It took seven and a half years, but Giancarlo Stanton finally has some company. On Sunday night, Rafael Devers became the second player in MLB history to be traded in the midst of a $300 million contract. While there are significant differences between these blockbusters, both are rare examples of elite hitters being moved in their primes largely for salary relief and concerns about the long-term fit with their original teams.
Back in December 2017, during their first offseason under new ownership, the Miami Marlins shed $270M in sending Stanton to the New York Yankees. They received a package of Starlin Castro, Jorge Guzmán and José Devers (Rafael’s cousin, coincidentally). The Boston Red Sox are saving more than $250M and getting Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison, James Tibbs and José Bello in return. Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow was hired in October 2023, several months after the Sox extended Devers. As trade assets, I would say Castro was roughly equivalent to Hicks/Harrison, Guzmán to Tibbs and José Devers to Bello.
The pre-trade version of Stanton was better than Rafael Devers, though the latter was much more durable, which narrowed the gap in production. Devers also contributed to a World Series title in 2018, whereas none of Stanton’s Marlins teams even achieved a winning record.
A wide variety of injuries have prevented the Yankees from being fully satisfied with Stanton’s tenure, but the Marlins did not capitalize on their side of the transaction, either. Most of the financial savings went back into ownership’s pockets—Miami’s 2017 payroll remains a franchise record—and the Fish are headed for their sixth season of 90-plus losses since his departure. None of their homegrown hitters have emerged as a worthy successor to Stanton. Likewise, the Red Sox will be judged by how they fill the Devers void and reallocate the quarter-billion dollars that was previously earmarked for him.
Down on the farm, Triple-A Jacksonville won, 5-4, completing a series sweep over Rochester. Jakob Marsee stole his 38th base. No other Marlins minor leaguer has more than 25. Double-A Pensacola won, 5-2. Kemp Alderman launched a tape-measure home run. Grant Richardson stays hot since signing with the Marlins as a free agent, slashing .321/.367/.536 in eight games (though with a 40% strikeout rate). Only two runs allowed by Alex Williams in 17 â…“ innings since being promoted to the Blue Wahoos. High-A Beloit lost, 2-1. Low-A Jupiter lost, 2-1. That’s despite an excellent outing from Liomar MartÃnez (6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 86 pitches/57 strikes).
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🔷 How sweep it is! The Fish won three straight at Nationals Park over the weekend. In Sunday’s series finale, they blanked the Nats from the second inning onward despite leaning on low-leverage arms, including emergency closer Freddy Tarnok. This felt like the series that Dane Myers cemented himself as Miami’s everyday center fielder and vaulted himself into All-Star consideration. He racked up eight hits and boosted his season slash line to .333/.377/.481.
🔷 The Marlins designated Luarbert Arias for assignment to make room for Tarnok on their 40-man roster. The 24-year-old right-hander pitched poorly out of the big league bullpen in six appearances earlier this season and he’s been struggling with his control in Triple-A (13 BB in 14.0 IP since the beginning of May). With two more minor league options left beyond 2025 and a good MiLB track record overall, I could still see him getting claimed by another team.Â
🔷 The Los Angeles Dodgers “are one of the teams lurking” in the event that the Marlins shop Sandy Alcantara this summer, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. Let’s take this one with a grain of salt because in the very next paragraph, Nightengale added that Shohei Ohtani was not expected to make his Dodgers pitching debut “until after the All-Star break.” As it turns out, Ohtani takes the mound tonight. The last trade between the Dodgers and Marlins was the swap of Miguel Rojas for Jacob Amaya in January 2023.
🔷 On this day in 1995, Miami’s own Andre Dawson hit his 400th career National League home run.
🔷 The Prediction Time leaderboard has been updated through the first 23 series. Become a SuperSub and we’ll keep track of your predictions all season long!
🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Grant Holmes struck out 15 Colorado Rockies, the highest single-game total for any MLB pitcher this season. The Rockies beat the Atlanta Braves, anyway. Elly De La Cruz homered for the fourth consecutive game. Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler told Matt Gelb of The Athletic that he intends to retire once his contract expires at the end of the 2027 season. Since joining the Phillies in 2020, Wheeler leads Major League Baseball in innings pitched.
🔷 Today’s MLB game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Sandy Alcantara) kick off a week-long homestand with their series opener against the Phillies (RHP Mick Abel). The Marlins have a 54.5% chance to win, per FanGraphs. Another victory would mean Miami’s longest winning streak of the season. First pitch at 6:40 p.m. ET.
🔷 Prior to the game, Fish On First LIVE will preview the Phillies series beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET. FOF LIVE is presented by About The Fans. Check out our new merchandise collection (coupon code fof10 for 10% off).
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