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Trade Targets: The Marlins went from a Wild Card team to 100 losses
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Photo credit: © Jim Rassol - USA Today
Ryley Delaney
Oct 29, 2024, 06:00 EDTUpdated: Nov 29, 2024, 00:38 EST
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Will the Miami Marlins ever be good again? Probably not.
That means that once again, they’ll probably be active on the trade market, as they traded two good players with term this past season, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Luis Arráez. There are a handful of players on the Marlins that could be intriguing to the Toronto Blue Jays as well.
The Marlins have been rebuilding for quite a while and have a plethora of young players, so it’s hard to see them trading anyone with a significant amount of team control. With that being said, four players on the Marlins’ roster could help the Blue Jays in 2025 and beyond.

A brief overview of the 2024 season for the Marlins

Since joining Major League Baseball in 1993, the Miami (or Florida) Marlins have made the postseason just four times, one of which was during the weird 2020 COVID season. Funnily enough, the first two times they made the postseason, the Marlins won the World Series in 1997 and 2003.
In 2020, they ended a 16-year playoff drought, winning the Wild Card Series before being swept by the Atlanta Braves in the National League Divisional Series. The Marlins broke their non-COVID-playoff drought after 19 seasons in 2023, finishing with an 84-78 record, but were swept in two games by the Philadelphia Phillies. Still, it was progress.
And then, the Marlins put up a stinker of a season. They finished with a 62-100 record, the second-worst record in the league, with the Rockies 61-101 being the worst. If not for a sweep of the Blue Jays in the final series, the Marlins likely finish with the worst record.
Let’s see which players the Jays could pursue.

Jake Burger

The Blue Jays need a third baseman and Jake Burger may be that fit.
Last season, the third baseman/first baseman slashed .250/.301/.460 with 29 home runs in 579 plate appearances for a 106 wRC+ and a 1.4 fWAR. Despite the power, he struck out a respectable 25.9% of the time but didn’t walk a whole lot (5.4 BB%).
The season before, he split his time between the Chicago White Sox and Marlins. Overall, he slashed .250/.309/.518 with 34 home runs in 540 plate appearances for a 120 wRC+. He complied a 2.2 fWAR.
Defensively, he’s not Matt Chapman or Ernie Clement by any means. This season, he had -5 Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average in 487 innings. For his career, he has -16 DRS and -18 OAA in 1723 innings.
For the first time in his career, Burger spent a significant portion of the season at first base. In 462.1 innings, he had -1 DRS and -1 OAA.
Burger has Super Two eligibility, meaning he’ll have his first arbitration this season and have four rounds of arbitration, more than the usual three. According to Spotrac, Burger is projected to make $2.3 million next season.

Anthony Bender

The biggest need for improvement this season for the Blue Jays is their bullpen. A reliever from the Marlins that would improve the team drastically is Anthony Bender.
After missing most of 2022 and all of 2023 due to Tommy John surgery, Bender returned and pitched well out of the bullpen, owning a 4.08 ERA and a 2.92 FIP in 53 innings pitched. Moreover, the 29-year-old righty struck out 25.9% of batters he faced, while walking a career-best 7.9% of batters.
It wasn’t quite his 2021 season, where he had a 2.79 ERA and a 3.19 FIP in 61.1 innings pitched, along with a 28.7 K% and an 8.1 BB%, but Bender would fit in nicely in the Jays bullpen.
Interestingly, the Blue Jays have a track record of trading for Marlins relievers. In 2021, they traded Joe Panik and a minor league for the Marlins’ Adam Cimber. The following season, the Jays traded Jordan Groshans for Anthony Bass and Zach Pop.
Bender is entering the second of four years of arbitration this off-season. The 29-year-old righty is expected to make $1.4 million according to MLB Trade Rumors and will become a free agent at the end of the 2027 season.

Jesús Luzardo

In the past few seasons, the Blue Jays have had a good track record of getting the best out of left-handed starters. Think Robbie Ray in 2021 and Yusei Kikuchi in 2023 and 2024.
Their rotation is largely set in stone with their only real need being a left-handed starter. One such starter on the Marlins is Jesús Luzardo. The 27-year-old missed most of 2024 due to a back injury, finishing the year with a 5 ERA and a 4.26 FIP in 66.2 innings pitched.
However, Luzardo was great the season prior, posting a 3.58 ERA and a 3.55 FIP in 178.2 innings pitched, with a 28.1 K% and a 7.4 BB%. The left-handed pitcher averaged 95.5 mph with the fastball, but averaged a tick under 97 mph in 2023.
The cost would be immense as he still has two seasons of team control. This is his third of fourth season in arbitration (the Marlins have a ton of players with Super 2 rights), and he’s expected to make $6 million according to MLB Trade Rumors.

Sandy Alcántara

If the Blue Jays want to trade for an ace, the Marlins have a player who fits the bill: Sandy Alcántara.
The 29-year-old missed the entirety of the 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery but was among the league’s best pitchers since becoming a regular in 2018.  In 2023, Alcántara finished with a 4.14 ERA and a 4.03 FIP in 184.2 innings pitched, along with a 19.8 K% and a 6.3 BB%.
It wasn’t as great as the 2022 season, as Alcántara won the National League Cy Young Award thanks to a 2.28 ERA and a 2.99 FIP in 228.2 innings pitched, along with a 23.4 K% and a 5.6 BB%. He eats innings and pitches well thanks to a ton of ground balls and a fastball that averages around 98 mph.
Unlike the other three players we’ve looked at, Alcántara is past his arbitration days but is still under contract for three more seasons. For the next two seasons, the 29-year-old will make $17.3 million, before a club option for the 2027 season worth $21 million.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D.

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