Miami Marlins' purge proves vexing

• Pitcher Ricky Nolasco wants out. Franchise slugger Giancarlo Stanton is tweeting mad
• Somewhere, Ozzie Guillen is enjoying a hearty laugh
• The Marlins shed more than $2633 million worth of future salaries

NASHVILLE -- Pitcher Ricky Nolasco wants out. Franchise slugger Giancarlo Stanton is tweeting mad. Commissioner Bud Selig has issued a warning.

Somewhere, Ozzie Guillen is enjoying a hearty laugh.

Guillen doesn't have to deal with the remaining carcass of the Miami Marlins; he can simply cash the $7.5 million worth of checks they still owe him after firing him as manager in October.

The club that dominated last December's winter meetings with its surprisingly profligate ways is swimming against this year's current by returning to its more familiar role as purveyor of major league-proven talent in exchange for prospects.

The Marlins on Nov.19 sent four players with All-Star pedigrees — shortstop Jose Reyes, pitchers Mark Buehrle and Josh Johnson and catcher John Buck — along with utility man Emilio Bonifacio to the Toronto Blue Jays for four major leaguers and three prospects.

In doing so, the Marlins shed more than $163 million worth of future salaries — a total that increases to $236 million when including money owed to Hanley Ramirez, Omar Infante and Heath Bell, all dealt away since last summer.

Into this mess steps Mike Redmond, a Marlins catcher from 1998 to 2004 who is getting his first shot at managing in the majors. His most pressing task has been to appease Stanton, the 23-year-old prodigy who has hit 93 home runs in 373 career games.

Stanton fired off an angry tweet after learning of the trade with Toronto — "Alright, I'm pissed off!!! Plain & Simple" — but, as opposed to Nolasco, has not publicly requested a trade. In any case, the Marlins say they have no intention of moving him.

"He's going to be fine," said Redmond, who reached Stanton shortly before Thanksgiving. "When teammates and buddies get traded, it hurts. … I get it. At the same time, I know that when the bell rings, when spring training starts, he knows what he's got to do."

Nolasco, who is 76-64 with a 4.49 ERA in a seven-year career, hopes not to be around in the spring.

His agent, Matt Sosnick, told the Palm Beach Post that Nolasco was unhappy with the direction the club had taken and was "just interested in getting a fresh start."

Shortstop Yunel Escobar was shipped Tuesday to the Tampa Bay Rays for infield prospect Derek Dietrich. With a $5 million salary, Escobar was the most expensive player the Marlins picked up in the Blue Jays deal, which drew Selig's scrutiny.

In granting his hesitant approval of the trade, which he called in a statement "the exercise of plausible baseball judgment on the part of both clubs," Selig alluded to the financial commitment South Florida had made to build the ballpark and added, "I will continue to monitor this situation with the expectation that the Marlins will take into account the sentiments of their fans."

Team executives at the winter meetings have been wary of publicly criticizing the Marlins' fire sale.

Even outspoken New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson will only say, "I have enough trouble dealing with my own situation."

Privately, though, industry insiders think the Marlins broke a covenant with their fans — especially considering taxpayers are footing about 80% of the bill for their new ballpark, plus financing costs.

"They have to make their finances come together," said Vince Gennaro, a baseball-economics analyst for MLB Network who has served as consultant to major league teams. "You would have loved to have seen them keep the team intact for at least more one year, but it didn't happen."