Interesting moves by Marlins division rivals

The Miami Marlins are not spending this off-season, which is hardly surprising with the franchise. The team also has to deal with some injuries in the process. It's definitely already looking like a lost season, but other teams have things going on in Spring Training as well. There was one such move that caught my attention. In this trade. The Atlanta Braves traded righty starting pitcher Ian Anderson to the Los Angeles Angels for lefty relief pitcher Jose Suarez.

Miami Marlins division rivals are making some interesting moves.

I remember the time when Ian Anderson looked like a future ace for Atlanta. Back in 2021, he pitched to a 3.58 ERA/4.12 FIP, with 8.7 K/9 and 3.7 BB/9 in 24 games and 128.1 innings pitched. The FIP wasn't very good, but the ERA was very promising as was the strikeout rate. It's obvious that the control needed some help, but he was only 23 years old.

Anderson couldn't follow it up in the following 2022 season. That season, he pitched to a 5.00 ERA/4.25 FIP, with 7.8 K/9 and 4.4 BB/9 in 22 games and 111.2 innings pitched. The FIP was only slightly worse, so he clearly could've still improved. That said, the rest of the stats definitely got worse. Although based on the FIP, it was clearly worse than it should be.

Turning to Jose Suarez, he hasn't been good for years. Especially the last two seasons. In the 2023 season, he pitched to an 8.29 ERA/7.32 FIP, with 7.5 K/9 and 5.3 BB/9 in 11 games and 33.2 innings pitched. In 2024, he pitched to a 6.02 ERA/4.54 FIP, with 9.6 K/9 and 4.6 BB/9, in 22 games and 52.1 innings pitched. It certainly looks like the strikeout rate is promising, but the control is clearly not good. It does look as if Atlanta sees something in him that could make him valuable to their bullpen.

As of now, I like this trade more for the Angels. They get another arm for their rotation mix, while Atlanta receives a shaky relief pitcher in return for him.