In case youve been asleep all season, the Marlins are heading into the July 30 trade deadline as sellers and are all but certain to trade closer within the next 13 days. Top starter was seen as a near-lock to go as well, before a trip to the 60-day IL tanked his trade candidacy. Center fielder who is completely, 100 percent coincidentally getting his first work at second base since 2022 at a time when Miami is listening to trade offers from infield-needy teams also seems quite likely to change hands. If the Marlins can find a taker for even a portion of s $16.5MM salary, hell Cincinnati Reds Jersey go too. But for all the talk on Scott, Chisholm and Luzardo throughout the season, the Marlins have another pretty obvious trade candidate who isnt discu sed nearly as often even though hes arguably a more appealing trade candidate than Scott. Perhaps thats because a disastrous start to the season tanked his numbers, but has not only salvaged his 2024 campaign hes been one of the best relievers in baseball for more than a month. Heading into the season, Miami raised a few eyebrows by opting to stretch Puk back out as a starter. The former Florida Gator was drafted as a starter but had never started a game in the majors. He last started four games in 2021 when still in the As organization and hadnt worked as a full-time starter since 2017. If youve followed any of the reliever-to-starter experiment check-ins Ive written up this season (one from the and one from the ), youll know that the exercise didnt go well. Puk made the idea look brilliant in spring training when he pitched 13 2/3 innings of 1.32 ERA ball with a gargantuan 41.1% strikeout rate and sharp 7.1% walk rate. It was only four starts in exhibition play, but its easy to see why the team was encouraged. Unfortunately, Puks regular-season dalliance with starting also lasted all of 13 2/3 innings over four starts. He was shelled for 17 runs (14 earned) on 19 hits and an alarming 17 walks. He fanned only 12 opponents. Thats a paltry 15.6% strikeout rate and stratospheric 22.1% walk rate. The Fish put Puk on the injured list with shoulder fatigue. He returned as a reliever tasked with the unenviable mi sion of lowering a 9.22 ERA over a series of one-inning stints. Good luck, Mr. Puk. Or maybe he didnt need the luck. Puks ERA is down to 4.73 on the season, and while thats a wholly unimpre sive number in its own right, its skewed dramatically but that lamentable foray into rotation work. Since hes moved to the bullpen, Puk sports a 2.39 ERA in 26 1/3 innings. Hes fanned 26% of his opponents against a 5% walk rate. Puk walked five batters in 4 2/3 innings in one start at Yankee Stadium on April 9. Hes now walked five batters total since May 13, all while posting a terrific 13.8% swinging-strike rate and 34.1% chase rate. Not only has Puk been rejuvenated in his move to a bullpen role, hes also saved his best work for the summer run-up to the trade deadline. No one has eked out an earned run against the lanky 67 southpaw since June 17. Puk is riding a 12 2/3-inning scorele s streak thats seen him whiff 18 of the 43 batters hes faced (41.9%) while walking only two of them (4.7%). Puk, after averaging 93.3 mph on his four-seamer out of the rotation, has averaged 96.1 mph since moving back to short relief. Hes been throwing even harder during this scorele s run, sitting 96.6 mph on his fastball, which has helped him post an eye-popping 20.5% swinging-strike rate and laughable 40% opponents chase rate. Everything is working for Puk right now; his four-seamer, sinker and slider have all generated plus results during this hot streak. Puk looks every bit like he was miscast in his role as a starter to begin the year, but since moving back into the bullpen hes been electric. And over the past month, he leads all major league relievers in FanGraphs WAR. Hes seventh among qualified relievers in strikeout rate during this current stretch and fourth in K-BB%. Puk hasnt simply been better since moving back to the pen hes been the best version of himself weve ever seen. And for a pitcher with more than four years of MLB service who saved 19 games and tallied 22 holds while working to a 3.51 ERA in 2022-23, thats pretty notable. Puk wasnt a bad reliever before the ill-fated move to the rotation, but he also wasnt a great one. Now, he looks like a potentially elite one. The timing couldnt be better for a Marlins club that has no hope of reaching the postseason and waved the white flag on their season back in early May when they traded in a stunning early-season blockbuster. Detractors could argue that the Fish waved the white flag on the season before Opening Day, as their biggest offseason additions of note were , , and (while also subtracting and ). Puk suddenly stands as an interesting trade candidate not only because of his recent dominance but because of his contract and remaining club control. Hes earning just $1.8MM in 2024 and will have $600K of that sum remaining as of deadline day. (Right now, hes at $716K left on his deal.) An acquiring team would then be able to control Puk for two more seasons beyond the current campaign. He cant become a free agent until the 2026-27 offseason. His early struggles and IL stint plus Scotts presence as the closer have limited his time on the field, his rate stats and his save/hold opportunities. All of that will combine to help keep his arbitration price tag lower than if hed spent the entire season as a high-end setup man or closer who excels in leverage situations. Puk is a 29-year-old former top-10 draft pick and consensus top prospect whos battled myriad injuries. He looked unimpre sive as a starter but has quickly reminded everyone why he was a well-regarded reliever and someone former Marlins GM Kim Ng felt comfortable trading away another former top-10 pick ( ) in order to acquire. He has two years of club control remaining, and its doubtful hed even cost a new club a total of $10MM over the course of his remaining window of control. Its plenty understandable that Scott and Chisholm are drawing attention but Puk should be right there alongside them. It was a mistake, plain and simple, to leave him off . The Marlins seem willing to listen on just about any member of the active roster, and Puk is arguably the most appealing target for other teams as they look at whats on the menu in Miami. Hes mi sing a similar number of bats to Scott but i suing walks at a mere fraction of the rate while earning a third of the salary and carrying two extra years of club control. Puk should command a legitimate prospect package, and there will be no shortage of teams calling. Bobby Tolan Jersey