Miami Marlins: Trade Deadline Overview
By Gavin Lee
The rotation, while having a Cy Young contender at the top in Jose Fernandez, is quite unremarkable thereafter. Fernandez has been everything Marlins fans hoped for and more, sitting second in the NL with 3 fWAR already, and posting the lowest FIP of his career (2.00). His 118 strikeouts trail only Clayton Kershaw, and he would be one of the most frightening pitchers to see in a one-game wildcard matchup.
Adam Conley has followed up his impressive showcase last season with 13 steady starts, but while he has flashed brilliance at times, his consistency is still not there. His latest outing at Arizona was his worst of the season, giving up five earned runs on eleven hits, and lasting just five innings. While he’s a fine back end option at this point, trusting him with the ball in game two of a series would be quite a risk.
Free agent signing Wei-Yin Chen has been a bust, getting knocked around in the tough NL East to an ERA of 4.68, the worst of his MLB career. His five-year $80 million dollar contract looks like an albatross at this point, and Marlins fans are probably hoping he opts out after the 2017 season. Paying $22MM to a 34-year old Chen is going to be quite troublesome for a historically frugal team, if they can’t pull another rabbit from their transaction hat and get out from under the contract.
Tom Koehler and Justin Nicolino make up the rest of the rotation, performing fine as back end options, but lacking any real upside. They can take the ball every fifth day if the other guys are making history, but can’t compete with the likes of the New York and Washington rotations.
The team does have options like Jarred Cosart, Kendry Flores and Jose Urena in AAA New Orleans, but none of them look like options to really kick-start a major league squad. The Marlins will need to make an addition here if they intend on keeping pace in the division, as the Mets and Nationals have two of the best rotations in the league.
Next: Options On The Mound