BREAKING NEWS: Marlins Trade For Mat Latos

The Marlins front office stated that they were ready to make moves in order to compete and they are following through on their words. After trading for speedster Dee Gordon last night, the Marlins have just completed a trade to acquire righty pitcher Mat Latos from the Cincinnati Reds. Ken Rosenthal has reported the Marlins are sending Anthony DeSclafani and Chad Wallach in the deal.

Latos has been an absolute beast in Cincinnati since 2010. In that time, he has a 3.27 ERA in 901.1 innings. In 2014, Latos sported a 3.25 ERA with a 1.15 WHIP in 16 starts. He just turned 27 two days ago and will be entering his final year of arbitration before becoming a free agent in 2016.

After trading away LHP prospect Andrew Heaney last night, the Marlins needed to make a move to replace what figured to be a 2015 rotation starter. While Latos figures to cash in via free agency in 2016, his one year of service should be a great help to the Fish in 2015.

The Marlins now have five rotation pieces in Latos, Henderson Alvarez, Jared Cosart, Nathan Eovaldi, and Tom Koehler. Of course that may not be the order, but that’s a heck of a starting five. The best part? 2013 Rookie of the Year and Cy Young award runner up Jose Fernandez will be added into the rotation when he returns from his Tommy John surgery this summer.

Anthony DeSclafani made his major league debut last year for the Marlins, going 2-2 with a 6.27 ERA in five starts. Of course, this was a very small sample size. He is under team control through the 2020 season.

Chad Wallach is a catcher the Marlins drafted in the 5^th round of the 2013 draft. He played single A ball last season, hitting .321 with 7 home runs and 49 RBI in 78 games for the Greensboro Grasshoppers.

The Marlins have definitely traded some of their minor league depth to get better for 2015, but luckily they still have a farm system better than most. With today being the final day of the Winter Meetings, the Marlins may quiet down for a bit, but do not expect them to be completely done.

The team is making moves while others in the division are regressing. The Braves and Phillies have started selling, the Nationals are open to moving starting pitching, and the Mets are shopping most of their starting rotation. The NL East really is wide open and the Fish have a great chance to swim into first.