Should the Miami Marlins upgrade CF?

Very recently there was a report that the Miami Marlins were pursuing a center field upgrade in the form of Ramon Laureano. I even wrote about that topic myself. At this point however I’m starting to wonder if that’s necessary at all. Should the Miami Marlins really pursue an upgrade for the position?

Do the Miami Marlins really need a CF upgrade?

Ramon Laureano is a middle of the order bat for the Oakland Athletics and is currently set in right field, with center field another position that he can play. His current WAR is 0.5 and his dWAR is -0.3. That’s a below average number. It’s certainly not very exciting is it? He is also only batting .234/.324/.338 with 2 home runs and 9 RBI in 45 games and 158 AB’s.

Laureano can surely do better than that right? Well, his career batting line is .259/.334/.450 so he’s not really THAT much better than that. I’m starting to seriously wonder if the Miami Marlins really need him.

Another option that the Miami Marlins have is of course Bryan Reynolds of the Pittsburgh Pirates. He’s a previously mentioned trade candidate who I also previously had written about. Bryan Reynolds is not having a good year, hitting .252/.328/.440 so far this season. Ironically, he has an identical -0.3 dWAR to Laureano. The price for him has so far been way too high as well.

What about who we already have? Jesus Sanchez is our current center fielder and is he really that bad to just keep at the position? He has a 0.0 dWAR, which is average and at least better than the other top two options. Sanchez is batting .221/.268/.427, but has good power and is young enough to improve. I don’t think that the other two have much room to improve, already being in their prime years.

Should the Miami Marlins improve in center field? That’s definitely a legitimate concern, but the top options are not much better (if even that at all) than what we already have, and other options won’t bring good hitting to the table. Let’s stick with Jesus Sanchez and see if he can improve any further before replacing him.