Funny enough, Vodnik gave up two big home runs to the Marlins this year (Caissie’s walk off in game three of the season and Griff’s pinch hit, moonshot 3-run homer into the last deck at Coors) but he throws REALLY hard and has a 94mph changeup so there’s definitely something to “work with” there. I feel they’ll adjust a grip or two maybe teach him a cutter/sweeper and actually end up with a solid high-leverage arm. Im also expecting some really good looks from the cubs prospects. Maybe reuniting with Caissie will turn them into the bash brothers from Mighty Ducks 2 🤷🏻‍♂️

Another trade

2 hours ago, rmc523 said:

Not NORBY!!!!!

To be a 1.5 Games back and SELL is a slap in the face to every person who has continued to cheer this team through all the garbage.
I really hope Manfred steps down, gets taken outside MLB headquarters and is violently beaten with a few crusty knee high tube socks full of nickels. How he let a owner like Sherman and Jeter swindle their way into MLB and destroy what little hope this market had at being a major league city for the rest of time is beyond me.

I fully expect the Marlins to relocate or fold when the stadium deal expires (when is that again by the way? 2035? 2040?). Sherman will still be kicking up dust bunnies in his retirement home hoping to find a fucking First Baseman.

There are definitely different levels of SELLERS.

The Angels, Giants, Mets and Tigers were SELLERS.

The Marlins traded Liam Hicks (who has like 2 HR’s in the last 2 months) for two 1st round draft picks (one of whom will likely be our much needed 3B’man of the future).

Everyone else who left this organization today is COMPLETELY replaceable.

One of Stowers, Conine or Hicks had to go today.

There are different levels of SELLERS

Edited August 4Aug 4 by DTrain

I was hopeful the Marlins would acquire Zach Neto.

Hopeful he’d want to play 3B in Miami

We don’t know what the asking price was

We don’t know if the asking price was too much

I’m bummed Zach Neto isn’t a Marlin

But today was not a disaster

I’m sorry

1 hour ago, flsportsfan83 said:

Another trade

Who? lol.

Interesting day. A bit of a surprise one of the outfielders or outfield prospects wasn't moved and thought we might get a little more pitching depth.

Some pretty intriguing under the radar players which seems to be Bendix's specialty.

The trades:

1)Hicks for Brayden Taylor, Adrian Santana, and Jacob Kisting. Hicks was a rule 5 pick who started the year red hot and has been average of late. He's not great defensively catching or at first but had a nice eye at the plate. Traded him at his peak and wish him well in the playoffs for the Rays.

Brayden Taylor-dropped off radar when he scuffled at AA last year. Currently sporting a .900 era at AA as a 24-year old. Mostly plays 3b, which is a black hole for Marlins, and he replaced Norby in the mix there.

Adrian Santana- another first round pick by Rays. Has good glove and excellent batting eye. .300 plus hitter but with little power. Smallish frame and definitely glove first. Youngest player in trade playing slightly above his level for his age.

Jacob Kisting- Older draft pick traded twice. Absolutely tearing it up in A+ with a 1.67 era over 18 starts and 86ip this year. Something clicked with him and exciting upside.

Analysis: Great trade giving up a guy at his absolute peak for three high upside guys. Bendix master class.

2) Braxton Garrett for Jonathan Long and Jace Beck. Garrett had next to no value, can't hit higher than 91 on the gun and was on the outs. The fact we got more than a back of balls or cash considerations for him is pretty unbelievable. Will remember those few months he was lights out and hope he succeeds.

Jonathan Long- repeating AAA with Cubs. Had no path to majors with them but had +.800 ops both years in AAA. More first base depth and is pretty much MLB ready.

Jace Beck- former Mets farmhand. Older for prospect but WHOA the K/9 numbers pop off the page. He is 6 foot 9 and has massive swing and miss tools. Basically he is the lovechild of Mason Miller and Dax Fulton. Which parents traits he gets determines his future. The fact we got him AND Long for surplus is absolutely shocking. Then again it's the Cubs.

Analysis: Gave up nothing, received plus tools. Potentially, one of the best trades in Marlins history.

3) Connor Norby and Aidan May for Victor Vodnik. Norby never could break through which for some reason was a them for that vaunted Oriole prospect class (Kjerstad, Mayo, Norby, Cowser, etc.). May has good stuff but has injury concerns is old for his level and lacks wing and miss. Can't see him making a dent for Rockies.

Victor Vodnik- younger, toolsider Lake Bacher. Slides in bullpen. Has plus tools but has been inconsistent. Rolling the dice on getting away from Coors and our pitching lab helping him reach his potential.

Analysis: Lost nothing very useful gained a fresher younger bullpen arm. Decent trade but nothing too exciting or making a difference unless they can somehow unlikely unlock Vodnik's potential.

4) Lake Bachar for Brandon Bidois, Brian Sanchez, and Hyun Seung Lee.

Lake Bachar was another guy we got for next to nothing and flipped for prospect depth. Proud he was a Marlin and wish him the best but he's on the wrong side of 30 and seemed like he was hitting a wall. Chances are his performance going forward would slowly decline.

Brandon Bidois- Older Aussie prospect who didn't pitch a lot until the last two years. His numbers this year are absolutely hideous, but his 2025 season (advanced four levels, was lights out) is absolutely stunning. If was can get 2025 Bidois we've stolen a gem but the window is short.

Bryan Sanchez- has been passed around to multiple organizations. Has solid if unspectacular numbers. Looks more like minor league depth as nothing stands out. Is about 20th on the organizations outfield depth chart so expectations are low.

Hyun Seung Lee- Asian prospects are more and more commonplace and the level of Korean players is improving every year. This is a complete lottery ticket but his numbers at rookie ball at age 18 are pretty eye-popping. Has a solid frame and should develop more power. Long way to go but definitely has plus tools that could turn out to be major league worthy.

Analysis: Turning an older marginal asset into plus tool prospects is the Bendix way and this was vintage Peter.

Overall:

Not going to move the needle short-term but plays completely into Bendix's long-term strategy. With the depth we have now across the board hitting on 2 of 10 prospects will put us in the a position to contend and win for a long time (10-plus years). The names aren't flashy but in a few years we may be looking back and picking up our jaws at how badly we fleeced our trade partners today. Consistent with the long-term vision this is another step forward for the best general manager in the game.

2 hours ago, DTrain said:

I was hopeful the Marlins would acquire Zach Neto.

Hopeful he’d want to play 3B in Miami

We don’t know what the asking price was

We don’t know if the asking price was too much

I’m bummed Zach Neto isn’t a Marlin

But today was not a disaster

I’m sorry

It seems like you're really going out of your way to defend this FO. Why, I do not know.

I think we did well in the trades that were made today.

That said it's fucking disappointing that they did nothing to actually make the current team better.

We heard rumors about potential trades that would be made, both Hicks and Garrett trades were of no surprise to anyone here.

We never heard a fucking peep about a trade that would aid in our run to the playoffs this year. I think that says a lot.

24 minutes ago, farmer_fran said:

It seems like you're really going out of your way to defend this FO. Why, I do not know.

I think we did well in the trades that were made today.

That said it's fucking disappointing that they did nothing to actually make the current team better.

We heard rumors about potential trades that would be made, both Hicks and Garrett trades were of no surprise to anyone here.

We never heard a fucking peep about a trade that would aid in our run to the playoffs this year. I think that says a lot.

You think today was a disaster and I don’t. Nothing wrong with that. That’s what fans do: they disagree about things.

With Bruce (and his way-too-small-net-worth-to-own-a-team) at the top I don’t expect them to add pieces at the deadline. I go in to it knowing he sweats the money and I just have to trust that Bendix will slowly get us to the point of a relatively consistent contender.

I’ve already tried a few times to NOT be a Marlins fan. It doesn’t work for me. So I’m here defending the process of the POBO. I’ll never defend Bruce. He can suck my balls.

The deadline is over, it's time to talk to Sandy's party about his next contract.

1 hour ago, TaiwanMarlins said:

The deadline is over, it's time to talk to Sandy's party about his next contract.

5 years, 95M and keys to the stadium. Full No Trade Clause

Mack 7 years, 70M. Stowers 4 years, 50M.

Bendix. Bonus for somehow getting Cassie and Long from the Cubs in less than a year. Also the Cubs seem content on selling their top 10 prospects, as they traded their #2 to the Mets.

They didn't have a fire sale but they sold. And more importantly, they didn't buy while in contention.

Sends a bad message to the clubhouse and the fans (most of the fans anyway).

And for the record, I think the returns for Hicks and Brax were both decent enough. The point is that they should have also ADDED besides that. All they did is subtract in terms of the 2026 roster.

Oh well.

3 hours ago, TaiwanMarlins said:

The deadline is over, it's time to talk to Sandy's party about his next contract.

He will be on another team.

8 hours ago, TheMarlinsProject said:

Bendix's long-term strategy.

This is a never-ending strategy because he is going to just keep going in an endless circle. Some fans see that, others don't.

I keep seeing the same sentiment on Twitter. People saying that anyone who dislikes the deadline moves is a "Casual fan" or "doesn't know ball". They continue to ignore my point and the point of most of those who are not happy, the problem is not trading Hicks in a bubble. That return seems decent enough.

The problem is they did not try to improve for this season and they are contending for a playoff spot. Call me crazy but I thought making the playoffs is the goal.

9 hours ago, DTrain said:

I was hopeful the Marlins would acquire Zach Neto.

Hopeful he’d want to play 3B in Miami

We don’t know what the asking price was

We don’t know if the asking price was too much

I’m bummed Zach Neto isn’t a Marlin

But today was not a disaster

I’m sorry

So why did you keep making us wait til 6:01 if you felt all along like they would have done enough no matter what they did?

We all knew they'd add nothing based on the fact there were zero rumors about them acquiring MLB talent.

27 minutes ago, Admin said:

So why did you keep making us wait til 6:01 if you felt all along like they would have done enough no matter what they did?

We all knew they'd add nothing based on the fact there were zero rumors about them acquiring MLB talent.

I truly believe that after the 12th loss in a row they decided to not be buyers and just roll with what they had. But I still had that painful Marlins hope that they’d add a piece or 2 to better the 2026 team.

With Conine and Stowers both in very good recent form, Hicks was never going to be on this team in mid August.

If Long and Vodnick perform well the last 2 months of the season (I know that’s a big if) were the Marlins buyers? I don’t know.

Edited August 4Aug 4 by DTrain

1 hour ago, Admin said:

I keep seeing the same sentiment on Twitter. People saying that anyone who dislikes the deadline moves is a "Casual fan" or "doesn't know ball". They continue to ignore my point and the point of most of those who are not happy, the problem is not trading Hicks in a bubble. That return seems decent enough.

The problem is they did not try to improve for this season and they are contending for a playoff spot. Call me crazy but I thought making the playoffs is the goal.

This. I get that they lost 12 in a row at probably the worst time. But they've also rebounded winning 6 of 7, so a 6-13 record over that span.....not great, but the team is still very much in it, and only 1.5 games out of the wild card.

So that means they wave the white flag and punt yet again?

In a vacuum, the trades are fine, it's more the principle of what they did (or rather didn't do). It's them kicking the can to some future season of 20XX, and it's just yet another pair of middle fingers to what fans that are left (not to mention the players that want to see support from the FO instead of saying "try again next year!"). I'd love to be proven wrong and would love for them to make it despite the FO and ownership not caring, but it just makes me "meh" on the team.

48 minutes ago, DTrain said:

I truly believe that after the 12th loss in a row they decided to not be buyers and just roll with what they had. But I still had that painful Marlins hope that they’d add a piece or 2 to better the 2026 team.

With Conine and Stowers both in very good recent form, Hicks was never going to be on this team in mid August.

If Long and Vodnick perform well the last 2 months of the season (I know that’s a big if) were the Marlins buyers? I don’t know.

Eh, I doubt they'd have done anything anyway.....they're looking for any excuse to not try/kick the can down the road....

The "12 losses in a row" argument is so tiring. It does not matter. They also went an MLB-best 20-6 in June, why is that ignored and the losing skid is constantly brought up?

Ignore how they got to this record, it is irrelevant.

Before the year, if I said they'll be 1.5 out of the wild card and 3 over .500 on deadline day, how many people would be saying "They should sell!"? Only the prospect hoarders like Fish on the Farm I hope.

the 12 game losing streak is brought up because it’s very relevant. It came at the worst possible time. It came at a time when FO’s are deep in the trenches deciding what direction to head leading up to the deadline.

Very off topic but what happened to Son of Jack, @SilverBullet and @Michael ?

Is Son of Jack now Admin? I’m so confused.

And where the hell is @pollythewog ?!?!

2 hours ago, Admin said:

This is a never-ending strategy because he is going to just keep going in an endless circle. Some fans see that, others don't.

It is really hard to overstate how horrific the infrastructure of the international scouting, drafting, and minor league development of the Marlins organization was 5-10 years ago. That's not even mentioning the analytics and other development areas that were light years behind other organizations. We like to mock all the first year off field moves in the back of the house but they were setting the foundation for sustainable long-term success in the vein of the Rays. It will take a good amount of time to see the fruits of that labor but when we do hit on a generational player like a Junior Caminero or Jackson Chourio then they will take the leap to year in and year out contenders despite the albatross around our neck (his initial are ironically BS). Take a look at some of the absolutely pathetic and atrocious international signings classes of the mid-10's. A guy on a card table outside a bodega in San Pedro de Macoris was the equivalent of our scouting efforts in that area for years.

Rome wasn't built in a day and the goal is sustainable long-term success. This is achievable under Bendix and it's only going to get better. Unless of course, we screw it up in typical Marlin fashion.

Edited August 4Aug 4 by TheMarlinsProject

This is the kind of nonsense that is also annoying. Talking about Vodnik like he was an amazing acquisition. “Stunned everyone”

i get fish on first is desperate to keep their credentials so they get on their knees for the front office but come on.

1 minute ago, Admin said:

This is the kind of nonsense that is also annoying. Talking about Vodnik like he was an amazing acquisition. “Stunned everyone”

i get fish on first is desperate to keep their credentials so they get on their knees for the front office but come on.

Kevin and Christina are like 23 years old and trying to crack into a tough sports journalist industry. Kevin is worse and more annoying than Christina but I don’t fault them for the completely 100% pro Bendix stance and take they have

33 minutes ago, DTrain said:

the 12 game losing streak is brought up because it’s very relevant. It came at the worst possible time. It came at a time when FO’s are deep in the trenches deciding what direction to head leading up to the deadline.

Very off topic but what happened to Son of Jack, @SilverBullet and @Michael ?

Is Son of Jack now Admin? I’m so confused.

And where the hell is @pollythewog ?!?!

Hello love! I’m here lurking.

I think Michael Got mad at me for the fire Bendix thread lol.

Silver bullet is still around