Offishial News: Revisiting every Marlins trade of 2025

[Ely Sussman]

On Monday morning, I went out on a limb and assumed that the Miami Marlins wouldn't be making any more trades over the final three days of this calendar year. Whoops! This article has been updated accordingly. Although none of their individual moves in 2025 met the criteria of a blockbuster deal, the cumulative impact of these trades on the organization was substantial.

Technically, the Marlins made more than a dozen "trades" if you include Jonah Bride, Jhonny Pereda, Michael Petersen, Tyler Phillips, Austin Roberts, John Rooney and Joey Wiemer each being swapped for cash considerations. Well, I'm not—those amount to glorified waiver claims.

That leaves us with the following six transactions:

Acquired RHP William Kempner from San Francisco Giants for $250,000 in international bonus pool money (Jan. 15). Annual spending on the international market is restricted by a cap, so parting with this quarter-million dollars essentially transferred amateur talent to the Giants, qualifying as a trade in my book. A full year later, the Marlins ought to be feeling pretty good about their side of it. Kempner posted a 3.06 FIP in 67 ⅔ minor league innings pitched to earn a spot on their 40-man roster. With slight improvements to his control, the hefty right-hander can be an impactful piece of their 2026 bullpen.

Acquired RHP Colby Martin from Toronto Blue Jays for RHP Robinson Piña (Jun. 24). At the time of the deal, Martin barely had any experience above Low-A; by the end of the season, he was throwing gas at Triple-A. The 5'11" righty has an overpowering fastball and deceptive delivery. Turning 25 shortly after Opening Day, we should be seeing Martin at Marlins big league camp as a non-roster invitee. Piña is now a free agent after making just one low-leverage relief appearance in a Blue Jays uniform.

Acquired OF Matthew Etzel from Tampa Bay Rays for C Nick Fortes (Jul. 29). The Marlins bought low on Etzel coming off an injury. The early returns have been encouraging. In 36 minor league games following the trade, he slashed .280/.370/.390 with two home runs and 10 stolen bases. He's best suited to playing left field at the major league level. Fortes did well enough defensively to be tendered a contract by Tampa Bay for 2026. The imminent arrival of Joe Mack in Miami made him expendable.

Acquired RHP Ryan Gusto, INF Chase Jaworsky and OF Esmil Valencia from Houston Astros for OF Jesús Sánchez (Jul. 31). Gusto and Jaworsky were limited by injuries down the stretch, while Valencia thrived upon joining his new org (.327/.367/.510, 3 HR and 14 SB in 24 G). The toolsy 20-year-old should be batting near the top of High-A Beloit's lineup next season. The Astros have one more year of club control over Sánchez, who is being strictly platooned.

Acquired OF Ethan O'Donnell from Cincinnati Reds for OF Dane Myers (Dec. 27). Myers performed brilliantly through the first two-plus months of 2025, but his offensive production cratered from there. He still has impressive raw athleticism and the versatility to handle all three outfield spots. Beginning in 2027, the Marlins hope that O'Donnell become a left-handed-hitting version of Myers.

Acquired OF Esteury Ruiz from Los Angeles Dodgers for RHP Adriano Marrero (Dec. 29).

On Sunday in Puerto Rican winter ball, Brian Navarreto went 2-for-4 and Orlando Ortiz-Mayr struggled with control in his final regular season start (1.1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K).

Marlins Opening Day is only 88 days away.

🔷 I produced this Dane Myers highlight reel to commemorate his Marlins tenure.

🔷 Agustín Ramírez confirmed to Juanfrank Kranwinkel that he is on the Dominican Republic's preliminary 35-man roster for the World Baseball Classic. Ramírez's playing time would be very limited, so I wouldn't be surprised if he ultimately passes on the opportunity and remains in Marlins camp.

🔷 Declan Cronin spoke extensively about his injury-riddled 2025 season. After tearing his UCL, Cronin was under the impression that the Marlins would retain him throughout the rehab process, but it turns out they released him before his Tommy John surgery even took place. He has since signed a two-year minor league deal with the Texas Rangers.

🔷 With the NHL's Winter Classic approaching on Friday, George Richards of Florida Hockey Now shows us how the rink is set up in the middle of loanDepot park. Tickets are still available in most sections, though the get-in price is $235.

🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Tyler Soderstrom and the Athletics agreed on a seven-year, $86 million contract extension. The Baltimore Orioles re-signed Zach Eflin to a one-year, $10 million deal and the Chicago Cubs signed Hunter Harvey to a one-year, $6 million deal. Former Marlins first-round draft pick Andrew Heaney announced his retirement from baseball. Used primarily as a starter, Heaney posted a 4.57 ERA in 1,136 ⅔ innings pitched across parts of 12 MLB seasons. He won a World Series title with the Texas Rangers in 2023.

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[Jose Herrera]

Awesome tribute video, Ely. Dane is a hard worker, and it was great watching him establish himself in Miami. Hope he can continue playing well in Cincinnati. 

The best trade to me is the Kempner one. Thank you, Giants, for giving us near MLB ready power pitching reliever for only 250k in international bonus money.

What's unfortunate is that we did not sign Harvey. However, 6 million was much considering his last two seasons. If he bounces back, we should try again next offseason.

[Slacker Mills]

4 hours ago, Jose Herrera said:

Awesome tribute video, Ely. Dane is a hard worker, and it was great watching him establish himself in Miami. Hope he can continue playing well in Cincinnati. 

The best trade to me is the Kempner one. Thank you, Giants, for giving us near MLB ready power pitching reliever for only 250k in international bonus money.

What's unfortunate is that we did not sign Harvey. However, 6 million was much considering his last two seasons. If he bounces back, we should try again next offseason.

The Marlins sort of traded Johnston for Morel. (one dropped and one signed). That's a shit exchange as far as I'm concerned.

[Jose Herrera]

@Slacker Mills Morel has never played first base. He has played every position except for catcher, first base or pitcher.

We acquired Morel at the cost of Myers.

[One Regend]

A former Marlin retired with a fWAR of 11.5. Let's take a trip down memory lane and see who the Marlins selected him over.

...Oh.

...Oh no.

-Corey Seager (if he wasn't injury-prone he'd be a guaranteed ticket to Cooperstown)
-Michael Wacha (Still pitching quality innings as a starter, even today.)
-Marcus Stroman (I'm glad we didn't draft him, he's a literal primadonna, but I'm not going to deny he was actually good.)
-Jose Berrios (also still pitching quality innings as a starter, even today.)
-Matt Olson (Literally a younger Paul Goldschmidt, and Paul himself is a borderline Cooperstown candidate.)

Honorable Mentions: Lucas Giolito (Starting RHP), Lance McCullers Jr (Starting RHP), Mitch Haniger (DH)

I'm not even going to mention the later rounds such as Edwin Diaz (3rd Round, Seattle), Max Muncy (5th Round, Oakland), and Josh Hader (19th Round, Baltimore), as those rounds are more or less a crapshoot, so I'm just narrowing it down to the 1st round. But man, those were all players that could've led the 2013-2017 era Marlins to a winning record, if not, the playoffs. Doubly so if it was one of the pitchers listed here, as pitching was a real concern.

[Jose Herrera]

@One Regend It’s ok, we flipped him for Dee Gordon and Miguel Rojas. Still agree it would have been nice to have selected Olson or Seager. Thank you for pointing that out.

[One Regend]

3 hours ago, Jose Herrera said:

@One Regend It’s ok, we flipped him for Dee Gordon and Miguel Rojas. Still agree it would have been nice to have selected Olson or Seager. Thank you for pointing that out.

I'm sure we probably could have still made that trade happen even without Heaney, but in the hypothetical world where we don't have Dee Gordon, Seager would've been a massive upgrade over Adeiny Hechavarria. Loved Hech's defense but he was definitely not starter material lol.

[Jose Herrera]

@One Regend Seager is one of my favorite players, but I do not think if we drafted him, he would still be on the team. The big fish never stay in Miami too long, hopefully that changes.

[One Regend]

8 hours ago, Jose Herrera said:

@One Regend Seager is one of my favorite players, but I do not think if we drafted him, he would still be on the team. The big fish never stay in Miami too long, hopefully that changes.

He would have been gone regardless, but not within his first year. He probably would've been traded after 2017, just like everyone else was. Which was why i specifically stated the 2013-2017 era Marlins.