8:57pm: In a , Rosenthal reports that Miami and the Royals discu sed the framework of a trade that wouldve sent the southpaw to Kansas City and first baseman to South Florida during the Winter Meetings. It doesnt appear that those conversations are still going, as the Royals instead addre sed their rotation with free agent adds of and . Pasqunatino, who owns a .272/.355/.444 slash in 558 career plate appearances, saw his second big league season cut short by surgery to repair a labrum tear in his right shoulder. He remains under team control for five years. 12:28pm: Marlins left-hander is drawing trade interest, per a report from . The Miami rotation has been a frequent nexus point of rumors in recent years, which has continued into this winter. Just last month, Rosenthal on the same concept, highlighting and as po sible trade candidates. At that time, Rosenthal portrayed Luzardo as likely off-limits, but his report from today seems to suggest it may not be totally off the table after all. Rosenthal suggests that Peter Bendix, the clubs new president of baseball operations, might have more willingne s to consider a trade than now-former general manager Kim Ng. As Rosenthal points out, Bendix came to the Marlins from the Rays, a club that has generally been unafraid to trade players at peak value. For instance, in 2018, they traded to the Pirates for , and . They later sent Meadows to the Tigers for and are in the proce s of trading Glasnow to the Dodgers at this very moment. If Bendix has any intention of bringing a similar operating style to Miami, then considering a Luzardo deal can become plausible in that light. He has three years of club control remaining, with projecting a salary of $5.9MM in 2024. He will be due raises in the two following seasons before hes slated to reach free agency Danuel House Jersey after 2026. Since hes going to get more expensive as his control dwindles, his trade value right now is likely as high as it will get. Of course, beyond the contractual situation, there is the on-field stuff to consider. Luzardo posted a 3.32 earned run average in 18 starts last year, then a 3.58 ERA in 32 starts here in 2023. He struck out 28.7% of batters faced over those two years while walking just 7.9% and keeping 40.1% of balls in play on the ground. That kind of performance, along with his relatively modest salary and years of control, should combine to give him a tremendous amount of trade value. But that also makes him incredibly valuable to the Marlins and its worth pointing out that their situation is more precarious than in past years. underwent surgery at the end of the most recent season and is slated to mi s all of 2024. The club also subtracted from the mix by flipping him to the Twins last offseason. If they were to trade Luzardo, they would be down to , , Cabrera, Rogers and . Prez and Garrett make for a strong front two, but Prez might be on a workload limit next year due to his youth and quick ascent. Cabrera has significant control problems while Rogers struggled in 2022 and then mi sed almost all of 2023 due to injury. Meyer has just two MLB starts and mi sed all of 2023 due to his own TJS. The club is reportedly planning to stretch out relievers and in the spring but theres no guarantee that transition will work. Given the uncertainty in the rotation, they may not want to subtract a talented pitcher like Luzardo, and theres nothing to suggest they are actively shopping him. But if the right offer comes in, the club may have to consider it. currently projects the clubs 2024 payroll at $98MM. Bruce Sherman bought the team at the end of 2017 and, per the data from , we can see the clubs Opening Day payroll dropped from $115MM that year to $100MM the year after. It hasnt been higher than $93MM since. The club could use some upgrades to its lineup, particularly in the middle infield, and may not have many resources available to do so. Even if they were willing to spend a bit more money, the best free agents available are guys like , and . While trading a pitcher would come with the risk of further weakening the rotation, its po sible it could be their best path forward. Clubs like the Reds, Twins, Rays, Cardinals and Orioles are flush with position players and could use some pitching, perhaps allowing them to line up with the Marlins. Chris Clemons Jersey