Miami Marlins rejected Boston‘s trade offer

As Kim Ng preaches “patience” to Miami Marlins fans, nothing has yet been done to improve our offense for the 2023 season. It’s obvious that spending money is essential to winning, but so is smart trading. The news today is that the Miami Marlins have been interested in designated for assignment former Boston Red Sox 1B Eric Hosmer. Boston wanted SS Miguel Rojas in return and Kim said “no”.  Was that the right decision?

The Miami Marlins rejected a trade offer from the Boston Red Sox.

It’s a bit hard to see why we should be interested in Eric Hosmer in the first place. The bright side is that he would be paid minimum to play for us. The downside is everything else. Hosmer batted .268/.334/.382 in 2022. In 2021, he batted .269/.337/.395. As you can clearly see, he just doesn’t have power, though he does get on base at an above average level and hits decently for average.

The last full season in which Eric Hosmer has  looked good enough, was 2019. Hosmer batted .265/.310/.425 with 22 home runs and 99 RBI during that season. While his OBP was below average, the power was decent enough and he was at least productive. 2019 was 3 years ago however and I doubt that he would really be that productive for The Fish in 2023.

Is there any use at all from him for us? I don’t really see it, but regardless let’s look at what the Miami Marlins were expected to give up. Miguel Rojas is not much of a hitter, having batted an abysmal .236/.283/.323 in 2022, but is an elite defender who should’ve won the Gold Glove in 2022, and was a finalist for it. Rojas may not be a solution to fix our offense, but he certainly is more valuable for us than Hosmer.

Should Kim Ng have accepted this trade offer? I think that she made the right call. Eric Hosmer may have had limited value as a bounceback candidate, or an injury replacement, but he’s worth very little. He’s certainly not worth a Gold Glove caliber SS, even if said SS can’t hit very well. The Miami Marlins made the right decision.