The Miami Marlins made plenty of noise right at the deadline, remaking their infield for a playoff push with Josh Bell and Jake Burger.
All season long, the Miami Marlins have struggled to knock in runs.
By the time the dust settled on the 2023 MLB trade deadline, Miami had taken two huge swings at solving that problem. In the span of just a few hours, the Marlins found themselves with two new starting corner infielders, securing the services of Josh Bell and Jake Burger. If you throw in Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s long awaited return from injury this week, the Fish just added three power bats capable of putting a team’s offense on their shoulders in time for the stretch run.
In terms of trades, Burger is the clear headliner of the day, having slugged 25 homers to date in a breakout season. He’s also controllable through 2028. Relative to the rest of the league, his defense is below average and his OBP (.279) is rather terrible. Still, everything about Burger needs to viewed in direct correlation to the player he replaces in the Marlins lineup. Jean Segura has been one of the worst players in all of baseball this season and, at times in some categories, has been the worst, period. Enter Burger. He is without question the antithesis of the contact-oriented player Miami decided to build around this offseason. Despite that though, with a 1.3 WAR on the year, Burger has been dangerously close to being 200% better at baseball this season than Segura. It’s a major lineup upgrade for the Marlins.
Bell certainly has that same kind of elite slugger potential, but is also in the midst of the worst 162-game season of his career. It’s a bet on return to form and upside, as his career ceiling far exceeds the best fans have seen to date from incumbent first baseman Garrett Cooper. But in terms of 2023 production? Cooper has narrowly been the better player. So this move comes with some real 2023 risk, but it’s risk that can easily pay off for Miami. If not in 2023, then easily in 2024, as Bell has a player option for next season. If he keeps this current production up, he’s a virtual lock to be Miami’s Opening Day first baseman. Cooper was headed for free agency.
Bottom-line though, it’s an extremely exciting time to be a Marlins fan. Even after Tuesday’s crushing loss to the Phillies (thanks to a blown save from newly acquired closer David Robertson), the flurry of moves the club ended up making represents a commitment to winning that the team hasn’t seen in nearly a decade. And if it even kind of works, resulting in a Marlins team that wins more than they lose en route to missing out on a playoff spot? That would still be a feat a Marlins team hasn’t realized since 2009. For this fan base, it would be a massive achievement.
At the end of the day, the Marlins have failed to win six straight series and counting. Yet some perspective is required here. At the very last minute Tuesday night, two starters were pulled from the lineup. Oh, and Miami’s best hitter sat against a tough lefty in what would have been his second MLB game in a month. Miami was never going to light up the scoreboard Tuesday night, and it’s just a shame that a Sandy Alcantara gem had to be wasted in this way.
Ultimately, the Marlins are dramatically better now than they were yesterday. If they fail to reach the postseason, it won’t be for lack of trying this deadline.