Blue Jays need to snag a big fish from the Marlins now

The Toronto Blue Jays should jump in on the Miami Marlins firesale as the fish still have a few trophies that could bolster the Jays chances in 2018.

In the past couple of days, the Marlins have unloaded Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees and Dee Gordon to the Mariners and no reason to believe the exodus of players will stop there. The Marlins still have the newly acquired Starlin Castro, Marcell Ozuna, and Christian Yelich drawing interest from teams.

Castro was sent to Miami in the Stanton transaction and you would have to think the Marlins are going to look to flip the 27-year old infielder. Castro played second base last season but also has experience at shortstop after spending the last two seasons in the Bronx. The infielder hit .300/.338/.454/ with 16 home runs and a 2.0 WAR.

Although he doesn’t run like he once did on the base paths, Castro is a professional hitter who could still inject some athleticism and versatility into the Jays lineup. He is set to earn $22.7 million over the next two seasons with a team option for 2020.

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The Marlins still have an outfield filled with talent even after the loss of Stanton in the likes of Ozuna and Yelich. Either of the two would be a welcomed addition to the Blue Jays current corps with Yelich being the prized jewel.

There is no indication on how motivated the Marlins will be to part ways with either of then now that Stanton is officially off the books. However, Ozuna is going to get a considerable raise through the arbitration process after hitting .312 with 37 round trippers last season. The 27-year old earned $3.5 million in 2017.

Yelich is on a team friendly deal which will see him earn $43.2 million over the next four seasons with a team option for 2022. The 25-year old is exactly the type of player the Jays need to fill their vacant outfield spot after hitting .282/.369/.439 with 18 homers and 16 swipes in 2017.

The centerfielder is coveted by many teams and would cost a pretty penny in prospect capital to snag away from the Marlins.

Next: Blue Jays: Stanton trade helps with Donaldson’s future

We will see how things shake out this week during the Winter Meetings but if I am the Jays brain trust, I would be all over the Marlins front office attempting to lure a couple big fish north of the border.