UPDATE: The Dodgers have now flipped Heaney to the Angels for Howie Kendrick. The full writeup is here.
10:32 PM: MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro says shortstop Miguel Rojas is also headed to Miami. And the Marlins will receive compensation if Dan Haren (who’s owed $10 million in 2015) decides to retire. Haren has said that he won’t pitch for a team from outside Los Angeles due to family reasons.
7:25 PM: The deal is done, and Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports that it’s Dee Gordon and Dan Haren from the Dodgers to the Marlins in exchange for Andrew Heaney, Kiké Hernandez, Austin Barnes and Chris Hatcher.
Whew.
Now, yes, Dan Haren may follow through on his promise to retire, and if he does and the Marlins don’t get him to eat some innings, you have to figure some contingency is built in requiring the Dodgers to send more back Miami’s way. But we do know Gordon is going to Miami.
To the Dodgers: Heaney, who is a strong pitching prospect. Kiké Hernandez, a 23 year-old who played every position except catcher and first base last season between Houston and Miami and posted a 107 OPS+ in the process. Barnes, a catcher who played at high-A and Double-A last season and who has hit everywhere he’s played. And finally Chris Hatcher, who is at least a serviceable reliever.
Obviously there may be more involved here if Haren retires, but even if he doesn’t or even, in the event he does, the Dodgers send more, this seems like a deal strongly in the Dodgers favor.
6:50 PM: This is crazy. Andy Martino is saying the deal is done and that Dan Haren is being thrown in the deal with Dee Gordon in exchange for Andrew Heaney. Which is kind of nuts because Dan Haren is on record saying that he’ll retire if he can’t play in Los Angeles.
Is this the Dodgers hoping that Haren follows through and his salary comes off their books? What if he calls their bluff, though, and Miami is stuck with him? That makes what is already a questionable trade — a pretty spiffy pitching prospect for a guy who probably just had his career year — into an awful one, as the Fish would get an overpriced and probably malcontented pitcher staying active on a grudge.
I feel like there is more to come with this one, folks.
6:31 PM: This is interesting:
The Marlins and the Dodgers are in serious talks about a deal that would involve Dee Gordon going to MIA, Andrew Heaney to LAD.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 10, 2014
Gordon is coming off an All-Star year in which he stole 64 bases and hit 12 triples and had an OPS+ that was league average. Which, for him anyway, was perhaps a bit more than can reasonably be expected going forward . The Dodgers are likely thinking that anyway, and are perhaps selling high.
And the return is not a bad one: Heaney struggled in seven major league appearances, but he’s not yet 24, was rated the #29 overall prospect by MLB.com and #30 by Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus entering the 2014 season.
