The Florida Marlins have yet to make any major deals ahead of the July 31 MLB trade deadline, but they are reportedly interested in acquiring Detroit Tigers third-baseman Brandon Inge.
According to MLB.com, the Marlins might offer closer Leo Nunez for Inge. Nunez has been involved in a number of trade rumors recently, and the Tigers are looking to bolster their pitching staff.
Third base has been a vacuum for the Marlins all season. The team had hoped prospect Matt Dominguez would win the job in spring training, but he did not pan out.
Opening Day starter Donnie Murphy hurt his wrist in April and was placed on the disabled list on May 2.
Since then, the Marlins have used a platoon of Emilio Bonifacio, Greg Dobbs, and Wes Helms, none of whom are considered to be starter-caliber players.
But it is not clear that Inge will be much of an improvement. He was designated for assignment by Detroit after hitting .177 with one home run and 17 RBI in 2011.
Comparatively, Marlins third-basemen are batting .270 with 3 home runs and 23 RBI.
Also working against Inge is his age (31) and the fact that he is due to make $5.5 million in 2012. Unless the Marlins can get Detroit to eat a good deal of Inge's 2012 salary, the deal makes little financial sense for Florida, who does not want to pay the $6 million or so Nunez will win in arbitration for 2012.
Finances aside, Inge is unlikely to be a long-term prospect at third. He is a 10-year veteran, but his career numbers are beyond mediocre (.234 batting average, nearly three times as many strikeouts to walks).
Plenty of deals get talked about but aren't consummated during the lead-up to the trade deadline. Marlins fans should hope this is one of those cases.
David Hill is a Miami native and cofounder of Marlins Diehards, the only Florida Marlins blog with perspective on the eccentricities of Marlins fandom.
