MLB payroll reform could save Miami Marlins from next Luzardo trade

[Sean Millerick]

When healthy and on his game, Jesús Luzardo is an awesome pitcher. He already showed that during his Miami Marlins tenure.

Since Luzardo was traded to Philadelphia, he has fully realized his potential. He has been injury-free during those two seasons while continuing to fine-tune his arsenal. Luzardo put an exclamation point on all that brilliance in his most recent start with a twelve-strikeout, complete game shutout—the first time in his MLB career going the distance.

 

No pitcher in the National League has more strikeouts than Luzardo since 2025. The only one with more wins is his Phillies teammate, Cristopher Sánchez. Entering Friday, their club is a virtual lock to compete in the postseason yet again.

Meanwhile, the prospects obtained in that trade are yet to do a single thing to help the Marlins win a baseball game. There is also plenty of time for Miami to see a return here, as headliner Starlyn Caba is already an elite defender and still only 20 years old. However, it does seem to safe to say that Miami should have held on to Luzardo longer rather than selling low coming off a back issue.

Unfortunately for the Marlins front office, their franchise's spending constraints repeatedly pressure them to rush into decisions like this. Luzardo was two years away from free agency at the time of the deal. Despite his shaky track record of durability and effectiveness, he received a five-year, $135 million extension from the Phillies last March. Bruce Sherman would have never given the green light for such an investment...at least not under MLB's current financial system. So Peter Bendix made the trade to ensure he got something in return before Luzardo inevitably tested the open market.  

There could be a light at the end of the tunnel for Marlins fans as the league's collective bargaining agreement nears its expiration and owners are reportedly united around the framework of operating with a salary cap and corresponding salary floor.

Raising the minimum on what teams must commit to their payroll could be enough to save Miami from the next Luzardo deal. If you're not trying to contend and have to pay someone anyway, players like him with extremely high ceilings would be the obvious ones to gamble on. It would provide more margin for error. Right now, Bendix has none of that, hence why the 2026 Marlins rotation was Sandy Alcantara surrounded by pre-arbitration-eligible arms under less than a million dollars apiece.

This would not entirely level the playing field considering the massive gap in local revenues between large and small markets, but definitely a step in a more equitable direction. For the Marlins' sake, it's time for some reform to this broken system.

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