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Miami Marlins Rumors: Team Shopping for Pitching

By Ehsan Kassim|

Could the Miami Marlins be reversing course after being sellers leading up to the trade deadline? Well, according to Joe Frisaro, the Miami Marlins are shopping for starting pitching today.

With the 2015 season a lost one, the team is likely going to look for starting pitching they can control for the 2016 season and possibly even longer.

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This is interesting, as the team lacks minor league assets to pull off a trade. The team’s top prospect is Tyler Kolek and he is still in Low-A, likely with his value low right now. He has struggled much of the season with a 4.15 ERA and a 4.84 FIP in in 84 2/3 innings of work.

Jarlin Garcia was rated as the #2 prospect by MLB.com and he’s definitely a trade chip for the franchise. As are Justin Nicolino, Adam Conley, and Jose Urena, but none of them hold incredible upsides that would appeal to other franchises.

The team has a few interesting trade chips in the majors, though, Carter Capps, already connected to the New York Yankees, is one of them. Closer A.J. Ramos is another name that could bring the Marlins a solid return. Dee Gordon would be a great sell-high candidate for the team, but that’s highly unlikely.

One trade we should keep an eye on is demoted outfielder Marcell Ozuna to the Cleveland Indians for a starter. Ozuna fell out of favor with the Miami Marlins earlier this season after a poor start to the season, but has played much better in Triple-A of late. This has drawn the ire of agent Scott Boras and could cause a drift between the team and player.

Last week we talked about how the Indians have interest in Ozuna and the Miami Marlins have scouted their starting pitching. A match is certainly there.

The Indians have young, controllable starters in Carlos Carrasco, Trevor Bauer, and Danny Salazar that could appeal to the Miami Marlins. Carrasco is a hot name on the trade market right now and it’s not known if the Marlins are among the several teams vying for his services at this point.

Carrasco’s struggled a bit this season with a 4.03 ERA, but he has struck out 9.90 hitters per nine innings, owns a 2.83 FIP and a 3.1 fWAR. All of those would be a major boost to the Marlins rotation. Carrasco is 28 and signed to a team friendly contract.

Salazar, 25, owns a 3.72 ERA and a 3.48 FIP in 111 innings of work. He has struck out 10.67 hitters per nine innings and owns a 1.8 fWAR.

Lastly, the guy with the most upside of the trio, Trevor Bauer, is 24 years old. He owns a less sparkling 4.13 ERA and a 4.23 FIP, but has the upside of a number 2 starter long-term. He would likely cost the least of any of the other Indians starters, even with his upside.

There are also other options for the Miami Marlins to consider for their rotation, but Marcell Ozuna likely remains their best trade chip to get anything done today.

It seems like we should have a busy day at Marlin Maniac in terms of Marlins rumors. Stay tuned.

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