{"id":711607,"date":"2026-05-29T04:45:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T04:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/711607\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T04:45:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T04:45:26","slug":"marlins-top-trade-candidate-is-a-13-million-pitcher-no-one-is-discussing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/711607\/","title":{"rendered":"Marlins Top Trade Candidate is a $13 Million Pitcher No One is Discussing"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Miami Marlins<\/a> signed Pete Fairbanks<\/a> to a one-year, $13 million contract last December. The right-handed reliever will receive a $500,000 assignment bonus (paid by the acquiring team) if he\u2019s traded during the 2026 season \u2014 a possible payday that grows more likely each passing week.<\/p>\n

At 26-31, the Marlins need to leapfrog six teams to jump back into the NL Wild Card picture. Their deficit isn\u2019t insurmountable, but it\u2019s deep enough that they can expect to receive a few phone calls between now and the Aug. 3 trade deadline if their fortunes don\u2019t improve.<\/p>\n

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More news: Marlins Pitcher Could Help Padres Via Trade, Says Former MLB Outfielder<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite his up-and-down results in 2026, Fairbanks could be the subject of more tire-kicking than any Marlins player among contending teams.<\/p>\n

\"MarlinsMIAMI, FLORIDA \u2013 APRIL 22: Pete Fairbanks #29 of the Miami Marlins shakes hands with Agust\u00edn Ram\u00edrez<\/a> #50 after defeating the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a> 4-1 at loanDepot park on April 22, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

After recording 88 saves for Tampa Bay from 2019-25 and anchoring the Rays<\/a>\u2019 bullpen during their 2020 World Series run, Fairbanks has seen his profile fall in Miami.<\/p>\n

Mostly, that\u2019s the result of a two-week stay on the injured list because of an irritated nerve. In five one-inning appearances since returning, Fairbanks has allowed only one run.<\/p>\n

More news: MLB Umpire Leaves Game After Enduring Unluckiest Inning Ever<\/a><\/p>\n

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Unfortunately, Fairbanks got blown up in a couple of April outings and sports a 7.07 ERA for the season. The 32-year-old might need a few more solid outings before the Marlins start receiving any formal trade offers.<\/p>\n

The Marlins have only had 21 save opportunities through their first 57 games this season. Trading their only pitching with closing experience is unlikely to hurt their slim chances of reaching the postseason \u2014\u00a04.6 percent through May 27, according to FanGraphs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More news: Craig Kimbrel\u2019s Rays Debut Pushes Him Closer to MLB Record<\/a><\/p>\n

The same could be said of starting pitcher Sandy Alc\u00e1ntara<\/a>, a former Cy Young Award winner. But while the Marlins hold a 2027 option for Alc\u00e1ntara, Fairbanks is a free agent at the end of the season. They won\u2019t hurt their chances for next year by trading him in-season.<\/p>\n

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If getting healthy wasn\u2019t enough to improve Fairbanks\u2019 trade stock, a simple change to his pitch mix might. The Marlins have increased Fairbanks\u2019 cut fastball usage from a tertiary offering to a secondary pitch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More news: Rangers\u2019 Difficult Decision About Former MVP Was Necessary<\/a><\/p>\n

Opposing hitters are having little trouble with the pitch, as evidenced by a .357 batting average and .643 slugging percentage against Fairbanks\u2019 cutter. Meanwhile, the Marlins have de-emphasized Fairbanks\u2019 slider despite it yielding only a .173 batting average last year and no hits in 2026.<\/p>\n

A change of scenery could be in order for Fairbanks. The Marlins shouldn\u2019t hesitate to pull the trigger if any teams looking for bullpen help are willing to offer a talented minor league prospect in return.<\/p>\n

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Start your unlimited Newsweek trial<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Miami Marlins signed Pete Fairbanks to a one-year, $13 million contract last December. The right-handed reliever will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2395],"tags":[456,5,847,1816,778,58,4171,4,848,297,3480,67],"class_list":["post-711607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami-marlins","tag-agustin-ramirez","tag-baseball","tag-craig-kimbrel","tag-marlins","tag-miami","tag-miami-marlins","tag-miamimarlins","tag-mlb","tag-pete-fairbanks","tag-rays","tag-sandy-alcantara","tag-st-louis-cardinals"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116656047678982946","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}