Right idea, wrong elbows for Miami Marlins in recent trades

[Sean Millerick]

If you're a Miami Marlins fan, you'd be forgiven for thinking the franchise is cursed right about now. 

Well, that thought has probably occurred to you before—there's been ample evidence over the years from countless other calamities. 

Mostly, this is in response to last week's gut-wrenching news that Robby Snelling is sidelined with a UCL sprain. Snelling is meeting with a surgeon on Thursday. This could just as easily be about fellow top prospect Kevin Defrank's biceps injury. Or Aiva Arquette's struggles to stay on the field. Or the fact the Marlins seem to have a better chance of winning a Super Bowl than winning a series at Tropicana Field.

Then again, it could be the fact that so many of the players Miami has chosen to move on from recently are doing well. Troy Johnston is a .300 hitter. Dane Myers and Joey Weimer have been better than any of the new faces manning Miami's bench, all while former first-round pick JJ Bleday continues to look like a stud. Proof after proof that the Marlins just can't have nice things. 

Most bemoaned of all among many fans right now, though? The trading of Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers. 

Chiefly, the focus there has been on Weathers; Cabrera at least netted an active member of the 26-man roster in Owen Caissie. Meanwhile, Weathers has been worth nearly as much as Sandy Alcantara WAR-wise while producing a career best 3.58 ERA so far this season, yet was traded for a package that won't help at all in 2026. That certainly proved tough to swallow during the Chris Paddack era, as Weathers obviously could have helped flip the M on a couple of those early Marlins losses, and has continued to gnaw as other starters have struggled.

Ryan Weathers has 8 strikeouts through 5 innings …

And he has kept the Orioles out of the hits column 👀 pic.twitter.com/tesOVxLlXE

— MLB (@MLB) May 12, 2026

While Caissie did single-handedly win a couple games for Miami early on, he's struggled mightily as of late while Cabrera has been a consistent source of production for the Cubs. 

There has been a fair bit of dismay about the fact the Marlins might have been able to do better in terms of trade return if they had waited. Much like the time when the Marlins chose to move on from Jesús Luzardo—a trade that looked reasonable enough, until it didn't. 

However, during a tough stretch like this one, it's important to remember that not every decision the Marlins make is the wrong one.

That's especially so for when it comes to the cases where a mountain of evidence suggests Miami is selling high on a player. Given the financial constraints ownership chooses to operate the team under (no quarrel from this author if you want to view that as a mistake), they had to move some of their pitching depth this offseason in order to fill out the roster. Years of injury history suggested that the Marlins were picking the right elbows to trade when they opted to move Cabrera and Weathers. In Cabrera's case, in addition to the injury history, there was also a years-long Jekyll and Hyde pattern of production where it was anyone's guess whether he would toss six strong innings or try to walk six within a single frame. 

In short, if the Marlins were going to trade two pitchers this winter, the only two choices were the ones that were moved.

Unfortunately for the Marlins front office, the last two weeks have made both deals look foolish. The Weathers one is an outright travesty from a "competing in 2026" mindset. There's no question that having even one more arrow in the MLB-ready pitching quiver would make a world of difference to Miami right about now.

So while it may come as small comfort to fans, it just seemed like a good time to remind folks to continue to trust the process. Sometimes it goes south, sometimes it works out in a big way, as it has with many members of this current Marlins roster. It's also a long season. Plenty of time for more data to come in and change the perception here. Yet the fact that there is a clear, consistent process for the Marlins? 

It remains a refreshing change of pace. 

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