Reflecting on the Jake Burger trade one year later – Marlins

When he was acquired by the Marlins on August 1, 2023, via trade with the Chicago White Sox, Jake Burger gave fans the concept of a player their organization had long been deprived of—upside power with several years of team control. Miami had Burger, then 27, under control through the 2028 season.

Primarily a third baseman upon arrival, Burger strung together the best stretch of his career to that point, hitting .303/.355/.505/.860 in 53 games. The Marlins, led by first-year manager Skip Schumaker, found themselves in the postseason for the first time in a full season since 2003.

The following year followed a much different script, though, as Miami took a major step back. It was immediately apparent that there’d be no October baseball, triggering midseason trades of mainstays, including Luis Arráez, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Tanner Scott, for a team that would go on to lose 100 games.

Burger began 2024 in a prolonged slump, but compensated for it from July onward. In 137 games, he hit .250/.301/.460/.761 with a team-leading 29 home runs and 76 runs batted in.

The aforementioned Schumaker, who had been voted NL Manager of the Year in ’23, departed at season’s end. In no hurry to return to the dugout, he agreed to spend a gap year with the Texas Rangers as a senior advisor to president of baseball operations Chris Young. Schumaker and Co. would quickly get to work, acquiring his former player in Burger on December 11. Miami received a trio of prospects—infielders Echedry Vargas and Maximo Acosta, and pitcher Brayan Mendoza. 

In his first season in the Lone Star State, Burger dealt with adversity both off and on the field, starting with the birth of a daughter diagnosed with Down Syndrome. In honor of her, Burger changed his uniform number to 21.

Making first base his full-time position, Burger OPS’d just .561 through his first 30 games. The Rangers demoted him to Triple-A Round Rock on May 2.

Though he would hit a more respectable .254/.284/.453/.737 the rest of the way upon being recalled, Burger finished 2025 with a career-worst .687 OPS. His availability was limited by oblique, quad and wrist injuries.

Beneath a trying year in the batter’s box, however, Burger made some progress on the other side of the ball. After posting consistently mediocre defensive grades at the hot corner, first base has been a more ideal position for him. In 2025, for the first time in his career, Burger graded out as a plus defender, posting plus-one defensive runs saved over a 91-game sample.

Looking ahead to 2026, Burger will again be playing under Schumaker, who was appointed Rangers manager following the resignation of Bruce Bochy. He appears to be penciled in as the club’s first baseman.

As for Miami, there is a void at the position with no satisfying internal solution. 

Eric Wagaman produced a Burger-like .674 OPS in 2025, but has no track record of exceeding that, making it difficult to justify everyday playing time. Rule 5 draft success story Liam Hicks saw time there, though severely lacking in the power department, he’s of more value to the Marlins as a catcher. Graham Pauley, received in the deal that sent Tanner Scott to the Padres, has shown promise as a third baseman. While he’s capable of shifting over to the less-demanding corner infield spot, that’d be a waste of his defensive prowess.

Then there’s Connor Norby, the initially thought of prized return in the Trevor Rogers deal with Baltimore, that is, before the unprecedented Kyle Stowers breakout. Norby, a Burger-lite clone a la plus-power and below-average plate discipline and defense, is another name the club has toyed with seeing time at first, though his future may be better suited in an outfield corner. 

The first base of it all is just one aspect of the Burger of it all, but the outcome of the players acquired in return for Burger will largely determine which club came out on top here.

While they each experienced growing pains in their first season with the organization, the above-mentioned Vargas and Mendoza still boast a track record of success at the lower levels to keep fans hopeful. On the other hand, Maximo Acosta has already made an impression, displaying his raw power and positional versatility in his brief big league career.