Marlins Seek First Base Upgrade Via Trade

The marlins aren't going to give up one of their top young arms for damaged goods. 

Heaney's better than any starting pitcher we have in the system and you want to get him for merely a bench player? I know it's fun to pick on Loria, but this proposal is out there even by speculation standards.

Huh, now that's interesting.

Napoli and Owens plus one of the young right-handers for Heaney? Does that get it done?

I think the Marlins would jump all over that trade.

Fair, thought Heaney was more highly regarded than he is. I'll withdraw.

Said this in the other thread but I wouldn't give Napoli up for anyone they have outside of Fernandez and Heaney, niether of which will happen.

Alvarez and Eovaldi both seem like 3/4 starters in our division to me. Even with their control I would rather have Napoli bolster our seemingly great lineup this year.

I would give up Craig for Eovaldi or Alvarez in a heartbeat, but that isn't going to happen either.

But: Miami has made it known they need 3B help. Maybe Cecchini + Craig could net Eovaldi or Alvarez.

My guess is that they wouldn't trade Heaney for one year of control either of Mike Napoli alone either, though I think there are a lot of interesting permutations here that could make some sense. The Marlins are trying to put some pieces around Stanton, at least for the next couple of seasons it looks like. They are also a team where beyond Heaney, Kolek and Moran, the farm system looks pretty darn barren and none of their pitching prospects have even had success at the AA level as of yet (ie Nicolino, Williams, etc). So they aren't going to be able to trade pieces from their farm to produce a strong return - however, they do have some pretty decent young talent in the fold already (rotation to start the year looks to be Eovaldi, Alvarez, Koehler, Cosart and someone place-holding for Fernandez toward the All Star break.

They have reportedly been fans of Middlebrooks for quite some time - so I'm going to continue to take that at face value. I could see this as a situation where we "package quarters (from the AAA crunch) to get a dollar" if we're willing to include Napoli or Craig, and I think they'd choose Napoli. Something like Napoli, Middlebrooks (Moran is still at least two years away), Ranaudo and Wright for Heaney making some sense for both teams.

The Sox would then have the flexibility to figure in the Nava/Craig platoon at 1b to replace Napoli. While obviously a downgrade at 1b, if properly platooned a "Daniel Craig" (hehehe, sorry, I love Bond movies) first base option could almost assuredly* put up a 110 wRC+ next season - and could quite likely be a lot better. While this isn't nearly what Napoli averaged in his two seasons here thus far (roughly a 126) a huge difference is we'd be getting that out of the 6 or 7 hole instead of the clean up spot, and we'd be shedding quite a bit of salary, alleviating some of the roster crunch, and getting another pitcher that is similarly projected (though higher rated by most) than Owens.

*To arrive at my numbers, the "almost assuredly" part takes Nava's 118 wRC+ last year against RHP and Craig's 95 wRC+ agasint LHP, and averages them together with Nava accounting for 2/3 based on the greater number of RHP in the league. To get what I think is more reasonable, I took Nava's career wRC+ against RHP and 80% of Craig's career wRC+ against LHP and averaged those together in the same split.

Moran was traded for Cosart. I think I'd trade Napoli for the right price but not for a prospects. Really only if he and some pieces (Cespedes + in a three way to keep Xander, Betts, Swihart) could net us Hamels. Also Napoli would be a great fit if the Marlins traded for him. They could QO him and he night work something out since they have a good young team and he's a Florida guy.

“@clarkspencer: Add Allen Craig to the list of first basemen the #marlins are looking at as a potential trade target.”

Anyone.

Try you couldn't get him

they say their dangling Heaney I don't know how they view Craig but a one-for-one wouldn't be bad for either side. Craig being one of the best clutch NL hitters a year ago on a team friendly contract for a top prospect in Heaney. I'm not that high on Heaney because of his velo but should be a very good pitcher in the future.