Miami Marlins made an interesting trade that makes sense

What a day it was for Peter Bendix yesterday! The Miami Marlins got a haul and then made many other trades as well. Another trade of note took place right before the actual deadline, as The Fish sent LF/DH Bryan De La Cruz to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Minor League RHP Jun-Seok Shim and Minor League 1B Garrett Forrester. Let's get into this trade!

The Miami Marlins traded Bryan De La Cruz to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In a separate move, the Miami Marlins claimed righty relief pitcher Jesus Tinoco off waivers from the Chicago Cubs. Tinoco has a career 4.35 ERA/6.58 FIP, with 7.1 K/9 and 5.2 BB/9 in 59 games and 80.2 innings pitched. This season, he has a 5.79 ERA/5.23 FIP, with 7.7 K/9 and 4.5 B/9 in 11 games and 14.0 innings pitched, between the Texas Rangers and Chicago.

Bryan De La Cruz is a free agent after the 2027 season, who may have already reached his peak at 27 years old. From 2021 to 2023, he batted .263/.311/.420 in 326 games and 1107 AB. There was hope that he would finally break out and he finally seemed to do that this season. He's currently batting .245/.289/.417, with 18 home runs and 51 RBI in 105 games and 424 AB. He doesn't walk much and doesn't hit well for contact. He does seem to have finally had a power surge.

De La Cruz will likely finish with around 30 home runs, but is also a poor defender, who has a -0.8 dWAR. It doesn't help that he had -1.4 last season. His EV doesn't stand out either, as he's at 89.7 for the season. Jun-Seok Shim was Pittsburgh's #28 prospect and Garret Forrester was a third round pick last season. He's currently batting .273/.413/.382 in High-A. I understand trading De La Cruz, who isn't good enough to play in the field and likely won't be anything special going forward with the bat.

I wish that the return that the Miami Marlins received for Bryan De La Cruz was higher, but he may have reached his peak. Pittsburgh will take a big hit defensively playing him in RF, so I don't really get the move from their side.