Call to the pen
Fansided

The Miami Marlins are looking for their next Gary Sheffield

By Sean Millerick

Cleveland Indians catcher Sandt Alomar (R) watches Florida Marlins player Gary Sheffield's (L) home run during the first inning of game three of the World Series at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, OH. The best-of-seven series is tied at 1-1. AFP PHOTO/Timothy A. CLARY (Photo by Timothy A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
Cleveland Indians catcher Sandt Alomar (R) watches Florida Marlins player Gary Sheffield's (L) home run during the first inning of game three of the World Series at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, OH. The best-of-seven series is tied at 1-1. AFP PHOTO/Timothy A. CLARY (Photo by Timothy A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images) /
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The Miami Marlins are planning the kind of franchise altering trade that they probably haven’t made since 1993, when Gary Sheffield came to Miami.

There might not be an MLB team in more desperate need of an offensive star than the Miami Marlins.

Which is why there is growing speculation that the Marlins are considering making a major trade for such a star hitter once the MLB lockout comes to an end. Plenty of names have been kicked around as possibilities, with most of them concerning filling Miami’s massive hole in center field. Baltimore’s Cedric Mullins and Arizona’s Ketel Marte have been floated, but at the end of the day, it all seems to keep coming back to Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds.

Maybe it does happen. Maybe it doesn’t, and they find their offense through free agency instead. Maybe there’s no baseball this season. With so much still uncertain, frankly anything is possible. The one thing that is certain, though?

If the Miami Marlins make such a trade, it’s going to be the kind of trade they haven’t made since they landed Gary Sheffield. In other words, the kind of trade they haven’t made since 1993.

As any Marlins fan will be able to tell you, the franchise is no stranger to the inverse of this kind of player swap. Whether it was Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton, Derrek Lee, or eventually Sheffield himself, there is no shortage of examples of the Marlins having moved proven talent for prospects. Likewise, that same Marlins fan can give you plenty of examples of quality prospects being dealt for one year solutions, with the results almost always being horrible. Chris Paddack for Fernando Rodney, anyone?

But a trade like this rumored Reynolds swap? A trade where the Marlins front office says we need to go out and get a just about in their prime slugger to be a centerpiece of our lineup for years to come? Someone that will almost certainly become the face of the franchise overnight? That’s rare air indeed here in South Florida. Honestly, only a handful of trades in team history even come close to matching it: those trades will be explored in full later this week on the site.

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Ultimately though, if Miami does pull off this Reynolds/Marte/Mullins deal in the coming weeks? It’ll be the biggest thing to happen to the Marlins since 1993.

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