The lesson Miami Marlins must learn from Dolphins receivers

As the 2023 Miami Marlins keep waiting for a perfect move, they should instead learn a lesson from the 2022 Miami Dolphins wide receiver room.

Outside of not all baseballs being created equal, there might not be a worst kept secret in MLB than that the Miami Marlins really, really, really want to trade for Bryan Reynolds.

Unfortunately, it would appear that the Pittsburgh Pirates really don’t want to do that, even with said player now publicly requesting to be traded. Even if that does ultimately force their hand, it would appear that Reynolds is going to be in extremely high demand. Basically, plenty of suitors and plenty of hurdles stand in the way of Reynolds ever wearing a Miami uniform.

In other words, just like last season, with the only difference this time around being a largely irrelevant trade demand from Reynolds. Leaving Miami, once again, waiting on the stars to align and the perfect trade scenario to reveal itself to them in order to improve their roster.

It’s a massive mistake. It’s also one the 2023 Miami Marlins could easily avoid, if they were just willing to take a lesson from the 2022 Miami Dolphins.

Particularly what I’m referring to is how this year’s Dolphins went about putting together their wide receiver room. And no, don’t worry- the lesson isn’t that the Miami Marlins should spend way more, and sign the best available player to one of the biggest contracts ever. Until MLB adopts salary caps and floors, Miami is never signing or extending that Tyreek Hill level superstar. Aaron Judge and Trea Turner were never going to be Marlins.

But they should have been able to sign Josh Bell or Cody Bellinger. Or, to put it in Dolphins terms, they should have been able to go get themselves a Cedrick Wilson.

Right at the start of last year’s NFL offseason, the Miami Dolphins agreed to terms with Wilson in free agency. At the time, it was considered a smart and exciting signing of an emerging player coming off of a big year. Another weapon to pair alongside Jaylen Waddle. The offense was better than it was the day before, maybe even significantly so. Perhaps better moves could me made down the line, via trade or the draft. But the team knew they needed more offensive help, and they made sure to acquire it.

Two weeks later, a perfect opportunity did present itself, when the Chiefs made Hill available. The Dolphins pounced, and simply retained Wilson as depth. Something you can never have too much of if your intention is to contend.

Certainly, Bell or Bellinger on their own weren’t going to make the Marlins overnight contenders. But they would have undeniably made the team better, and the club was interested. Yet they dragged their feet and underbid, and it seems more than likely that a factor in that feet dragging was the need to allocate money for an extension with whatever star outfielder they hope to trade for in the coming months. Maybe that is Reynolds. Cedric Mullins’ name has been thrown out, again, as well. Getting such a deal done would be the biggest move of the offseason they could make, and should absolutely be a high priority.

It just can’t be the Miami Marlins only priority. Because we all saw how that played out last year.

There’s plenty of offseason left to make their biggest splash. Unfortunately, that doesn’t change the fact that it is far past time to do something to upgrade a roster that is more than one splash away from contending.