Marlins swing another trade and DFA Peyton Burdick

On Friday, the Marlins swung a deal with the Seattle Mariners, acquiring Darren McCaughan in exchange for cash considerations. The addition of the right-hander was overshadowed by the corresponding roster move: designating Peyton Burdick for assignment.

First, Darren McCaughan has spent six seasons in Minor League Baseball, briefly seeing action in the majors in 2021 and 2023. Most recently McCaughan was with the Mariners AAA affiliate, where he posted a 5.83 ERA, 6.05 FIP, 8.42 K/9 and a 2.85 BB/9 through 139 innings pitched last season. In every full season of his professional career, McCaughan has made at least 20 starts. Since 2018, he leads all minor leaguers with 707 ⅓ innings pitched.

McCaughan's arsenal is comprised of a sweeper, sinker, changeup and four-seam fastball, with the sweeper and sinker being his most-used pitches. He only averages 89 miles per hour on his fastball—that is the lowest velocity of any healthy pitcher on the Marlins 40-man roster.

It is worth noting that McCaughan comes from the Pacific Coast League (PCL), which is by far the most hitter-friendly league in Minor League Baseball. "The PCL is a tough league to pitch in," said current Marlins pitcher Ryan Weathers, who struggled in the PCL himself. "When I got to the International League (where the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp play), my pitches moved where they were supposed to move."

With one minor league option left, McCaughan will most likely open the 2024 season in Jacksonville..

A 2019 Marlins draft pick, Peyton Burdick just never quite worked out for the Marlins at the major league level. The powerful outfielder had instant success in the low minors. After the 2020 minor league was season cancelled due to COVID, he kept on producing in AA, where he slashed .231/.376/.472/.848 with 23 home runs, 52 RBIs and a 137 wRC+ to be named the 2021 Pensacola Blue Wahoos team MVP.

Burdick was promoted that same season to AAA-Jacksonville, but struggled in his eight games of action. He would begin the 2022 season in AAA and slashed .224/.341/.421/.762 with 14 home runs, 51 RBIs and a 104 wRC+ to force a call-up in August when the Marlins were out of contention. Burdick also played 14 games for the Marlins in 2023 when they were hit with several outfield injuries, but spent most of the year in Jacksonville, getting reps at all three outfield positions.

The biggest struggle for Burdick has been strikeouts. Even in the minors, his career strikeout rate is 30%. In parts of two seasons at the major league level, he has a 38.1 K%. To compare, no MLB hitter to receive 400 plate appearances in 2023 was above a 35 K%.

That being said, the Burdick DFA comes as a surprise given that he has two minor league options remaining, can play all three outfield spots and has some of the best raw power in this organization. It is likely that the soon-to-be 27-year-old will get claimed off waivers when you consider that teams will be able to use the 60-day injured list next week to create roster openings. If he doesn't get claimed, the Marlins will outright him to AAA and invite him to big league camp as a non-roster invitee.

Burdick could soon become the latest 2019 early-round draft pick to leave the Marlins. JJ Bleday, Kameron Misner and Evan Edwards were all traded, while Nasim Nuñez was selected in the Rule 5 Draft this offseason by the Washington Nationals. Miami's struggles with drafting and development have led to several recent changes to the front office and left them with one of baseball's worst farm systems.