Marlins Acquire Solid Prospect From Tampa Bay Rays

While the Miami Marlins have been rumored by many to be players in the trade market before the deadline, recently they have been pretty quiet. Today the Marlins made a trade that barely made headlines, yet could have some positive repercussions down the road. According to Juan C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel, Miami has acquired minor league pitcher Matt Ramsey from the Tampa Bay Rays.

In exchange for Ramsey, the Marlins traded their international signing bonus slots 2,3,and 4. This is worth roughly 1 million dollars. The Rays made this trade to help lessen the penalties that they will have to pay due to their international signing activity.

While I am a little surprised to see Miami trade away money, even if it was hypothetical, I am very happy to see what they got in return. Ramsey is 24-years-old, and was drafted out of the University of Tennessee in 2011. The young right-hander was selected in the 19th round by the Rays. Since joining Tampa, He has posted a 2.11 ERA in 98 innings pitched through parts of rookie, A, and AA ball. Most recently he has been in AA Montgomery throwing 33 innings and striking out 46 batters. He had a 1.07 ERA.

Ramsey will be heading to the Jacksonville Suns, the Marlins AA affiliate. Miami’s minor league depth has taken a substantial hit with all of the promotions that they have made over the last year. Players like Jose Fernandez, Christian Yelich, and Nathan Eovaldi are just some of the players that could still be prospects in the system if it wasn’t for Miami’s need for them to help win ball games.

I see Ramsey as a potential set-up man in 2016. Miami has a lot of arms that are bullpen capable and it will be interesting to see how they utilize the pitching depth to package deals to acquire other players, as well as stock their own bullpen. Overall, I think this is a real positive for the Fish and a player that has an above average chance of making it to the big leagues.