Marlins Could Make Bold Move for Elite Reliever at Trade Deadline

If the Miami Marlins are serious about October, then going after some stellar pieces would be wise.

Miami Marlins hat. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If it hasn’t already been made clear, yes, the Miami Marlins are a pretty good baseball team.

That might be shocking to the fan who has jumped into the middle of the season out of nowhere. If you had told somebody that the Marlins would be 52-45 at the All-Star break, they would’ve probably erupted into a fit of confusion that would rival how Bill Gates must’ve felt that time he lost to chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen in 12 seconds. It’s utterly confuddling, yet it’s very much real.

Now it’s time for the Marlins to make good on this fortune by adding at the trade deadline. There are several aspects of the team that make sense to supplement. It’s always nice to have extra depth in the rotation. The same goes for the bullpen. Everybody knows that the squad requires some additional right-handed pop, too.

So where do the Marlins turn? Which direction makes the most sense?

While there isn’t one definitive answer — Marlins fans would be happy with any sort of trade acquisition given the grand state of the franchise at the moment — it’s the back end of the bullpen that could use some help over the next couple of months as the team marches toward October.

The Bullpen Must be Top Priority for Miami

Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

ESPN’s Jeff Passan threw out some fairly sizable names that could be fits for the Marlins at the trade deadline. To say that the quality of the names of the pitchers he was suggesting as possible fits is out of this world — particularly for the Marlins — would be an understatement.

The best match, at least according to Passan, is Boston Red Sox left-handed reliever Aroldis Chapman.

That’s right.

The man who threw the fastest pitch in MLB history — a 105.8 mph fastball thrown on Sept. 24, 2010 — could be an option for the Marlins in an attempt for a run to the postseason. As the Red Sox have been languishing for much of the season, thoughts of selling the flame-throwing lefty have been at the forefront of a lot of people’s minds. While Chapman is up there in age — he’s 38 and not getting any younger — he still possesses an elite ability to get hitters out.

But would the Red Sox be willing to deal him at this point? Boston has gone on an extraordinary run back toward relevancy over the last couple of weeks, meaning that there’s reason to keep Chapman for the rest of the season, especially if the next couple of series go well. That’s not good news for the Marlins since there really aren’t a ton of high-quality lefties on the market who could help the team in the back end of the bullpen.

If Chapman isn’t an option, Houston Astros southpaw Josh Hader could be a dream option. The same thought process with Chapman also applies to Hader. While the Astros are currently on the outside looking in, the crowded and mediocre American League allows just about anybody to climb back into contention in the blink of an eye. One good week and the Astros might decide that selling a player like Hader isn’t worth it. The Marlins obviously hope otherwise.

Either way, the Marlins need to bulk up the back end of the bullpen — preferably with a lefty. It’s not necessarily something that will make or break the campaign, but it’d go a long way toward getting Miami back to the postseason for the first time since 2023.