Stew calls A’s trading Luzardo to Marlins for Marte ‘shocking’

Athletics

Stew calls A’s trading Luzardo to Marlins for Marte ‘shocking’

The Athletics made a trade on Tuesday to acquire outfielder Starling Marte from the Miami Marlins for pitcher Jesús Luzardo.

Naturally, with the quickness of social media, MLB Twitter offered up its takes. 

NBC Sports California analyst Dave Stewart, who always detailed his affinity for Luzardo, said this was a “shocking trade.”

“WHOAAAAA!!!! Luzardo is going to be a Cy Young Award winner at some point,” Stewart wrote in a tweet. “This is a shocking trade. Very uncharacteristic of the A’s. Good luck to both these young men.”

NBC Sports California’s A’s host Brodie Brazil had a similar reaction.

Pitching Ninja, Rob Friedman dubbed Luzardo’s “Jesus Lizard” nickname and offered up a preview of what Marlins fans could expect from the 23-year-old.

He also added the Marlins’ future pitching staff is going to be “sick.”

Former MLB player Trevor Plouffe dubbed the trade a “win-win.”

Luzardo had been struggling with the big-league club and was demoted after his ERA ballooned to 6.87. His minor-league numbers with Triple-A Las Vegas were showing recent signs of upward productivity. Luzardo did have 6.52 ERA in the minors, but the ball tends to fly in Vegas, along with just about every other ballpark in the PCL.

Luzardo, a former top prospect, still has tons of potential. Perhaps a change of scenery, and being close to his native of Parkland, Fla. will be good for him. But it’s definitely a shock to know he was on the trading block. 

RELATED: Chafin had amazing reaction to Cubs trading him to A’s

Marte coming to the A’s is an clear win-now move that fits a need, as the team had been looking for a power bat after finding a bullpen arm in Andrew Chafin.

After acquiring Chafin from the Chicago Cubs, bringing in a .306 hitter with a .407 on-base percentage and a .859 OPS is exactly what Oakland wanted to do to ensure they have a spot in playoff contention.