Landings Spots for Tanner Scott: The Marlins Best Trade Chip

The 2024 Miami Marlins are a disaster. Coming off their first full-season playoff appearance in 20 years, fans were hopeful that they could build on that success and finally put a consistent winning product on the field.

As has been well-documented, the exact opposite has happened. Instead, the Marlins have launched yet another rebuild with the promise once again that one day things will be different. We swear this time!

Not only are the Marlins a disaster, but they are also in nowhere land. They are a team in desperate need of a sell-off that does not have that many assets to sell.

Arguably their best asset, left-handed starter Jesús Luzardo, is on the shelf and will not be traded this deadline. The 26-year-old fireballer is under control through 2026 and is one of the brightest young lefties in the league.

Ken Rosenthal had previously reported it was almost a certainty he would be traded, but a lumbar stress reaction landed him on the 60-day IL. He also had a 5.00 ERA in 12 starts this year, which had already hurt his trade value from where it was in the offseason. The Marlins will likely look to ship him out this coming winter, but his injury has limited their deadline potential.

The same day the Marlins moved Luzardo to the 60-day, they also placed fellow lefty Braxton Garrett on the 15-day IL. That was almost a month ago and he has yet to come off. With two weeks before the deadline remaining, a deal for Garrett looks unlikely as well.

On offense, the Marlins are almost certainly moving Jazz Chisholm Jr. Skip Schumacher announced Jazz will see time in the infield, a move likely meant to help boost his trade value for other teams. With injury history and locker-room concerns, Jazz’s value may not be as high as some might think for a player of his talent.

Other names that could fetch limited returns on offense are Josh Bell, Jake Burger and Bryan De La Cruz. They also have a few relievers: Declan Cronin, Calvin Faucher and Anthony Bender, who may be able to net a mid-level prospect.

That leaves one guy as the Marlins lone hope for making a real splash at this deadline: Tanner Scott. The gas-pumping lefty closer has dominated this year, posting a 1.34 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 39 appearances.

That comes after he posted a 2.31 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 12.00 K/9 in 74 appearances in 2023.

A free agent after this season, Scott is a guarantee to be dealt and arguably the hottest closer on the market. In a weak market with plenty of teams that need relief help, Scott could fetch a very nice return for the Marlins. He is eighth among relievers in ERA, and nobody above him is on a team guaranteed to sell.

If the Marlins find the right trade partner, they could get a haul for their All-Star closer. Here are a few teams that could be the perfect match they are looking for.

Baltimore Orioles

The Marlins and Orioles have been an ideal match for a while now. If Luzardo were healthy, a package of him and Scott to Baltimore would have been too good to be true. Not only could they have made the splash of the deadline, but both would be huge additions to an Orioles team in need of pitching.

The question with the Orioles of course is not whether they are going to buy, but how aggressive they will be. Does the new front office believe their chance is now to win a World Series, and will they look to make a big move to get fans excited?

If that is the case, Peter Bendix has to be salivated at a chance to pry some prospects from the most-loaded farm system in baseball. It is hard to get blue-chip talents for a rental reliever, regarldess of how many dominant he has been, but the Orioles can trade prospects who are surplus that instantly become impact players for the Marlins.

We saw it with the last big trade they made, landing Corbin Burnes this offseason. Joey Ortiz has been plug-and-play and nearly made the All-Star Game as a rookie. If the Marlins landed Connor Norby, he would instantly be their best middle infielder by a coutnry mile.

Norby checks in at No. 6 in our top ranked Orioles prospects. Baltimore might not be keen to give him up for a rental, but even if they landed one of their outfield prospects in Enrique Bradfield Jr. (No. 7), Dylan Beavers (No. 9), Braylin Tavera (No 11.) or Jud Fabian, the Marlins could be very happy with their return, especially if they could get something else on top.

San Diego Padres

Nobody thinks the Padres are going to stand pat at the deadline, right? AJ Preller is always aggressive, and with the Padres right on the edge of a Wild Card spot, one has to imagine they’ll be buying come July 31.

The good news for the Marlins is the Padres need relief help, and they need it desperately. San Diego ranks 19th in reliever ERA and 28th in win probability added (WPA) in clutch situations. Their lefties are even worse, coming in at 21st in ERA and 29th in clutch WPA.

Just like the Orioles, the Padres have a great farm, with five players cracking Just Baseball’s Top 100. 17-year-old Leodalis De Vries seems like a perfect project for the Marlins to take on. He has been a league-average hitter (101 wRC+) in Low-A as the youngest player in our Top 100 and projects as a future shortstop. As with most positions, shortstop has also been a wasteland in the Marlins organization for years.

The Marlins and Padres already matched up on the Luis Arráez trade, and could do so again here with Scott.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers are always a boring option in these articles because they are seemingly in on everybody, but Scott would fill a need.

With so many injuries in the rotation, the Dodgers are the prime example that you can never have enough pitching. Dodger relievers have the 4th-best ERA in the league, but they have struggled in the clutch. They have just the 21st-best clutch WPA in the league.

Of course, the Dodgers are not in many clutch situations because they are always beating teams down. Still, they could always use help on the back-end.

My least favorite argument come trade time is the old “do not trade with the Dodgers or Rays” nonsense. Yes, the Dodgers are more likely than other franchises to find gems on your scrap heap. They are also more likely than others to ship away gems because they have such a plethora of them.

Bendix, having come from the Rays organization, where he worked under the tutelage of Andrew Friedman, will understand this better than anybody. The Dodgers constantly have a deep system with gems everywhere you look, and the Marlins could have a field day digging through it if they choose to send Scott to LA.

The Dodgers have four players in our Top 100, all position players and only one above High-A. This makes them a perfect match with a Marlins club looking for younger, high-upside prospects as part of their long-term plan. If I am Bendix, I am calling up my old buddy and seeing if I can take any of them off their hands.

The Dodgers adding Scott is a terrifying thought for the rest of the league, but the Marlins will not care if it lands them the type of return they will be seeking.

It’s not like they will be competing with the Dodgers anytime soon.

Philadelphia Phillies

A team the Marlins hope to be competing with very soon is the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies are setting the benchmark in the league right now and are the class of the NL East. The Marlins could only dream of running the division the way the Phillies are, and the whole goal behind this rebuild will be to catch them.

Personnel-wise, the Phillies are not the best match. They already have three solid lefty relievers in Matt Strahm, Gregory Soto and José Alvardo. Their pen has actually been a strong suit this season (4th best clutch WPA) and they rank third in ERA among lefty relievers.

Some of the Marlins’ right-handed relievers would actually be better fits in Philly, as their righties’ 4.24 ERA is 23rd in baseball, one spot behind the Marlins. That said, remember what we just went over with the Dodgers: you can never have enough pitching. Scott would be a luxury for the Phillies, and solidify their dominance.

Really though, the one way where Scott makes the most sense to the Phillies is if he comes to them in a larger deal that includes Jazz Chisolm Jr.

The Phillies could use a guy like Chisholm Jr. in center field to add yet another dynamic to their lineup. The Phillies are 26th in baseball with 72 wRC+ from center fielders, and 27th with just five homers by center fielders.

Even Jazz’s 102 wRC+ would be a massive upgrade in center, as would his 12 homers. I also think he is due to break out once he gets into a winning situation and will be a big contributor if he goes to a contender. Attaching him to Scott could exponentially improve the Marlins’ return, and put them in play for some of the bigger names in the Phillies’ system.

They could also attach one of those right-handers like Cronin, Faucher or Bender to sweeten the pot. This is probably the least likely match on this list for Scott, but I think it would present the Marlins with a good opportunity to get creative and maximize the value of some of their pieces.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs are in a very weird spot heading into this deadline, as is seemingly half the National League. While they are 8.5 games out and in last place in the NL Central, they are just 3.5 games out in the Wild Card.

They also had a very active offseason and spent a good chunk of money to try and get back to the postseason. Jed Hoyer’s seat gets hotter every day and he could be thinking that a sell-off would do him in for good.

An impatient Cubs fanbase wants desperately to return to the postseason, and after an exciting offseason, selling in July would be a really harsh reality for fans on the North Side.

There is not a team in postseason contention that needs relief help more desperately than the Cubs. Their 4.01 bullpen ERA is modest–16th in the league, one spot behind the Marlins–but they have a tendency for collapsing late in games. The Cubs are 29th–only the neighboring White Sox are worse–in clutch WPA and 4th in blown saves with 18, one more than the Fish.

If the Cubs were playing good baseball, they would be a match made in heaven for the Marlins. However, having fallen off drastically recently, the chances they will be desperate and give up a guy like Matt Shaw (No. 23 in our Top 100) for a rental closer is unlikely.

Now if they come out firing out of the All-Star Break and launch themselves back into a Wild Card spot, all bets are off. That would be the perfect time for the Marlins to strike while the iron is hot and see just how much they could get for Scott. This could be another scenario where the Marlins could attach a reliever (or two) to increase the return, that is how desperately the Cubs need help in the arm barn.

Pete Crow-Armstrong (No. 14) is off the table, as is Owen Caissie (No. 20), but could 19-year-old shortstop Jefferson Rojas (No. 41) or Kevin Alcantara (No. 76) come up for grabs? An aggressive move like that would send a positive message to a fanbase that needs one, and could be just what the doctor ordered to get them back in the postseason hunt.