The Purple Sox and Marlins have been discussing commerce eventualities, with recent reporting indicating the Sox have have some curiosity in veteran infielders Joey Wendle and Miguel Rojas. Plainly they’ve additionally mentioned a way more vital commerce as effectively, with the Fish making an attempt to amass younger first baseman Triston Casas, per a report from Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald.
Since Wendle and Rojas are each of their 30s and impending free brokers, their commerce worth could be pretty modest. Casas, nevertheless, is popping 23 years outdated later this month, nonetheless has six remaining years of management and is mostly thought-about one of many high 50 prospects within the sport. If he have been to be concerned in any commerce, it might absolutely transcend a deal for Rojas or Wendle. The report from the Herald signifies Miami tried to pry Casas unfastened from Boston in discussions involving their beginning pitchers.
There’s nothing to recommend that Boston is open to dealing Casas or ever gave severe consideration to the overtures coming from Miami. Nonetheless, it’s noteworthy that such a monumental deal has even been mentioned. The Marlins have reportedly been making an attempt to make use of their rotation surplus for a lineup increase for fairly a while, however haven’t but landed a deal to their liking. Whereas ace Sandy Alcantara and high prospect Eury Pérez are reportedly off limits, the Fish appear to be keen to half with one in all Pablo López, Jesús Luzardo, Trevor Rogers or Edward Cabrera in a commerce that might give them an affect bat and focused Casas to be that man.
The twenty sixth total choose within the 2018 draft, Casas mashed his method up the minor league ladder and reached the majors final yr on the age of twenty-two. He struck out in 24.2 % of his journeys to the plate, which was a bit above league common, however he additionally walked 20 % of the time and launched 5 dwelling runs in simply 27 video games. His lopsided .197/.358/.408 slash line resulted in a 120 wRC+, indicating he was 20 % higher than league common. That’s a really small pattern measurement, however he’s additionally hit extraordinarily effectively within the minors. In 72 Triple-A video games final yr, he hit .273/.382/.481 for a wRC+ of 127.
Although it is sensible that the Marlins could be all for an thrilling younger participant like that, it additionally is sensible that the Sox would wish to maintain onto him. Boston acquired Eric Hosmer from the Padres ultimately yr’s deadline however then have been seemingly impressed sufficient by the debut of Casas that they launched Hosmer in December. To abruptly pivot and embody Casas in a commerce could be fairly surprising.
The Marlins are additionally doubtlessly all for Ceddanne Rafaela, one other highly-touted Boston prospect however one additional away from the majors. The 22-year-old infielder/outfielder reached Double-A in 2022 and ought to be prepared for publicity to Triple-A this yr. He’s usually not ranked as extremely as Casas however nonetheless has some hype, with Baseball America presently contemplating him the #78 prospect in all of baseball and MLB Pipeline inserting him within the #96 slot. Nevertheless, Jackson and Mish report that the Marlins are prioritizing enhancing the 2023 workforce, making Rafaela much less fascinating to them than the MLB-ready Casas.
The final framework of a commerce isn’t completely inconceivable, within the sense that the Sox may absolutely use the beginning pitching that the Marlins have to supply. Chris Sale and James Paxton have hardly pitched up to now three years whereas current signee Corey Kluber is about to show 37 and has damage query marks of his personal. Garrett Whitlock has labored effectively in aid however appears to be headed for a transfer to the rotation regardless of simply 9 profession MLB begins so far in his profession. Nick Pivetta is arguably essentially the most dependable member of the bunch however he’s by no means posted an ERA beneath 4.53. Including some extra insurance coverage into that group would make sense however it appears the acquisition prices being mentioned with Miami are steep.
Although the Marlins have sufficient beginning pitching to curiosity the Purple Sox and plenty of different groups across the league, these talks maybe give us some perception as to why a deal nonetheless hasn’t come to fruition, given their excessive asking worth. With these talks but to bear fruit, the membership has been restricted to free company of their pursuit of upgrading an offense that produced an 88 wRC+ in 2022, ok for twenty fifth place within the league.
The membership had identified curiosity in José Abreu, with Jackson and Mish reporting they supplied a two-year deal within the $40MM vary. As a substitute, Abreu joined the Astros on a three-year take care of an identical wage, amounting to a $58.5MM assure. The Marlins then pivoted to Justin Turner and supplied him a one-year deal price $15MM. He as an alternative joined the Purple Sox on a deal that pays him $15MM in 2023 but additionally has a participant possibility for 2024 that might push his assure to $21.7MM over two years. The Fish additionally reportedly supplied Brandon Drury $19MM over two years however he ended up taking a barely smaller $17MM take care of the Angels. It had been lately reported by Sam Blum and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic that Drury grew up an Angels fan and likewise had a pre-existing relationship with Angels’ supervisor Phil Nevin from when Nevin was managing the Diamondbacks’ Triple-A workforce that Drury was on in 2015 and 2016. After lacking out on Abreu, Turner and Drury, the Marlins then acquired a deal finished with Jean Segura.
Whereas Segura is a strong addition, it appears the Marlins are nonetheless making an attempt to finish a big commerce that can make a good bigger affect on their lineup. It doesn’t appear doubtless that Casas would be the one, however it provides some sense of the kind of affect participant they’ve their eyes on. With about six weeks remaining till Spring Coaching, it will likely be very fascinating to see what different gamers they pursue and if they will line up on a deal.
