Offishial News: Jesús Luzardo leaves Miami, stays in NL East

[Ely Sussman]

Today's news roundup also includes a bunch of other impactful MLB transactions from this past weekend.

I've decided to temporarily make Offishial News a weekly series that runs every Monday from now through the start of spring training (when there will once again be articles every single weekday). And what a day to run a new edition in the aftermath of Sunday's four-player trade that sent Jesús Luzardo to the Phillies.

🔷 Since last spring training, a Luzardo trade has just been a matter of "when" rather than "if." The Marlins never seriously engaged in contract extension talks with the talented left-hander despite coming off a great 2023 season, and they were reportedly intent on flipping him for prospects prior to the 2024 trade deadline had he not suffered a back injury. Despite not having appeared in a game since June 16, the Cubs made an aggressive push for Luzardo earlier this month. The Phillies swooped in after that fell through.

🔷 It's the first Marlins/Phillies swap since the J.T. Realmuto blockbuster nearly six years earlier. At least for one season, Luzardo and Realmuto will get to be battery mates.

🔷 The Fish also parted with C/OF Paul McIntosh in the trade. You may recall that McIntosh mashed his way onto the back end of the FOF Top 30 list in the not-too-distant past. However, the Marlins have made it clear how they feel about him, acquiring Agustín Ramírez from the Yankees, selecting Liam Hicks in the Rule 5 Draft and even allowing Jhonny Pereda to cling onto their 40-man roster. Already 27 years old, McIntosh didn't have path to the majors with them in 2025. Wishing all the best to P-Mac. 

🔷 The headliner in the Luzardo/McIntosh package is INF Starlyn Caba, who immediately becomes Miami's top position player prospect. Having just turned 19 years old, Caba is a plus runner and potentially elite defender at shortstop. Although he barely hit his own weight for Low-A Clearwater in 2024, he drew more walks than strikeouts. Expect Caba to spend the majority of next season repeating Low-A.

🔷 The Marlins are also buying low on OF Emaarion Boyd. The 21-year-old Mississippian is another speedster who had a .239/.316/.330 slash line (90 wRC+) at High-A.

🔷 Barring further offseason moves, the Marlins should have an intriguing competition for the final spot in their starting rotation, with Sandy Alcantara, Ryan Weathers, Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera poised to take the other spots (health permitting).

🔷 Listen here to the instant reaction to the trade, featuring myself and several FOF staffers.

🔷 Peter Bendix said on Sunday that the 2025 Marlins major league coaching staff isn't quite ready to be announced, but we're seemingly nearing the finish line. Alon Leichman will be Miami's assistant pitching coach and assistant pitching director.

🔷 The Savannah Bananas return to loanDepot park from March 1-2 and have already announced that each of their two events have sold out (74,000 combined tickets). It could be a very, very long time before consecutive Marlins home games draw that kind of crowd.

🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, it was an extremely busy weekend. The Mets re-signed Sean Manaea (3-YR/$75M). The Yankees signed Paul Goldschmidt (1-YR/$12.5M). Rangers and Joc Pedersen have reached an agreement (contract terms not yet known). In what amounts to a corresponding move, Texas dealt Nathaniel Lowe to the Nationals in exchange for Robert Garcia. As a result, old friend Jake Burger is poised to play a lot of first base in 2025. The Guardians traded Josh Naylor to the Diamondbacks for Slade Cecconi and a Competitive Balance Round B draft pick, then filled their own 1B void by reuniting with Carlos Santana (1-YR/$12M). Wil Myers announced his retirement. One of the best players in baseball history, Rickey Henderson, died at the age of 65.

 

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Marlins podcast episodes

 

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[Slacker Mills]

Per baseballtradevalues (and I agree with this one) Xavier Edwards has by far the most trade value of any Marlin position player and is comparable to Eury Perez at the very top. His value was also two or three times higher than Burger.

In the past offseason, Luzardo's value to the Cubs would have been multiple top five prospects, perhaps including Caissie AND Alcantara

The Marlins are now in position to set an all-time record for the fewest homeruns for a season by a franchise.. 

[Slacker Mills]

My surprise pitchers of the year are Robby Snelling and Ryan Weathers. Adam Laskey is a sleeper that has caught my attention. He will easily land in my top ten prospects. Ramirez and De Los Santos will not. 

[Chad Turner]

32 minutes ago, Slacker Mills said:

My surprise pitchers of the year are Robby Snelling and Ryan Weathers. Adam Laskey is a sleeper that has caught my attention. He will easily land in my top ten prospects. Ramirez and De Los Santos will not. 

I believe in Weathers as a solid mid-rotation guy.  Snelling's fastball was down 2 mph in '24.  He's not making it to MLB throwing 92, so I hope he finds it again (and not about to have TJS).  Laskey posted nice numbers the last 3 years, but only has 6 starts since '22.  A 27 yr old long reliever that went unprotected by the Cubs in the top 10?  I don't think so.  I am lower on Ramirez than most (not a C), but he's still top 10 to me as a 1B/DH.  I'm a big DDLS fan.  He's my #2.  At age 21, he's got time to figure out plate discipline and find a home defensively, even if it's RF/DH like Stanton.    My bet is he leads the Marlins in HRs in '26.  

[Slacker Mills]

Top ten for me are all pitchers. In any order, White, Fulton, Miller, Snelling, Mazur, Roberts, Millbrandt, May, Meyer, and Laskey,

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

There's no value in commenting on possible other deals declined by the Marlins or the value of the return pieces. I must rely on FOF and the Marlins' brain trust.  I'm not upset, though, especially after reading the article. The intra-divisional issue isn't a big deal anymore. Moving McIntosh is reasonable given the Hicks acquisition, who will almost certainly be the backup catcher to Fortes. I like the singlemindedness of the Bendix regime. As mentioned on the podcast, the team is moving as they think best regardless of optics - not trying to assuage fans. This is the correct approach. Take the hits and move on with the plan. Lastly, it is obvious to me that the Marlins expect the post-2026 season CBA will likely result in work stoppage and major changes to the current system.  They will be in decent financial; shape then to weather the storm, with the Garcia contract paid out and the first Stanton installment done. 

[rurrusuno]

12 hours ago, Slacker Mills said:

Per baseballtradevalues (and I agree with this one) Xavier Edwards has by far the most trade value of any Marlin position player and is comparable to Eury Perez at the very top. His value was also two or three times higher than Burger.

In the past offseason, Luzardo's value to the Cubs would have been multiple top five prospects, perhaps including Caissie AND Alcantara

The Marlins are now in position to set an all-time record for the fewest homeruns for a season by a franchise.. 

I agree about Xavier Edwards. You know that famous photo of the 2023 Wild Card team where only 9 players are left? I predict that Edwards will one day be the last player standing with the Marlins. 

Jesus Sanchez will be our home run leader. I would expect around 15-20 which isn't saying much for the biggest power threat on the team.

[rurrusuno]

Based on the Marlins trade history with Philadelphia, we have made some very uneventful/forgettable trades with them. 

[Slacker Mills]

Yes, another exceptionally bad trade. Luzardo is just a year removed from being a top twenty starter in all of baseball and acknowledges that he is as healthy as ever. Caba is a waste of time in all liklihood. Great gloves that can't produce offensively are plentiful.