In a somewhat of a stunning move, the Marlins placed Kim on the waiver wire and didn't pull him back. Which Jim B reported first in the Open Thread.
First off, Kim being on the waiver wire isn't much of a surprise. In fact, most players in the Majors will be placed on waivers during this time in the season. GMs want to know who can clear waivers and who can't. The ones that can clear waivers are trade bait. Now, that doesn't mean they will be traded, but they are a possibility. Say the Marlins put Cabrera on the waiver wire and 29 other teams make a claim, which would probably happen, he is simply removed from the wire and the team learns that there is no way on the face of this planet they can trade Cabrera at this point in the season since he can't clear waivers.
Now, back to Kim. The Marlins knowing that Kim was a one-year addition and since signing him in off-season was highly unlikely they decided, earlier at the end of last month, to see what value they could get in return by trading him.
Which as it turns out, wasn't much of anything. But this brings up a quandary: if the Marlins can't anything for him in a trade then why let him walk away for nothing via waivers when he could have just finished the season as a starter with the Marlins, something they desperately need, and just let him walk away after the end of season as a free agent.
I just don't get it. And the to save money argument seems a bit lame to me.
So here is how it breaks down:
The Marlins traded Petit to Arizona for Julio.
Then the Marlins traded Julio to Colorado for Kim.
And roughly, the Marlins traded Kim for nothing.
In other words, the Marlins gave Petit to the Diamondbacks for free.
Taking Kim's spot on the roster, first reported by Maverick in the Open Thread, will be Mauro Zarate.
Zarate is a reliever who started the season in Jupiter and was promoted to Carolina and then to Albuquerque. The boy is fast tracking. The Marlins don't need a fifth starter immediately, due to a day off on Monday. Eventually they will have to call one up.