Wow. Did this trade ever blow up.

Even ESPN First Take, who only talk about the NFL and the NBA, took a few minutes of their time in order to talk about this trade.

The Blue Jays appear to a contender in the AL East, and the Miami Marlins look like a team that appears to have a new slogan, according to Dan Lebatard of the Miami Herald, “WE’LL LOSE CHEAPER”

But let’s slow down, take a little step back here. Let’s look at what this trade has done for the Marlins.

The payroll is obvious, and the Marlins are shedding $160 million in committed contracts from their payroll. It’s also obvious that they get marginal major league players in Yunel Escobar and Jeff Mathis.

What’s not so obvious? They are adding Henderson Alvarez, who is only 22-years-old. He’s joining Nathan Eovaldi, 22, and Jacob Turner, 21, two very young pitching prospects that they collected in other deals with the Dodgers and Tigers respectively. That could be a rotation that the Marlins can build around, and all three are very cheap.

Alvarez also is a pretty good pitcher. Everyone highlights the 4.85 ERA, but that was in the AL East on a fast, turf field. Alvarez is going to move into the Marlins’ beautiful new ballpark, and will get to pitch in spacious Citi Field and cavernous Turner Field. Also, this is a guy that doesn’t walk anybody. This year was the only year that he has had a walk rate over 2.0 BB/9 IP.

Meanwhile, Adeiny Hechavarria has the reputation of a rangy defender up the middle, that will pair nicely with Escobar, an all-Cuban middle infield. He may be limited offensively, but so was Elvis Andrus and look where he is now with the Texas Rangers. He is still young at 23 and could be the future of the Marlins at shortstop.

And then there are the prospects, Jake Marisnick and Justin Nicolino. Marisnick is a guy who had 22 hits in 19 games in the Arizona Fall League this year, along with three doubles, two triples, and a home run. He still strikes out a lot (28 percent of his at bats), but he is still only 21 and could be a great outfielder in two years.

Justin Nicolino, meanwhile, has already shown a 5.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio in Class A (in 124.1 innings to boot). He still has to make the all-important jump to AA, but the left hander turns 21 in a week, and could join the young rotation already in place in two to three years.

To say the Marlins got nothing back is definitely blasphemous. They got a lot of quality back for a bunch of bad contracts that they might not be able to afford in a few years anyways. This team may have gotten blown up, but what springs from the ashes could be something pretty special.