The Miami Marlins made great strides in 2025.
With ECU baseball alum Clayton McCullough at the helm, the Marlins improved 17 games from the 62-100 record in 2024 to 79-83 in 2025. There was even talk the team could make the postseason, which would have been a first since making the NLDS in 2020.
Whether Miami can be a playoff team in 2026 is hard to say. The NL East is extremely competitive with the likes of the Mets, Phillies and Nationals. However, Ely Sussman with FishOnFirst.com thinks the team is close.
In fact, he believes the organization can makes some m,oves to upgrade the Marlins’ roster and make them a playoff contender. In a piece he wrote on Monday, he even proposed a trade between the Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals that would land Alec Burleson on the team.
If that were to happen, and mind you, this is just one person’s take on the situation, it would make the Marlins three deep with ECU baseball alumni, joining third baseman Connor Norby with McCullough and Burleson.
Sussman proposed this mega trade:
Marlins get: OF/1B Alec Burleson, LHP JoJo Romero, 3B Nolan Arenado and $7 million cash
Cardinals get: INF/OF Andrew Salas, RHP Eliazar Dishmey, OF Victor Mesa Jr. and RHP Adam Mazur
Sussman writes, in part, “While Nolan Arenado is the most recognizable face in this deal (much more on him shortly), Alec Burleson is the real centerpiece.” He also said since Burleson is under club control through 2028 via arbitration (he’ll get $3.5 million entering his first year of arbitration eligibility), which makes him “the right fit for them.”
Photo credit: Alec Burleson (AP photo)
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