It’s time to trust Miami Marlins new executive Gary Denbo

The Miami Marlins will have traded Giancarlo Stanton. Many are unhappy with the return, but the New York Yankees were the ideal trading partner.

When Derek Jeter purchased the Miami Marlins from previous owner Jeffery Loria, baseball in Miami rejoiced. He promptly started making decisions that divided an already wary Marlins fanbase. Now we get to see how informed one of his earliest decisions was.

Jeter pilfered Gary Denbo from the New York Yankees front office. Denbo already had a reputation within the industry of being an excellent talent evaluator. That will now be put to the test. In trading with the New York Yankees, the Miami Marlins got back only two players.

Now Miami is going to have to trust that Gary Denbo chose the right two players in the deal. If he whiffs on either of them, this could become a historically bad trade.

The good news is that the Miami Marlins brokered a deal with the ideal partner. Not only were the Yankees able to absorb a considerable sum of Stanton’s contract, but Miami had insider information. Denbo was the Vice-President of Player Development only a few months ago.

It’s no coincidence that the Yankees built one of the deepest farm systems in baseball over the past three seasons. Denbo was hired by the New York Yankees in October of 2014.

Suffice it say he knows the Yankees minor league organization inside-and-out. The public isn’t privy to how the negotiations progressed, but Denbo undoubtedly played a significant role. It’s possible that he hand-selected Jorge Guzman and Jose Devers himself.

Denbo knows

In many ways, the Yankees were a superior partner for Miami than San Francisco or St. Louis. Not only were they able to unload more of their salary, but they gave themselves a realistic chance at on boarding two future stars.

Now reports are surfacing that the offers the Marlins had on the table from St. Louis and San Francisco weren’t all that much better. If that is true, then the Yankees were a much better trade partner than either of those two.

Set aside your gripes and suspicions of collusion, this was as good of a deal as the Miami Marlins were going to get.

Moreover, Denbo had a hand in acquiring Guzman and Devers while he was with the Yankees. Guzman was acquired in the trade that sent Brian McCann to the Houston Astros, and Devers was an international signing in 2016.

Next: Miami Marlins prospect haul: Jorge Guzman, RHP

Only time will tell how well the information Denbo gave Jeter was. But there is every reason to believe he brokered a winning deal for the Miami Marlins.