MLB Trade Rumors: Potential Steve Cishek landing spots

Firmly planted in the shadows of the division-leading Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves, the writing appears to be on the wall for the 2014 Miami Marlins. It has been a great run, and with their 45-52 record the team has, without question, greatly exceeded the meager expectations virtually everyone pinned upon them before the season began.

But the Marlins now find themselves eight games behind the National League East leaders and 8.5 games out of Wild Card contention. The team has insisted they will be trade deadline “buyers,” believing they had a postseason run in them yet. Then, they dropped six straight games sandwiched around last week’s All-Star break, and the inevitable chatter about the team changing directions to better prepare for the future finally surfaced over the weekend.

If the Marlins are, indeed, “sellers” at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, their most coveted piece not named Giancarlo Stanton will easily be side-winding closer Steve Cishek. Numerous teams across baseball are in need of bullpen help — as is the case every season — and Cishek may be the most attractive arm on the market now that Huston Street has been dealt by the San Diego Padres.

Cishek owns a 3.57 ERA and a terrific 2.18 FIP in 42 games this season, in which he has converted 21 of 24 save opportunities.

The 28 year-old is arbitration-eligible next season and is making $3.8 million in 2014 thanks to his Super 2 status. That renders him the third-highest paid player in a Marlins organization that annually posts some of the lowest payrolls in baseball, and with the team on the brink of waving the white flag in 2014 they just may ultimately cut ties with Cishek in the next ten days when they should receive a decent haul in return.

The Marlins do find themselves in a favorable position with myriad minor league pitching depth, so what if they pushed to acquire the offensive help they so desperately need moving forward?

Should Miami trade Cishek, here are a few potential partners you might keep an eye on:

New York Yankees

The Yankees just won’t go away and have won six of their last ten — including three straight — to bring themselves within three games of the AL East-leading Baltimore Orioles and 1.5 games out of the Wild Card. But their pitching has been a proverbial train wreck, having lost starters C.C. Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka, Ivan Nova and Michael Pineda for extended periods, forcing them to rely on a rag-tag assembly of starters and heavily taxing the bullpen. New York’s bullpen has registered exactly 300 innings of work and a 3.78 collective ERA — good for 22nd best in baseball.

But when you’re the Yankees your season is never over so don’t be surprised if they make another deal or two before the stretch run. Cishek would be an affordable — everyone’s affordable for the Yanks — piece that would solidify the back-end of a bullpen which desperately needs depth behind its inexperienced starting pitchers.

In a perfect world, the Marlins might be able to pluck top catching prospect Gary Sanchez for Cishek, but don’t expect that to actually happen. Perhaps Miami could ask for someone like 22 year-old Tyler Austin, who has recently seen minor league time in left field but was a corner infielder his first two pro years. Because, good lord, do the Marlins need infield help.

Detroit Tigers

As you may know, the Marlins have kind of been one of Detroit’s farm teams over the past several years, so don’t be surprised if the Tigers come calling for Cishek. The Joe Nathan experiment has crashed and burned to the tune of a 6.06 ERA and the 39 year-old has often been the subject of ridicule. The Tigers could use a younger closer and have the money to lock him up long term, which is a thing they tend to do with players they acquire from the Marlins. Cishek obviously fits, and would be a major upgrade over the flaky Nathan.

The Tigers are 13 games above .500 and lead the AL Central thanks to their outstanding rotation and, um, Miguel Cabrera and Co. Their horrendous 4.40 bullpen ERA is a cause for concern, and plugging Steve Cishek in as closer, I feel, makes them a legitimate postseason contender.

Could the Marlins swing a deal for Detroit’s top prospects like lefty pitcher Robbie Ray or second baseman Devon Travis? That remains to be seen. They have a solid catching prospect in 24 year-old James McCann who MLB.com ranks the eighth-best prospect in the organization. With Miami’s catching pipeline looking rather bleak, don’t be surprised if McCann is in the cards — assuming Dave Dombrowski is willing to part with him for a major immediate upgrade.

Baltimore Orioles

The AL East race has suddenly become more interesting with all five teams within 7.5 games and the Orioles find themselves in first place. Their pen has been largely middle-of-the-road in most statistical categories, but has worked 314.1 innings, the sixth-most in baseball.

Closer Zach Britton has enjoyed a renaissance season in which he owns a misleading 1.85 ERA, but a more inflated 3.27 FIP. Still, the 26 year-old never registered an ERA below 4.61 — or a FIP below 4.00 — in his three major league seasons prior to 2014.

Should Britton falter and regress towards his mean in the second half, Cishek would help cement Baltimore’s bullpen for the team’s stretch run. He might even be used in an eighth inning setup role should they keep their faith in their current closer. But you can never have enough pitching, especially in the hot-hitting AL East.

The Orioles have two catching prospects in their top ten — are you noticing a theme here? They are 23 year-old Michael Ohlman and 19 year-old Chance Cisco. I really like the latter, who is tearing up the Single-A South Atlantic League and projects as a solid offensive backstop.

There is also 20 year-old shortstop Adrian Marin, who is from South Florida and has drawn comparisons to Baltimore’s own Manny Machado.