Starting pitcher Dan Straily is one of very few trade chips left for the Miami Marlins, and he isn’t mad former teammates are out the door.
The Miami Marlins turned a quick 180 when Derek Jeter took over the franchise. They jettisoned the starting outfield, including National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton, as well as second baseman Dee Gordon. Miami needed to cut payroll; that’s all new ownership cared about. They let down the fans who were hoping the Marlins would add to their talented core. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case for a team that needed a facelift.
One player that wasn’t sad about all the players leaving was starting pitcher Dan Straily. Here’s what he said Friday about the rebuild:
“Glad they’re gone,” Straily said. “If they don’t want to be here, then good for them. They can continue their career elsewhere.”
The right-hander has a point. If you don’t want to play, you can hit the road. Furthermore, Straily could now be that veteran presence in the clubhouse that can keep the rest of the players’ chins up. He has embraced the rebuild and thinks that it could go by quicker with the players the Marlins have acquired. This is a good story for a team that has had it pretty bleak from the fans’ perspective. Now they have a player that’s trusting the process.
This will go a long way and the Marlins now know they have some backing at least. Miami needs a fresh voice to rejuvenate the franchise, and at the moment it could be Straily. He also took accountability for the rotation in 2017.
“I get it,” Straily said. “It’s no secret. Our starting rotation last year, we didn’t exactly carry the team around. That was pretty much the talk of it. And I was a guy in that rotation.”
Straly is the sort of honest, outspoken leader this franchise could use, and he seems to be safe from the trade block for now. That’s good news for a team that has spent most of the offseason sending its biggest assets to other clubs.