4 bad contracts that Marlins should try to trade for

Originally published on November 21, this article has been updated following a report from The Athletic that the Miami Marlins are "expected to be among the highest revenue-sharing recipients next year," pressuring them to substantially increase payroll or else risk a grievance from the Major League Baseball Players Association.

With Jesús Luzardo off the books for 2025, the Marlins are projected for one of Major League Baseball's lowest payrolls. Even by their usually frugal standards, it's an ugly look. For luxury tax calculation purposes, which includes player benefits and other miscellaneous expenses, Roster Resource has them just shy of $83 million.

While it's obvious that the Marlins will not be ready to contend for the postseason, there are potential transactions to be made that would continue to bolster their farm system. What if that payroll flexibility was used to facilitate salary dumps?

The Marlins could offer to take on an underperforming veteran player who's nearing the end of their contract, accepting the responsibility for most/all of their remaining salary. To balance out the trade, the other team would be expected to include one or more prospects. It helps the other team reallocate funds towards free agents who can actually help them win games, while giving Miami more candidates to develop into long-term contributors.

The table below was featured in a recent report from The Athletic's Evan Drellich about the future of MLB's television rights. Many teams have had to accept a reduction in rights fees while transitioning away from the traditional regional sports network model or renegotiating with their RSN partner. The Marlins are among the few who are getting "effectively the same" revenue that they originally forecasted, and they ought to leverage that to expedite their rebuild. 

Here are four players around the league making way more money than they're worth who I could see being bundled with prospects on their way out the door.

Christian Vázquez (Minnesota Twins)

• 0.8 fWAR in 2024
• Owed $10M in 2025

This one was included in my Marlins offseason blueprint. The Twins have a top-heavy roster with Carlos Correa, Pablo López and Byron Buxton accounting for a massive percentage of their total payroll. With that trio being essential to their competitive chances, they'll need to shed money elsewhere to re-emerge with a better overall roster come Opening Day.

The 34-year-old Vázquez is a two-time World Series champion who still provides good defense, but his bat has declined to the point where he's best suited for a backup role. He could be a valuable mentor to Marlins catching prospects Agustín Ramírez and Joe Mack.

Steven Matz (St. Louis Cardinals)

• 0.1 fWAR in 2024
• Owed $12.5M in 2025

The Cardinals have been particularly forthcoming about their plans to cut payroll next season. Veteran right-handers Sonny Gray and Miles Mikolas might be on the move, but I can't imagine Bruce Sherman taking on that much money.

In addition to being oft-injured during his Cardinals tenure, Matz has been humbled with multiple demotions to the bullpen. Perhaps the Marlins pitching staff is depleted by spring training injuries for the second straight year and it creates a starting rotation void for him to fill. Otherwise, he profiles as a low-leverage reliever.

Kenta Maeda (Detroit Tigers) 

• 0.0 fWAR in 2024
• Owed $10M in 2025

The elephant on the Tigers' books is Javier Báez. He is completely immovable with three years still left on his deal.

Maeda is an older, right-handed version of Matz who could conceivably have some value to the 2025 Marlins because of his versatility and reliable strike-throwing.

Myles Straw (Cleveland Guardians)

• 0.0 fWAR in 2024
• Owed $6.4M in 2025 and $7.4M in 2026

Here is Straw's top highlight with the Guardians from the past year:

That's from February 26. Yes, very early in spring training. Straw was outrighted to the minors at the end of spring camp and spent all but one week of the 2024 season playing in Triple-A. Clearly, he is not in Cleveland's plans moving forward.

The Guardians surprisingly won the AL Central title despite paying Straw to do nothing. To repeat as champs of a deep division, they'll have to be more efficient.

Straw might not have a role to fill with the Fish, either. He's a prototypical defensive replacement/pinch-runner. Finding room for the 30-year-old on their active roster will depend on how they align the rest of the outfield. Because of that uncertainty and the total guaranteed dollars owed to him, this trade should bring back more valuable prospect(s) than the others.