The 3 moves that the Miami Marlins must make at the deadline

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The trading deadline is coming up and it’s time for the Miami Marlins to figure out what we should do. The playoff picture is not looking very promising at the moment, but you never know and The Fish can always go on a run. So what should the Miami Marlins do? Sell? Buy? There are three things that the Miami Marlins must do and they’re the same whether we’re going to be buyers or sellers at the trading deadline.

The Miami Marlins have three things that we must do before the trading deadline.

1. Do everything possible to trade Avisaíl García.

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – MAY 14: Avisail Garcia #24 of the Milwaukee Brewers stands on second base after his double in the second inning against the Atlanta Braves at American Family Field on May 14, 2021 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /

It’s not a mystery, but Avisaíl García has been terrible this season and it’s clear that signing him was a major mistake for the Miami Marlins. The right fielder is batting a woeful .230/.265/.326 with a terrible -0.6 WAR. He’s literally hurting the team!

Avisaíl García has been a bad signing from the beginning, but this is taking things to a whole new level. He’s not even going to come close to 20 home runs this season, and even 70 RBI will be a major reach for him. The fact that the Miami Marlins have him locked up until 2025 and owe him $53 million is quite frankly embarrassing.

I came up with bad contract swap scenarios that the Miami Marlins can do to be rid of his contract. Is it realistic for any of them to actually happen? Bad contract swaps do happen, so an attempt at least needs to be made.

The Fish should also be prepared to eat some money, and honestly since he’s unlikely to be worth his contract anyway, the question is whether we lose $53 million or less in the next four years.

Bottom line is there’s no reason to pay Avisaíl García of to play him. The Miami Marlins need to do whatever it takes to trade him as far from the team as possible.

2. Don Mattingly needs to go

MIAMI, FLORIDA – JULY 23: Manager Don Mattingly #8 of the Miami Marlins speaks with draft pick Cody Morissette during batting practice prior to the game against the San Diego Padres at loanDepot park on July 23, 2021 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

Don Mattingly was a great player whose career ended prematurely. He also is not a bad manager, but he might not be the right one for the Miami Marlins anymore. The Fish are struggling despite an easy schedule, and despite roster issues, it sure looks like Mattingly’s bullpen management and obsession with lefty/righty matchups isn’t helping matters.

The Miami Marlins might need to replace Don Mattingly.

I wrote about how Don Mattingly should be replaced as the Miami Marlins manager and I think I was on to something there. He’s actually the worst manager in Dodgers franchise history in playoffs series, losing a historic number of them. He won his only one with The Fish, but he also hadn’t been able to take the team to the next level.

Why are the Miami Marlins not playing better? Is it really just the injuries and the bad hitting? Don Mattingly doesn’t seem very good to me at taking charge of the clubhouse and motivating his players to win. The Miami Marlins often blow games in the late innings due to bullpen mismanagement and the offense dies worse due to heavy righty/lefty matchup emphasis.

The Miami Marlins should look at the Philadelphia Phillies and take their example of firing a manager mid-season. It worked out well for them so far, why can’t it work out even better for us?

3. The Miami Marlins need a middle of the order bat

BOSTON, MA – MAY 21: Xander Bogaerts #2 of the Boston Red Sox scores the tying run during the fifth inning of a game against the Seattle Mariners on May 21, 2022 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /

It’s become pretty clear that the Miami Marlins need better hitting. I’ll take it a step further however and say that we also need a specific type of hitter: a middle of the order bat who can be the anchor of the lineup.

The Miami Marlins need a middle of the order bat.

This type of bat is probably better suited to be an off-season acquisition, with the Miami Marlins finally spending again to bring in more fans snd to finally start playing better again. The free agent market offers some interesting options in the next few years: Aaron Judge, Xander Bogaerts, Carlos Correa, Rafael Devers, Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani come to mind right away.

The trade market offers some options as well, such as last off-season’s popular trade candidate Bryan Reynolds and the aforementioned Juan Soto. I’m not saying that we should target Soto as I already covered, or that Reynolds is even available, but it makes sense to look for a bat that is under contract for a couple of seasons.

The Miami Marlins simply cannot move forward without a major improvement to the lineup. I just don’t see how The Fish can be perennial playoff contenders without doing this as soon as possible. The playoffs are not out of reach for the Miami Marlins next season, but steps need to start being taken now. “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and the foundation was built even earlier.

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The Miami Marlins have three things that we must do before the trading deadline.

The Miami Marlins might need to replace Don Mattingly.

The Miami Marlins need a middle of the order bat.

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