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Fansided

Biggest trades for top MLB talent in Miami Marlins history

By Sean Millerick

21 May 1998: Mike Piazza #31 of the Florida Marlins in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Pro Player Stadium in Miami, Florida. The Diamondbacks defeated the Marlins 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Andy Lyons /Allsport
21 May 1998: Mike Piazza #31 of the Florida Marlins in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at the Pro Player Stadium in Miami, Florida. The Diamondbacks defeated the Marlins 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Andy Lyons /Allsport /
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Mandatory Credit: Andy Lyons /Allsport
Mandatory Credit: Andy Lyons /Allsport /

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…

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