The Marlins were reasonably compensated on Thursday when trading star catcher J.T. Realmuto to the Phillies. They came away with a new No. 1 prospect (Sixto Sánchez), a controllable and toolsy replacement behind the plate (Jorge Alfaro), a projectable left-hander (Will Stewart) and an extra $250,000 to allocate toward international amateur free agency.
However, no transaction happens in a vacuum. All of the other mighty veteran assets that new Marlins ownership inherited—most notably Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich—had already been flipped. When the dust settled after the 2018 season, it was evident that the organization still lacked in young star power to lead them back to relevance.