10 Burning Questions (8th in a series)
#8: Should the Marlins trade pitching in an attempt to improve their lineup?
With the Marlins’ 2023 season in the books, VIEW FROM THE BLEACHERS continues its look ahead to 2024 in this multi-part series in which we’re discussing some of the primary burning questions the organization will need to answer this offseason that could go a long way toward defining its short- and long-term future.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I’ve had to recalibrate this series a bit in recent weeks. With Peter Bendix taking over baseball operations from Kim Ng, in my opinion, the Marlins have signaled a shift in philosophy that has upended their plans for the offseason (and my original plans for this series). Had Ng stayed in charge, it would have been easier to see the Marlins staying the course, spending the offseason attempting to meaningfully add to their roster in hopes of building on their 84-win 2023 season to make another playoff run in 2024. The hiring of Bendix can easily be interpreted as a signal that Bruce Sherman has instead opted for a full organizational reset and to play the long game.
Players who may have seemed like likely targets for a club trying to get from 84 to 90 wins may no longer be in the cards this offseason. Instead, you’re likely to see more moves like trading for soon-to-be 26-year-old Vidal Brujan and claiming Kaleb Ort off waivers.
The best I can do as I look ahead to 2024 is present my thoughts on what the club can do in the short term with what I’d consider a balanced approach, playing the long game while also appreciating the value of what a 2nd consecutive season of contention would mean in the eternal effort to build a devoted fan base in South Florida.
#8: SHOULD THE MARLINS TRADE PITCHING IN AN ATTEMPT TO IMPROVE THEIR LINEUP?
The first major league general manager with whom I worked during my years with the Padres was the late Kevin Towers.
The Old Gunslinger was a great Baseball man and an all-time terrific human being who was devastatingly taken from us decades too soon. He was a scout’s scout, who—despite being one of the first GMs to employ a full-time analytics expert in the mid-1990s—was most in his element in the company of baseball lifers, men who had, for decades, devoted themselves to the game and to beating the bushes to uncover talent. In those years, when there were important baseball decisions to be made in San Diego, you could be sure wise veteran voices like Ken Bracey and Ray Crone were going to be heard.
With the pendulum post-Moneyball having swung to favor analytically driven executives, generally with degrees from elite universities, Towers was one of the last baseball operations chiefs of that “old-school-baseball” breed. As successful and respected as he was, it’s not a stretch to say someone like Kevin Towers would be hard-pressed to be selected for a GM job today. And that’s a loss for Baseball.
I was thinking about KT recently when Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic threw out the possibility of the Marlins trading from their pitching depth this offseason in an attempt to acquire much-needed offense. Towers had a philosophy by which he always strove to operate: Do everything possible to bring back at least a little pitching in every trade you make.
The pitcher might not be the centerpiece of a deal. He might merely be a low-A throw-in. But with the volatility of arms, you just never know. That throw-in from the Sally League might one day help you win a game…or maybe even a championship. And that arm that may have seemed like excess not that long ago can quickly become a vital cog.
Like many general managers, KT believed the moment you think you have enough pitching is the moment you need to add more. Pitchers get hurt. Pitchers’ performances fluctuate from one season to the next. Pitching will always be in demand. You simply cannot have enough.
So if he was going to give it up, he would extract a steep price. And even if arms weren’t at the heart of a deal he was making, he would do everything in his power to bring at least one back to add to his existing stable.
A BRIEF ASIDE: I mentioned above that Kevin Towers was known as the “Old Gunslinger.” In daily interactions, he was referred to by all as “KT.” “KT” was so ubiquitous that even the great Rickey Henderson—who famously didn’t know anybody’s name—referred to Towers as “KT.” Of course, he also called Towers’ assistant GM Fred Uhlman Jr. “KT” so…
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