Marlins Trade Justin Bour To Philadelphia For Pitching Prospect

The Miami Marlins continue to tinker with their 25-man roster as the team sent Justin Bour to the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

The Miami Marlins sent first baseman Justin Bour, the team’s leader in home runs this season, to a National League East rival for left-handed pitching prospect McKenzie Mills. The move gives the Marlins another minor league pitcher to groom for the future but also takes away the team’s biggest power source this season.

Bour paced the Marlins with 19 home runs this season but was only batting .227 in 112 games this season. He also led the squad with 54 RBI.

"Per MLB.com, “Mills, 22, is a native of Marietta, Georgia, and has spent the 2018 season with Class A Advanced Clearwater in the Florida State League, going 2-5 with a 3.51 ERA (89.2 ip/35 er) in 20 appearances (16 starts). He has struck out 85 batters (8.9 per 9 innings). Since the FSL All-Star break, he has gone 2-3 and posted a 2.66 ERA (47.1/14) in eight starts.”"

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He is another young arm in the franchise’s farm system, and follows the blueprint team owner Derek Jeter has stuck to in designing a winning organization for the future.

Mills has mainly been a starter in his four professional seasons in baseball, He has a career record of 19-20 with a 4.01 ERA (321.0/143) in 75 appearances (62 starts). He will report to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Miami’s Double-A affiliate.

The 30-year-old Bour signed a 1 year / $3,400,000 contract with the Miami Marlins, including $3,400,000 guaranteed, and an annual average salary of $3,400,000, per spotrac.com. He is eligible for arbitration after the 2018 season. He, along with J.T. Realmuto, was the last two “core” players the Marlins kept on their roster after purging it of stars during the Jeffrey Loria era as the team’s owner.

Now that Bour is no longer part of the Marlins organization, the power source for this lineup falls on Realmuto and Derek Dietrich, who both have 14 home runs this season. Outfielder Lewis Brinson smacked 10 dingers before he was placed on the disabled list. The Marlins announced the centerfielder could return from his injury and back in the lineup shortly.

"Per Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com, “The Phillies put in a waiver claim on Bour before working out a trade with the Marlins. Miami agreed to cover half of the roughly $900,000 that Bour is due for the rest of this season in return for getting a better prospect in the deal, the source said.”"

Now, there is a spot opened in the infield for the Marlins. Dietrich, Miguel Rojas and possibly Garrett Cooper could platoon there. Cooper has been on the disabled list with a wrist injury for the majority of the 2018 season.