Should Miami Marlins Add A-Rod?

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Insert PED joke here. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

Crazy as it might seem, when the 2016 season comes to an end, there might actually be someone on the roster with more hits than Ichiro Suzuki.

And not just on the season. But over the length of an entire career.

Obviously, that can only mean one thing: the Miami Marlins are considering bringing aboard Alex Rodriguez.

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That’s right, rumors are abuzzing that the Fish have had “internal discussions” about bringing aboard the soon to be ex-Yankee, with Jon Heyman being among the first report. Only three players in history have recorded more home runs than the controversial Rodriguez; one of them would be sharing a dugout with him, tasked with doing something about that .203 average.

Which begs the question – provided you play along and assume that there is some fire to this smoke- is this something the Marlins should do?

And the answer to that question…well, the answer is an extremely convoluted one.

On performance alone, you’d go with no. As noted earlier, the batting average is .203 for the year. There’s a reason he’s barely played the past month, and is being released in August instead of after the season. Chris Johnson has him beat with a .227 mark, and Cole Gillespie‘s .235 blows him out of the water.

Of course, even at this possibly final stage, there’s no confusing Johnson or Gillespie for Alex Rodriguez. The plate presence, the veteran savvy, the postseason experience…every on-field intangible would seem to tilt in his favor. Even the power, provided someone really hangs a mistake out over the plate. All of that holds true, before even getting to the very real possibility that a change of scenery and actual chance to make the playoffs could somewhat revitalize his season.

There’s also the draw to consider. Rightly or wrongly, people would show up to watch A-Rod play what would likely be the final games of his career. Others to watch a player with such deep roots to the South Florida community. Some would come to cheer, some would come to boo, some to watch the world’s most amazing Jekyll and Hyde hitting race, but all would pay admission and be physically present in a stadium that could do with some more filling as the Marlins battle for a playoff spot. Whether it’s all about the benjamins, or a Machiavellian scam to bring in fans to support a club they should be supporting, the signing would be a shrewd business move on the part of Michael Hill and Jeffrey Loria.

As such, I’m going to go with a very conditional yes. A tri-conditional yes to be precise. If these qualifications are met, I take little issue with the dice roll Heyman outlines, as it could provide an answer to two big problems the Marlins have on their hands.

What are those conditions you ask? Let’s take a look.

Next: First Condition

Big Brother best not go rocking the boat. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports /

First Condition: Loria Doesn’t Cram This Down Hill and Mattingly’s Throats

More than A-Rod having anything left in the tank, more than being able to play a position, more than any of that, it is essential to the short and long-term prospects of this organization that the above isn’t the case.

Say what you want about Mattingly’s occasional bullpen miscues, but no one has had more of an influence on the success of this team this season than Donnie Baseball. Yes, the world be a sabermetrically filled happy place if all thirty teams had a Joe Maddon clone at the helm. But Mattingly has gotten these players to buy in to degree Dan Jennings simply couldn’t come close to managing.

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Yes, that last sentence was constructed that way intentionally.

So the last thing we need is for Loria to suddenly break the the spirit of detente that seems to have presided over Marlins operations since the 2015 fiasco. If these internal discussions are a result of people who know far more about baseball than I do, people like Michael Hill or Mattingly, seeing a unique opportunity to add a stupidly cheap, high upside piece to a championship puzzle, then go for it Marlins.

However, if this is forced upon the team’s newest manager from on high, the fallout could be extreme. Mattingly is a keeper, and seems content to stay as long as the line between ownership and operations remains clear.

Next: Second Condition

That ankle mocks me. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports /

Second Condition: Bour’s As Hurt As I Think He Is

The second condition also happens to be the first of those two big problems I mentioned. This was even written about last weekend on the site. Justin Bour‘s health is a question that has lingered precisely as long as the injury has, and that’s just not acceptable for a team with playoff aspirations. The Marlins have treaded water/pretended Chris Johnson can intimidate righty pitchers for far too long.

If Bour is still weeks away from being able to regularly, consistently, the team needs to kick over every rock they can find in an attempt to solve that problem. Keep in mind that even when he does return, he’ll be built back up into game shape.

Now if all this time off has finally healed Bour, than the need is minimal. Nothing about the injury thus far has lent itself to really believing that’s the case, but as first base is both the most glaring need in the lineup and the most likely spot he would be played at should he ever be used in a non pinch-hitting capacity, the existence of that need at first is the whole reason this is even possibly a consideration.

Next: Third Condition

Workin hard or hardly workin? Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports /

Third Condition: A-Rod Buys In

Lastly, would Rodriguez come here with a healthy understanding of his role? He would have to go above and beyond in any negotiations to make that clear before he could possibly be considered. If he’d be coming in with any kind of entitlement, that could really mess with the clubhouse dynamic that has been built to this point. It’s the dynamic you’ve seen on display since the All-Star break, the one that ensured Ichiro didn’t start every game until reaching 3000. Everyone on that roster is there for a specific reason, all boiling down to contributing to the common cause of success for the 2016 Miami Marlins.

However, if Rodriguez would be happy to give first base a shot, if he’d be happy to largely be a pinch-hitting specialist, than he has a knowledge base that no one else on the August scrap heap of discards can come close to matching. Essentially a player-coach, it’s just that much more baseball wisdom being served up for the Marlins young core. They’ve been 2 for 2 so far with Bonds and Ichiro; consider my benefit of the doubt earned when it comes to the club bringing in famous faces to impact and inspire.

Next: Bottom Line

Remember, someone else put the phonetic D in PED. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /

Bottom Line: End of September, There’s An Opening

The scenario Heyman envisions, and MLBTradeRumors expounds upon a little more, is a September call-up for Rodriguez. The rosters are bigger, it allows time for a deal, and also some time at AAA playing in the field for the first time this season.

When September ends though, if it does end with a playoff berth, keep in mind that the Marlins will be down a spark plug player in Dee Gordon. That puts Derek Dietrich back in the starting lineup at second base, as opposed to the occasional first base fill-in appearance he makes now. Hopefully, Bour is fully back by September, and Dietrich can spend the final month being the impact bat off the bench and spot starter he’s best suited to be based on how the 2016 roster is constructed. But come playoff time, the Marlins will be in need of another veteran bat with some pop to throw in there late in the game. Why not see if it can be a guy who’s hit nearly 700 home runs in his career?

It costs next to nothing to get him. If they had to trade anything of consequence, forget it. But at this price? In this close of a race? It might just be enough to help buy a ticket to October.

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