On eve of camp, Miami Marlins should check in with Houston Astros on trade front

After a pair of low-risk, moderately priced for them pitching signings, the Miami Marlins front office is probably ready to call it a wrap on player acquisition for the time being.

Obviously, Peter Bendix is always going to be having those conversations. As the recent MLB news cycle has demonstrated and long expeprience has taught, plenty of injuries can crop up during spring training to change things. After all, with twenty-six players slated to make the Opening Day roster, that's roughly 52 hamate bones that can break at any moment. Yet a look at any of the Miami Marlins roster projections out there- MLB.com's Christina De Nicola just released this one Monday- will show you a roster with much less wiggle room than you would expect.

Even so, the Miami Marlins should be on the phone with the Houston Astros right now. Just in case.

Why? Because according to both an Anthony Franco MLB Trade Rumors report and The Athletic's Chandler Rome, the Astros remain really interested in moving one of either Isaac Paredes or Christian Walker. That's two All-Star caliber bats Houston is putting on the market, both of which are capable of playing first base for Miami- a position that remains their biggest hole. In the case of Paredes, he's capable of handling third base as well. As for Walker, he's a year removed from winning three consecutive Gold Gloves at first. Even if the defense continues to fade, there's plenty he can offer Miami's group of aspiring first basemen.

What makes this even more interesting for the Marlins is what the Astros are rumored to want: lefty hitting outfielders.

More specifically, lefty hitting outfielders, possibly a backup catcher, and really any demonstrated willingness to pay a little bit of Walker's salary or offer the Astros anything of value to help them solve a real roster crunch issue.

Ummm, the Marlins kind of check everyone of those boxes?

Even after letting Victor Mesa Jr. go last week, Miami still has four left-handed hitting outfielders: Owen Caissie, Griffin Conine, Jakob Marsee, and Kyle Stowers. Admittedly, a strong argument can be made for keeping each of them. Marsee's ability to play center and breakout 2025 should render him untouchable. Caissie's elite prospect status probably does the same. Stowers would seem to be a good bet for being the most off limits of anyone on the roster that doesn't pitch, except for the fact that he famously was very far apart from the club on the terms of a contract extension. That has fueled plenty of speculation that his days in South Florida could be numbered.

Which leaves Conine with the thinnest argument for keeping- the family legacy. Well that, and being much younger than Walker. He'd have the least value in a trade, but at least in the case of a Walker trade, that shouldn't much matter.

Beyond the lefty outfielders though, the Marlins are in real danger of having three catchers on their roster by May at the latest on account of Joe Mack. Why not dangle Liam Hicks now? Such a move would give Agustin Ramirez more runway to figure out his position, and also get Miami's best defensive catcher on the roster from the jump. That might not be advantageous from a player control standpoint, but it does put a stronger team on the field.

An early Mack promotion would also go a long way towards convincing MLB that the Marlins are interested in winning just as much as they are in lining their pockets. They, and other perennial bottom of the league spenders, are going to need all the goodwill they can get heading into the CBA talks next offseason. That topic has been covered previously on the site this season, but it's worth repeating given all the chatter this week about baseball's coming collapse.

However, what would go an even longer way towards earning that goodwill than swift promotions of top prospects is just coming much closer to actually spending what the revenue sharing rules say that they should be on payroll. Want to know a great way to improve the 2026 Miami Marlins while simultaneously making them look more appealing to baseball's accountants?

Trade for Christian Walker and pick up half of his contract.

Miami probably can't afford to pay Walker's $20 million per year full freight, at least not along the lines it is reasonable to expect them to operate. But if Houston just splits the tab down the middle the next two seasons? Paying Walker $10 million in 2026 and 2027 is a reasonable ask, and should cost the Marlins very little in terms of prospects.

Landing Paredes, who is still widely recognized as being good and has arbitration years remaining...that would likely be a much more costly endeavor. Someone you don't want Miami trading is going out the door to pull that off.

Unless...Houston is truly that determined to fix their roster crunch. The thing is, recent reporting really makes it sound like that is the case. So even on that front, the price could be far more reasonable than it would be in a vacuum.

Bottom-line? There is a chance for the Miami Marlins to dramatically upgrade at their weakest position for a below market price.

That's a conversation Peter Bendix has to have.