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Boston Red Sox: Forget About Jose Fernandez Trade

By Dan Schmelzer

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The asking price is ridiculous, let’s forget about the Boston Red Sox trading for Jose Fernandez.

Make no mistake, Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Fernandez is one of the most exciting young players in the game today. While injuries have certainly held him back the past two seasons, Fernandez is only 23-years-old, and has already proven himself as a sure-fire top of the rotation pitcher.

The always money-conscious Marlins have apparently flirted with the idea of trading Fernandez this off season. Every team in baseball would be interested in acquiring Fernandez, and if they were not to at least check in on the Marlins’ asking price, MLB front offices would not be doing their jobs.

Obviously, even a hint of a possible Fernandez trade allowed fan bases across the nation start coming up with crazy trades their favorite team could make to land Fernandez. The truth is, there are only a handful of teams who actually hold the type of young and cost-controlled talent that the Marlins would be looking for in a Fernandez trade. The Boston Red Sox are one of these teams.

Armed with young and exciting talent on the MLB roster and a loaded minor league system, the Red Sox could undoubtedly put together a trade offer that would greatly entice the Marlins to trade them Fernandez. The only issue is, that the asking price is far too high for the Red Sox to actually make the deal.

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Reports of the Marlins asking for hot-shot prospects Julio Urias, Corey Seager along with rookie OF Joc Pederson and two other players from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Fernandez have recently surfaced. Now, I fully expected the asking price on Fernandez to be ridiculous, but that kind of offer blows ridiculous out of the water.

Urias (19-year-old stud left-handed starting pitcher) and Seager (21-year-old future star SS who had an impressive debut in the majors at the end of the season) are both top-ten (and arguably top-five) prospects in the entire game of baseball. Both players have nearly rock-solid futures as stars in Major League Baseball.

On top of that, the 23-year-old Pederson is coming off of a rookie season where he was the Dodgers’ everyday center fielder, hitting 26 home runs. It’s probably safe to assume that the two other players the Marlins were asking for are also young and valuable.

Another Fernandez offer that leaked was with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Arizona made a trade with the Atlanta Braves for starting pitcher Shelby Miller, giving up a haul of prospects headlined by 2015 1st overall pick SS Dansby Swanson. The Diamondbacks have been ridiculed for giving up too much in the trade, but the Marlins were reportedly asking for more in exchange for Fernandez.

On top of the haul of prospects headlined by Swanson, the Marlins also wanted 26-year-old left-handed starting pitcher Patrick Corbin and star outfielder A.J. Pollock. I can see why the Diamondbacks balked at that request.

Clearly, the Marlins are looking for a ridiculous haul with an asking price that nobody is going to meet. Fernandez is great, but he is not worth these kind of hauls.

For fun, let’s put together a kind of offer that the Red Sox would have to make to actually acquire Fernandez. I think it has to start with either Mookie Betts or Xander Bogaerts. The Marlins would probably rather have Bogaerts, but the Red Sox would be more hesitant to part with him. The Marlins seem to be targeting an outfielder in this deal, so Betts would probably be some interest to them as well.

Apr 9, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts (2) is congratulated by center fielder Mookie Betts (50) afterhitting a three RBI triple and scoring against the Philadelphia Phillies during the third inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s say Betts headlines the deal from an MLB perspective. Now, looking at the minor leagues, the Marlins will undoubtedly insistent on star infield prospect Yoan Moncada, especially if the Red Sox refuse to move Bogaerts.

The 20-year-old Moncada is a star in the making, and would be of interest to any MLB team. RHP Anderson Espinoza is an incredibly exciting 17-year-old prospect who is showing some huge upside. He has future ace potential, and would also be enticing to the Marlins. Let’s include him in this theoretical deal.

The Marlins would want somebody to take Fernandez’s immediate spot in the rotation, so as we go back to the big league roster 22-year-old LHP Eduardo Rodriguez makes the most sense. Obviously, David Price does not make sense here, and the rest of their rotation is filled with less than desirable depth candidates. Rodriguez is an exciting young pitcher who posted a 3.85 ERA in 21 starts as a rookie last season.

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The Marlins would probably force the Red Sox to throw in a couple of more players to satisfy their needs. How about 22-year-old first base prospect Sam Travis (hit .307/.381/.452 between A+ and AA last season) and former top prospect turned MLB bullpen arm Matt Barnes.

Betts, Moncada, Espinoza, Rodriguez, Travis and Barnes would probably get the job done. Fernandez would undoubtedly make a huge impact on the Red Sox going forward, but this is a kind of haul that would set the Red Sox back. Betts is one of the most exciting young players in the game, and Moncada is a top ten prospect in all of baseball.

Then you add in the elite upside of a guy like Espinoza, the nearly guaranteed future of Rodriguez being a mid-rotation starter, along with a solid prospect in Travis and Barnes, who certainly still has some upside. No thanks.

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So, would you want the Red Sox to give up this kind of haul for Fernandez? Because that is what it would take. There will be a point when the Marlins make Fernandez available for a trade, but they are not seriously considering moving him right now.

Let’s all move on and forget about the Boston Red Sox (or any other team for that matter) trading for Jose Fernandez.

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