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Marlins Open To Trading Dan Straily

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After focusing primarily on trades involving their relievers over the past couple of weeks, the Marlins have now informed teams that they’re open to trading right-hander Dan Straily, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).

The 28-year-old Straily was essentially a free pickup for the Reds in Spring Training 2016 and has continually built up increasing trade value over the past season and a half. Cincinnati dealt him to Miami in exchange for a prospect package headlined by flamethrowing rookie starter Luis Castillo this offseason, and it’s possible that the market for controllable starters is thin enough that the Fish can recoup comparable or even superior value after four more strong months out of Straily.

While Straily definitely won’t be mistake for a top-of-the-rotation starter, he’s been a durable mid-rotation piece dating back to Opening Day 2016. Over his past 308 2/3 innings, Straily has averaged 7.8 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9 with a 33 percent ground-ball rate en route to a 3.79 ERA. Alternative metrics like FIP and xFIP don’t love Straily, though as an extreme fly-ball pitcher, he’s more likely to sustain his .251 BABIP than a more ground-ball oriented pitcher would be. (Fly-balls in play, generally speaking, are easier to turn into outs than grounders.)

Straily’s true value, however, comes through the simple fact that he’s a solid mid-rotation piece that is controlled not just through the 2017 campaign but all the way through 2020. He’s yet to reach arbitration eligibility (though he will this offseason) and should be affordable, from a financial standpoint, for any team in the Majors.

The Marlins have begun to replenish a perilously thin farm system by trading David Phelps to the Mariners, and it stands to reason that they’ll also part with closer AJ Ramos and, perhaps, Straily over the next 96 hours. Virtually all reports on the team have suggested that they’re not open to trading core offensive players like Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, Giancarlo Stanton and J.T. Realmuto, and the team has several potential trade chips on the disabled list in the form of Kyle Barraclough, Edinson Volquez and Martin Prado.

Whether their likely inability to cash in on those players impacted Miami’s willingness to move Straily isn’t clear, but now is among the best times possible to be marketing an affordable, controllable starter — even if his ceiling is that of a workhorse rather than that of an ace. Moving both Straily and Ramos in the coming days won’t dramatically overhaul the Miami farm system, but it’d further begin to build up a minor league reservoir of talent that has been thinned out by trades and injuries to recent top picks Tyler Kolek and Braxton Garrett.

Marlins Place Bour, Riddle On Disabled List

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  • The Marlins announced today that first baseman Justin Bour and shortstop JT Riddle have been placed on the 10-day DL due to a right oblique strain and left biceps tendinitis, respectively. There was no timetable given for the return of either player, but oblique strains typically cost a player at least a month. Bour didn’t seem especially likely to be moved anyhow, but the fact that he looks to be facing an absence of a few weeks further limits the chance of any trade involving the 29-year-old slugger.

Justin Bour Likely Headed To DL; Edinson Volquez Not Progressing As Hoped

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  • In Marlins injury news, the club announced that first baseman Justin Bour left today’s game with an oblique strain, as Tim Healey of the Sun Sentinel reports. While nothing is official as of yet, skipper Don Mattingly said it’s expected that Bour will require a DL stint. Meanwhile, righty Edinson Volquez did not have an encouraging throwing session today, Tim Healey of the Sun Sentinel tweets. As the veteran heads for a second opinion on his ailing knee, it seems that he’ll remain out a while longer. These two players, then, seem quite unlikely to factor into deadline talks — though that was unlikely in any event.

Long List Of Teams Interested In AJ Ramos

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MONDAY: In addition to the Rockies and Cubs, the Nationals are said to be “expressing strong interest” in Ramos, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Ramos has previously been tied to the Nats, though those talks reportedly took place before the team’s recent addition of a pair of late-inning relievers. Of course, Washington is still said to be looking at yet more relief targets.

SATURDAY: The Diamondbacks, Rockies, Rays, Red Sox, Cubs, Brewers and others all have interest in Marlins closer AJ Ramos, FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick and others tweeted earlier this week that the Marlins were taking calls on Ramos.

The Marlins, of course, recently traded reliever David Phelps to Seattle for a package including outfield prospect Brayan Hernandez, and Ramos could potentially be an even more desirable trade target. The 30-year-old has a 4.08 ERA and 4.8 BB/9 this season, but with a strong 11.5 K/9. He also has 89 career saves and a long history of success in the ninth inning, making him a strong late-inning option for a contender. (Of course, many clubs on Heyman’s list of interested teams, including the Rockies, Red Sox, Cubs and Brewers, appear set at closer, but that wouldn’t preclude them from having interest in another good late-inning arm.) Ramos can be controlled through 2018 via the arbitration process.

With Phelps gone, the Marlins are expected to lean harder on Junichi Tazawa, as MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro recently explained. Tazawa has pitched nine scoreless innings this month. The team also has Kyle Barraclough, Nick Wittgren and Dustin McGowan to pitch in the late innings. It’s not yet clear, however, who would take over the closer role should Ramos depart.

Marlins' Trade Efforts Focused On Relievers

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  • The Marlins are missing an important opportunity to try to convince a team to overpay for right-hander Dan Straily, opines Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Teams like the Cubs, Twins, Brewers and Mariners are all on the hunt for controllable arms, and Straily is controlled through 2020 with very solid numbers dating back to Opening Day 2016. The paucity of quality arms available could allow the Fish to accelerate their rebuild by cashing in on Straily, but the Marlins are instead shopping only their relievers and “perhaps Dee Gordon,” according to Sherman.

Hill: Marlins Aren't Moving Core Players

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  • Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill stated two weeks ago that his team wasn’t looking to move any core names like Giancarlo Stanton, J.T. Realmuto, Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich, Justin Bour and Dan Straily at the deadline, and Hill reiterated that stance today.  “It’s not stopping calls from coming in,” Hill tells Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald.  “It’s been fairly consistent, with people checking in to see where we’re at to see if we may be open to expanding the players we’re talking about. But we haven’t put any of those guys in play.”  Hill did note that the team is open to discussing its relievers in trade talks, as evidenced by their trade of David Phelps to the Mariners earlier this week and the significant buzz around closer A.J. Ramos.
  • In an open letter to Jeffrey Loria, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal (via his Facebook page) asks the Marlins owner to “free Giancarlo Stanton” by trading him before the team is sold.  Such a trade, Rosenthal reasons, would help all parties involved — the Marlins would get some quality prospects, the new owners would get Stanton’s enormous contract off the books, Stanton himself would get to join a contender, and baseball itself would see one of its biggest young stars in a most positive environment.

Marlins Rumblings: Stanton, Yelich, Phelps

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  • Given that the Marlins’ ownership situation is in limbo, their baseball department isn’t in proper position to weigh offers for outfielders Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich, according to Olney. Moving either could make the Marlins more appealing to potential bidders because their contracts factor into the franchise’s heavy debt, though Olney notes that trading a superstar like Stanton might sabotage the rebranding effort of the next owner. And if Jeffrey Loria’s successor signs off on a Stanton trade, the team’s fan base could see it as a typical Marlins cost-cutting maneuver.
  • It’s a buyers’ market this year as the deadline approaches, so a successful return for sellers could depend more on how much salary they shed than the quality of prospects they acquire, per Olney. As an example, Olney points to the trade Miami and Seattle made this week. The Marlins received four prospects for reliever David Phelps and got rid of his $4.6MM salary in the process, but only one of those minor leaguers (outfielder Brayan Hernandez) looks particularly promising. The quantity of prospects the Marlins picked up isn’t impressing rival evaluators, as some of them believe landing four players was done to make the package look better than it actually is.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Marlins Rumors: Stanton, Stewart, Leiter

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Representatives from both the Yankees and Marlins told Jim Bowden of Sirius XM that New York has not inquired about Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton, which conflicts with a previous report. Bowden received a text message from a Marlins executive who declared that “all the buzz is false” on a potential Stanton-Yankees union (Twitter links). Regardless of whether the Yankees have checked in on Stanton, it’s an extreme long shot that he’d end up with them.

  • The Wayne Rothbaum-Jeb Bush-Tom Glavine group bidding for the Marlins lost Tagg Romney this week, and now Dave Stewart and Al Leiter have left the faction, reports Robert Murray of FanRag. Thanks to their accomplished careers as major league pitchers, Stewart and Leiter brought name value to the table for a potential ownership team (as Glavine does), but neither would have had a large role in terms of putting up money to acquire the Marlins. So, even with Stewart and Leiter gone, Rothbaum & Co. remain in the mix to purchase the franchise, per Murray.

Yankees Contacted Marlins About Giancarlo Stanton

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The Yankees have contacted the Marlins about right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag. Don’t go penciling Stanton and Aaron Judge into the same lineup yet, though, as it seems this was just a case of due diligence on the Yankees’ part. They called the Marlins about Stanton “weeks ago” and haven’t picked up talks since, per Heyman, who reported Friday that the Fish probably won’t seriously market the slugger this summer. As has been pointed out on many occasions, the $295MM left on Stanton’s contract after this season, an opt-out at the conclusion of the 2020 campaign and his ability to block a trade to the majors’ other 29 teams are all notable impediments in the way of a potential deal anywhere.

Tagg Romney Leaves Marlins Bidding Group

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  • Tagg Romney has left the Jeb Bush / Wayne Rothbaum group currently bidding to buy the Marlins, FanRag’s Jon Heyman writes. The group’s chances of landing the Marlins are now unclear — Romney’s financial commitment to the project was limited, but he had ties to a number of those involved in the group, including former players Tom Glavine, Dave Stewart and Al Leiter.

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