Liam Hicks trade haunting Marlins and fans alike after Kyle Stowers injury

Suffice it to say, this isn't the way anyone associated with the Miami Marlins drew it up a week ago. 

Not the front office. Not the fans. Certainly not Kyle Stowers , who had really started to look like the hitter that made the All-Star game last season over the past few weeks. 

No, when the Marlins made the choice to move the seemingly expendable Liam Hicks off the roster at the trade deadline...he really wasn't supposed to be missed. He had only homered twice since June 1st. Griffin Conine, Heriberto Hernandez, and Stowers had all been more productive hitters lately. Joe Mack had firmly established that the Marlins were looking for backup catchers only. In short? Miami was covered on lefty bats, covered on catchers, and covered on thump. The move wasn't popular, but of all the moves that smacked of selling that the Marlins were rumored to be considering, it was seen as the most forgivable amongst the fanbase.

Yet in the blink of an eye, or if you prefer, the spasm of a fast-twitch muscle, Kyle Stowers is back on the IL. Which throws the entire Hicks decision tree back under the microscope. 

From the Marlins perspective, you might have noticed something that I didn't mention Miami having an abundance of, and it probably should have gotten a lot more attention given the fact it's only been a talking point since last November. First basemen. A position so comically overlooked in the offseason that a backup catcher and starting outfielder ended up being major contributors there. And perhaps that last bit is unfair, and the confidence in the ability of Hicks and Stowers to handle the position existed from the jump. At any rate, there is no denying the fact that Miami is now very thin on players with MLB experience at first base. So thin, in fact, that starting Conine there was the first move, despite having only ever played six innings there this season. 

Beyond Conine, Leo Jimenez and Graham Pauley would appear to be the other options the Marlins are planning on going with for the moment. When two of your solutions each sport a negative WAR on the year, it's a fair bet that's not where the front office wanted to end up. The club is essentially right back to where they were at the beginning of the year, with far more questions than answers at first base. Only now, there is a lot less calendar left to figure those answers out. 

Of course, that probably feels like a fairly obvious observation. What interests me far more is the level of fan backlash there was in the wake of the Stowers injury. How whatever ire there had been over the Hicks trade was suddenly back, and back tenfold. 

Because to my mind, that has far more to do with the kind of trade the Marlins made when they sent Hicks to Tampa, rather than the fact he was traded to begin with. If Miami had outright bought at the deadline? Moved Hicks in a deal that brought back either a starting pitcher or a right-handed bat to help this year's MLB roster make a run at the playoffs? If moving Hicks was just the cost of doing business to maximize the roster in the here and now? In that happy scenario, all is basically forgiven. Fan angst would be limited to handwringing over the Marlins being cursed and little more. 

However, when you sell off a very popular player for yet another prospect package...that's going to leave any organization open to criticism. Especially one with the baggage the Marlins will continue to carry until they are wrapping up their third winning season in a row, with more on the horizon. But that's the fan issue, pure and simple. Again, if someone was going to get traded, Hicks would have been the one voted off the island if Marlins fans were given the voice to do so. Not getting anything back in the return that would help in 2026 though? That's something few fans had contemplated. 

One night in? So far, so good— Miami is 1-0 without a proven first baseman. No major blunders in the field either. 

Can that kind of good fortune continue? How much leash the Marlins will give some of those options before turning to some options with much more experience fielding the position professionally if there are struggles? Those questions remain anyone's guess. And the answers could shape the remainder of the season.