Miami Marlins now sellers, a title they fought to avoid

The Miami Marlins are officially selling in a big way, listening on everyone but Sandy Alcantara. This was the last thing they wanted.

Once again, the Miami Marlins are entering an MLB Trade Deadline selling off parts to other contenders, rather than strengthening their own postseason bid.

That’s right. In a big reversal from as recently as last week, the Marlins are reportedly listening on offers for anyone not named Sandy Alcantara. And while at least one person on Twitter is kind enough to remind me daily that I’m not quite there yet as a seasoned analyst, it does seem pretty safe to say that the list of available players now includes the previously untouchable Pablo López … and even Jazz Chisholm Jr. That’s a massive change in organizational thinking, and there’s only one thing more clear than how unfortunately necessary it is for the Miami Marlins to take this approach:

How desperately the Miami Marlins wanted to avoid being labeled a seller in 2022.

On the surface, that sounds obvious. Of course they wanted to win, right? Every team does. The thing is, it was essential for the Marlins to level up this season. And they knew it. Just look at the moves, or lack of moves, made to this point in the season. It’s not as if the Marlins actually were realistic contenders a week ago. Yet that didn’t stop the Marlins from suggesting they could still buy if this stretch of games against the lowly Pirates and Reds broke the right way for them. Truthfully, the season was over once it was determined Chisholm Jr. would miss August. But it took the successive body blows of losing Brian Anderson, Garrett Cooper, and Max Meyer to injury to finally force Miami to course correct. The injuries, and a humiliating 11-2 loss to Cincinnati to kick off the week.

Prior to this point, other players have struggled, others have been hurt. Yet rather than cast aside clearly struggling players with more proven MLB track records, the Marlins have stuck with them. Kept running them out there, hoping they’d catch fire. Maybe they were afraid of upsetting the clubhouse. Maybe they never really meant to seriously contend this year at all (as I still somewhat suspect), but just didn’t want to get tagged by the average fan as once again unloading salary for cheaper players. Even if they were likely better players.

Certainly, there had been signs for months the Marlins weren’t going to clear out the farm for rental players. Tread water, though? Keep it respectable? Stand pat? Perhaps even win 80 games, or even a couple more than that and secure Miami’s first (actual) winning season since 2009? Those were all obtainable goals with the starting pitching depth Miami has, and ones arguably worth pursuing given the continued often negative perception the franchise enjoys in the South Florida sports market. At the very least, you can see why the front office might have thought as much.

That’s out the window now, and it’s officially business as usual for the Marlins.

On the bright side, unlike in say 2017 or 2012, this is not a roster bursting with players fans should fret too much about losing. Alcantara is rightly off limits. As long as enough of the starting pitching depth is retained, the Marlins can still field a very competitive starting rotation for the rest of this season and for many years to come. In terms of offense though? Fault can be found even with Miami’s pair of 2022 All-Stars in Chisholm and Cooper. Everyone else that swings a bat is closer to cuttable than untouchable.

Now, it should be said that listening on Chisholm is not the same thing as trying to trade him. Personally, I’d be shocked if he was dealt. It would probably take either an MLB ready consensus Top 20 prospect at a harder to fill position or an established All-Star for the Marlins to even hope to weather the PR disaster that would come with it. Anything else goes though.

At the end of the day, it’s familiar territory for the Miami Marlins. It’s also territory that they really hoped to have left behind them.