It's time to be realistic about certain Marlins player's value

One of the most controversial trades of the off-season, was when the Miami Marlins traded Jake Burger to the Texas Rangers. It was surprising because many fans didn't understand the point, or the reason. I already wrote about the reason for the trade, but let's take a look at why the return for Burger was "so low". It of course remains to be seen how the prospects will actually develop.

Former Miami Marlins slugger Jake Burger wasn't very valuable.

Many Miami Marlins fans really liked Jake Burger. I was of course one of them, though I remained mindful of his limitations. Burger batted .250/.309/.518 with the Chicago White Sox and the Miami Marlins in 2023. He had 34 home runs and 80 RBI in 141 games and 492 AB. In the 2024 season, Burger batted .250/.301/.460, with 29 home runs and 76 RBI in 137 games and 535 AB.

One big mistake when you evaluate Jake Burger, is by looking at his home run totals and seeing him as an elite middle of the order bat based on that. The reality is that he had quite a bit of red flags. He wasn't a good defensive third baseman. He was more of a first baseman, but wasn't particularly good defensively at that position either. First basemen don't particularly have much value these days, so it already made it hard to receive a good return for him in the first place.

There are more issues with Jake Burger. He strikes out quite a bit more than he gets hits. He also isn't particularly good at drawing walks. The low OBP's are certainly not making him particularly in-demand among other teams. In fact, when you add in his low batting averages, you realize that he really didn't offer much at all. It was really just power, and empty power only gives you so much. In case it wasn't clear, he also didn't have much speed. Put it all together and of course he wasn't going to bring back a top 100 prospect.

The Miami Marlins received as much as was possible for Jake Burger.