Marlins Overpay Padres in Deadline Deal

With the August 1^st trade deadline looming, the Miami Marlins finally made their move to go get some starting pitching. For the 2^nd time this season, the Marlins and Padres found themselves swapping players.

The Marlins have acquired starters Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea in exchange for Jarred Cosart, Josh Naylor, Luis Castillo, and Carter Capps.

This move no doubt makes the starting rotation stronger right now and for the rest of the playoff push. It is also an incredibly short-sighted deal that somehow had the Fish overpay with their already weak farm.

The “headliner” of the deal for Miami seems to be Andrew Cashner. With a 4.76 ERA and a 1.387 WHIP, Cashner seems to be a pretty underwhelming cornerstone of a deal.

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This was to be expected, however, with Miami having such a weak farm and it being such a seller’s market. What wasn’t expected was giving up four pieces with arguably three nice pieces going the other way. That is exactly what happened with Naylor, Castillo, and Capps heading to the West Coast. (Sorry, Cosart)

Cashner will jump right into the starting rotation and will need to perform better than he has for the past two seasons. Miami is hoping he can return to his 2014 form where he had a 2.55 ERA and 93 strikeouts in 113 innings.

Colin Rea, the 26-year old starter also heading to Miami, was called up last season for the Padres and has underperformed expectations. Rea will also seem to jump into the rotation completing a Fernandez-Conley-Koehler-Cashner-Rea setup.

Like Cashner, it seems no doubt that he is an improvement to what the Marlins were throwing out there every fifth day.  It’s just a matter of the cost.

The biggest loss for me in this deal is none other than Carter Capps. Even after undergoing Tommy John surgery this season, the potential he possesses leaves a bad taste in my mouth about giving him up. His funky, wild delivery is very imposing on hitters, not to mention his 99 mph fast ball.

Castillo, a 23-year old righty, is impressing at high-A for Miami this season. His 2.25 ERA sticks out among a weak Miami farm, but his future role is up in the air about whether he is a starter or bullpen piece. Either way, still a tough young arm to lose.

I’m sure many fans will be most upset about dumping 19-year old Josh Naylor, the Marlins 2015 first round pick. I am high on Naylor, but not as high as some. I personally feel like his value is a tad inflated due to the lack of talent surrounding him in Miami’s farm. With Justin Bour showing that he has the potential to be a cog at first base for a while, I am content with giving up Naylor in order to get starters for a playoff push. Not to mention that Giancarlo Stanton moving to first base in the future is something I am behind, but I digress.

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It’s what else we gave up that makes this a bad deal in my eyes.

Sure, Rea and Cashner can be controllable for Miami if Cashner re-signs. They can come in and hopefully put Miami over the top and into the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

Miami just shouldn’t be making short term moves with assets that could have been much more dominant than high 4 ERA’s that both Rea and Cashner have.

Both starters will soon take the mound for Miami in a playoff push. Regardless of the value of the trade, that is enough for some Miami fans.

Time will tell.

I’m going to miss Carter Capps, that’s for sure.