Subscribe
Follow Us
The Miami Marlins traded sharp-hitting infielder Luis Arraez earlier this month, and apparently, they aren't done.
The Marlins are still looking to move players, and apparently, left-handed starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo is the most likely candidate to be moved next. Not just from Miami, but from every team in baseball, via Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
“The Marlins are going to keep going,” Rosenthal said during an appearance on Foul Territory. “They traded Arraez, they're going to trade Luzardo as long as he stays healthy—he had a little flare-up physically earlier, but he's gone.”
Luzardo was placed on the 15-day injured list with an elbow injury in late April, but he has since returned and has looked good in his last four starts starts. As a matter of fact, he pitched 14 innings of shutout ball in his second and third outings back from the IL.
On the season overall, Luzardo has gone 2-4 with a 4.18 ERA. He has allowed 43 hits while registering 50 strikeouts over 51.2 innings of work and boasts a solid 3.63 FIP.
The Marlins initially acquired Luzardo midway through 2021 in a trade that sent Starling Marte to the Oakland Athletics.
The Marlins have been playing better baseball of late
Miami got off to an absolutely miserable start this season, which had a whole lot to do with its entire starting pitching staff being decimated by injuries.
Top two starters Sandy Alcantara and Eury Perez are both out for the year with Tommy John surgery, Braxton Garrett only recently returned, Edward Cabrera has been in and out of the rotation with injuries and Luzardo also missed some time.
Article Continues Below
However, lately, the Marlins have been playing some decent baseball.
After starting 10-31, Miami has gone a respectable 10-6 and had actually won four straight series before losing two out of three to the San Diego Padres. The Marlins are 20-37, so the chances of them contending for a playoff spot are slim to none.
Still, the fact that Miami is really trying to blow this team up a year after making the playoffs just speaks to how tone deaf the organization is.
The Marlins clearly had something going in 2023, qualifying for the postseason in spite of numerous key injuries. But, instead of doubling down and improving the roster during the offseason, Miami sat on its hands and did nothing in free agency, nor did it make any significant trades.
Then, the Marlins chose to jettison Arraez in early May when they almost certainly would have gotten more for him had they waited until the Aug. 1 deadline (not to mention the fact that Arraez is only 27 years old and could have been a part of the team's future).
Now, it appears that Luzardo, a 26-year-old who was terrific in 2022 and 2023, is next on the chopping block.
When everyone is healthy, the Marlins actually have a very talented roster, specifically in terms of their pitching. With Alcantara, Perez, Luzardo, Garrett and Cabrera, not to mention the emergence of Ryan Weathers, Miami actually has one of the deeper, more dangerous starting rotations in baseball.
All the Marlins really need is some more hitting, but instead of trying to add some offense to help out their pitchers, they are evidently choosing to break up the team like they have done so many times before.
