Biggest trades for top MLB talent in Miami Marlins history
Only four trades in Miami Marlins history come remotely close to being similar to the one they’re rumored to be considering.
The Miami Marlins are rumored to be a player in the Bryan Reynolds sweepstakes.
Unless, of course, they move on Ketel Marte. Or Cedric Mullins. At any rate, the story goes that Miami is primed to kill two birds with one stone, acquiring a starting center fielder that can also carry the offense. Perhaps even becoming the face of the franchise moving forward.
Suffice it to say that kind of trade doesn’t happen very often where the Miami Marlins are concerned.
Or rather, it doesn’t very often result in Miami ending up with the immediate franchise altering MLB player(s) part of the deal. They’ve won plenty a prospect haul championship, sometimes striking it rich, and just as often coming away with fool’s gold in return. Countless times have the Marlins supplied an All-Star to some team getting ready to either make a deep playoff run that season, or at least open up a competitive window.
In fact, as I wrote in this space this past Sunday, I’m inclined to say that it’s only happened once, when Gary Sheffield came over to the Marlins from the cash strapped Padres in 1993.
Including that franchise defining moment for the Fish and the Friars, only four trades are even remotely close to what the Marlins are apparently considering. It’s a big decision, one that some believe might have actually helped cause the divide that led to Derek Jeter taking his CEO talents elsewhere last week. To be clear, this does not include overpaying for a short term solution to a shorter term problem. So this is not swapping top prospect Adrian Gonzalez for the last piece needed for a playoff run, or the many other times Miami tried to emulate that success and fell flat on their face.
No, as alluded to the other day, this is mostly about Miami buying someone at just about peak value, and planning on making them part of the organization’s long term vision. That’s what will happen if any of these rumored trades go through, and that’s the kind of move that hardly ever happens in South Florida. Even though, admittedly, one of the times was rather recent…
When the Miami Marlins just tried to make the playoffs
Every transaction the Miami Marlins have made, or considered making, regarding Starling Marte has been unusual. When they traded him this summer, they ate money to get a better prospect. When they tried to resign him this summer, it would have been to the third largest contract ever offered to a position player in team history. Then there was the trade that made him a Marlin in the first place.
In 2020, in the midst of a playoff run thanks to a ridiculously expanded playoff field, Miami swung for the fences and made one of the biggest splashes as the trade deadline neared when they reeled in Marte from the Diamondbacks. The move made it two years in a row that the Marlins and Diamondbacks partnered up and turned heads midsummer. In 2019, it was with a rare for any organization prospect for prospect swap of Zac Gallen for Jazz Chisholm. In 2020, it was with the Marte acquisition that was…well, that was just rare for Miami.
Two things work against this really being on the same level as any of the trades mentioned above though, as it really would be an apples and oranges comparison between then and now if Miami and Arizona team up for Marte Trade 2.0 this month. For one, there is age to consider. Starling entered the league in 2012, and was 31 years old when Miami brought him in. The main reason I think he is even worth bringing up is the fact that he was under contract for 2021, and it seemed like from Day 1 that Miami intended to keep him for 2021. That, and the fact that Miami tried really hard to resign him. So he kind of was a long term plan, even if it didn’t work out.
But the other reason is just how surprisingly cheap he was to get. Arizona wasn’t competing in 2020, or anytime soon. Not a Top 20 prospect was touched in the making of that production. A couple of prospects, and one MLB regular in pitcher Caleb Smith, who probably wouldn’t have even broken camp as a member of the starting rotation last year. Was this a major trade? Absolutely. Was this a moment where the Marlins had to push in all their chips, or even think twice, about pulling the trigger? Absolutely not.
Basically, just about the polar opposite of this next transaction…
When the Miami Marlins decided to play middleman
Technically, there was a moment where the Miami Marlins went out and decided to acquire not just an in their prime star, but one of ten best players in all of MLB. A legit, unquestioned superstar. Like, the average fan would have a hard time naming even ten players more recognizable great.
And then a week later the Marlins traded him for a bunch of prospects.
Yeah, sorry Fish fans. If we’re gonna do this right, we’re gonna have to talk about the Mike Piazza trade. For the uninitiated, in what remains one of the greatest pieces of pub trivia in baseball history, Hall of Famer Mike Piazza was a Marlin once upon a time. An occurrence that for, maybe twenty-four hours if you weren’t paying too much attention, was really cool stuff. Piazza did play at UM and MDCC after all, so it was a bit of a homecoming. Coming on the heels of that World Series win in 1997, the Marlins acquiring one of the faces of baseball was huge for South Florida.
Of course, it would have been a lot more useful if Moises Alou, Kevin Brown, Jeff Conine, and Al Leiter were still around to chip in to help with the title defense. Unfortunately, this trade only ranks on this list because of the talent involved, as the move was only made to set up the trade mentioned above. In Miami’s defense, this trade did help lead to the franchise’s second championship. However, that was six years in the future. Piazza is certainly a Reynolds level talent- better. But being part of the plan is part of the criteria here. The Marlins traded just about every good player left on the roster-including Sheffield and Gold Glover Charles Johnson- to get this done.
Marte played less than a hundred games in a Marlins uniform, and still somehow played in nearly twenty times the number of games Piazza did during his time here. This next one is closer than both of these to matching what a Reynolds/Marte/Mullins trade would be, even if it involves the least talented players to be discussed yet…
When the Miami Marlins tried to defend their title-eventually
When compared to previous Miami Marlins title defenses, the 2004 team was an unstoppable juggernaut.
But when compared to nearly every other MLB team that tried to defend their title, the 2004 team was kind of a letdown. Based on 2003 production, three of their top six hitters weren’t brought back due to money issues. They actually spent less on payroll in 2004 than they did during their World Series run. Among that pair of not retained sluggers? Future Hall of Fame catcher Ivan Rodriguez.
Pudge’s absence was certainly noticed over the course of the season, not surprising considering no one was brought in to replace his production, and the job reverted to long time No. 2 catcher Mike Redmond. After a hot start in April, the Marlins were barely playing .500 ball. Despite still having a very talented roster, a shakeup was needed. It was time to make another trade with the Dodgers.
It was even for an All-Star catcher again.
If Miami had improved in one area in 2004, it was pitching depth. So they felt no qualms about dealing Brad Penny, Hee-Seop Choi, and Bill Murphy in exchange for Paul Lo Duca, Juan Encarnacion, and Guillermo Mota. Effectively, it was a total renunciation of the penny pinching decisions they made in the offseason. Lo Duca canceled out the Pudge mistake. Choi was supposed to replace Lee, and even came over in the trade that sent the Gold Glover to Chicago. But after an MVP caliber April, he was downright abysmal the rest of the way. Juan Encarnacion was a Marlin in 2003, and was the third of those three discarded hitters mentioned a moment ago. Finally, bringing in Mota made up for the fact that Miami released their top two relievers from 2003, only bringing in one replacement.
This trio helped Miami make a real run of it right until the end once they came aboard. In fact, if you want to play the part of the ultimate Miami Marlins optimist, you can make a pretty good case that the only reason this team didn’t return to the playoffs was too many hurricanes. They also were all brought back for 2005, so this trade does somewhat qualify as being part of a bigger plan. And the combined influence of the three players does probably roughly equal the impact of one superstar.
However, we’re still talking about just 1.5 years of usefulness. These were all older players, ones much closer to their decline than their peak. In Mota’s case, the decline started the moment the plane touched down in Florida. The investment cost required was also pretty low considering, arguably the lowest on this list.
Still just not the same thing as a Reynolds trade. A Reynolds trade, or this franchise defining moment for Miami and San Diego…
When the Miami Marlins landed their superstar
It’s kind of ironic that the Miami Marlins became famous for making the kind of trade that netted them Gary Sheffield back during their inaugural season.
It’s just that Marlins fans probably didn’t anticipate becoming famous for playing the part of the Padres in those transactions on what has at times seemed like an annual basis. San Diego badly needed to shed salary in 1993, to the point that it feels like a minor miracle they held on to Tony Gwynn. This front office decision benefited the Marlins immensely, as this same philosophy led to All-Star catcher Benito Santiago being available to them in free agency. So a bright young talent on the brink of superstardom was traded to a team willing to spend the money.
All it cost the Miami Marlins was a Hall of Famer.
Yes, Miami absolutely made the right call there. Even if he didn’t have a great year in 1997, Sheffield was vital to that first World Series title. Plus, he still might get to the Hall of Fame himself one day. All the same, dealing Trevor Hoffman was a blow, even for an ascendant talent like Sheffield. Keep in mind that just before the start of the 1997 season, the Marlins gave Gary Sheffield a contract extension that at the time was the biggest in MLB history.
Put another way, in terms of total dollars, he got a bigger deal than the most recent one Barry Bonds had accepted.
That extension was actually the second he signed with the Marlins, having agreed to another one in September of 1993. Very much a star, and very much a part of the Marlins grand plans moving forward. Jeff Conine might have been Mr. Marlin, but Sheffield was the centerpiece of Miami’s offensive attack and the franchise’s most marketable player. Not many baseball trades end as happily for both parties, and I’m not sure if any trade in Marlins history has been as impactful as the one they made two months into their first season of existence.
Twenty-nine years later, the Miami Marlins are apparently trying to pull off a similar trade.
Next. 3 Miami Marlins droughts about to end. dark
Obviously, I’d prefer if the price isn’t another Hall of Fame caliber arm. Then again, if the result is Miami’s third championship, it’d be worth it.