MLB rumors: Marlins open to trading Jesús Luzardo, but value comes with catch
12/10/2024 11:39 AM
The Miami Marlins are coming off a terrible 2024 season in which they finished with a 62-100 record — a major fall-off from their promising 2023 season in which they snuck into the postseason, although they did go winless in the Wild Card round. Another reset appears to be on the cards for the Marlins, as they have a few starting pitchers that will be commanding a ton of interest on the trade market, with one of them being Jesus Luzardo.
According to Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic, the Marlins are “open” to trading Luzardo, who has two years of team control remaining. As per the two insiders, the Marlins’ left-handed starting pitcher is “projected to earn $6 million” in arbitration, making him quite an affordable get for any team willing to gamble on the 27-year-old.
The catch, however, is that Luzardo has not suited up on the mound since June 16 after suffering a lumbar stress reaction. It’s not quite clear how healthy the 27-year-old southpaw is, so there is a ton of uncertainty on that front which would make trading for him a major shot in the dark.
The good news is that Luzardo is not set to make too much money heading into the 2025 season, and any team that will be trading for him will get him until 2026 — boosting his trade value for the Marlins. However, he is coming off a season in which he put up a disappointing 5.00 ERA in 66.2 innings of work (12 starts), which would then give prospective trade partners some pause.
Any team that will be trading for Luzardo will be hoping that 2024 is simply an outlier and that the 27-year-old will waste no time returning to his 2022 and 2023 form in which he put up a combined 6.1 WAR (per Fangraphs) in 279 innings pitched.
Marlins might be better off being patient on the Jesus Luzardo trade front
There is always a risk in holding on to trade assets instead of pulling the trigger on the first available chance; players can either suffer drops in production or an injury that will then keep them out of the trade market entirely. But for the Marlins, they might be best served by being patient on the Jesus Luzardo trade front.
As Rosenthal and Sammon pointed out, the Marlins might be able to get a bigger trade return for Luzardo if the 27-year-old southpaw proves that he is back in form and is healthy following a lost 2024 season.
The post MLB rumors: Marlins open to trading Jesús Luzardo, but value comes with catch appeared first on ClutchPoints.
