And you thought the Miami Marlins were done making deals?
The Marlins have been on the cusp of trading Nathan Eovaldi, as the team sees the flame-throwing righty as expendable given their current rotation. But the concern was that they were undervaluing Eovaldi and were going to trade him for a bad player. Instead, the Fish struck a deal with the New York Yankees to acquire super utility man Martin Prado as part of a multi-man trade.
Marlins and Yankees have been discussing trade that would send Eovaldi and Garrett Jones to NY for Martin Prado and P David Phelps.
— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) December 19, 2014
#Yankees are also getting #Marlins prospect Domingo German
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 19, 2014
Source confirms trade: Yankees send Prado, Phelps and money to Marlins for Eovaldi, Jones and German.
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) December 19, 2014
Heading out of Miami are Eovaldi, Garrett Jones, and starting pitching prospect Domingo German, and coming back are Prado and pitcher David Phelps. Prado is the star of the deal, having hit a combined .289/.333/.423 (.333 wOBA) and put up 10.5 FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement over the last three years. He fits in nicely at third base, where the Marlins can replace Casey McGehee and reasonably get a one-win upgrade on the position.
David Phelps is a soon-to-be 29 year-old righty spot starter and reliever with not a lot of upside it would seem. His addition to the deal appears minor.
The Marlins give away one of their young, promising right-handers in Eovaldi, who had an up-and-down season with good peripherals but weird ERA due to a bad BABIP. The Fish had been angling to trade him all offseason, but they at least picked up a valuable upgrade for a player who should be worth a lot more than the team was advertising. The Yankees are getting a back- to mid-rotation starter who will only be 25 years old next season, which is a huge boon to their aging roster.
The Marlins also lose Garrett Jones and the full brunt of his $5 million salary. Since Jones was largely expendable thanks to the signing of Michael Morse, the Fish are benefiting in that regard. To pay the cost of losing Jones, Miami ended up trading Domingo German, a 22-year-old righty starter who just had a fantastic year in Low-A Greensboro.
The Yankees are paying $3 million of Prado's $11 million salary this season, and Prado will be owed another $11 million next year. The Fish will now have to depend on Dan Haren pending his retirement decision or a number of other middling minor league names like Brad Hand to anchor the last rotation spot.
More on this trade shortly on Fish Stripes!