Miami Marlins Possible Trade Candidates

Who should the Miami Marlins trade for by July 31st?

The Miami Marlins on July 31^st will have a decision to make. July 31^st is the non-waiver trade deadline. The Marlins will either be buyers trying to contend into the fall, or sellers, looking ahead to what the future might hold. Based off last year, and the start of this season, it’s safe to say the Marlins will be somewhere in the wild card hunt.

In this case, one of the biggest upgrades the Fish will need to make it is to their pitching staff. Traditionally, not many teams have been able to have post season success without a true ace.

In the search for an upgrade for pitching, the Fish will look for something more than a rental. The Marlins have traditionally been unlucky with short-term deadline acquisitions.

If they are going to give up prospects it’ll be for a player that’ll be around for at least next year too. So let’s take a look at a couple of trade candidates:

Jose Quintana

Jose Quintana plays for the struggling White Sox, who will most likely be listening to offers at the deadline.

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Quintana’s name was also a popular one during the off-season as a name who might get traded. Quintana is also under club control through 2020 with a respectable contract according to spotrac.

In his career, he has a career era at 3.47 with his last three seasons being below a 3.50. This year he’s off to a slow start with a 6.17 era.

Which will decline his value a little bit when the time comes. This is a sensible option for the Marlins to go after. It’ll bring thump to the rotation for the rest of this year and some years to come.

Alex Cobb

Alex Cobb is a native of Vero Beach, Florida, and currently plays across alligator ally for the Rays. Cobb has a career era of 3.50, and has had two seasons with sub 3 era’s.

The only thing with Cobb is that he becomes a free agent next year according to spotrac. Meaning the Marlins might want some reassurance from him about resigning if they go down that road.

If the Rays don’t contend in the summer they’ll look to ship Cobb off to try and get prospects instead of losing him to free agency anyways.

This would be a riskier option for the Marlins due to him being an impending free agent.

Lance McCullers

Lance McCullers would be a tough person to get. The 23-year-old plays for the Astros who might be neutral at the deadline.

They aren’t going to want to get rid of their young core however, they do have to plan for the future too. McCullers has a career era of 3.24 in two seasons with a 3.38 era so far this year.

The Marlins would be able to have him under club control through 2021 according to spotrac. McCullers would join Adam Conley as young potential the Marlins staff.

Next: Going Deeper in Games

Bottom line is, if the Marlins are going to want to contend and win they are going to have to make a play at someone who can make an impact. Not just a floundering veteran. They also need to play to win in the future just as much as they do now.