Miami Marlins May Have Swindled the MLB With This Clever Move

The Miami Marlins are not a franchise known for spending bucks. Sure, there have been times where the Marlins have splurged, but those moments have been sporadic, and it has been years since it has actually happened.

As a result, Miami has had to rely upon good scouting, solid drafting and shrewd pickups via both trades and free agency in an attempt to compete, and while the Marlins aren't exactly one of the winningest organizations in baseball, they do sometimes manage to find some gems.

Take outfielder Heriberto Hernandez, for example. Miami signed him as a free agent back in December after the Tampa Bay Rays opted to let him go. That came on the heels of Hernandez smashing 23 home runs and registering an .839 OPS in the minors last season.

Well, this year, the 25-year-old had already logged nine homers over 163 plate appearances at Triple-A Jacksonville before the Marlins decided to call him up, and he has displayed some very nice pop since being elevated to the big-league level.

Hernandez owns a lifetime .260/.380/.498 minor-league slash line, so while he strikes out quite a bit, he has power and he walks. There is no question that he has the talent to potentially carve out a role in Miami's lineup moving forward, and there is a possibility that he becomes a legitimate middle-of-the-order bat for the Fish.

And just think: the Marlins scooped him up off the scrap heap over the winter. The Rays had no interest in re-signing him, probably because he hit .187 over 183 trips to the dish at their Triple-A affiliate last year. But he still walked a lot and displayed clear power, so Tampa Bay may have made a mistake in letting him go. Just like the other 28 teams may have made an error in not signing him.

Now, Miami will get toy with the idea of featuring Hernandez in its batting order, especially if it trades an outfielder or two at the deadline next month.

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