Marlins Interested In Pete Fairbanks

"Fairbanks, 32 next month, is a player president of baseball operations Peter Bendix is very familiar with from his years in the Rays' front office. A ninth-round pick by the Rangers back in 2015, he made his big league debut with Texas back in 2019 but was traded to the Rays in exchange for prospect Nick Solak after just eight appearances."

"Then 25, Fairbanks finished an uneven rookie year with a 6.86 ERA and 5.07 FIP across 21 innings of work but emerged in the shortened 2020 as one of the league's most exciting up-and-coming relievers, as he turned in a 2.70 ERA while striking out 33.3% of his opponents in across 27 appearances. That strong 2020 campaign kicked off a stretch where Fairbanks became one of the Rays' most reliable relief arms."

"Over the past three years, Fairbanks has taken a step back from striking out a third of his opponents and instead punched out 27.9% against a 9.0% walk rate. That's fallen even further when looking at the last two years, when his strikeout rate has fallen to 24.0% as his average fastball velocity has dipped from its 99 mph peak to just 97.3 this year."

The Marlins are pursuing Pete Fairbanks and have also shown interest in Devin Williams. Fairbanks, entering age 32, was a 2015 ninth-round pick who debuted with Texas in 2019 before being traded to Tampa Bay for Nick Solak. He emerged in 2020 with a 2.70 ERA and a 33.3% strikeout rate, then posted a 2.70 ERA from 2021-22 and served as the Rays' closer, totaling 75 saves and a 2.98 ERA over three full seasons. Over the past two-to-three years his strikeout rate and average fastball velocity have declined, with strikeouts falling to 24.0% and velocity dipping to 97.3 mph, raising questions about his profile headed into age 32.

Read at MLB Trade Rumors