The Problem Isn't Hanley

In the past week, there has been growing sentiment, if not outright fervor, around trading Hanley Ramirez, the team's mercurial shortstop. The question I must ask, and seriously, it's a big one - big enough to get me to actually blog again - is why? What is it possibly going to accomplish? Did we not already learn our lesson with Miguel, superstar for prospects trades rarely work out well for the selling team.

Usually, a trade involving the team's resident superstar happens for one of the following reasons:

(1) The team's best prospect plays the same position and may be a better player than the incumbent veteran.
(2) The player is over-the-hill.
(3) The player is making too much money to justify keeping him.

Well, we can certainly cross #1 off the list. The Marlins best prospect, depending on who you ask, is either Chad James (my choice) who is a starting pitcher, or Matt Dominguez, who is a third-baseman.

#2 doesn't look so compelling either. Hanley just turned 27. Generally, an athlete's "physical prime" is between the ages of 27 and 33. Suffice to say, Hanley's probably not going to need a walker in the near future.

That brings us to #3: money; a common theme with the Marlins. Hanley's making $11 million this season and $15 million each of the next two seasons before his final season in 2014 pays him $16 million. That's a pretty decent payday, and money he would certainly not see were he to have become a free-agent after this season had the Marlins faield to come to terms with him on a contract in 2008.

Here's the problem, that $15 million you're so eager to spend in free-agency; the Marlins already spent that. You want to see what $15 million bought the 2011 Marlins? John Buck ($6 million) Javier Vazquez ($7 million) and Randy Choate ($1 million). Ladies and gentlemen, Larry Beinfest!

The problem isn't Hanley, and the answer isn't trading Hanley. The problem is, since 2007, the Marlins have whiffed on a superstar trade - Burke Badenhop is all we have left from Detroit - and evaluated their free agent targets poorly. No franchise can overcome those missteps, much less one on a small budget.

So again, I emphasize, if trading Hanley is the answer, don't we need look no further than Miguel Cabrera, John Buck and Javier Vazquez and realize, we're asking the wrong question.