Five Best Trade Fits for Marlins Starting Pitcher Jesús Luzardo

The MLB trade market is red-hot after big name stars like Garrett Crochet, Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger have all found new homes in the past week or so.

And with so many other names rumored to be on the move, the question now is: who will be the next notable name dealt?

One big name that’s rumored with a potential move is Miami Marlins starter Jesús Luzardo.

The Marlins have already been active on the trade market this winter, sending clubhouse leader Jake Burger to the Rangers during the Winter Meetings. And their recent trade history extends further as Luis Arráez, Tanner Scott, Josh Bell and Trevor Rogers were all dealt throughout the 2024 season.

President of Baseball Operations Pete Bendix seems poised to go all out with this rebuild, and with how integral former Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcántara and potential ace of the future Eury Pérez look, Luzardo logically seems like the next big piece to moved, should the Marlins deal from their rotation.

It was an injury-ridden season for the 27-year-old lefty in 2024, having missed roughly two-and-a-half weeks with elbow tightness early on in the season. He then later went down for the remainder season due to a lumbar stress reaction in the middle of June.

And from a performance standpoint, it also wasn’t a strong season for Luzardo in 2024, as he posted a 5.00 ERA, a 4.26 FIP, a 1.25 WHIP, a .244 AVG against and just 7.83 K/9 in 66.2 innings across 12 starts.

But Luzardo has proved he’s far better than what we saw in 2024, having had two great seasons prior, which included ERAs in the mid-3.00s and K/9 totals above 10.00.

And when you pair his recent track record on the mound with the fact that he’s still under control through 2026 on an arbitration level salary, makes him a valuable trade commodity for teams looking to affordably bolster their starting rotation with some top-end talent.

The type of suitors I see being the best fits for Luzardo are, as previously mentioned, contenders or teams looking to step into contention in 2025 looking for support within the top three spots in their rotation, but also have the required depth to account for any potential injury concerns they may have with Luzardo. Because it wasn’t just 2024 that saw Luzardo miss time to the IL, in 2022 he made just 18 starts after missing two-and-a-half months to a forearm strain.

So with all this in mind, here are some of the top trade fits for Luzardo this winter.

Top Jesus Luzardo Trade Fits

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs seem like the perfect trade fit here with multiple sources already reporting their interest in the southpaw this offseason.

Chicago has already made significant strides to put themselves in a better position to compete in 2025, after pulling off a blockbuster deal for outfielder Kyle Tucker on Friday, as well as bolstering the bottom half of their rotation with the signing of Matthew Boyd.

And now that Cody Bellinger is off to the Yankees, the Cubs freed up a considerable amount of payroll to be that much more active this winter.

They have a solid rotation already, led by the Shota Imanaga and Justin Steele, that finished tied for fifth in MLB in ERA, tied for eighth in WHIP and tied for 12th in AVG against.

From a large-scale perspective, Luzardo would give them the type of arm to create a formidable top three alongside Imanaga and Steele that could set them up well for a postseason series. And from a day-to-day standpoint, if Luzardo can re-capture the swing-and-miss capabilities he held before his injury-plagued 2024 campaign, he can bring the Cubs’ starting staff something they lacked in 2024 when they ranked tied for 25th in the league in K-rate.

Chicago has the means at both the top-end of the rotation with Imanaga and Steele, as well as within their depth with the likes of Boyd, Jameson Taillon and Javier Assad, to assume any injury risk that may come with trading for Luzardo.

With the prospect capital that Chicago can offer Miami in a deal, this seems like a no-brainer of a fit for both sides.

That being said, after there was reported momentum this week on deal between the two clubs, Bruce Levine of 670 The Score said on Thursday morning that trade talks had stalled between the two, so it remains to be seen if they’re are able to come back to the table on Luzardo down the road.

New York Mets

The Mets may not have the top-end talent that the Cubs or others on this list might have, after both Sean Manaea and Luis Severino hit free agency this winter, but they do have considerable depth with decent upside that can be unlocked with their excellent pitching lab.

When the Mets turned their 2024 campaign around at the beginning of June, a big reason for that was the strength of their rotation, which ranked fifth in ERA, ninth in WHIP and fourth in AVG against in the final four months of the season.

So if New York wants to make a run at an NL pennant again in 2025, finding a way to replace the production that Manaea and Severino provided at the top is a great way to do so.

Luzardo would provide the Mets’ rotation with a clear cut number one to take the pressure off of Kodai Senga to perform at his best after the health concerns he faced in 2024, as well as the newly signed Frankie Montas, who will be looking to rebound in 2025 after a lackluster campaign last season.

And with the plethora of middle-to-lower end rotation options in Clay Holmes, David Peterson, Paul Blackburn, Tylor Megill and now Griffin Canning, they have the depth to really ease Luzardo back onto the mound, perhaps even with a six-man rotation.

A trade within the division for a young controllable arm could prove to be the biggest obstacle for David Stearns and Co. in this scenario. But the Mets have some intriguing names within their farm system to make a trade worth the Marlins while, and they’ve also shown their willingness to do whatever it takes to get their guy, making this deal achievable than it may seem on the surface.

Philadelphia Phillies

Another division rival that might be interested in swinging a deal for Luzardo is the Philadelphia Phillies, after falling short on a Garrett Crochet deal this offseason.

The Phillies are loaded in their rotation already, with All-Star talent Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sánchez and Ranger Suárez occupying the top four spots.

But beyond that top four, there’s some real questions on how this rotation will shape up. Taijuan Walker is coming off the worst year of his career with a 7.10 ERA and 1.72 WHIP in 2024. Just Baseball’s No. 11 ranked prospect Andrew Painter may be fresh off being named the Arizona Fall League’s Pitcher of the Year, but he is still a 21-year-old arm that hasn’t pitched in MiLB since 2022 due to injury.

Luzardo would provide the Phillies with a top-notch option to round out their starting rotation, giving them a path to compete with the likes of the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers when it comes with the strength of their starter core.

With Philadelphia making a continued effort to go out land Crochet before he went to Boston indicates that President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski is willing deal the necessary assets to improve the rotation.

And while Crochet may have a higher ceiling than Luzardo, after a great 2024 campaign with the White Sox, Luzardo is only a year older than Crochet, has the same amount of remaining control and has more of a track record as a starter, making him an ideal pivot for the Phillies.

Cincinnati Reds

Another team that was reported to have kicked the tires on Crochet was the Cincinnati Reds, as MLB insider Bob Nightengale listed them as a finalist for him before he was dealt to the Red Sox.

If the Reds are still interested in adding another starter to the mix, Luzardo would be great consolation prize for them.

They have a solid rotation already, led by their ace in Hunter Greene, with solid options backing him up in Nick Martinez, Brady Singer, Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo and Rhett Lowder, but could certainly benefit from adding an arm like Luzardo to the fold.

Lodolo and Lowder have the upside to be top-end starting arms, but Lodolo has been on the IL six times since debuting in 2022, including four stints in 2024; and Lowder is still just a 22-year-old with only six major league appearances under his belt to this point.

And Martinez, Singer and Abbot, while all valuable pieces to what the Reds want to achieve in 2025, still project more as middle-of-the-rotation type arms.

Luzardo would provide the Reds with a clear-cut number two option for Greene atop the rotation. And the Reds have the necessary depth to assume any injury risk that Luzardo might carry.

One glaring question for any pitcher coming into Great American Ballpark is whether or not they can limit the long ball in such a hitter friendly park. If Luzardo is healthy and at his best, he’s managed to keep his HR/9 totals in the low 1.00s or better (0.91 in 2022 and 1.11 in 2023). For context, their original target in Crochet put up a 1.11 HR/9 total in 2024.

Luzardo is a young, controllable and relatively affordable arm for the next two seasons, making a team that fields a plethora of young talent and sported the 25th lowest payroll in MLB last season a prime trade fit.

Boston Red Sox

How fitting is it that after listing multiple teams who were in on Crochet before he was traded, the team that landed him could also be a fit for Luzardo.

According to Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow, the Red Sox are still in the market for starting pitching.

Now, the one thing that could make the Red Sox a weaker fit for Luzardo is the fact that they would be taking on a starter who’s missed considerable time in two of the last three seasons, after just trading for Crochet, who missed all of 2022 due to undergoing Tommy John surgery before he became a full-time starter last season.

That being said, without Crochet in the mix in 2024, the Red Sox rotation managed to finish top 10 in ERA (T-7th), WHIP (T-2nd) and AVG against (T-4th) led by the likes of Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford.

While they all three performed well last season, it’s easy to see why the Red Sox are keen on adding starters, as all three of these arms project as more mid-to-low end rotation options long-term. Luzardo would slot in comfortably as the number two in this Red Sox rotation as they look to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2021, and just the second time since 2018.

And that depth of Houck, Bello and Crawford have showcased the ability to step and lead a rotation, should the Red Sox face injury issues with either Crochet and Luzardo, should they deal for him.

While they gave up a fair amount for Crochet from a prospect standpoint, they still have one of the more intriguing farm systems in baseball to provide a suitable return for the Marlins in any deal for Luzardo.