Baseball Prospectus did their annual prescription for all the teams and this what they came up with for the Marlins.
Florida Marlins: In a weak division, it’s unforgivable that a team that’s almost good enough to make the postseason allows their effort to be crippled by a replacement-level player. Making outs atop the order, Emilio Bonifacio has given the Fish the worst production in baseball among starters at his position, and he’s no great asset with the leather either. With Cameron Maybin again hinting that he might be ready (.337/.422/.489 at New Orleans), the Marlins could deal either center fielder Cody Ross or finally cut bait and deal Jeremy Hermida—if any interest remains in the latter after two lethargic, subpar years. If the deal could bring back even an average third baseman, the Marlins would improve their chances dramatically.
Okay, everyone agrees that the Bonifacio experiment has failed for this season. And by everyone I mean people who follow the stats, no matter how complex or simple, observers, casual to intense, have come to same conclusion -- Bonifacio is hurting the Marlins.
Now to their remedy, why on earth would the Marlins want to trade their second best hitter up to this point, Cody Ross? While he is kind of expensive by Marlins standards since he is making $2.2 million this season however by major league standards he is relatively cheap. Then there is the fact that he is also under club control for another two years. (assuming I'm reading everything right). This doesn't seem like the person to jettison if you want to make a serious run at the playoffs. Oh sure, he is having a bad fielding year, but Cody is a good outfielder and this should even out as the season goes on.
As far as bringing Cameron Maybin up, I tend to be inclined to leave him in Triple-A as long as possible. He is starting to figure the game out and I wouldn't want to impede the learning process if it can be avoided.
Trading Jeremy Hermida wouldn't bother me in the least. He has proven himself to be an average major league bat, but he all of his production is given away and more with his fielding. This, generally, doesn't make for a very good trading chip. But given his age you can always find some club who is willing to take a chance on that he is a late bloomer.
The Marlins can fix the Bonifacio situation internally by replacing him with Gaby Sanchez. I am confident that Sanchez will produce better at the plate and field third more neatly. Or at least, as neatly.
I guess what it all gets down to is Bonifacio getting the most plate appearances on the Marlins is hurting the ball club. But you already knew that.
Oh, the idea of keeping him up in the bigs as a utility player is redundant since Andy Gonzalez can play more defensive positions than Bonifacio can.