Trading Giancarlo Stanton isn’t the end of the Marlins’ payroll cuts

The Marlins gained new ownership during the 2017 season, and then the rumors immediately began to fly. It seemed likely Giancarlo Stanton was going to be traded, but that was just the idea getting the most attention: it leaked early on after Derek Jeter and Friends purchased the Marlins that the plan was to get the club’s payroll down to $55 million for 2018.

This was no small task, as their Opening Day payroll for the 25-man roster in 2017 was $115 million, and their projected payroll to begin the offseason was nearly $132 million. Trading Dee Gordon to the Mariners freed up $10.8 million, and the Giancarlo Stanton trade to the Yankees — which is just pending his approval and physicals — will slash another $25 million from the budget. Moving those two players gets the Marlins down to about $97 million in projected payroll, though bringing Starlin Castro and his $10.9 million back in return for Stanton bumps them back up to about $108 million.

So, dealing Stanton is the single biggest payroll move the Marlins can make, but as you can see, they still have a long way to go to get to the $55 million that they told investors they would aim for in order to justify an ownership group with no money buying a baseball team with debt and a history of screwing over its fans.

Martin Prado makes $13.5 million in 2018, and another $15 million in 2019. He’ll need to be traded to get to $55 million. Edinson Volquez will make $13 million in the last year of his deal. Marcell Ozuna is in his second year of arbitration after earning $3.5 million in 2017. He might not need to be traded, but he’s not going to be around for the next good Marlins team — whenever such a concept is allowed to exist again — so they might as well just send him packing, too.

Wei-Yin Chen has three years left on his deal: $10 million in 2018, $20 million in 2019, and $22 million in 2020. He also has a $16 million vesting option for 2021. Chen has thrown just 156 innings over two years with the Marlins thanks to elbow troubles, but thanks to an all-or-nothing player options package that kicked off days after the 2017 World Series, he essentially was picked up for a three-year, $65 million deal. Which, you know, good for Chen, he wasn’t going to earn that as a free agent this winter. He probably won’t be paid by the Marlins either, though.

Brad Ziegler is making $9 million in 2018, in the second of a two-year deal. Junichi Tazawa is in the same situation, except for $7 million. Christian Yelich is only making $7 million, a ridiculous bargain created by his extension that began in 2015, but that will climb into double digits soon so the Marlins are probably going to deal him, too.

If the Marlins deal all of those players before Opening Day, their payroll will be down to about $30 million — if they get Castro in return for Stanton, it’s more like $40-41 million, and if they end up covering some of Stanton’s contract, then the number could be higher depending on how that’s dispersed.

This means the Marlins don’t have to trade every single one of these players in order to get to their coveted $55 million. So, uh, maybe Wei-Yin Chen will end up sticking around until the trade deadline, if he can prove he’s healthy. Or the Marlins can agree to pay for part of his 2019-2020 seasons in order to move him. Or they’ll have to package Ozuna or Yelich with him in order to make it palatable to a team that could also use a pitcher but doesn’t trust Chen’s elbow to stay whole.

The best part of that kind of deal is that the Marlins would get nothing of worth in return in order to make it work!

Don’t worry, the Marlins will still have Justin Bour, who made the All-Star team last year and is legitimately good, but is also 29 and won’t be around the next time the Marlins are also legitimately good. There is also [checks notes] Dan Straily! You remember Dan Straily, right? Dan Straily, he sure is a [checks notes again] pitcher who threw 181 below-average innings in 2017 for the Marlins.

Trading Gordon and Stanton is just the start. If the Marlins truly plan on getting down to $55 million, they’re going to absolutely gut this team and all of the players on it who were supposed to lead them to the promised land following the rebuild they were technically still in. If Castro comes to the Marlins, it will just be a layover before he heads to another team in need of a second baseman that doesn’t mind the fact he’s paid in millions.

Also if you’re still here this far into this depressing piece, now is as good a time as any to remind you that the Marlins’ ownership — regardless of who that is — and Major League Baseball do not care one bit about you. They’ll do this again and again and again if it helps the team turn a profit, with zero regard for how you’ll respond, and MLB is right there allowing it to happen. You owe them nothing, and if you want to bail, no one is going to judge you.