According to many sources, the Miami Marlins are “listening” to offers on ace Jose Fernandez. Reports state that the Fish are not actively shopping the 23-year-old Cuban, rather just giving teams a chance to blow them away. Realistically, Jose Fernandez would only be a Marlin for another few years. He is a Scott Boras client, and with Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich already signed to extensions (plus Dee Gordon working on one too) the Fish almost certainly won’t have the money to lock up Fernandez beyond his arbitration years. Because of some reports relating to Jose being unhappy with his teammates and his teammates returning the feeling, a few reporters got a bit ahead of themselves and said that the Marlins would begin looking to trade their ace. Again, while the Marlins are not actively looking to trade him, they would be dumb to not listen to offers just in case someone is willing to overpay.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have shown interest, and the Marlins reportedly asked for Corey Seager, Julio Urias, and more (possibly Joc Pederson). While losing Jose would hurt Marlins fans, the value that Seager, Urias, and Pederson could bring to the team could potentially be significantly more than Jose’s. Similarly, rumors that the Astros are interested and possibly “making progress” would imply that they have offered someone the likes of Carlos Correa and more. The Marlins have not even listened to offers that have not begun with three or four young, controllable, Major League-ready players.

They likely won’t move Jose, since they are, by all reports, only bothering with conversations if the other team is basically giving up half its roster. Marlins fans should not take this as another fire sale at all. First of all, the Marlins aren’t actively looking for a trade partner, and second of all, if Jose is ultimately dealt, the Marlins would be getting back several players who would immediately contribute to the 2016 team.

The odds of Jose being traded were originally being reported as “1%” and later bumped up to “40%” by rumor hawks at the Winter Meetings in Nashville, Tennessee. Despite this, Marlins fans can be sure that if Jose isn’t on the mound for Opening Day, then several excellent players will be around the mound in his place. The Marlins will do what benefits their team the most, whether that means keeping Jose or swapping him for a handful of great young players.