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3 worst trades in Miami Marlins history
The Miami Marlins made some bad trades in team history. In fact I already wrote about the worst. I considered skipping it for this article, but let's face it nothing can top it and it has to be on this list. The Fish are actually celebrating the traded legend this week. These are horrible trades that The Fish would love to take back. Let's start with...
3. THE GIANCARLO STANTON TRADE
Miami Marlins traded RF Giancarlo Stanton to the New York Yankees in a salary dump
What do you do when your star player hits a Major League leading 59 home runs and you sign him to a massive extension? Trade him of course! Giancarlo Stanton was a homegrown superstar for the Miami Marlins. The elite top prospect debuted in 2010 with a .259/.326/.507 batting line, with 22 home runs and 59 RBI in 100 games and 359 AB. He followed that up in 2011 with a .262/.356/.537 batting line, with 34 home runs and 87 RBI in 150 games and 516 AB.
Giancarlo Stanton developed a reputation as injury-prone, but his results were very good otherwise. He batted .290/.361/.608 with 37 home runs and 86 RBI in 123 games and 449 AB in 2012. He batted .262/.362/.528 with 115 home runs and 308 RBI in 454 games and 1656 AB from 2013 to 2016. The problem was that he only played over 120 games in one of those seasons (2014).
2017 tuned out to be his best season. He batted .281/.376/.631 with 59 home runs and 132 RBI in 159 games and 597 AB. He was worth 7.9 WAR that season. Overall, he was worth 35.7 WAR and batted .268/.360/.554 with the team. He was extended for 13 years and $325 million after that season. To be fair, he wasn't worth the money due to his injury history and has been a disaster since being traded. That said, the Miami Marlins basically gave him away.
On December 11, 2017, The Fish traded Stanton to the New York Yankees for 2B Starlin Castro. Castro was OK, batting .274/.314/.418 in 2018-2019. He was worth 2.8 WAR for that run. He just wasn't remotely close to Stanton's value. You'd think The Fish could've traded Stanton before the extension, and received a king's ransom. Oh and there were also the two prospects RHP Jorge Guzman (27.00 career ERA and no longer on the team), and 2B/SS José Devers (career -0.2 WAR). The Miami Marlins gave Giancarlo Stanton away, even if getting out of that contract was a good thing.
Next: Giving away another NL MVP.
2. THE CHRISTIAN YELICH TRADE
Do you remember former Miami Marlins LF Christian Yelich? Yelich played for The Fish from 2013 to 2017 and had a pretty interesting career with the team. He was yet another future NL MVP that the team gave away for nothing.
The Miami Marlins gave away Christian Yelich.
Christian Yelich debuted in 2013 and batted .288/.370/.396, with 4 home runs and 16 RBI in 62 games and 240 AB. He was worth 1.6 WAR for this solid performance. 2014 was Yelich's first full season and he batted .284/.362/.402, with 9 home runs and 54 RBI in 144 games and 582 AB. He was worth a very good 3.8 WAR for that season. In 2015, he followed that up by batting .300/.366/.416, with 7 home runs and 44 RBI in 126 games and 476 AB. He was worth 3.6 WAR that season.
Yelich wasn't a power hitter, but he was excellent at hitting for contact and getting on base. In fact, that season the Miami Marlins extended him for 7 years and $49.57 million. In 2016, Yelich batted .298/.376/.483 with 21 home runs and 98 RBI in 155 games and 578 AB. This was his power breakout and he was worth a great 4.9 WAR. Yelich's final season with The Fish came in 2017, when he batted .282/.369/.439 with 18 home runs and 81 RBI in 156 games and 602 AB. He was worth 3.7 WAR.
On January 25, 2018, the Miami Marlins traded him to the Milwaukee Brewers for a package of prospects: OF's Lewis Brinson and Monte Harrison, 2B Isan Diaz and RHP Jordan Yamamoto. Oh boy. Christian Yelich batted .327/.415/.631 for Milwaukee in 2018 and 2019. He had 36 home runs and 110 RBI in 2018, and 44 home runs/97 RBI in 2019. He won the NL MVP in 2018 and was the runner-up in 2019. Oh and he was worth 7.3 and 7.0 WAR those seasons. Injuries hurt him since, but just those two seasons...
Lewis Brinson, the supposed star of the return, batted .203/.248/.325 from 2018 to 2021. He's now in the San Francisco Giants system and has a career -3.6 WAR. Harrison batted .175/.230/.263 in 2020-2021 and is now back in Milwaukee's system. He's been worth 0.1 WAR for his career. Diaz batted .185/.275/.287 from 2019-2021 and is now in San Francisco's system. Finally, Yamamoto has a 6.20 ERA/5.44 FIP in 90.0 innings pitched in 2019-2020. He has seemingly been out of the game since 2021.
NEXT: Worst trade in Miami Marlins history
1. THE MIGUEL CABRERA TRADE
Here we are. The worst trade in Miami Marlins history. Can there really be anything worse than trading a Hall of Famer for scrubs? On December 4, 2007, The Fish traded third baseman Miguel Cabrera and starting pitcher Dontrelle Willis to the Detroit Tigers for a prospect package: OF Cameron Maybin, RHP Frankie De La Cruz, RHP Dallas Trahern, RHP Burke Badenhop, LHP Andrew Miller and C Mike Rabelo.
The stars of that package were Miller and Maybin. Miguel Cabrera was of course a superstar by the time of the trade. Cabrera burst onto the scene as a 20 year old in 2003, with a .268/.325/.468 batting line, with 12 home runs and 62 RBI in 87 games and 314 AB. In the playoffs, he batted .265/.315/.471 in 17 games and 68 AB. He was worth 0.6 WAR for that season.
In his first full season in 2004, Cabrera batted .294/.366/.512 with 33 home runs and 112 RBI in 160 games and 603 AB. Cabrera was worth 3.5 WAR. 2005 saw Cabrera finish top 5 in NL MVP voting, as he batted .323/.385/.561 with 33 home runs and 116 RBI in 158 games and 576 AB. He was worth 5.2 WAR.
By this point, Miguel Cabrera was clearly the best hitter on the team and one of the best young players in the game. In 2006, he batted .339/.430/.568 with 26 home runs and 114 RBI in 158 games and 576 AB. He was worth 5.8 WAR and was once again top 5 in NL MVP voting. In his final season with the then Florida Marlins (2007), Cabrera batted .320/.401/.565 with 34 home runs and 119 RBI in 157 games and 588 AB. He was worth 3.2 WAR.
Miguel Cabrera was worth 18.3 WAR and batted .313/.388/.542 during his time with The Fish. Cabrera was traded because then owner Jeffrey Loria seemingly just wanted to save money. Dontrelle Willis debuted as a 21 year old, in the World Series winning 2003 season. He delivered a 3.30 ERA/3.45 FIP, with 8.0 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 27 games and 160.2 innings pitched. He was atrocious in the playoffs with an 8.53 ERA in 7 games. He followed that up with a 4.02 ERA/4.01 FIP, with 6.4 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 IN 32 games and 197.0 innings pitched.
2005 was Dontrelle Willis's big breakout season. Willis delivered a 2.63 ERA/2.99 FIP, with 6.5 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 34 games and 236.1 innings pitched. Things went downhill for him from there. Willis delivered a 4.49 ERA/4.70 FIP, with 6.4 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9 in 69 games and 428.2 innings pitched in 2006-2007. He was worth 17.2 WAR for his time on the then Florida Marlins, with 7.3 in 2005. Dontrelle Willis was soon out of the Majors, while Cabrera is on his way to the Hall of Fame.
Soooo how was that return again? Frankie De La Cruz had an 18.00 ERA/8.80 FIP in 6 games in 2008 and was out of the Majors a few years later. Dallas Trahern never made it to the Majors. Burke Badenhop had a 4.34 ERA/3.69 FIP in 151 games, failing as a stating pitcher and moving to the bullpen along the way. He was a solid reliever on other teams in the next few years, before being out of the Majors entirely.
Mike Rabelo batted .202/.256/.294 in 34 games and 108 AB in 2008, before being out of the Majors. Andrew Miller delivered an abysmal 5.89 ERA/4.49 FIP as a starting pitcher in 58 games and 220.0 innings pitched. He later reinvented himself as a successful reliever with different teams. Cameron Maybin batted .257/.323/.391 from 2008-2010, and didn't do much better after being traded away.
This was easily the worst trade in Miami Marlins history.
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