Steve Mitchell USA TODAY Sports
From news he turned down a long-term contract extension, to rumors of a “mystery team” getting involved in trade talk this week, Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Fernandez has been widely mentioned as a trade candidate this offseason.
Coming off a 91-loss season, the Marlins don’t have a lot of viable trade chips. While it’s understandable not to want to part with a 23-year old budding ace with three years of team control (arbitration eligibility) coming, the Marlins clearly don’t want to use Fernandez as a piece that could help rebuild the organization.
The Marlins have reportedly sought multiple top prospects or major-league ready players in any deal involving Fernandez, with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks the two teams seemingly most heavily involved in terms of specifics. The Diamondbacks are now surely out of the mix for Fernandez after trading for Shelby Miller, and the Dodgers reportedly may be willing to involve a third team to help meet Miami’s trade demands.
Fernandez may want out of Miami, to the point of earlier reports that he has demanded a trade multiple times. With the dysfunction and incompetence in the organization from the top down, no one would blame him for wanting to move on at a fairly early stage in his career and before it could be deemed too late.
The Marlins, at least publicly, don’t seem overly willing to entertain Fernandez’s possible trade demand (real or imagined). But there’s far too much speculation surfacing to think they aren’t at least listening to offers from other teams, even if an elevated asking price means the Marlins are committed to having Fernandez report to their spring training in 2016.
Brad Berreman is a Senior Writer at Rant Sports.com. Follow him on Twitter.
