Marlins trade deadline rumors: August 31

See below for the latest Marlins-related rumors and my analysis leading up to the 4 p.m. ET MLB trade deadline.

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Villar on the block

Are any contenders willing to pull the trigger on acquiring Jonathan Villar as a rental? I have a separate post dedicated to that possibility here.

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Conley joins four others in DFA limbo

Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images

The time has come for Adam Conley. Drafted way back in 2011, the Marlins left-hander has been designated for assignment. Due to COVID-19, he hasn’t had the opportunity to pitch during the 2020 regular season.

He joins Brett Eibner, Brian Navarreto, Josh D. Smith and Jesús Tinoco in limbo with the deadline only hours away.

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Bradley on bullpen wish list

The Marlins memorably made a deadline deal with Archie Bradley’s Diamondbacks last season. It’s been a while since his electric 2017 breakout. Things are going fine for him so far in 2020 (4.22 ERA, 2.01 FIP, 0.5 fWAR in 10.1 IP).

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Twins and Marlins as a fit?

MLB Network’s Jon Morosi describes the Twins as “aggressive” in their pursuit of starting pitching. During the 2019 MLB Winter Meetings, they had conversations with the Fish about controllable starters (with outfielders potentially coming back in return), according to Craig Mish. Might be an appropriate time for these teams to revisit that?

Elieser Hernandez and Caleb Smith seem like decent candidates for this.

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The Kintzler conundrum

Brandon Kintzler has been the undisputed Marlins closer since inking his free agent deal shortly before spring training. He hasn’t had any work to do lately during the current losing streak, but the club seemingly made the correct call by adding him (2.92 ERA, 4.83 FIP, 1.14 WHIP in 12.1 IP). Keep him mind his ERA has over-performed his FIP in nearly every season of his career.

Kintzler’s $4 million club option for 2021 is very reasonable, even for the low-revenue Marlins, and removing him from this roster midseason would be disruptive to the bullpen hierarchy. On the other hand, MLB relievers who were traded over the weekend brought back stronger-than-expected returns. The Miami front office should be open-minded about his status.

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3 trades I’d love to see today

Above all else, this deadline for the Marlins is about acquiring relief help—preferably pitchers who are controllable beyond the 2020 season—while trimming the redundant players from the edges of their 40-man roster. If each of the following deals were finalized on Monday, I believe the organization would be in a much better place:

• Brewers trade RHP David Phelps to Marlins for OF Matt Joyce and RHP Humberto Mejía

Finally healthy again, old friend Phelps brings stability to the Marlins ‘pen. He has a $4.5 million club option for next year.

Baseball Trade Values

• Royals trade RHP Josh Staumont and C MJ Melendez for OF Lewis Brinson, RHP Jorge Guzman, RHP Jesús Tinoco and SS José Devers

The fireballer Staumont has been a breakout performer during his first full major league season. Melendez, a South Florida product, is the Royals 15th-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.

Baseball Trade Values

• Diamondbacks trade OF Starling Marte and $2 million cash (covers most of remaining 2020 salary and buyout of 2021 club option) for OF Monte Harrison, RHP Elieser Hernandez and OF Thomas Jones

The former All-Star Marte is mashing left-handed pitching in 2020.

Baseball Trade Values

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Weekend Rumors