Nationals should explore this offseason trade with Marlins
The Nationals should see if Miami Marlins reliever Yimi Garcia is available.
Well, this is where we stand. The MLB Winter Meetings have come and gone and with them no news to report from the Washington Nationals front. They currently sit with 34 players on the 40 man roster. Of the spots remaining, they need an outfielder, a first baseman, a starting pitcher, a catcher, and Yimi Garcia.
Garcia is a hard throwing right hander who would slide nicely into the Nationals bullpen for 2021. He is an under the radar arm who struck out 11.4 men per nine innings last year, with a WHIP of 0.933 and an ERA of 0.60.
The year prior, Garcia had an issue with surrendering the long ball, even though he finished the season with a WHIP of 0.866.
Sam Clay was signed to a major league contract without having pitched in the majors largely because he is a ground ball pitcher. Last year Garcia had a ground ball rate of 41.7%. There is room in the bullpen for two guys who induce hitters to pound the ball into the ground.
Injuries in 2020 forced a lot of the younger Nationals pitchers to see action before they normally would have. Acquiring Garcia would mean Seth Romero, Ben Braymer, and Dakota Bacus are not rushed into action before they are ready, should injuries rear their ugly head again.
Garcia is due about $2M in arbitration this season and is a free agent at the end of the year. The Marlins are still budget conscious and will be willing to sell high on Garcia before they lose him next year without getting anything in return.
Even though the Marlins made the playoffs last year (thanks to the expanded format), they are still a couple years away from seriously contending. They’d be happy to flip Garcia for a guy with more years of team control. Say, Ryne Harper or Austin Voth. Players with big league experience who have struggled some, though have potential and may just need a change of scenery.
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The Marlins may just be happy to get rid of Garcia’s salary in exchange for some International Bonus Money. I’ll let Mike Rizzo hammer out the details, all I know is Yimi Garcia is a guy the Nationals need in the bullpen.