Lets not lie, every offseason the baseball world lies in wait to see what the Florida Marlins are going to do. Are they going to sign a big name for a short term shot at the post season (ala Carlos Delgado in 2005)? Or are they going to sell off every player of value in the interest of slashing payroll as they did in 2006 with Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell or last season with Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis?

Well, the Marlins have made their first move, and though on the surface this move appears to be a payroll slash, it is actually a wise move. The Marlins finalized a deal with the Kansas City Royals that sends 1B Mike Jacobs to the Royals for relief pitcher Leo Nunez. Nunez is 25 and though he is not an imposing pitcher on the mound physically, he has good stuff. His fastball can hit the mid 90s and his slider has some serious bite on it.

On the surface, this move appears to be in the interest of keeping payroll low. Jacobs made $395,000 in 2008 and could have made $3 million in 2009 through arbitration. However, there are 3 reasons why this move works perfectly for the Marlins:

A) The Marlins have a glut of infielders at their disposal. Jacob’s departure means top prospect Gaby Sanchez will be given a chance to win the job at 1B. In the event he cannot prove himself ready for the job, Jorge Cantu can play 1B and Dallas McPherson 3B.

B) Relief pitching was the Marlins greatest weakness last season, Nunez will be a welcome addition to a much maligned bullpen.

C) Mike Jacobs was a terrific power hitter, knocking 32 homeruns last season and was a part of the MLB’s first ever infield crew to all hit at least 25 homeruns. Jacobs however was a big defensive liability and wasn’t capable of hitting for average as he had one of the worst on base percentages on the team.

The Marlins did what they needed to do. They had too many infielders and someone had to go. Their biggest need in the offseason was bullpen, so they did exactly what they needed. They traded a player who while valuable in the power department, was a liability on defense and not capable of getting on base when needed and in return strengthened their bullpen.