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Reports: Marlins shopping Logan Morrison and Ricky Nolasco, but no plans to deal Giancarlo Stanton 11.14.12 at 4:07 pm ET
By Alex Speier

Marlins first baseman/outfielder Logan Morrison could be available in a trade. (AP)

In the aftermath of the trade that unloaded shortstop Jose Reyes and starters Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle to the Blue Jays, the Marlins may not be leaving the proverbial dust to settle. According to Joe Capozzi of the Palm Beach Post (via twitter), there is an expectation that Miami will now trade right-hander Ricky Nolasco and first baseman/outfielder Logan Morrison.

Though Nolasco continues to have low walk rates and has been relatively durable, his impressive 2008 campaign — in which he went 15-8 with a 3.52 ERA — seems like something of a career outlier. In the last four years, he’s gone 49-43 with a 4.68 ERA (worse than league average), and his strikeout rate has gone down in each of the last three years, from 9.5 per nine innings in 2009 to 8.4 to 6.5 and finally to 5.9 in 2012. He is set to earn $11.5 million in 2013, the final season of a three-year, $26.5 million deal he signed before the 2011 season.

Morrison could represent an intriguing option for a Red Sox team that is without a first baseman or corner outfielder. The 25-year-old struggled to a .230 average, .308 OBP, .399 slugging mark and .707 OPS in 2012. However, those numbers reflected in no small part his struggles in an offense-killing home ballpark in Miami, where he hit .209/.278/.329/.608 with four homers in 176 plate appearances. On the road, he hit .254/.342/.478/.820 with seven homers in 158 plate appearances. In parts of three seasons, the left-handed hitting Morrison is a career .250/.339/.442/.781 hitter who has shown similar splits against both right-handed and left-handed hitters. However, he was limited to just 93 games in 2012 and missed the final two months of the year for a knee injury that ultimately required surgery in September.

The most intriguing member of the Marlins for a potential trade is slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who hit .290/.361/.608/.969 with 37 homers in just 123 games as a 22-year-old in 2012. (He turned 23 last week.) However, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports that Stanton “pretty much remains untouchable, at least for 2013,” given that he is both inexpensive (he is not yet eligible for salary arbitration) and the lone recognizable star left on the Marlins after the blockbuster with the Jays.

Read More: giancarlo stanton, logan morrison, ricky nolasco, Print  |  Email  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It
  • Ipse Amicus

    $.  Anyone notice anything of late?

  • Teechef

    notice? yeah, sox aren’t spending money . this ” bridge year” will be golden gate long.

  • bbraves

    hope you folks are wrong , until we know what players could the sox have offered I will not judge I need to give Ben a real shot , what this did is eliminate the pool , if I where you I would worry more about CSO (Chief Stooge Officer) Larry forcing a bad deal since they have not been in the papers recently to me he is the Evil Empire leader , can not wait to see what this all looks like on the pic nic table in Feb………than I will grade the off season 

  • Jimmy Freeze

    That sounds pretty “disciplined”…
    Let’s commit roster spots to guys on the downslide or just can’t play…to save a few bucks

    My prediction is that Henry et al sells the team within 2 years…he’ll milk all the cash he can out for the next 2 years, and develop the farm system, then get as much as he can.

    If he has had significant losses in the financial markets, the 500M that he’ll pull out of the Red Sox sale looks pretty good right now.

  • BPD

    under-rated nickel corner who can cover the slot pretty well. gets torched if put on the outside receiver

  • Troll Hunter

    Not the best signing but hopefully just for depth or a nickel.

  • http://www.facebook.com/russ.desrosiers Russ Desrosiers

    Why? This guy is a stiff. Can’t cover to save himself.

  • rilawman

    I would have paid him 4 million to leave!!

  • Anonymous

    I guess many of you hating on this don’t realize that before this signing, we had ZERO cornerbacks (unless you want to count Dowling). How is not a good move to lock up a very good nickel corner who (oh by the way) led the league in interceptions 2 years ago?

  • Anonymous

    With a handle like that, can I assume that you won’t do a complete 180 when they’re competing for a Super Bowl again next year? lol When will people learn?

  • Pats3399

    he’s the worst we have. I don’t get it.

  • brad

    Well Kraft and Bill are really royally screwing up this entire upcoming season… Woodhead was so dependable and fun to watch… Now he is gone along with Welker..Arrington is pretty mediocre.. But then again that seems to be what BB likes.. Nothing exceptional because that means you have to pay them.. I feel like I have been hit with a ton of bricks since Wes left!

  • Tinkermatic

    Great… now we can watch Patriot nations hopes and dreams fade away from the side line with an injured Gronk, Hernandez and Amendola…. so much for reliable pats like Wes and Woody who always seemed to be healthy…? Tell me I’m wrong…

  • ih8sno

    This guy’s terrible!!

  • http://twitter.com/sirwence Wence

    The Patriots keep this guy.. but cant even resign woodhead.. are you serious?

  • bench warmer

    time for krafty to put the stopwatch on, bill a bong has gone cuckoo’s nest.

  • bvbdan1

    If i’m any other offensive coach in this league or quarterback, i’m picking on Arrington (ALL DAY EVERY DAY) to go deep. 3rd and long, where’s Arrington, 3rd and goal, one on one, where’s Arrington, 3rd and short, go to the slot. I bet you Wes will say thank you when we play Denver. He just get beat on a single move, not even a double move.

  • Anonymous

    Why?

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