Lagging Marlins likely to be sellers at trade deadline

At 33-40 and eight games out of the National League’s third and final wild card as of Wednesday morning, the Marlins are in no positions to view themselves as playoff contenders. They’re more likely to trade away veterans than acquire them at the trade deadline, barring a dramatic reversal in performance.

If they can somehow get back to .500, or better, by the Aug. 2 MLB trade deadline, the Marlins will pursue the final NL wild-card spot and likely would be buyers, rather than sellers. Forget winning the division; the Marlins trail the NL Eastleading Mets by 13 games.

How close to the final wild-card spot would Miami need to be in late July to acquire veteran talent?

“I wouldn’t put a number on it,” general manager Kim Ng told me last week. “But you want to be within striking distance. I hope we get there. The club is playing a lot better this month than they were last month. We’re getting healthier.”

Does Ng have a sense from owner Bruce Sherman whether he would be willing to add payroll if the team is on the fringes of wild-card contention?

“Yeah, Bruce has been really supportive of what we’re doing,” Ng said. “If we feel that we’re within that striking distance, I think he’ll continue to be supportive.”

The Marlins’ $69.9 million payroll is 26th of 30 teams. They’re 29th in average attendance at 11,487 — ahead of only Oakland.

The Marlins hope to seize on a July schedule that features 11 games against the Pirates and Reds. Miami has sputtered against most of the higher quality teams but feasted on the cellar dwellers, including an 8-1 record against Washington.

If they continue down this losing path, they’re likely to be sellers, with these players potentially on the move at the deadline:

First baseman/designated

● hitter Jesus Aguilar: He will be a free agent at year’s end, and even if Miami keeps him for the remainder of the season, it’s highly unlikely he would be extended a qualifying offer this winter.

Aguilar has posted an on-base percentage of just .301 — down from .329 in 2021 and .352 in 2020, his first year with the Marlins.

He hasn’t yet been able to recapture the magic of his fantastic 2021 season, when he hit 22 homers and drove in 93 runs before missing nearly a month to end the season.

Aguilar will still be owed just over $3 million dollars if he’s dealt just before the deadline. For another team to assume his salary, with his current production, there’s not a lot to expect back in return unless he gets hot in the next five weeks.

Reliever Anthony

●

Bass: After struggling as a closer during the first week of the 2021 season, Bass has thrived in a set-up role (1.74 ERA in 31 games). Bass, who’s earning $3 million this season, has a $3 million team option for 2023; the Marlins must pay a $1 million buyout if they decline the option.

Reliever Steven Okert:

● The Marlins smartly signed Okert to a minorleague contract in February 2021, and he has gone 8-1 with a 2.60 ERA in 64 Marlins appearances over two seasons, including a 2.28 ERA this season as a late-inning arm.

In the trade market, Okert likely could command a top 20 prospect from another team. Keep in mind that Miami flipped reliever Nick Anderson and Trevor Richards to Tampa Bay for Jesus Sanchez in 2018. Don’t discount what a team will pay for a left-handed costcontrolled arm down the stretch. The Marlins’ minor-league system is deep with young left-handed relief pitching.

If the Marlins go on a surprising winning streak and become buyers at the trade deadline, the positions we hear they would like to solidify are a back end bullpen arm and a starting center fielder.

The Marlins bumbled center field by not keeping Starling Marte. Marte — who signed a four-year, $78 million deal with the Mets — has been much better than corner outfielder Avisail Garcia, who signed a four-year, $56 million deal with Miami.

Marte is hitting .284 with seven homers and 36 RBI. Garcia is hitting .227 with five homers and 21 RBI.

Marte told us last week that the Marlins “offered a deal [last offseason] and we spent a while negotiating, but it never came to fruition. What they offered and we wanted weren’t lining up.”

As for the bullpen, Tanner Scott has converted seven of eight save chances, and Ng said: “We definitely like the direction he has been going.”

But so much has gone wrong: Garcia and Jorge Soler have been disappointments; key piece Joey Wendle has missed nearly two months with hamstring injuries; Sanchez — for all his gifts — struggles to get on base consistently; Aguilar has declined. Trevor Rogers has dramatically regressed, Elieser Hernandez bombed and Sixto Sanchez (hasn’t pitched in a game since 2020) and Edward Cabrera can’t stay healthy.

CHATTER

If the Heat loses P.J. Tucker — and The Philadelphia Inquirer reports he’s going to sign with the 76ers — then Miami will consider P.J. Warren (who hasn’t played since December 2020 because of a foot injury but averaged 19.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and shooting 40.3 on threes in his last healthy season) and potentially Bobby Portis, Thaddeus Young, Otto Porter, Kyle Anderson and Nik Batum. Among non free agents, trades for

Jae Crowder, Kyle Kuzma, Harrison Barnes or

PJ Washington could be explored.

Of the Heat’s undrafted

●

rookie free agent pickups, keep an eye on Fresno

State undrafted center

Orlando Robinson. Listed at 7 feet and 235 pounds, Robinson averaged 19.4 points on 48.4 percent shooting from the field, 37-of-105 (35.2 percent) shooting on threes, 8.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and

1.2 blocks per game.

Running back Duke

●

Johnson told me that the Dolphins never offered him a contract in free agency but that he’s not upset about it. He instead signed with Buffalo.

A source said the Dolphins initially conveyed interest in re-signing Johnson but the organization changed course after Mike McDaniel’s hiring because the staff saw better available fits for McDaniel’s running scheme.

“They just wanted to go in a different direction,” Johnson said. “I figured McDaniel wanted his guys;

Raheem Mostert is one of his guys. I know the nature of the business. No hard feelings.”

Johnson, 28, said he treasures the experience of playing briefly for his hometown team. He ran 71 times for 330 yards (a 4.6 average) in five games and four late-season starts for the Dolphins.

The Dolphins kept two veteran backs from the 2021 team (Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed) but moved on from Johnson and Philip Lindsay and signed three players

(Chase Edmonds, Mostert and Sony Michel) who are front-runners for the team’s top three running back jobs.

As expected, UM offensive ● lineman Issiah Walker entered the transfer portal.