SF Giants rumors: Five potential trades with the Miami Marlins

The MLB trade deadline is less than a week away. The SF Giants remain in a tightly packed race for the National League West crown. On the other side of the country, the Miami Marlins find themselves in the cellar of the NL East and 15 games below .500. While the Marlins found their way to the postseason in 2021, they are clearly set to be cellars this summer. What could a few trades look like between these two teams?

SF Giants: Five potential trades with the Miami Marlins
1. Starling Marte

Starling Marte has been as good as ever this season with the Marlins, hitting .303/.403/.452 with seven home runs and 21 stolen bases in 62 games. On the defensive side of the ball, Marte may not be the same player he was when he won back-to-back Gold Gloves in 2015-2016, but per Statcast’s Outs Above Average, he remains one of the best defensive center fielders in the league.

One of the best available players on the market this summer; it makes perfect sense that the SF Giants were already tied to Marte last week. Making $12 million in the final year of his contract, his market is unlikely to yield the Marlins a significant return. In fact, given Miami’s focus on returning to postseason contention quickly, the Giants might be able to use more of their upper minors and MLB depth pieces to help swing a deal.

While none of the trio of prospects in this package ranked among the Giants top 31 prospects heading into the season, Diego Rincones and R.J. Dabovich would easily slot into the group after some exceptional starts to 2021. Just as importantly, both players are just 22 and have already reached Double-A.

Dabovich has quickly emerged as one of the best relief-pitching prospects in the organization. He generates fantastic spin on all his pitches to help his high-90s fastball and power curveball form a lethal strikeout combination. After starting the year at High-A, where Dabovich struck out an absurd 60.2% of batters he faced, he’s struggled a bit since reaching Double-A, posting a 5.84 ERA across 12.1 innings of work. However, Dabovich has still posted a 35.2% strikeout rate and has actually cut his walks since his promotion. In fact, advanced metrics like FIP (2.99) and xFIP (3.99) are both far higher on his performance with the Richmond Flying Squirrels.

Rincones has always had a plus arm and fantastic bat-to-ball skills, but questions about his range and power potential left him on the fringes of most prospect rankings. This season, though, Rincones has consistently impacted the ball in the minors and for the Venezuelan Olympic qualifying team. Rincones hit .300/.385/.533 in 25 games at High-A before he was promoted to Richmond, where he’s still posted a .822 OPS despite playing in one of the most pitcher-friendly environments in the minor leagues and recording a .270 BABIP.

Grant McCray was the Giants third-round pick in 2019, with the potential for above-average tools across the board in center field. However, without a minor-league season in 2020, there are questions about whether the 20-year-old will ever be able to put it together. Still, he could easily be replaced by another low-level flier the Marlins prefer.

This package may lack punch and upside, and there may be some other players in other proposals that could get a deal done. Still, it’s harder to find two prospects in the Giants system with closer proximity to the big leagues and youth on their side quite like Dabovich and Rincones.

SF Giants: Five potential trades with the Miami Marlins
2. Yimi García

Marlins closer Yimi García might not be the best reliever available on this summer’s trade block, but Zaidi is quite familiar with him from both of their tenures with the Dodgers, and he’s on a cheap, expiring contract. García was never an MLB closer prior to this season, but he’s been relatively effective for Miami this year, recording 15 saves in 18 attempts alongside a 3.47 ERA in 36.1 innings pitched.

Historically more a middle reliever than closer, Garcia’s advanced numbers are skeptical of the sustainability of his success. xERA (4.62), FIP (4.17), and xFIP (4.20) all project Garcia to regress over the rest of the season, but if the SF Giants are unwilling to pay the price for an elite reliever, Garcia could be a cheap alternate that Zaidi is comfortable with from their shared tenure in Los Angeles.

The Giants might have to include a reliever like Kervin Castro, but usually, the market for relievers, especially rentals, is fairly light on returns. As effective as García has been, the advanced metrics skepticism will only push his value down further. While reliever Norwith Gudino lacks the pedigree of someone like Castro, it’s not inconceivable that he could be in an MLB bullpen before the end of the season.

Gudino relies on a mid-90s fastball and splitter that flashes devastating break when it’s clicking on all cylinders. After dominating at Double-A to start the season (1.44 ERA in 25 innings), the 25-year old has continued posting a fantastic strikeout-to-walk ratio at Triple-A (17 strikeouts and three walks in 11.1 innings) while posting a 6.35 ERA.

Gudino’s peripherals suggest his ERA should improve with time as he adjusts to Triple-A competition, and pitching in Triple-A West is always a tall task. From the Giants perspective, Gudino will need to be added to the 40-man roster this fall to avoid being selected in the Rule 5 draft, something they are unlikely to have the flexibility to do. At the same time, as the Marlins look for relievers of the future, they might welcome the opportunity to see if he could find a place in their bullpen alongside a flier, like recent international free agent signee Mauricio Pierre, for a reliever that will be hitting the open market in a few months.

SF Giants: Five potential trades with the Miami Marlins
3. Garrett Cooper

If the SF Giants are eyeing improvements in the outfield and bullpen, a deal for Garrett Cooper and Dylan Floro could quickly become an intriguing combination. Floro, like Garcia, spent some time in Los Angeles while Zaidi was there and has been a fairly consistent middle-reliever for the past three seasons (111 innings pitched, 3.32 ERA, and 3.03 FIP). Cooper, on the other hand, has been a viable everyday corner bat with a particular propensity to hit against left-handed pitchers.

Austin Slater could fit in any number of moves, particularly with teams like Miami that are looking to compete in the near future. The 28-year-olds performance has taken a major step back from 2020, but he is still capable of playing average or better defense at all three outfield positions and, even in his down 2021 season, is hitting .231/.331/.444 against southpaws.

Cooper was placed on the injured list with a left elbow sprain (his non-throwing arm) last week, and he has not appeared in a game since July 18th. However, if his doctors are confident he can return to the field within a couple of weeks of the deadline, the Giants might be compelled to gamble on strengthening their lineup, particularly against lefties, heading into the final weeks of the season.

Primarily a platoon player early in his career, Cooper found a more consistent everyday role in 2021 and took advantage of the opportunity, hitting .284/.380/.465 before he was placed on the IL. For a Giants team that has been inconsistent against left-handed pitching all season, Cooper’s .344/.408/.563 triple-slash with the platoon advantage could make him even more enticing.

With that said, there are some large caveats besides his health. Cooper has run exorbitantly high BABIPs throughout his career, but his .374 mark in 2021 is easily the highest he’s posted in a season with at least 50 plate appearances. Cooper’s 2021 looks a lot like Slater’s 2020, and while Cooper has two more years of team control after this season through arbitration, that’s one fewer than Slater. If a team believes Slater is closer to the player he was last season than this season, the Giants might be better off betting on him improving in the second half than trading for a very similar player.

If the Giants do want to bet on Cooper’s longer track record, Slater alongside a couple of 40-grade prospects, like Luis Toribio and Carson Ragsdale, should be enough to get it done. The question is how does Zaidi, and the rest of MLB, view Slater’s future. Perhaps he could be a centerpiece in a deal for a better outfielder, like Marte, or the Giants are better off betting on a bounceback in the weeks to come.

SF Giants: Five potential trades with the Miami Marlins
5. Joey Bart

Even after Joey Bart’s big-league struggles last season, the former second overall pick remains one of the most highly regarded catching prospects in MLB. While Marte may be one of the most desirable players on the market this summer, his impending free agency would make a Bart-for-Marte swap almost assuredly untenable for San Francisco. At the same time, the entire Marlins organization has some of the worst catching depth at the major and minor league level. Adding Bart could give Miami certainty behind the plate for years to come.

Moreover, of the SF Giants top prospects, they are reportedly most willing to part with Bart. With an eye towards a middle-of-the-lineup bat and starting pitching depth, the two sides might be able to find an agreement. Marte remains a perfect upgrade to San Francisco’s lineup, but with only a few months left before he hits free agency, the Marlins might be willing to add some young pieces to acquire their catcher of the future.

Neither Nick Neidert nor Braxton Garrett project as much more than fourth starters in a rotation, but both have already made their MLB debuts and should be ready to contribute immediately for the Giants if needed. In addition, both have multiple years of options remaining after 2021, which would give Zaidi tremendous flexibility with the rotation down the stretch of this season and beyond.

Garrett, 23, once ranked among the top-100 prospects in baseball but has seen his status dip as his fastball velocity has fallen to around 90 mph after undergoing UCL surgery. However, with above-average command and a true four-pitch mix, he should become a competent contributor. This season, split between  Triple-A and Miami, Garrett has a 4.40 ERA, 69 strikeouts, and 26 walks in 73.2 innings of work.

Neidert, 24, was drafted in the second round of the 2015 MLB draft by the Mariners, and quickly ascended through the minors before an injury-plagued 2019 stalled his development. Like Garrett, Neidert has a below-average fastball that works in the low-90s but relies on a plus changeup and plus command to limit opponent’s damage. Neidert has posted a 2.37 ERA at Triple-A this season and 3.96 ERA in 25 big-league innings, but his peripherals suggest he’s benefitted from a substantial amount of good luck.

The Marlins young rotation has plenty of upper-level prospects with far more upside than either Neidert or Garrett. Top prospects Edward Cabrera and Max Meyer have already dominated at Double-A and are on the verge of making a big-league push of their own. Beyond Meyer and Cabrera, Sixto Sanchez might have been one of the five best pitching prospects in MLB coming into the year before he underwent shoulder surgery. While his stock has still taken a hit, the Marlins organization still has high hopes for the young righty.

With spades of upper-level pitching depth, Miami has the flexibility to part with two potential big-league ready arms to help the Giants strengthen their pitching depth in 2021 and beyond. Combining a pair of intriguing young arms with Marte could be enough to finally get Zaidi to part with a premium prospect, like Bart. To help free up some 40-man roster spots (and help the Marlins cover innings in the second half of the season), Tyler Beede, who the Marlins wanted to acquire in a trade for Giancarlo Stanton some time ago, and Aaron Sanchez could head back to Miami alongside a rookie ball flier like Esmerlin Vinicio.

The SF Giants could be one of the most active buyers at the upcoming MLB trade deadline. At the same time, the Miami Marlins are poised to shop a lot of talent with an eye towards competing in 2022. Perhaps both front offices could