Miami Marlins trade Nick Fortes to the Tampa Bay Rays. The details
The Miami Marlins have made their first move ahead of Thursday’s MLB trade deadline.
The Marlins on Tuesday sent catcher Nick Fortes to the Tampa Bay Rays, in return for outfielder prospect Matthew Etzel. Etzel was ranked as the Rays’ No. 28 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline.
Fortes, 28, was the Marlins’ fourth-round pick in 2018 and is in the midst of his fifth MLB season after debuting late in 2021. He finishes his Marlins tenure with a career .255 batting average, .621 OPS, 25 home runs, 96 RBI and 119 runs scored in 363 games. Behind the plate, he caught 60 of 300 runners attempting to steal bases.
But his playing time diminished this year, first due to an oblique injury that sidelined him early in the season and then by the emergence of rookies Agustin Ramirez and Liam Hicks. Ramirez is a legitimate National League Rookie of the Year candidate, leading NL rookies in home runs (15), doubles (23), RBI (46) and runs scored (45) while also ranking among the top five in batting average (.241), slugging (.461) and OPS (.748). Hicks has to stay on the big-league roster for the entirety of the season as a Rule 5 draft pick and has been holding his own as well at the plate (his .270 average and .759 OPS are both third among qualified NL rookies, and he also has 31 RBI and 19 runs scored) while splitting time between catcher, designated hitter and first base.
Miami also has catcher prospect Joe Mack waiting in the wings in Triple A Jacksonville.
The Marlins, who are 50-55 after Monday’s 7-1 loss in their series opener to the St. Louis Cardinals but have won 20 of their past 30, could very well be active over the next few days before the 6 p.m. Thursday deadline. Starting pitchers Sandy Alcantara, Edward Cabrera and Cal Quantrill along with outfielder Jesus Sanchez and reliever Anthony Bender have all been the subject of trade rumors.
Cabrera started Monday’s game against the Cardinals, holding St. Louis to two runs (one earned) over six innings and has posted a 2.11 ERA (14 earned runs in 59 2/3 innings) in his past 11 starts dating back to May 25.
Alcantara is in line to start against St. Louis on Tuesday.
As for Etzel, the 23-year-old has a career .267 batting average and .783 OPS in 205 minor-league games. He has spent all season with Tampa Bay’s Double A affiliate, the Montgomery Biscuits, and has a .230 average with a .707 OPS, five home runs, 34 RBI, 31 runs scored and 17 stolen bases in 24 attempts over 56 games. He is currently on the minor-league injured list.
This story was originally published July 28, 2025 at 6:47 PM.
.JPG)