Marlins, Dodgers complete six-player trade; Gordon goes to Miami, Heaney goes to Los Angeles

The Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Dodgers have completed a six-player trade that sent second baseman Dee Gordon to Miami, according to reports.

Gordon and right-hander Dan Haren have been acquired by the Marlins. The Dodgers acquired Andrew Heaney, Enrique Hernandez, Chris Thatcher, and Austin Barnes in the deal.

The 26-year-old Gordon had a career year with the Dodgers in 2014. He hit .289/.326/.378 with 64 stolen bases in 83 attempts, as he was named to his first career All-Star Game. He has a career .272/.314/.345 slash line with an 87 wRC+. In terms of fielding, Gordon is a below-average fielder at second base, where he will play with Miami. He was worth -5 runs there in 2014.

Dan Haren also heads to the Marlins in this deal, although he is threatening to retire, as he only wanted to be traded to the Angels, if traded at all. Haren enters the final year of his two-year contract initially signed with the Nationals this season. He went 13-11 with a 4.02 ERA and a 4.09 FIP in 186 innings pitched this season, which resulted in a 1.0 fWAR.

The Dodgers main return is top prospect Andrew Heaney, who got his first action in the big leagues this past year. The 23-year-old Heaney was the Marlins 2012 first round pick and posted a 5.83 ERA and a 5.45 FIP in 29.1 innings pitched. He has three above-average offerings in a fastball, slider, and changeup, but needs to work on his current below-average command.

Austin Barnes and Enrique Hernandez represent the two other returns for the Dodgers. The 24-year-old catcher/second baseman Barnes is another Marlins top prospect and hit .296/.406/.507 with 12 homers and 56 runs batted in over 348 plate appearances in Double-A this past season. The 23-year-old Hernandez hit .248/.321/.421 in 134 plate appearances with the Astros and Marlins this year.

This deal looks to be a bit lopsided, in the favor of the Dodgers, so it looks like some details are still being hammered out, especially if Haren decided to retire. This deal is the second deal of the day for Los Angeles, as they acquired Jimmy Rollins from the Phillies, and with that deal being incomplete, some wonder if this is truly a three-team deal with Philadelphia. Whatever the case, it appears that the Dodgers will need a second baseman, and they've already contacted the Phillies about Chase Utley.

The Marlins lineup now includes Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich, Dee Gordon, and Giancarlo Stanton. It appears as if they are trying to build around a young core, and as they have shown more of a willingness to spend some money (Stanton extension and being rumored to be in on Chase Headley), it may not be too long again before the Marlins are in the playoffs. 

--Devan Fink

---