Miami Marlins Land Fernando Rodney: Impact and Analysis

Watch out Marlins fans. Fernando Rodney is bringing his talents to Little Havana.

The Miami Marlins made a shockingly early splash on the MLB trade market front, acquiring closer Fernando Rodney from the San Diego Padres in exchange for heralded Single A prospect Chris Paddack. In doing so, the Marlins front office stuck to their stated goal of making a major addition to the MLB roster without subtracting from the MLB roster. And while Paddack was moving up the organizational charts, they managed to do so without even dealing away a consensus Top 10 prospect.

More from Marlins News

The rumors started flying fast and furious on this front, with both ESPN’s Keith Law and CBSSports’ Jon Heyman reporting the story; the Marlins made it official just before 3:00pm EST. Apologies from your Central Time Zone based editor on not catching this sooner- the perils of cleaning for holiday guests.

So, what does this mean for the club? Oh, so much. Rodney brings a dazzling 0.31 ERA and a 10.36 K/9 to the table, along with 17 saves. But will he automatically be placed atop the Marlins bullpen as the closer? That…seems doubtful. While Rodney has not blown a save in 2016, he does have a loss under his belt. Okay, that’s being nitpicky; Rodney has been nothing short of electric this season, and the task of picking the Padres All-Star just got a lot more challenging for Terry Collins.

More from Marlin Maniac

The issue with him automatically becoming the closer is that incumbent ninth inning specialist A.J. Ramos has done nothing, at least on the surface, to lose the job. Remember, 33 consecutive saves and counting for the six year veteran out of Texas Tech, with 24 saves and a 1.74 ERA highlighting what has been a career season. Unseating Ramos, at least right away, seems unlikely.

David Phelps, however, is another story entirely. He too is having a career season, but he also does have four losses, all of them coming late. So Rodney will slide everyone else back a peg, giving the Marlins four innings of reliable shutdown options, starting with Kyle Barraclough in the sixth. This obviously takes a lot of pressure off of the club’s starting pitching, and with four proven late inning arms to turn to, skipper Don Mattingly can breath a lot more easily when resting guys who have been used on consecutive nights. Again, pressure off the starting staff, and a much more well rested bullpen.

Lastly, another huge gain here is the message of confidence it sends to the rest of the team. Management went out and got a top notch player to strengthen the roster… before July. That says volumes about the confidence Jeffrey Loria and Mike Hill have in the 2016 Marlins. And the move could not have been better timed. That series victory against the Cubs last weekend was easily the high water mark of the season- and then the Marlins got their teeth kicked in by the Detroit Tigers, right before a four-game road series against a team that’s been their Achilles heel all season in the Atlanta Braves.

I really believe adding Rodney to the mix now nets the Fish an extra win in this series, even if Rodney never pitches a single inning.

This is a huge move that should have fans pumped up as we head into the season’s second half. It should also have you thinking greedy thoughts- if Rodney was added for so relatively little, is Miami done adding? That ball is back in the team’s court. A fourth winning month in a row though, and who knows what the deadline might hold in store?

At the end of the day, all we know is this. With Rodney now in the fold, smart money says David Phelps doesn’t throw a single pitch against the Braves unless he has a four-run cushion.

Home/Marlins News