The Miami Marlins have been searching for middle-rotation help for quite some time, and early on Friday morning Marlins GM Michael Hill acquired not just one, but two major league ready starting pitchers to plug into his starting rotation.
The Marlins will reportedly receive Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea from the San Diego Padres in exchange for a prospect package headlined by top 1B prospect Josh Naylor and RHP Luis Castillo.
Sources: Marlins getting Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea. In addition to Josh Naylor, Padres expected to receive power RH arm Luis Castillo.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 29, 2016
If the hard-throwing right-handed Andrew Cashner can remain healthy, he has the potential to provide the Marlins with plenty of innings. If he can steer clear of further hamstring strains and injuries in his throwing arm, Cashner features even more upside and might develop into an extension candidate down the line for Miami.
But that’s a big ‘if’.
The 26-year-old Colin Rea, on the other hand, is the far more exciting acquisition heading to South Beach. Being that this is just his second season in the minors, Rea will be under team control through 2021, potentially giving the Marlins a controllable long-term rotation arm should all go according to plan.
Though he has a rather high 4.81 ERA in 131 career innings in the pitcher-friendly confines of Petco Park, he entered the 2015 season as the Padres’ No. 4 overall prospect. Since then, Rea has added velocity to his fastball and improved his command, allowing him to settle in as a number-three starter in San Diego right now.
If he can continue to develop, the Marlins might have found a future number-two pitcher to slot in behind ace Jose Fernandez.
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For now, the pair of right-handers will likely slide into the Marlins rotation as their three and four pitchers behind the one-two punch of Fernandez and Adam Conley, especially with the veteran Wei-Yin Chen now on the disabled list.
As for the 19-year-old Josh Naylor who is now heading out west to San Diego, the Padres are receiving the number 12 overall pick in the 2015 draft and the 100th ranked prospect according to Baseball America’s midseason Top 100 list.
Naylor is slashing .269/.317/.430 with nine home runs, 24 doubles, two triples and 10 stolen bases this season with the Class A Greensboro Grasshoppers.
The hard throwing RHP Luis Castillo, on the other hand, is a pretty attractive piece heading out west as well.
According Baseball America’s Midseason Top 100 list, the 23-year-old Castillo was ranked as the sixth best pitcher in the Marlins pipeline, and was promoted from the bullpen to the rotation for the first time last season at Class A and has pitched very well since moving up to Advanced A-Ball.
Currently Castillo owns a 2.25 ERA and 7.6 K/9 with an arsenal that includes a fastball in the 96-97 mph range and is developing off-speed pitches.
Good trade for both teams.