Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images Reportedly deterred by MLB free agent rates, the Marlins might prefer to use their farm system depth to trade for outfielders with lower salaries and multiple years of club control. Earlier this week, our own Juan Páez dared to ask whether the Marlins should even be trying to acquire another outfielder for the 2021 season. Starling Marte is poised to be their everyday center fielder with Corey Dickerson getting the lion’s share of starts in left and a handful of younger internal options competing for the remaining reps. While we at Fish Stripes continue to operate under the assumption of a universal designated hitter rule, that is far from a certainty—the MLB Players’ Association just rejected the league’s latest offer and (as of early Tuesday morning) haven’t submitted a counterproposal. If Marlins pitchers are going to be taking their usual 300 or so total plate appearances out of the already-crowded position player pool, there’d be very little to gain from splurging on offensive additions. With all that being said, the national and local rumors have been fairly consistent: the Marlins want a bat. One way to approach this would be signing a free agent (such as Adam Duvall, but apparently not Yasiel Puig) to a short-term deal; as an alternative, the Fish might sacrifice talent from their deep farm system via trade to bring in a slightly younger player at a cheaper guaranteed salary whose club control extends through 2022 or beyond. This article explores the latter. The following six players are ordered in terms of ascending trade value as estimated by Baseball Trade Values. Mike Tauchman, Andrew Benintendi and Adam Frazier are in their own tier according to BTV coming off forgettable 2020 performances. Meanwhile, the Orioles, Blue Jays and Cubs have much more leverage right now when negotiating potential deals involving Anthony Santander, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Ian Happ, respectively. Mike Tauchman (New York Yankees) Availability (scale of 1-10): 7. The Yankees are in win-now mode and should be reluctant to get rid of anybody who can contribute at the major league level as Tauchman did so capably in 2019. But with the club progressing towards re-signing fellow lefty-swinger Brett Gardner and their All-Star-caliber outfielders fully healthy (for now), he’d be underutilized. Perhaps there is a deal to be made that sends a Miami pitching prospect or two to New York in exchange. Fit: Tauchman works very deep counts and can handle the defensive duties at any outfield spot. Not even eligible for arbitration yet, he will only earn slightly above the MLB minimum salary this coming season with club control extending through 2024. You can nitpick Tauchman’s age (30) and sporadic power hitting, but the Marlins would appreciate his services. Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images Andrew Benintendi (Boston Red Sox) Availability: 9. The Red Sox have reportedly been discussing Benintendi with various teams this offseason, including the Marlins! For the right price, they would be willing to part with the former top prospect, though I remain suspect of anything materializing before Opening Day. There seems to be a chasm between what the Sox seek in return and how the rest of the league values him. Fit: Meh...At $6.6 million for 2021, Benintendi is the priciest of these featured players, and he can test free agency after the following year. He has zero professional experience in right field where the Marlins presumably intend to use him often during the upcoming season. On the other hand, the upside is tantalizing—he was a borderline top 10 MLB outfielder as recently as 2018. Adam Frazier (Pittsburgh Pirates) Availability: 10. General manager Ben Cherington claims he’s no longer focused on selling off veterans, but it’s painfully clear that the Buccos will not be contending for anything in 2021. Players like Frazier who are within shouting distance of free agency are incongruous with the direction of the franchise and therefore expendable. Fit: Frazier’s versatility is attractive—the Athens, Georgia native has started at six different positions so far in his major league career (2B, 3B, SS, LF, CF and RF). However, he shares some of Benintendi’s concerns with only one year of arbitration eligibility remaining after ‘21, steadily declining value as a baserunner and a higher starting salary than the Marlins prefer ($4.3M). Overall, he’s been a league-average hitter in parts of five seasons in The Show (100 wRC+). Anthony Santander (Baltimore Orioles) Fish Stripes original GIF Availability: 9. Roch Kubatko of MASN has reported that the Marlins checked in regarding Santander. The American League’s version of the Pirates, the Orioles are going nowhere fast and should be amenable to moving just about anybody on their major league roster. Perhaps hinting at ownership’s desire to slash payroll, the O’s offered Santander salary deferrals on his 2021 contract, a highly unusual tactic when negotiating with an arbitration-eligible player according to Dan Connolly of The Athletic. (Santander declined that pay structure and will be going to an arbitration hearing next month.) Fit: The Marlins would appreciate Santander’s switch-hitting presence in their lineup, while he ought to feel right at home sharing a clubhouse with Venezuelan countrymen Jesús Aguilar, Pablo López and Miguel Rojas. Even if the 26-year-old were to win his arb case, $2.5M is a bargain. Santander has 20 homers in his last 65 games dating back to the 2019 season. As mentioned in the introduction, BTV considers him substantially more valuable than any of the previously discussed trade targets. Any hypothetical package for Santander definitely involves more than one of Miami’s top 30 prospects. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (Toronto Blue Jays) Availability: 4. Having already landed superstar George Springer, the Blue Jays came close to a deal with the esteemed Michael Brantley, too. That would’ve created a logjam in their outfield and an urgency to shop somebody like Gurriel for extra pitching. The willingness to pursue Brantley—the sides reportedly reached a three-year agreement before things unraveled and he re-upped with the Astros—suggests they may pivot to one of the other remaining free agent position players as a consolation. But in the meantime, Gurriel’s availability is difficult to gauge. Fit: Toronto’s main left fielder throughout 2020, Gurriel actually has roots as a middle infielder. Perfectly fine for the Fish who have intriguing in-house options at second base but none that are fully trustworthy. His career 120 wRC+ is better than any current Marlin. The son of a Cuban baseball legend of the same name, Lourdes Jr. is under club control for four more seasons (due $3.9M in 2021). Ian Happ (Chicago Cubs) Availability: 8. The NL Central is so pathetic, the Cubs can continue to dismantle the core of their team while still stumbling into the postseason again. To be fair, their strategy appears to be more nuanced than that. Although finances are clearly a motive here, Chicago won’t be trading Kris Bryant, Javier Báez or Anthony Rizzo before Opening Day because they would barely bring back any young talent in return. Happ, on the other hand, is just entering his prime while being severely undercompensated. The Northsiders can get a haul for him. David Banks-USA TODAY Sports Fit: There’s some swing-and-miss in Happ’s plate approach, but that is really the only reservation the Marlins might have. You can play him anywhere (even on the mound in emergencies) in 2020 and trust him as the everyday center fielder beginning next year if Starling Marte signs elsewhere. The 26-year-old switch-hitter provides elite production from the left side, constantly barreling the ball. Like Santander, he is awaiting an arbitration hearing after submitting a $4.1M figure (the Cubs want him at $3.25M) and will be eligible for the arb process again in 2022 and 2023.

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Photo by Harry How/Getty Images Welcome to the Splash Zone, the quickest way to get your day started off right. We bring you a rundown of Miami Dolphins news from the last 24 hours. Practices begin today as Senior Bowl week officially kicks off. The Dolphins coaching staff will be working with the National Team, which is headlined by DeVante Smith and Najee Harris. Smith and Harris are among the fan favorites for the Dolphins to draft and it’s great that the Dolphins will be able to work with all these prospects as there will be no Combine due to COVID-19. You can check out that story here, and the rest of the day’s round-up below. Top 10 Senior Bowl defensive players for Miami DolphinsThe Miami Dolphins are coaching a Senior Bowl team, a huge advantage. Here are 10 defensive players they'll monitor closely. Phinsider News You May Have Missed Miami Dolphins News 1/24/21: Dolphins Add Two New Coaches - The PhinsiderWelcome to the Splash Zone, the quickest way to get your day started off right. We bring you a rundown of Miami Dolphins news from the last 24 hours. AFC and NFC Championship games: Former Miami Dolphins one-win from Super Bowl - The PhinsiderLater today, the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship game and the Green Bay Packers will welcome in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the NFC Championship game. While... NFL Expert Picks: 2021 Championship Weekend straight-up winners - The PhinsiderSomehow, we are already closing in on the end of the 2020-2021 NFL season. We are at Championship Weekend, with the top-two teams in each conference facing off for a spot in the Super Bowl. We have...

Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports After a well-fought game and an impressive Bam performance, Brooklyn’s firepower would allow them to take over the fourth quarter keeping this one out of reach, First Quarter: Duncan Robinson started the game off with a three-pointer and Bam followed it up with an elbow jumper. Bam’s midrange game is elite. According to Cleaning the Glass, he ranks in the 82nd percentile, shooting 53% from the midrange, an improvement from 38% last season. He lit up the Nets from midrange all quarter long. Miami’s defense was solid on Brooklyn’s scorers as it kept the Nets 0/5 and caused the generally smiling Steve Nash to stare daggers from the sideline. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving would eventually get Brooklyn back in things, but their offense looked clunky early on. In fact, it took until the 6:38 mark for James Harden to even attempt a shot. A lot of that can be credited to KZ Okpala and his exceptional defense on the Beard. Amazing defense from the Heat. They double Harden, Robinson is in early on the roll and gets out to Harris, then they double Kyrie. On the weak side as the ball rotates Bam goes to Harris and Dragic goes to KD. Then they absorb the Harris cut which turns into a turnover pic.twitter.com/uIXpFCDRz0— Mo Dakhil (@MoDakhil_NBA) January 26, 2021 Miami’s reserves would keep the offense consistent as it moved the ball well, and kept things relatively turnover-free. The Heat would take a six-point lead into the second Second Quarter: Iguodala would make a steal to start off the second quarter, that through a series of improvisation and a saved ball would eventually lead to some Duncan free throws. Miami continued its strong defense, with Precious Achiuwa nearly sending blocked shots into the empty bleachers. Still, with so much firepower the Nets would get back within striking distance on a 9-2 run. Kendrick Nunn continued his solid play carrying Miami’s offense with the reserves. He had some spectacular moves and really showed his confidence slashing to the rim. Gabe Vincent also performed well as the primary ball carrier finding Precious for a spectacular slam dunk. Gracing your TLs with back to back Precious slams pic.twitter.com/PTR7qM98O9— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) January 26, 2021 Bam returned to the game and continued his dominance with some big dunks of his own. He had over 15 points in the half as he feasted on DeAndre Jordan’s subpar defense. Still, even with some great output, Miami’s terrible three-point shooting let the Nets steal the lead, but only momentarily. Goran Dragic would redeem the Heat quickly with multiple scores from deep enough for the Heat to take a 4 point lead into halftime. Third Quarter: Kyrie opened up the third with a three. One thing that’s equally cool and terrifying about this Brooklyn team is that it only takes a few shots for them to heat up. They’d take the lead on an 8-0 run. Miami struggled to guard the paint letting Kyrie in for drives, and letting DeAndre dominate the glass. The Heat struggled briefly on offense, but Goran’s hot shooting would carry over from the first half. He had five threes at the 7-minute mark of the third. He also looked great driving to the rim really showing some flashes of playoff Goran. @Goran_Dragic scoring over two walls pic.twitter.com/69GT2xbcD0— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) January 26, 2021 Bam, after going scoreless for much of the quarter erupted towards the end of the third, blocking shots and hustling to the other end for outback dunks. Bam was absolutely phenomenal resembling a prime Kevin Garnett at times. There was a lot of good from the Heat in this quarter, but it didn’t take much for Brooklyn to hang around. The Heat had opportunities to blow this one open, but Duncan’s surprisingly rough shooting kept things close. Bam hit a buzzer-beater bank shot to add an exclamation point on things headed into the fourth and final quarter. Fourth Quarter: Andre Iguodala stepped up tonight for the Heat with some fantastic rebounding. He’s not the star he used to be, but he knows how to affect the game in different ways. With Bam on the bench, Miami’s offense stagnated slightly. But as soon as he got back in the game, he kept it (and the Heat) going with an awesome And-1 jumper. He also did an exceptional job drawing fouls (I assume Jimmy has taught him a few tricks). Bam was really Miami’s only offensive weapon save for a bucket from Kendrick Nunn. That left room for James Harden and Kyrie to step up for Brooklyn and run up their lead to eight. Where the Heat really only had two weapons tonight in Bam and Goran, Brooklyn can casually go to Harden, Durant, and Irving whenever they want. It’s dangerous. The 17-3 run exemplified this. There was a lot of good from the Heat in this one, but they just didn’t have any juice left towards the end of this one. Miami will be fine as it gets players back for the homestand. But losses like this one still sting.