A big trade is on the way for the Miami Marlins...

Kim Ng preached patience to Miami Marlins fans and has finally lived up to her promise. Or at least started to. Jean Segura has been signed to play third base for the Miami Marlins. Kim is now focused on trading for a big bat (or bats) to further improve the lineup. Who will she acquire? What will happen? Time will tell but things are finally getting exciting for Miami Marlins fans.

The Miami Marlins are looking to do a major trade.

The article that I linked to above showed some negative things as well. There were Miami Marlins fans who said that making a trade is a mistake, and that the team should just stop being "cheap" and build through free agency. There's some truth to that of course, any team playing in a big market such as Miami should be able to afford the top free agents and sign them to bolster the team. We also know that building through free agency is a fool's errand. Smart front offices use free agency to supplement the core that they build through drafts and trades.

The Fish have a pitching surplus and there's nothing wrong with using it to improve a problem area. Pablo López is injury-prone, a free agent in two years and a risky extension candidate. He's also not an ace. It makes perfect sense to flip him for a much-needed bat or two that will actually help the team. Trading from a surplus for needed help is done by every team at some point and isn't even a sign of "cheapness".

What are those bats that the Miami Marlins can acquire? I wrote about some options already and some of them are pretty ambitious. The important thing is that the Miami Marlins do indeed have quite a few options to trade for... The Pittsburgh Pirates have made Bryan Reynolds finally available; Cedric Mullins is a dream trade candidate from the Baltimore Orioles; Austin Hays is another Baltimore candidate; the Texas Rangers could move Adolis Garcia and who knows who else Kim Ng could find as a trade option that we can actually acquire.