ST. LOUIS -- The Marlins are open to all possibilities when it comes to upgrading their rotation in advance of the Aug. 1 non-waiver Trade Deadline, but the club remains resistant to dealing players off its active roster.
"This is a good baseball team," president of baseball operations Michael Hill said. "We really like the talent we have here. We're happy with the first half that we had, but we definitely aren't satisfied. This team can play better. I don't think we're clicking on all cylinders, just yet.
"We need to pitch better, to score more runs. I think we've been one of the league leaders in batting average, but in terms of scoring runs, we can do a better job of that."
The Marlins have been linked to starters like Rich Hill of the A's, who would be a rental, and Michael Pineda or Nathan Eovaldi from the Yankees, if New York decides to become sellers.
MLB Network's Ken Rosenthal threw out a bolder scenario, reporting the Marlins could be open to dealing shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria to Tampa Bay in a deal for Chris Archer.
The Marlins would then use Miguel Rojas as their regular shortstop.
For a top-of-the-rotation talent like Archer, the Marlins could be open to dealing off their 25-man roster. But such a deal could be more difficult to pull off.
"As we look at this club, we'll continue to look at ways to upgrade the roster and help us win more games," Hill said.