Fansided Faux Winter Meetings Wrap-Up for Marlin Maniac

Aug 2, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians designated hitter Nick Swisher (33) hits an RBI single during the sixth inning against the Texas Rangers at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Trades (part 2):

The final three trades were primarily made to shed salary to get the team back into $65-$70 million range that the Marlins themselves are planning to be around. In order to move the contract of first baseman Garrett Jones, I made the decision to latch him onto any Steve Cishek deal. This likely lessened the haul Cishek would bring in, but at the end of the day, it was a move necessary to get the team into their tight budget.

Traded 1B Garrett Jones and CL Steve Cishek to the Pittsburgh Pirates for SP prospect Nick Kingham:

In an odd turn of events, Garrett Jones was traded back to his original team, along with Cishek. In return, we brought back Pirates prospect Nick Kingham. In a way, the #5 rated Pirate prospect by MLB.com, fills the roles of the pitching prospects that were sent away this 0ff-season.

Even with the trades of Cishek and Hatcher, we feel good about the state of the bullpen. The Cishek trade hurts the team in the short-term, but the clearing of the two big salaries was needed after the other off-season moves. Between this move and the next one, the door was open for us to make a bold deal for a potential bounceback guy.

Traded 3B Casey McGehee to the Milwaukee Brewers for 1B Jason Rogers and Damien Magnifico:

With Hanley in the fold at third and Bonifacio as the utility player, the door closed on McGehee’s spot on the roster. Since the decision to tender him a contract had already been made, a trade was the only choice pertaining to McGehee.

In return, we got Rogers and Manifico. Rogers is left handed bench bat who should start the season in Triple-A. He could compete with Justin Bour down the road for a potential back-up 1B role. Magnificio is a 23-year old relief pitcher in High-A with pedestrian numbers. He’s just an organization filler.

Acquired 1B Nick Swisher and $6 million cash from the Cleveland Indians for SP prospects Jarlin Garcia, and Trevor Williams:

This is my biggest risk of a move of the Meetings, as Swisher is 34-years old and was nearly 2 wins below replacement level in 2014. Acquiring Swisher and inserting him into the spot vacated by Jones is a huge risk. With another season left in his contract, he’d be a hard guy to move if he struggles like he did last year.

Swish has however hit at least 20 home runs and posted a 10.0%+ walk rate in every year but two. The hope is he bounces back in a big way in 2015 in a lineup featuring Stanton and Hanley.

In real life, Garcia was not protected by the Marlins, so he was likely an expendable piece anyways, despite being a sleeper prospect for many last season. Trevor Williams on the other hand is a pitching prospect that has a chance to develop into a 4/5 guy down the road. Williams is also seen as a potential quick riser through the system, trading him away, even for Swisher, was not an easy move.

Next: Wrap Up