Miami Marlins trade a pitcher with more trades on the way

The Trade Deadline is fast approaching but the trades are beginning now! It's not the one that most people expect to happen. Not yet anyway. That said, it's another pitching related transaction. The Miami Marlins traded relief pitcher A.J. Puk to the Arizona Diamondbacks for prospects 1B/3B Deyvison De Los Santos and CF Andrew Pintar. Let's dive into the trade and see how it looks.

A.J. Puk is moving from the Miami Marlins to Arizona.

A.J. Puk did not have a particularly memorable run with The Fish. He pitched for the team from 2023 to 2024, with a combined 4.11 ERA/3.60 FIP, with 11.0 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9. In 2023. he produced a 3.97 ERA/3.59 FIP, with 12.4 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 58 games and 56.2 innings pitched. He accumulated 15 saves along the way as the team's closer for a brief period.

2024 saw Puk struggle in his attempt to turn into a starting pitcher. Puk struggled in that role, which contributed to his worse 4.30 ERA and 3.62 FIP, with a lowered 9.2 K/9 and a pretty poor 4.7 BB/9, in 32 games and 44.0 innings pitched this season. He is a free agent after next season, but it looks like the Miami Marlins decided to move on from him early.

I don't see A.J. Puk as an extension candidate and with arbitration raising his salary, it was definitely time to move on in a lost season. He wasn't an important part of the team at this point anyway. Coming back are two intriguing prospects...Deyvison De Los Santos is a 21 year old who is currently batting .289/.338/.588 in AAA, with 14 home runs in 194 AB.

CF Andrew Pintar is currently batting .184/.289/.237 in A+. He's already 23 years old so I am a bit concerned about his future prospects. I'm very excited about Deyvison De Los Santos however. I see it as a very good trade for the Miami Marlins and hopefully the rest of this sell-off will be successful as well. Time will tell if either of these prospects will work out of course, but we can be hopeful.