Kim Ng's Biggest Fleece of 2023

The Marlins made several moves this offseason, some that worked out and others that have not played out nicely. However, one of the more quiet moves may turn out to be the best!

Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn

The Marlins signed Johnny Cueto, Jean Segura, and Yuli Gurriel this offseason. They also traded for AJ Puk, Luis Arraez, and Matt Barnes. Despite those higher-profile trades and signings, Kim Ng made another significant move.

In November 2022, Miami started their offseason by trading two prospects to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for prospect Xavier Edwards and 32-year-old JT Chargois.

This is not the first time the Marlins made a trade like this with the Rays, as they acquired Ryne Stanek and Jesus Sanchez from Tampa at the 2019 deadline.

The Rays also shipped Joey Wendle to the Marlins in exchange for Kameron Misner in November 2021.

One of the two prospects the Marlins sent to the Rays was Marcus Johnson, a righty pitcher that played college ball at Duke. Johnson was a fourth-round pick in the 2022 draft, and he only got to pitch in five games with the Marlins organization before getting sent to Tampa’s system.

It’s hard to tell if Johnson will turn into a good player in the MLB, but right now, he’s just a single-a pitcher that won’t be smelling the majors any time this year.

The other prospect the Rays got in this deal is Santiago Suarez, a right-handed pitcher. The Fish signed the Venezuelan-born Suarez as an international free agent in 2022.

Suarez pitched in 11 games for the DSL Marlins and recorded an impressive 2.31 ERA across 39 innings of work.

Suarez and Johnson have a long way to go until the majors, while the Marlins got two players in this deal contributing to the big league club.

Photo by Jim Rassol

Xavier Edwards recently made his MLB debut on May 2, 2023, with the Marlins following a great start to the season in AAA Jacksonville. Edwards slashed an impressive .316/.431/.389 in 26 games with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp before getting the call-up.

Edwards got his first career hit on May 3rd against Braves pitcher Dylan Lee but was sent back down to the minors shortly after that. Xavier Edwards got recalled after Jazz Chisholm was placed on the IL, and today the natural middle infielder started in centerfield, showing that he can add some versatility to the Marlins. Edwards also flashed his speed as he stole his first career bag today. Marlins fans seem very intrigued by Edwards’ potential after he had two hits today against the Nationals.

Meanwhile, JT Chargois has a very different story than Xavier Edwards. Shag was drafted in 2012 by the Twins and debuted in 2016 with Minnesota. Chargois spent time with the Twins, Dodgers, Mariners, Rays, and even a year in Japan before coming to Miami.

Chargois has been lights out this year, despite an IL stint. Chargois was placed on the IL with an oblique strain after only pitching in a few games. JT Chargois has recently returned to the big-league club and looks dominant! It’s an extremely small sample size, but Chargois hasn’t allowed an earned run in six appearances, and his stuff looks filthy.