Latest On Marlins’ Bullpen Trade Candidates

The Marlins should trade a handful of veteran players over the next three weeks. While center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. might be the team’s most interesting candidate, the Fish are also a lock to move at least one reliever.

Closer Tanner Scott, who is on his way to his first All-Star Game next week, has looked likely to move essentially since the Marlins started their season on a nine-game losing streak. The Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies and Orioles were all linked to the hard-throwing lefty last month. Scott is a viable target for any team with postseason aspirations, though, and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald writes that roughly a dozen clubs have expressed interest.

Scott got off to a rather shaky start to the season. After walking seven of the 34 hitters he faced during Spring Training, he handed out 13 free passes in 12 2/3 innings through the end of April. While Scott worked around the walks to turn in a 2.84 ERA in the season’s first month, he’d likely have been in for regression if he didn’t dial in his command.

To his credit, Scott has taken a step forward in that regard. He has walked 10 of 93 opponents (10.8%) going back to May 1. It’s still not pristine control, but it’s significantly better than the 21.3% walk percentage he’d posted through the season’s first few weeks. Strike-throwing is Scott’s only real question mark. He has some of the best raw stuff in the sport, pairing a 97 MPH heater with a wipeout slider. Opponents have only managed 18 hits over 38 innings. They’re hitting .142/.273/.205 across 154 plate appearances.

While this is the first year in which Scott is headed to the Midsummer Classic, he was arguably even better in 2023. Scott pitched to a 2.31 ERA with a 33.9% strikeout rate and a career-best 7.8% walk percentage over 78 innings last year. Over two and a half seasons in South Florida, he owns a 2.82 earned run average while striking out 31.5% of opposing hitters. He has picked up 45 saves and finished 89 games while working as Miami’s closer for the majority of that stretch.

There’s little reason for the Marlins to hang onto Scott past the deadline. He’s headed to free agency for the first time in his career a few months from now. He’ll be entering his age-30 campaign and should have a case for a three- or four-year deal. A rebuilding Miami team isn’t likely to bring him back. Scott is playing this season on a $5.7MM arbitration salary, a little over $2.5MM of which is still owed.

As the lone rental in the bullpen, Scott should be the top priority for president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and his staff. Yet the front office is probably open to discussing their more controllable relievers as well. Mish writes that other teams have shown particular interest in left-hander Andrew Nardi, whom the Marlins control for another four seasons. Mish also lists right-handers Calvin Faucher and Declan Cronin as potential trade candidates, though it’s not clear how strong interest is in those cases.

Nardi is probably the most appealing of that group. His pedestrian 4.72 ERA belies excellent strikeout and walk numbers. The 25-year-old southpaw has fanned 29% of batters faced against a 7.6% walk rate. He’s inducing swinging strikes at a lofty 14.4% clip. Nardi has been plagued by a .337 average on balls in play this season but posted a 2.67 ERA across 57 1/3 frames last year. There should be significant interest, although Mish suggests the Marlins may wind up holding onto Nardi to plug him into the ninth inning next year.

Faucher and Cronin were low-cost offseason acquisitions. The former came over from the Rays alongside Vidal Bruján in one of Bendix’s first trades. Faucher has a 3.55 ERA while striking out nearly a quarter of opponents through 33 innings. Cronin, claimed off waivers from the Astros in February, has a 3.35 ERA with solid peripherals over 43 frames. The 26-year-old righty has average strikeout and walk numbers while running a massive 55.7% ground-ball percentage.