A.J. Puk trade reminder of something Miami Marlins refuse to do

After Saturday’s A.J. Puk trade, the Miami Marlins hope to benefit from Oakland doing something that Miami has continuously refused to do.

The Miami Marlins have been extremely active the past couple months, upgrading their roster with a series of minor and major moves all bent on making them much more competitive in 2023.

But their most interesting move? It just happened Saturday night, when they sent outfielder JJ Bleday to Oakland in exchange for A.J. Puk.

Why so interesting when the benefit is so clear? After all, it’s no stretch at all to tap Puk as the highest upside arm in Miami’s bullpen. The team now effectively has four options for the ninth inning, and all reports are that it will be a closer by committee approach for the Marlins in 2023. No, what is so interesting is that the past professional year for Puk represents a clear departure from how the Marlins have chosen to operate their own organization.

What do I mean by this? Raise your hand if you’re reading this as a Miami Marlins fan … then keep it raised if you’ve spent any time the past couple seasons wondering whether Max Meyer could turn into the next Josh Hader. Or if Sixto Sanchez could. Or even Trevor Rogers. Somebody, anybody. If any of Miami’s bounty of starting pitchers should have been told that their talents need to be taken to the bullpen.

The Marlins have refused to do it. Continuously. Constantly. Certainly to the point that it has driven many a fan up the wall, and raised the eyebrows of many an analyst or scout.

However, just one year into Oakland trying it out with Puk, the Marlins pounce. Apparently, it’s fine when someone else does it- theoretically lowering the value of a commodity by reducing a starter to a mere reliever. Doing it themselves though? Not to be punny, but it’s been a non-starter.

It’s times like this I wonder if anyone ever dropped the “mere reliever” label on Mariano Rivera when he was told to give up on the whole starting pitcher thing.

Still, that devaluing perception is real. As prominent an analyst as Keith Law of The Athletic has given the aforementioned Meyer lower grades than most in consecutive years because of the mere possibility that he ends up in the bullpen. Starters undeniably are more valuable in trades, but anyone who watched the ninth inning of a Marlins game the past couple seasons would be forced to conclude a good closer does hold some value.

The only conclusion is that the Marlins, unable to afford the nine figure deals needed these days to ink a superstar free agent, have not wanted to “lose” a trade chip they could use to obtain affordable offense. Otherwise, someone would have been told to go try their hand at closing by now the moment pitchers and catchers first reported one of these past two seasons.

Admittedly, that pitching surplus has been heavily tested by injuries the past couple years. Meyer himself won’t see the majors again until 2024. Jake Eder was injured the year before. Edward Cabrera has had nagging injuries in multiple campaigns, and Jesus Luzardo missed a big chunk of 2022. Then, of course, there’s Sixto Sanchez, Marlins fans favorite “make him a closer” candidate- who last threw a major league inning in 2020.  It’s possible, perhaps even likely, that the Marlins would have tried this out by now if they had had better injury luck.

Thus far, though? Miami has refused to do with one of their own arms what the A’s did with Puk last season. It’s a question that is sure to come up again in 2023, especially if the team is as competitive as the front office hopes. Yes, Puk does provide more pitching depth to make an offensive minded trade more palatable. But a competitive Marlins team could also benefit just as much from a surprise breakout in their relief corps. Maybe that’s Puk. Maybe it’s Barnes. Maybe it is finally Sixto, if he can keep himself on the field this spring.

Ultimately, it’s great that the Miami Marlins traded for Puk. Yet it would be even greater if the Marlins started considering using the approach Puk’s old team opted to take with him.