About a month after acquiring Fernando Rodney, the Marlins have remained active on the trade market in the hopes of earning their first postseason berth since 2003.
Today, the Marlins acquired Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea from the San Diego Padres in a package headlined by Josh Naylor, who is ranked as the seventh best first base prospect by MLB.com. According to Jeff Passan, the Marlins will also include Luis Castillo (no, not that one), who is a power right-handed pitching prospect that can hit triple digits.
Jayson Stark adds that right-handed pitcher Jarred Cosart will also be going from the Marlins to the Padres.
Ken Rosenthal is now reporting that the Marlins are also sending righty Carter Capps to the Padres while San Diego is including righty Tayron Guerrero.
Full deal now looks like Cashner, Rea and Guerrero going to the Marlins for Naylor, Cosart, Castillo and Capps.
In 16 starts, Cashner is 4-7 with a 4.76 and a 1.387 WHIP. In his lone start against the Mets this year, Cashner took the loss pitching five innings allowing eight hits, three runs, one walk, and one strikeout. The game was highlighted by a Yoenis Cespedes home run.
For his career, Cashner has made nine starts against the Mets. He is 0-3 with a 6.18 ERA and a 1.590 WHIP. Cashner will be a free agent at the end of the season.
The 25-year old Rea has made 18 starts and one relief appearance in this first full major league season. He is 5-5 with a 4.98 ERA and a 1.460 WHIP. He has only made one start in his career against the Mets. In that game earlier this season, Rea dominated the Mets pitching eight innings allowing three hits and only one run.
The addition of two starters should allow the Marlins to ease up on their reliance upon their ace Jose Fernandez. Fernandez has already thrown 125.2 innings this year, which is already more than he has thrown in his last two seasons. It should also prove to be insurance for Wei-Yin Chen, who was just put on the 15-day disabled list with an elbow injury.
Currently, the Marlins are a game and a half ahead of the Mets in both the National League East and the Wild Card races. The Marlins are currently tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for the second Wild Card spot.
