4 early MLB trade deadline targets for Marlins to consider

The Miami Marlins are currently in the thick of things with a 44-40 record, only half a game out of the final Wild Card spot in the National League. They are trending toward being in a position to make true a push for the postseason for the first time since 2023.

This Marlins team is good but flawed, suffering from the worst third base production in MLB. Also, injuries have thinned out their starting rotation and closing out games has been an issue at times.

Here are four veterans that Miami could pursue leading up to the trade deadline to strengthen their roster without mortgaging their future.

J.P. Crawford (Seattle Mariners)

Longtime Mariner J.P. Crawford is being phased out of the club's plans. Top prospect Colt Emerson has been called up to serve as Seattle's shortstop of the future. This has shifted Crawford to third base in recent weeks, but even that job is expected to be taken away once Brendan Donovan returns from the injured list.

In 67 games this season, Crawford is slashing .224/.342/.371/.713 with 10 home runs, 25 RBI and a 110 wRC+. He consistently shows a great eye at the plate and his 2026 season is no exception as he's drawing walks 13.4% of the time and ranking in the 96th percentile in chase rate.

Crawford is in the final year of a five-year, $51M contract, so the Marlins would be acquiring a pending free agent who is making $12M this season. The Mariners are certainly not behaving as "sellers" at the deadline, but this is the one piece who they can afford to part with. Meanwhile in Miami, Crawford could take over as the primary third baseman and provide solid insurance should star shortstop Otto Lopez miss any time due to injury.

Isaac Paredes (Houston Astros)

Isaac Paredes also would make a lot of sense for the Marlins, just with a much different player profile than Crawford. In 79 games this season, Paredes is slashing .250/.348/.426/.774 with 11 home runs, 44 RBI and a 119 wRC+. Approach-wise, Paredes is striking out 16.3% of the time, the lowest single-season mark of his career (min. 100 PA).

Although Paredes isn't a good third baseman by any means, the Marlins should be willing to sacrifice some defense in favor of more offense. He also has experience at first base.

Paredes is currently making $9.35M in 2026 with a club option of $13.35M for the 2027 season. As long as he hits close to his career averages down the stretch, that would be a nice value for the Marlins moving forward.

Robbie Ray (San Francisco Giants)

The Marlins starting rotation is severely lacking a swing-and-miss element. Would you be surprised to hear that Robbie Ray ranks sixth in MLB history (min. 1,000 IP) in career strikeouts per nine innings? Beyond that, Ray’s 13 years in the majors have seen him twice named an All-Star, win an ERA title, and claim a Cy Young Award.

Through his first 17 appearances in 2026, Ray has been among the more stable forces for a Giants team hellbent on a rebuild, posting a 3.39 ERA, though sporting a considerably less impressive 4.63 FIP.

Robbie Ray is on a roll! His last three outings:

24.1 IP | 8 H | 0 ER | 23 Ks pic.twitter.com/YHj9uuN3di

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 28, 2026

Outside of John King, the Marlins bullpen is bereft of left-handed weapons. Utilizing Ray in short spurts is a fallback plan should he disappoint as a starter.

A free agent at season’s end, Ray would merely be a rental for Miami. Expect the Giants to pay down a chunk of his $25M salary to extract a decent prospect return from the Fish.

Aroldis Chapman (Boston Red Sox)

At the ouset of 2025, many had given up on Aroldis Chapman. On his fourth team in three years, he was a journeyman in obvious decline...right? Instead, Chapman threw a wrinkle in the conventional aging curve and authored a historic reliever season for a Boston Red Sox team that snuck its way into the playoffs. He finished with a 1.17 ERA and held opponents to a .189 on-base percentage—both were the best single-season marks of his storied career.

The 38-year-old hasn’t let up in 2026, sporting a 2.19 ERA across 26 appearances, with a fastball that still ranks in the 91st percentile in average velocity.

While Miami already forked over $13M for a closer this past offseason, Pete Fairbanks has largely been a disappointment in his time with the club, sporting the third-highest ERA (6.75) among a sample of 165 relievers with at least 25 games pitched. The acquisition of Chapman would appropriately relegate him to a lower-leverage role.