Miami Marlins All Star trade chip nobody is talking about
The Miami Marlins have a deserving All Star on their team that nobody is talking about.
Fair or not, when you have one of the worst teams in the league, everything tends to get overlooked. For a team like the Miami Marlins that have gone cold and now lost 11 of their last 14, that’s even more applicable.
The Marlins are in a cold stretch that has included an eight game losing streak, sweeps by Boston, Toronto and losing three of four to the Pirates. During that time, one player has emerged as not only a deserving All Star, but also a potential trade candidate to a contender.
His name is Jesus Aguilar.
More Marlins. Time to shut Sanchez down for the year. light
Aguilar is by no means a superstar, which might work against him in terms of All Star status. When you’re in the same league as guys like Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger and Freddie Freeman (and there’s more than that) it’s not difficult to be an afterthought.
But Aguilar shouldn’t be. He’s already been a 35/100 home run/RBI player and could be on his way to that again. If it weren’t for Christian Yellich’s MVP season in Milwaukee that same season, Aguilar would have received much more attention.
Aguilar is currently hitting .269, but his 12 home runs are more than Mets star Pete Alonso and his 46 RBI lead the National League while being just two behind the Major League leaders. The Marlins as a team rank 26th in RBI with 222, meaning Aguilar has knocked in 21% of all Marlins runs scored this season.
Aguilar has become the one player the Miami Marlins can depend on during their cold streak. Over the last 15 games, he’s hit .309 while driving in 13 runs. Over his last seven games, he’s continued to heat up, hitting .385 with two home runs and seven RBI while only striking out twice.
If Aguilar keeps this up, he could be rewarding himself with a trip out of Miami and to a true playoff contender.
The 6’3, 277 pound first baseman is on an extremely team friendly contract, making only $4.3 million this season while under team control until 2023. At 31 years old, his value may never be higher if the Marlins decide to pull the trigger.
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If that happens, the New York Yankees would be a perfect match. In the midst of one of their worst offensive seasons ever, the Yankees are still in the thick of playoff contention while having a giant hole at first. The Yankees need a spark, and Aguilar could be the guy to do it.