The Miami Marlins could be an unlikely spoiler this offseason with their reported link to offseason Bryan Reynolds trade rumors.
Avisail Garcia wasn’t enough for the Miami Marlins. They want more. They want something at least close to the trio of Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich, and Giancarlo Stanton that once swam around their outfield grass together. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, they should remain involved in any future Bryan Reynolds trade rumors regarding the All-Star Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder.
Why do these Bryan Reynolds trade rumors even exist? The Pirates, a regular seller each midseason and winter, have a gem in center field.
First splashing onto the scene in 2019 when he hit .314/.377/.503 with 37 doubles, 16 home runs, and 68 RBI in 546 plate appearances, he went into new territory during the 2021 campaign. Reynolds is fresh off a .302/.390/.522 season with 35 doubles, a league-leading 8 triples, 24 home runs, and 90 RBI. Coming from a center fielder in a time period where it looks like everyone is looking for help at the position, he’s less of a Pirate and more of a Unicorn.
Sandwiched between those two productive years is a down season from Reynolds in 2020 featuring a slash line of .189/.275/.357 in 55 games. Most seem to have written this off as a funky season where some guys just never got going. Reynolds may be one of them.
Why the Marlins are getting involved in the Bryan Reynolds trade rumors
According to FanGraphs’ Roster Resource, the expected starting center fielder for the Marlins at the moment would be a different guy named Bryan, Bryan De La Cruz. Acquired last summer from the Houston Astros in the Yimi Garcia trade, Miami could always flip him in a new deal to acquire Reynolds or shuffle things around in a different manner. The Pirates would certainly be a match in any trade to acquire a cheap player with years of control such as De La Cruz.
There are always possibilities with any outfield. And the more guys you have that can play center field, the more of them you get.
The Marlins haven’t been able to capitalize on many of the seller trades they have made in the last few seasons. They have gotten some talent but not enough to build a sustained winner. The Derek Jeter era in Miami hasn’t been a completely productive one. Although they managed to sneak into the expanded 2020 playoffs, not much damage was done.
Now could be a time for the fish to evolve into sharks. The chances we see Reynolds traded are slim. He’s not eating up a ton of payroll in Pittsburgh. There’s no immediate need to move on from him for anything less than a whale of a deal.
The Marlins can only hang around the basement of the National League for so long. Eventually, they’re going to need to start reeling in players. Garcia was a nice start. The challenge for general manager Kim Ng is to attract more players to the ball club. Ongoing interest and participation in offseason Reynolds trade rumors is a nice start. It could also be a nice precursor for other bigger moves.