Marlins nearer Tanner Scott has already been drawing commerce curiosity for a number of weeks, and Jon Heyman of the New York Publish lists the Yankees, Dodgers, Phillies and Orioles as simply among the many groups displaying curiosity within the hard-throwing lefty. Will Sammon and Katie Woo of The Athletic urged this morning that Scott may very well be the subsequent notable title to be moved — though that doesn’t essentially point out a commerce of Scott is nearing the end line. However the Marlins already confirmed their willingness to behave early on the commerce market once they moved Luis Arraez simply 5 weeks into the season, and energy bullpen arms are among the many most sought-after commodities on the commerce market yearly.
That stated, Scott alone isn’t prone to fetch the Marlins a large haul on his personal. He clearly has commerce worth and may internet some minor league expertise, however the 29-year-old southpaw is in his ultimate season of membership management and can attain free company at season’s finish. The Marlins have been keen to pay down almost all of Arraez’s contract of their commerce with the Padres, and doing so on Scott’s $5.7MM wage might assist to boost his attraction, however there are issues even past the southpaw’s dwindling membership management.
Command has all the time been a problem for the hard-throwing Scott, and 2024 isn’t any exception. Fairly the alternative, in reality. This 12 months’s 16.8% stroll fee is the very best of Scott’s profession (excepting a 1 2/3-inning debut again in 2017). As famous right here again in late Could, he’s been slowly paring that quantity again since issuing an alarming swath of walks early within the season, however Scott has nonetheless walked 12% of his hitters courting again to Could 1.
That’s not as troubling as an almost 17% mark, nevertheless it’s nonetheless three proportion factors larger than the common reliever — and the hole between that mark and final 12 months’s career-best 7.8% mark is even wider. Scott has additionally seen his swinging-strike fee drop from a mammoth 17.4% in 2023 to 13.5% this 12 months, whereas his opponents’ chase fee on pitches off the plate has fallen from 36.1% to twenty-eight.8% — a attainable indicator that he’s lacking by a a lot bigger margin when he’s failing to search out the strike zone.
To Scott’s credit score, he’s been on an distinctive run of late. He surrendered a walk-off dwelling run to Mets designated hitter J.D. Martinez yesterday, however these two runs have been the primary he’d allowed since April 30. Courting again to Could 1, Scott has a minuscule 1.17 earned run common and big 32.8% strikeout fee in 15 1/3 innings. Total, the lefty touts a 1.93 ERA, 26.1% strikeout fee and 52.5% grounder fee in 28 innings this 12 months (along with that bloated 16.8% stroll fee). He’s additionally averaging 96.9 mph on his heater.
Scott’s commerce worth would absolutely have been larger within the offseason, when he had a full 12 months of membership management and was contemporary off a 33.9% strikeout fee and seven.8% stroll fee in a career-high 78 innings. However the Marlins made the playoffs final 12 months, and even after turning over their entrance workplace and largely idling all through the winter, presumably needed to see if the crew might play its manner again into postseason rivalry. A catastrophic 1-11 begin to the season emphatically answered that query.
The Marlins might probably package deal Scott with one other commerce candidate, comparable to coveted starter Jesus Luzardo, and look to extract an enormous package deal by combining two sought-after gamers in a single commerce. They might additionally hope that by shifting Scott early, they will catch lightning in a bottle in the identical method that the Royals did final summer time by shifting Aroldis Chapman in late June — a commerce that netted them present No. 1 starter Cole Ragans. (To be clear, Ragans was seen as a buy-low candidate on the time, and the Royals deserve credit score for utterly turning the previous first-round decide’s profession round.) Hitting that form of jackpot virtually actually received’t occur, however that commerce is illustrative of the truth that Miami might probably get some MLB-ready assist in return for Scott — supplied the participant in query is considered as one thing of a mission.
With regard to the groups linked to Scott, any of the bunch is a smart goal. The Yankees load up on bullpen arms each deadline they’re in rivalry, they usually’ve often proven an affinity for ground-ball pitchers and energy lefties. Scott checks each packing containers. The Orioles know Scott higher than any crew within the sport, having initially drafted and developed him — solely to commerce him to Miami in a deal they’d prefer to take again (Kevin Guerrero and Antonio Velez went to Baltimore within the deal). Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is all the time intrigued by high-end velocity and doesn’t want a lot assist in the rotation proper now, making a deeper bullpen a logical focus. The Dodgers have a number of notable relievers on the injured listing in the intervening time (Brusdar Graterol, Joe Kelly, Ryan Brasier) and lack one of these flamethrowing left-handed presence of their present bullpen.
There’s some overlap between the golf equipment eyeing Scott and people reportedly eyeing White Sox nearer Michael Kopech, which is simply pure. Playoff hopefuls all the time look to beef up the aid corps across the commerce deadline, and with so few sellers available on the market in the intervening time, the few groups which can be keen to deal ought to see elevated demand.
