The selling begins? I think we’re gonna count this one as a “sell” trade, even though it involves big leaguers going in each direction. So yeah, we’ll say that the selling has officially begun, about one month before the July 30 Trade Deadline.
The Marlins, in last place and 8.5 games back in the NL East, are sending outfielder Corey Dickerson, reliever Adam Cimber, *and cash* (another indicia of seller SZN) to the Blue Jays for Joe Panik and a pitching prospect:
Joe Panik & minor league pitcher go from Jays to Marlins in trade for Adam Cimber and Corey Dickerson
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) June 29, 2021
The Marlins will receive infielder Joe Panik and a Jays prospect to Toronto for Dickerson as @JonHeyman notes. Sources also now indicate Miami will send salary to Toronto to offset a portion of Dickerson's salary.
— Craig Mish (@CraigMish) June 29, 2021
I would think the return here, for Dickerson (and salary offset) and a solid (controllable) reliever in Cimber would be a notable prospect. Not a top impact guy, mind you, but a, “Oh, sure, that’s a legit prospect” type.
Dickerson, 32, has been a league-average bat for the Marlins this year (.263/.324/.380, 101 wRC+), but makes for a nice left-handed-hitting complement to the Blue Jays’ outfield mix. This doesn’t appear to have been a matter of filling an urgent need – just a guy the Blue Jays can really use. Once again, making this feel all the more like a traditional “Marlins have started selling” move. That is what is of most interest to me, here, because if the market starts unspooling earlier than usual, that would kinda accelerate the Cubs’ decision timeline. We’ll see.
Cimber, 30, is a weird peripherals guy who always seems to get results (he’s got a sub-3 ERA this year). Solid arm in any bullpen, and the Blue Jays can control him via arbitration for a few years going forward if they’d like.
Getting Panik back in this deal provides the Marlins a little more infield depth, but I have a hard time looking at this as a move to simply reorient the roster for more near-term competitiveness. The Marlins don’t necessarily lose a ton by parting with Dickerson and Cimber (they have some young outfielders and arms to slide in), but this is a sell trade.
So, did the Blue Jays just decide to get aggressive and jump the market way early? Are the Marlins putting out seller feelers already? We shall see.
UPDATE: Sounds like the Marlins targeted a potential 2021 breakout type, a late-round pick who has been dominating at Double-A in relief:
Per a source, the minor leaguer in the deal is RHP Andrew McInvale https://t.co/pByOopDfPV
— Kaitlyn McGrath (@kaitlyncmcgrath) June 29, 2021
It also sounds like the money was different-directional than originally suggested:
The Blue Jays acquiring Corey Dickerson and Adam Cimber from Miami was actually them targeting Cimber and taking Dickerson’s money as the price for the RHP. Toronto strikes early in getting a solid reliever and paid about $4.5 million — Dickerson’s remaining salary — to do so.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 29, 2021