The Marlins are lucky to not be a part of the 3rd baseman free agent competition this offseason

The Miami Marlins made a few big trades at the deadline and one huge one was trading for Jake Burger. The Marlins acquired Jake Burger from the Chicago White Sox for Jake Eder. The Marlins got a deal with Burger and his stats were amazing once he arrived in Miami. 

Burger had a great season hitting .250 combined and smashing 34 home runs while driving in 80. The best part of Burger’s acquisition is that he was good in Chicago and got better in Miami. Burger had an .806 OPS in Chicago and an .860 OPS with Miami, mainly as a result of his .303 batting average in 198 at-bats. Jake Burger really made a statement with the Marlins and he will be a solid piece for a long while. 

The bigger impact of the Jake Burger add is what the Marlins don’t have to deal with, and that is not competing for a starting 3rd baseman. The current 3rd base free agent market is very competitive and the prices are way out of the Marlins range. Jeimer Candelario is one such 3rd base free agent and he will likely command a 4 year, $70 million contract which is more than Soler was making. Matt Chapman will likely be even pricier at around $150 million, which there is no way they could afford. 

The lower profile names in the free agent pool will still command up to $8 million a year and won’t have near the numbers the Jake Burger had this season. Kim Ng may have struggled in several ways but she did get the Jake Burger trade right. If the Marlins can sign Josh Bell for longer along with Luis Arraez, they could have a solid core to build on in pursuit of the playoffs. I for one am happy they have 3rd base locked down and they can look into lower demand positions for free agents.

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