Marlins appear long shot on Gonzalez

MIAMI — It’s no secret the Marlins are in the market for a frontline starting pitcher. It’s also not a mystery that the club has sincere interest in Oakland’s Gio Gonzalez. The issue is the asking price for the All-Star left-hander.

The Nationals are aggressively after Gonzalez.

Quite simply, the Marlins don’t have the depth of players in their organization to match what the Nationals have to offer.

So the Marlins are asking themselves, is it worth moving a regular or two, along with top prospects, for Gonzalez. The team is not willing to part with a rising star like Mike Stanton for a starting pitcher.

A league source said the A’s asking price is extremely high, perhaps more than even what Washington is willing to part with.

The source added that a sleeper team to watch out for on Gonzalez is Toronto. Now that the Blue Jays came up short in their pursuit of Yu Darvish, whose rights went to the Rangers, they may be turning their attention to Gonzalez.

Like the Nationals, the Blue Jays have a number of highly-regarded prospects to pull off a big trade.

The source noted that Toronto would have a formidable one-two punch if it could team up Gonzalez with Ricky Romero.

Even if the Marlins are unable to obtain Gonzalez, they will remain active trying to land an established starting pitcher.

Miami also is expected to make a heavy push for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes once he becomes available. Cespedes is close to gaining temporary residency in the Dominican Republic. When that happens, he will file for free agency.

– Joe Frisaro