The Jesús Luzardo Trade Is Not Looking Great for the Marlins

Right before the turn of the new year, division rivals the Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies made their second notable trade with one another.

Southpaw, and South Florida native, Jesús Luzardo was sent over to Philadelphia, along with minor league catcher Paul McIntosh, from Miami for minor league infielder Starlyn Caba (JB’s No. 75 prospect) and outfielder Emaarion Boyd.

While I have notably been one of Peter Bendix’s biggest supporters in giving him time to have his plan play out, this trade might be one to come back to bite the Fish.

I’m not saying that an inevitable trade of Luzardo was the wrong idea, but trading him before giving him the chance to rebuild some of his trade value after an injury-shortened 2024 should not have been the approach taken. Especially when he still had two full seasons of team control.

Luzardo only made 12 starts last season, throwing only 66.2 innings to a 5.00 ERA before being shut down in June due to a back injury. The concern surrounding Luzardo being able to return from this injury was warranted, but he is proving now that he is back to full health and dominating on the mound right now for the Phillies.

Through five starts with Philadelphia, Luzardo has a 2.08 ERA across 30.1 innings with a 10.7 K/9. He ranks in the 76th percentile with a chase rate of 31.8% and has re-established the feel for his four-seamer that he seemed to have lost in his limited starts last season for the Marlins. His dominance was felt from his first game at The Bank, as he struck out 11 in his debut.

Meanwhile, the players the Marlins received in return are struggling to find their footing in their new organization.

Known as a glove-first prospect, shortstop Starlyn Caba is currently playing at Single-A Jupiter and not finding much success at the plate. His .200/.431/.200 slash line is a cause for concern, but at least his plate discipline is still proving strong, as he is walking near 30% of the time.

The development at the plate was always the concern with Caba, and the Marlins are now tasked with trying to unlock that part of his game.

Emaarion Boyd was unranked in the Phillies system as a prospect. Known really for his speed, there isn’t much else to his game. He is currently hitting .114 in High-A Beloit, and the only notable thing he has accomplish thus far was the game in which he had three stolen bases even without recording a hit.

After this trade came together, Bendix was asked directly why this was the return he was willing to take for the establish left-hander, and he said: “These are guys that we feel very strongly about. We think that they’re really high-end pieces that are hard to acquire and can help us be good for a long time.”

As of right now, that is not looking like the case. This is a trade that will likely go down as one of the blunders on Bendix’s resume as he continues to man the front office in Miami. Marlins fans can only hope he learns from this mistake and is a little more patient in his approach going forward.