St. Louis Cardinals: 4 Winter Meetings Takeaways

facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 5
Next

Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

A Trade for Later?

The one that sticks out is the Miami Marlins and their sometime ace Jose Fernandez. The Cuban lefty has yet to make 30 starts and pitch more than 200 innings in a season, but his stuff is so good and he’s still so young that he continues to be perceived as baseball’s next big thing. Plus, having Tommy John surgery is really no big deal anymore. Pitchers not only come back from it. Many thrive in the aftermath.

Still, the mercurial Marlins didn’t tamp down trade rumors surrounding Fernandez. Depending on who you believe, the righthander allegedly has attitude problems that have rankled the front office and some teammates. That fueled the rumors, and the Marlins, apparently, did entertain offers and made their own counter-offers, generally judged to be insane.

Of course they were. The Marlins don’t have to deal him now. Meanwhile, they’ve effectively told the St. Louis Cardinals and every other aspiring World Series contender to keep them on speed dial in July.

Next: Boras Watch