The Miami Marlins spent the last two weeks trading most of their players worth a shit elsewhere, and now, the rest of their players who are worth a shit are reportedly unhappy with the team’s management.
According to Sirius XM’s Craig Mish, budding catcher J.T Realmuto formally requested to be traded, and the report was later confirmed by Ken Rosenthal, ESPN, and the Miami Herald. Given Realmuto’s youth (he’s 26), production (eighth among catchers with an OPS of .765), and cheap contract (he made $562,500 last year), he’d likely fetch a high price, though he’s the exact type of building block that a talent-bare club like the Marlins would seem to want to hold onto. Perhaps they should have considered that players enjoy winning before they strip-mined the roster.
He’s not the only one a bit fed up. Fellow young star Christian Yelich hasn’t requested a trade yet, but ESPN reports that he is “unhappy” with his ballclub’s decision to burn itself down. The Marlins have repeatedly stated that Yelich is not on the market, yet that hasn’t stopped the Diamondbacks, Phillies, Braves, and others from inquiring after him today. The Cardinals were also acutely interested in him before they acquired Marcell Ozuna.
Yelich will reportedly meet with Marlins management this week before he decides to ask for a trade. The Herald’s Barry Jackson ominously wrote that “it would take some major persuading to ease Yelich’s concerns,” which makes it seem probable that Yelich might follow Realmuto, Giancarlo Stanton, Ozuna, and Dee Gordon out the door. As it stands, Miami is still around $12 million over their stated $90 million payroll target for next season.