There has been a lot of talk regarding the potential fire sale the Miami Marlins want to do during the offseason.
With Derek Jeter at the helm, the former New York Yankees star wants to reduce the payroll around $90 million. To put that number into context, the Marlins had a $111,881,100 on Opening Day 2017. In other words, this means lowering the team’s salaries by at least $25 million and that’s not counting potential raises through arbitration.
Considering this scenario, the Marlins are reportedly involved in several trade scenarios. We have already discussed a potential trade of Giancarlo Stanton, and the St. Louis Cardinals have emerged as favorites to land the slugger due to their enormous quantity of high-end pitching prospects. But Stanton is not the only player that might leave the organization in the coming weeks.
According to several reports, the Marlins made both Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich available via trade, although they would only move them if there’s a substantial offer for any of them. If we put it in another way, then the Marlins have basically put their entire starting outfield on the trade block. That’s.. not the way you do things. The Marlins should either trade Stanton and his massive contract or Ozuna and Yelich. But what if they don’t part ways with any of them?
Stanton is a premier slugger and one of the best hitters in the MLB right now. He was healthy last season and the numbers backed him up since he finished with 59 homers. But Ozuna and Yelich are both decent players in their own right. Ozuna hit 37 homers with 124 RBI while hitting .312/.376/.548 during 2017. He is only 26 years old, so he is entering his prime years. And Yelich hit for .282/.369/.439 with 18 homers, 81 RBI, and 16 stolen bases.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7Xs085Kb78
Production aside, all three are locked up for the foreseeable future. Yelich is under contract until 2021 so he won’t be available on the open market until the 2022 season. Ozuna will be a free agent in 2020, and Stanton has a contract that runs up until 2028. Yes, that’s not a typo. Remember Stanton signed a 13-year, $325 million deal back in 2015.
If anything, Stanton has the higher value based on age, production and his contract. But Stanton would practically have to become one of the best hitters of all-time to have SOME sort of value during the final years of his current deal. Ozuna is coming off a career year, and Yelich is the type of versatile outfielder that teams love since he can hit for power, decent average and speed on the bases. There’s no question Miami would re-stock their farm system if they part ways with them.
And yes, Jeter wants to reduce the payroll. But parting ways with your best three players is not the way to do it. Especially when the franchise could be one or two players close to contending for a playoff spot. The Marlins should give their star outfield one more run before deciding to tear it all up. It’s just not the time to do it considering how good all three looked during 2017.