Miami Marlins face reality, trade 2 relievers to Toronto Blue Jays for infield prospect
MIAMI — This MLB Trade Deadline was supposed to be different for the Miami Marlins.
With a stable of strong starting pitching, coupled with some promising young core position players, the Marlins entered 2022 full of optimism. In the offseason, they addressed offensive needs by signing free-agent outfielders Avisail Garcia and Jorge Soler. They traded for catcher Jacob Stallings and infielder Joey Wendle. From ownership to the players, there was talk of being a playoff contender.
The projection wasn’t far-fetched, especially since MLB expanded the playoffs by adding a third Wild Card to each league.
But Tuesday afternoon, roughly two hours before the 6 p.m. Trade Deadline, manager Don Mattingly addressed the media by talking about the Marlins becoming “sellers.”
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As recently as Friday before the Marlins faced the New York Mets for a weekend series at loanDepot park, Mattingly spoke about the club still hoping to add players at the deadline.
“It’s disappointing,” Mattingly said. “I know we are getting looked at as sellers, which is hard to look at it any other way.”
Instead, on Tuesday, relievers Anthony Bass and Zach Pop packed their bags and said their goodbyes after they were traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for infield prospect Jordan Groshans.
“We definitely came in very excited about the club,” general manager Kim Ng said. “Somewhat disappointed. I think all the players are disappointed, too. Everybody expected more. The season, we got absolutely crushed with injuries. That wasn’t all of it. But that was a large part.”
Groshans is a shortstop/third baseman who projects to play third. Ranked 82nd on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list, the 22-year-old was the 12th overall pick in the 2018 draft. At High A Dunedin and Triple-A Buffalo, he combined to bat .247 with a home run and nine doubles.
The plan is to start him off at Triple-A Jacksonville.
The Marlins explored other trade possibilities, with a great deal of attention on right-hander Pablo Lopez. The Los Angeles Dodgers checked in late, and the New York Yankees, Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals had interest in Lopez, who has two more arbitration years before being eligible for free agency.
After the deadline passed, Ng spoke with Lopez, who is 7-6 with a 3.41 ERA in 21 starts.
"I think we were both relieved everything is over,” Ng said. “For Pablo, I just told him that I imagine that it must have been hard for you the past week or so, 10 days. I’m sorry that was the case. But you’re here. We’re happy to have you. I said, ‘You are very, very popular amongst other clubs.’ ”
As of now, it doesn’t appear the Marlins are leaning towards offering Lopez a contract extension.
Until the bitter end, the Marlins held out hope they had enough depth to keep them afloat. But the Mets gave them a wakeup call, sweeping the three games in Miami. Even on Monday, against a Cincinnati Reds team that traded outfielder Tommy Pham to the Boston Red Sox literally minutes before the first pitch, Miami ended up losing, 3-1.
With a 47-56 record entering Tuesday, Ng faced the reality that moves for the future were necessary. The Marlins came out of the All-Star Break, going 4-4 against teams with losing records – the Texas Rangers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Reds. They went 4-3 on their road trip, and at home the N.L. East-leading Mets showed no mercy, dropping them nine under.
“We hadn’t been clicking, but we were hanging in there,” Mattingly said. “Then to come into the Mets’ series and just kind of get manhandled. That’s kind of an eye-opener when you just get manhandled. You see where you’re stacking up at that moment with the team that you have and the guys that you’re missing. That’s kind of a reality shot.”
Jazz Chisholm, Jorge Soler among Marlins injured players
A string of injuries crushed any realistic chance for the Marlins to make a serious run before Tuesday's deadline. The team has been without All-Star second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr, outfielder Jorge Soler, third baseman Brian Anderson, infielder Jon Berti, and All-Star first baseman/designated hitter Garrett Cooper. Plus, the pitching staff already had Edward Cabrera and Jesus Luzardo, who was activated and pitched Monday, out with injuries.
“It was like you were losing a guy a day,” Mattingly said. “A lot of things have happened fast. We were already on semi-soft ground. For that to happen, it really put us back.”
As an organization, the Marlins have added depth. But they didn’t have enough to cover all the core players lost to injury.
“I think clubs like us always feel nervous about our depth," Mattingly said. "You know where you’re at. You’re nervous. But to think we were going to have this type of injuries is different than like anything that I’ve been through.”
The Marlins have organizational bullpen depth, making Bass and Pop expendable. For Bass, especially, his name had been out there for a while.
“It can be distracting to see your name come up in trade talks a lot, but it’s also exciting too,” the 34-year-old right-hander said. “Where are you going to be, come tomorrow. I really tried to be focused on the game. Come out there in the back end and put up a zero. And when the game ended, to celebrate a victory. Hopefully. Usually, my wife keeps me informed. She’s the one reading a lot of the updates.”
Joe Frisaro covered the Marlins from 2002 to 2020 for mlb.com. He is the founder of ManOn2nd Baseball. Follow him @ManOn2nd and his podcast on the Five Reasons Sports YouTube Channel.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Marlins trade with Toronto Blue Jays at MLB deadline
