Miami Marlins' Cosart Trade: Marlins make quality deal with little lost

Miami wanted a starting pitcher, and now they have one.

President of Baseball Operations Michael Hill said days ago the Marlins will not be sellers before this afternoon's deadline, and they weren't. They kept all of their core players, including Giancarlo Stanton, which for this organization is something to celebrate.

In trying to add an arm, the Marlins wanted one they can contol. Cosart, who is 9-7 with a 4.41 ERA, is not arbitration eligible until 2017. He will anchor a rotation that will be without Jose Fernandez for at least another year, and should prove to be a valuable addition.

Tommy Milone, Jon Lester, and John Lackey were all gone early, and with Ian Kennedy and Wade Miley unavailable, the Marlins did a nice job to get a deal done with a team out of contention.

In addition to Cozart, the Marlins were able to address their second base need in the same deal. The recently promoted Enrique Hernandez is batting .284/.420/.768 in 24 major league games, and could play at second base for the Marlins. He is well liked by scouts and is a very versatile player, giving the Marlins the ability to play around with Jordany Valdespin at second.

Wates was a third round pick, is batting .299/.396/.381 with 30 RBIs with Triple-A, and gives the Marlins outfield depth. Wates also makes losing Jake Marisnick tolerable.

Aside from the fact that Wates is an outfield prospect, Marisnick wasn't receiving much major league playing time. Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, and Giancarlo Stanton form one of baseball's better outfields, and Marisnick was likely to be dealt today.

In terms of the return, the obvious big name is Colin Moran. The Marlins don't have a lot of depth at third base, and when he was drafted, he was deemed the third baseman of the future. Losing Moran hurts the Marlins' long term plans, but for an organization that doesn't usually trade away top notch talent before it is major league ready, maybe the organization knows something that is private with regard to Moran's future.

The 2015 Competitive Balance Pick and Francis Martes will end up turning into prospects, giving the Marlins the major league experience in the deal.

Miami did not sell, and it went out and got what it needed in order to make the team better, something that hasn't happened much in the organization's brief history. The trade is a win for Marlins, who are looking to make a playoff push moving forward.