Dreamin' Large

Unlike living large, dreaming large doesn't require any money or the accumulation of any debt.  Just a vivid imagination.

The Marlins are looking to lighten payroll and I have already posted about the case for trading for Giancarlo Stanton.  

Let's revisit that scenario and talk about more.  Basically, talking about trading baseball cards without any worries about payroll or long-term ramifications.

So, with that in mind, here is the trade I am proposing:

Giancarlo Stanton, JT Realmuto and Dan Straily to the Indians for the following players:

Bradley Zimmer, Francisco Mejia, Triston McKenzie, Mike Clevinger, Yu-Cheng Chang, Roberto Perez, Josh Tomlin and Yandy Diaz.

Now why, you ask, would the Marlins trade Stanton, let alone include Realmuto and Straily (their most effective starter)?  They want to reduce payroll and people willing to eat all of Stanton's salary are attractive suitors to the Marlins.

But why would they trade either, let alone both, of Realmuto and Straily?  Both are very controllable assets and would be part of the rebuild for the Marlins.  Still, though, how this trade breaks down is this:

Stanton for Zimmer and Chang  - We give them a guy in Zimmer who looks like a potential superstar centerfielder in the making and Chang and eat all his salary.  This, alone, might be a trade they would make. 

Realmuto for Mejia and McKenzie with Perez thrown in to be there until Mejia arrives, which could be as early as next spring.  Realmuto is the key as he is thrown in to get us to eat all of Stanton's salary.

Straily for Clevinger and Diaz  with Tomlin thrown in to eat innings.  Straily, while controllable, doesn't seem to be any more than an innings eater on a contender.   He strikes me as very similar to Dave Burba when we traded for him (Sean Casey, as I remember).   Controllable for a while but nothing more than a quality 3rd starter on a playoff team. 

What the Marlins get is a player-for-player swap which will start to bear REAL fruit next year and whet fans' appetites this year (Clevinger and Zimmer).

Again, baseball card trading and nothing more.   Still, a guy can dream, right?