this signing, they can actually trade 2 pitchers now. That either would seem like one major deal to acquire a big piece or two, or two very nice trades for multiple pieces.
However, this is an assumption based on how most GMs operate. We still haven’t figured out Kim Ng’s concepts and logic.
..@MarlinsFanBase the Marlins are trading a starter or two but wouldnt surprise me at all if they trade them for prospects and stand pat. The National League East is stacked. They would need to really go for it on the trade market to pick up a multitude of bats