A TRADE, BUT FOR WHAT?

In case you thought the Marlins were just kiddin’, Tuesday happened. In case you thought maybe they weren’t deadly serious about this cost-slashing–that they were bluffing, perhaps, or playing a practical joke–they went and traded their most valuable player for Whoozat and Nobody. And so it has begun, just like the Marlins threatened and warned and promised it would: the systematic self-destruction of a World Series team. The gradual implosion of a baseball champion. It began not with a minor deal but with one that must hit your average teal-wearing fan as subtly as a fastball to the gut. You might stretch it to agree the Marlins traded left-fielder Moises Alou at all.