Things have gone very poorly for the Marlins so far, with one fired manager and a 20-31 record, but Joe Frisaro of MLB.com says that “doesn’t mean the club is thinking about selling any time soon.”
Martin Prado in particular stands out as a potential trade piece because he’s a good but not great 31-year-old veteran whose versatility could make him a fit with a lot of contending teams.
However, according to Frisaro the Marlins don’t think dealing Prado makes sense because he’s under contract for next season and the Yankees are paying $3 million of his $11 million salary. Frisaro also writes:
It seems a little far-fetched that trading a 31-year-old one-time All-Star with a .678 OPS this season and a .764 OPS for his career would be a crushing blow in terms of whatever remaining fan morale the Marlins have and whatever clubhouse leadership Prado brings to the table hasn’t kept the team from being terrible so far. (And within the past 12 months the Diamondbacks and Yankees were both very willing to part with Prado).
Of course, trying to make sense of the Marlins’ logic has often been difficult over the past decade or so.
Whatever the case, teams looking to swoop in and pick up some of the Marlins’ veterans will probably have to wait a bit longer.
