The Marlins made the postseason in 2023, their first time in the playoffs of a full season since 2003. But the good news stopped there. They were quickly swept by the Phillies, then their ace announced that he underwent Tommy John surgery. This was followed by general manager Kim Ng stepping aside after disagreements with chairman Bruce Sherman.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Sandy Alcantara, RHP: $45MM through 2026 (includes buyout on 2027 club option)
- Avisaíl García, OF: $29MM through 2025 (includes buyout on 2026 club option)
- Josh Bell, 1B: $16.5MM player option
- Jorge Soler, OF/DH: $13MM player option
Option Decisions
- 1B Josh Bell can opt out of $16.5MM salary
- OF/DH Jorge Soler can opt out of $13MM salary
- Club holds $10.5MM club option on RHP Johnny Cueto with $2.5MM buyout
- Clubs holds $9MM club option on RHP Matt Barnes with $2.25MM buyout ($8MM option increased to $9MM when Barnes was traded, per Associated Press)
- Club holds $3.625MM club option on IF/OF Jon Berti with $25K buyout (Berti can be retained via arbitration even if option is declined)
2024 financial commitments (assuming Berti’s option is the only one exercised): $24.625MM
Total future commitments: $107.625MM*
* Includes $30MM owed to Yankees as part of Giancarlo Stanton deal, to be paid from 2026-2028
Arbitration-Eligible Players (projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
- Jacob Stallings (5.149): $3.6MM
- Tanner Scott (5.059): $5.8MM
- Garrett Hampson (5.010): $1.3MM
- Luis Arraez (4.121): $10.8MM
- JT Chargois (4.101): $1.2MM
- Jesús Luzardo (3.165): $5.9MM
- A.J. Puk (3.124): $1.8MM
- Steven Okert (3.109): $1.2MM
- Trevor Rogers (3.094): $1.5MM
- Jazz Chisholm Jr. (3.075): $2.8MM
- Jonathan Davis (3.035): $800K
- Anthony Bender (2.153): $900K
- Jesús Sánchez (2.118): $2MM
Non-tender candidates: Stallings, Hampson, Davis
Free Agents
The Marlins went 84-78 in 2023, just enough to squeeze into the Wild Card picture during the final weekend of the season. It would be fair to wonder whether the club was actually as good as that record would indicate. Their run differential was -57, which would be more in line with a 75-win club. Despite allowing more runs than they scored by a significant margin, they succeeded by going 33-14 in one-run games, a difficult tightrope to walk for an extended period of time.
Whether you think the club deserved their record or not, they will be challenged just to stay at that level. Sandy Alcantara required Tommy John surgery at the end of the season and will now miss the entire 2024 campaign. He wasn’t quite in his previous Cy Young-winning form in 2023, but the Marlins are nonetheless worse off without him.
There will likely be losses in the lineup as well. Each of Jorge Soler and Josh Bell have upcoming opt-outs that allow them to return to free agency. Soler’s deal originally had a $9MM salary for 2024 but he upped that to $13MM via plate appearance escalators. He hit 36 home runs this year and walked in 11.4% of his plate appearances, leading to a wRC+ of 126. Even though he’s not a strong defender, he should be able to parlay that platform into a strong multi-year deal. Whoever is in charge of the Miami front office will then have to decide whether to extend a qualifying offer to Soler, with this year’s QO likely to be around $20.5MM. If they decide to make that offer, he would be a borderline candidate to accept, but it may not be possible with the club’s financials. More on that later.
As for Bell, his season wasn’t quite as potent as Soler’s, but he finished strong. He hit .233/.318/.383 for the Guardians but then .270/.338/.480 after being traded to the Marlins. He is ineligible to receive a qualifying offer because of that trade. Given that, and the weak market for impact bats, he may be able to leave that $16.5MM on the table and find a multi-year deal of some kind.
Chairman Bruce Sherman will first have to find someone to navigate this, with general manager Kim Ng deciding not to trigger her end of a mutual option. It was reported that she did so because Sherman planned to hire a president of baseball operations to work above her, in addition to reported disagreements about some other staff decisions. Given that reporting, it’s possible he has someone in mind, but few details have been leaked about the front office search.
That makes it somewhat difficult to project what the winter plans are, but there will be some early decisions to be made, whether someone has been hired or not. The Soler QO decision is the only challenging one, however, as the others are fairly straightforward. Both Johnny Cueto and Matt Barnes had injury problems and poor results when on the field, so their options will be bought out. Jon Berti just had his second straight season of managing to produce more than 2 WAR in a utility role, so his option should be picked up. He can be retained via arbitration even if it’s not.
But after that, there will be bigger choices to be made about the club’s path forward. In terms of the financials, the 2023 Opening Day payroll of $93MM was the highest of the Sherman era, according to data at Cot’s Baseball Contracts. They are currently projected for a budget of $103MM next year, per Roster Resource. If Soler and Bell opt out and a couple members of the arb class are non-tendered, that number will drop down to around $70MM.
That will give the club some money to spend, but they will have to replace two key bats from the lineup. The Marlins scored 666 runs in 2023, better than just four clubs, while their wRC+ of 94 was better than just 10. With Soler and Bell perhaps set to become free agents, the Fish will need to find ways to add offense just to break even. Giving a qualifying offer to Soler risks tying up $20.5MM in one player when they have multiple needs to address.
In recent years, the focus has been on the Miami pitching staff and how it could be parlayed into an offensive upgrade. That may be a little trickier now that the club already made a significant move, flipping Pablo López and prospects to the Twins for Luis Arraez prior to 2023. With Alcantara’s surgery and trade of prospect Jake Eder, the rotation surplus doesn’t seem quite as robust as it did a year ago.
There is still a strong foundation there, with Jesús Luzardo, Eury Pérez and Braxton Garrett giving the club a strong front three, but it gets shaky after that. Trevor Rogers was excellent in 2021 but struggled in 2022 and then missed most of 2023 due to injury. Edward Cabrera has flashed a tantalizing strikeout-groundout combo at times but the walks have become a serious concern. Former first-round pick Max Meyer underwent Tommy John surgery in August of 2022 and missed all of 2023. Ryan Weathers, a former first-round pick of the Padres, has a 5.88 ERA in his major league career thus far. Sixto Sánchez was once a highly-touted prospect but has been limited to just one inning of minor league work in the past three seasons and is now out of options.
After the López trade in the last offseason, the Marlins pivoted to grab Cueto from free agency. Perhaps they find someone to trade in this group and try a similar path this winter. Cabrera is now out of options and could be plausibly flipped to a rebuilding club with the ability to be patient with his development, but that would likely leave the Marlins looking for at least one free agent starter, as well as relying on Rogers or Meyer to be healthy and effective.
If the Marlins look to add offense via free agency, catcher would be one obvious target. Jacob Stallings hit .210/.287/.290 over the past two seasons after coming over from the Pirates in a trade. Nick Fortes took over as the primary backstop in 2023. He didn’t hit much either but his defensive grades were generally strong. With Stallings about to turn 34 and set for an arbitration raise, it seems fair to expect the club to move on. Fortes is still is in his pre-arbitration years and can act as a cheap glove-first part of a catching tandem.
The free agent options aren’t amazing, but they are certainly more enticing than Stallings. Gary Sánchez had a strong second half with the Padres, hitting 19 home runs in 75 games, but should still be affordable. In 2023, he had to settle for minor league deals with the Giants and Mets. The latter selected his contract but designated him for assignment less than a week later. A waiver claim by the Padres gave him the chance to launch those 19 home runs and raise his free agent stock, but his season was ended by a wrist fracture in September, which could give some clubs pause.
Mitch Garver would be an excellent fit as a bat-first catcher, combining with Fortes behind the plate. But he hit well enough in 2023, including for the Rangers in the playoffs, that they may give him the qualifying offer. For an oft-injured catcher going into his age-33 season, it would be tough for him to walk away from over $20MM.
A player with a similar profile is Tom Murphy. He’s only been able to play 315 games dating back to the 2015 season due to various injuries, but he generally hits well when he’s in there. In 2023, he served as backup to Cal Raleigh of the Mariners, hitting eight home runs in just 47 games before a thumb sprain ended his season in August.
The Marlins could also look for an upgrade at first base, with Bell maybe opting out, Garrett Cooper having been traded and Yuli Gurriel now a free agent. Giving Bell a new contract would be one option, but the free agent market also features Rhys Hoskins, Brandon Belt, Carlos Santana and others. The club almost signed Justin Turner last winter and he is likely to end up triggering his own opt-out. But many of the available options are veterans best suited to a part-time role, also spending significant time at designated hitter. Hoskins is one of the younger ones in the group but he missed all of 2023 after tearing his ACL in the spring. Players like Rowdy Tellez and Dominic Smith could wind up non-tendered by their current clubs. Pete Alonso is the crown jewel of theoretical trade candidates but it’s hard to imagine him going to a division rival.
At the other infield positions, Luis Arraez should be back at second base and Jake Burger at third. Neither is an excellent defender but they both had strong seasons at the plate and the Marlins need their bats in the lineup. Shortstop is wide open at the moment, with Joey Wendle having struggled and now a free agent anyway. Berti and Garrett Hampson are still on the roster but better suited to utility roles than a full-time shortstop gig. Jacob Amaya struggled in his major league debut and had a subpar season in Triple-A.
Finding an everyday shortstop this winter won’t be easy. The free agent market doesn’t really have a viable option unless the White Sox turn down their option on Tim Anderson. But even then, he’s coming off a horrible season in 2023 where he had a .286 on-base percentage and just one home run. The trade market could theoretically feature names like Willy Adames, Ha-Seong Kim or Tommy Edman, but their respective clubs will undoubtedly set high asking prices given the weak free agent class.
The outfield picture looks a bit better, with Jazz Chisholm Jr. in center, flanked by Bryan De La Cruz and Jesús Sánchez. With Soler opting out, there would be room to add someone and perhaps push De La Cruz into a fourth outfielder/designated hitter role, but the club also has Avisaíl García still on the roster. His past two seasons have been disasters, with injuries and poor performance making him a sub-replacement contributor. But if the club thinks it can fit another outfielder into the mix, they could perhaps make sense for Adam Duvall, Tommy Pham or Jason Heyward.
The bullpen is losing David Robertson and Matt Moore to free agency, but they were midseason pickups anyway. Overall, the group is still strong, with four viable left-handers in the bullpen. Left-handed relief tends to always be in demand, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Marlins call around to see if they can exchange one of Tanner Scott, Andrew Nardi, A.J. Puk or Steven Okert for offensive help.
Whoever is eventually hired to make the baseball decisions in Miami will have quite a to-do list. The club’s offense was fairly tepid in 2023 and could see Bell and Soler depart in the coming weeks. The Fish could use upgrades at catcher, first base, shortstop and perhaps an outfield corner, and likely won’t have a ton of money available for those pursuits. Amid all of that, the National League East is in strong shape, as Atlanta and Philadelphia are two of the best clubs in the league. The Mets had a down year in 2023 but have the resources to bounce back quickly and the Nationals will be emerging from their rebuild eventually. Although the Marlins are fresh off a postseason berth, there are plenty of questions and we don’t currently know who will be providing the answers.
In conjunction with this post, Darragh McDonald held a Marlins-centric chat on 10-26-23. Click here to read the transcript.
Sherman needs to have someone in place prior to the winter meetings in December.
Free agency also starts five days after the WS ends so they’ll need to start planting seeds in desired players ASAP.
I don’t see them competing for a playoff spot with those injuries and defections. I would kick the tires on how little the White Sox would need to send over Tim Anderson before they decline his option. The overall infield defense would be well below average with Burger, Anderson, Arraez, and a random 1B, but for a stopgap year it would be ok.
But to me the highest priority is trying to get Arraez locked into a longer term deal.
I’m not quite sure TA is worth $14MM and a prospect to the Marlins. They can lower his cost by sending a better prospect with the White Sox footing some of his salary. But I don’t see them doing that bc they can just trade other players for value while lowering their own payroll as they don’t stand to compete next season.
Arraez # is sick at the 4 year mark. Is next 2 #s will be unreal.
Time for fish and reds to come together in a match made in heaven. Trade Garrett and Max Mayer for India and Marte.
Arraez
Jazz
India
Marte
Bell
Sexy top of the lineup !
Marte is going nowhere, at least for five years or so.
Cubs need to send them Wisdom for one of those lefties. Unlikely but one can dream.
Alcantara had a 4.14 ERA with an ERA + of 108. Marlins had a losing record in his starts. Replacing him is just finding an average SP.
They don’t have to be among the best teams, all they have to do is be a little over .500 and get to the playoffs.
The best team doesn’t win the WS. The Braves are so much better than the Diamondbacks it’s not even close.
Just get to the playoffs, anything can happen.
So Sandy is a Cy Young Winner…..then has an off year and he’s just an average pitcher? LOL!!
Does anyone even watch baseball on this page or is it just a bunch of kids reading analytics.
I watch games every night @JJ7. Plenty of CY Young winners that never had another similar season again (and plenty that didn’t deserve a CY in the first place).
He didn’t have an off-year, his ligament tear worsened and it impacted his performance
Post Tommy John who knows, he could perform well or just fade away.
The point is the production from Sandy A in 2023 is what has to be replaced for 2024. And that production was average. It’s not saying Sandy A is an average pitcher.
Exactly. The Marlins made the playoffs with a poor year from Sandy, garbage at SS, and games with Stallings playing.
All they need is to get a pitcher that do better than Sandy’s 2023 numbers, and get someone to replace Stallings, and they will be better in 2024 at those two spots that they were in 2023.
Why would anyone want to be the GM in Miami?
Kim does a great job and gets them to the post season in a long time then gets fired. She did a great job. We love Kim
Please inform yourself about her tenure instead of just reading headlines. Maybe then you’ll realize she isn’t the god-tier GM you think she is.
Results just don’t seem to count for some folks, but we know where that comes from.
People clamor for a manager or GM to be fired, but my question always is, who are you going to replace them with?
For example, when Bryan Price replaced Dusty Baker, that didn’t turn out so good.
She turned down her side of a mutual option. You can argue we should have tried harder to keep her, but saying she got fired is just dishonest. Kim did do a really good job in certain areas, and not a great job in other areas. I wish she was still here but she is not so great that there is no way she can be upgraded. Now believing the ownership will make the right hire that upgrades her…that’s way more dicey. I am encouraged that he was trying to address areas that we were deficient in, but it still seems clumsy.
That reminds me of the Walt Weiss situation in COL. His contract expired – there were no options on either side. To this day everyone still says Weiss was fired, and I still find it annoying. You can only be fired from an active contract. Ng was not fired – she declined her end of a mutual option. Not sure why so many struggle with that.
> Why would anyone want
> to be the GM in Miami?
+Hello, it’s in Miami?
+Because the winters in Boston $&@#ing suck!
+Salaried position
+Competitive and comprehensive healthcare and dental benefits
+Industry leading 401k plans
+Legally trade or hire humans to do stuff
+Tell people to do stuff or else
+You can get rid of some of the people that you work with that you dislike
+If you become too happy and misery is more your thing, you can get rid of some of the people that you work with that you like
+You get to stand in front of a microphone and say whatever you want.
+You get to talk to reporters and say whatever you want.
+You get to be on TV. “Hi mom!”
+You “generally” don’t have to be any good at what you do.
+You can hire an assistant general manager to do all of your work for you.
@YanksTomator
Stop listening to E!SPN and FOX Sports. Ng was a mixed bag of results. She did not do a great job.
If I’m the Yankees, I’m trying to get Arraez and will dangle Volpe to make it happen. Marlins get a young, cost controlled SS with power in a market where there isn’t any available…. and the Yankees get a much needed contact lefty bat.
Yankees then put Peraza at SS and shop Torres or Rizzo with Arraez able to play first or second.
Get it done!
Oh look, another god awful mock trade centered around the Yanks. Neat!
Mocking ridiculous trades is a requirement to become a Yankees fan.
It’s not ridiculous at all if you understand the game and players actual values.
Arraez is a great contact hitter…..but has no power, doesn’t steal bases and is barely a passable fielder.
Volpe is a former top 10 overall prospect that pulled a 20/20 in his first year at age 22, is cost controlled and also up for a gold glove. That has huge value to a small market team with a low payroll ceiling.
Boy, being a batting champion in back-to-back years in both leagues doesn’t have the cache it once did. If you’re saying Arraez really isn’t all that great, why would the Yankees want him at all?
I just don’t see Bell opting out. Had a solid 2nd half, but didn’t set the world on fire. Everyone knows who he is by now. Who is gonna give him $18+M/year on a multi-year deal? Not anyone he’s already played for, that’s for sure.
It is ridiculous. They can just put Berti at SS who has even more speed just a little less power. But he gets on base much mire frequently. And they can do that without giving up their batting champion.
Because they could use a contact lefty bat. That doesn’t change his deficiencies.
Volpe can also play second. So yeah…..still nowhere near ridiculous if you understand the game.
Why would Miami do that? Arraez is a proven commodity while Volpe is still a work in progress. By trading Rizzo, if they can even do that, that leaves a light-hitting bat in DJL manning a power position at 1B.
Right on. Yankees don’t even have 5 prospects worth trading for Arraez.
You obviously started watching baseball last week if you think that.
Arraez is a great contact hitter…..but has no power, doesn’t steal bases and is barely a passable fielder.
Volpe is a former top 10 overall prospect that pulled a 20/20 in his first year at age 22, is cost controlled and also up for a gold glove. That has huge value to a small market team with a low payroll ceiling.
Rizzo is an aging vet who is oft injured but the Pads need a 1B and are rumored to like him. Could be included in a Soto proposal.
Yankees gonna need Sandy or Eury along with Arraez in that deal, and if we’re being real, Jazz would also need to go to the Yankees as well for the young, powerful, and cost controlled future MVP in Volpe.
Take out Eury if the Marlins are able to acquire Clint Frazier to send back to NY
Can we give them Garrett and Luzardo to so we can get Stanton back? I really hate that Jeter “gifted” Stanton to the Yankees.
So, what else the Yankees are sending for Arraez. They don’t have enough prospects. Besides if the Marlins were doing that, they would have 29 teams line up and they could pick and choose. If I was the Marlins GM, believe me I would trade Arraez this coming winter together with Tanner Scott and Cabrera. I will set up the Marlins for the next five seasons as a strong competitor. But that is me. Marlins are clueless when it comes to maximize their assets. I know Arraez is not going to be here for long, so this is the best time and moment to cash in. Same goes for Scott his value is way high so time to refresh and maximize prospect and major league ready players.
@Frankpr21 pls apply for the GM.
I laugh outloud when people on this board say the Yankees don’t have enough prospects. You obviously have zero clue about their system then….let alone the young talent at the MLB level. I could put together 12 trades in two mins that are an overpay let alone not enough.
@JJ7
So, the Marlins give up their best bat after they make the playoffs.I didn’t realize that they are in the business of trying to help the Yankees instead of themselves.
You have a better chance of us “gifting” you guys Avi Garcia the same way Jeter “gifted” you guys Stanton.
Just because he’s YOUR best bat, that doesn’t change his actual value. That’s like trading in a used Caddy and being pissed you’re not getting Benz money. lol
He’s still a high contact bat with no speed, power or D. The Marlins are still a low payroll team who has to maximize value.
@JJ7
If he has so little value, then why do you want the Yankees to have him?
Also, if he has so little value, why was he the best hitter on a Playoff team while the team you want him traded was not a Playoff team? And let’s not forget the fact that Arraez was the best hitter on a Playoff team that was in the same division with the best record in MLB and what was the defending 2022 NL Champions, who played in another NLCS this year.
Who said he has little value? Not me.
A lefty contact bat definitely has value. He just doesn’t have as MUCH value as some on this board are suggesting because they’re ignoring his lack of power, speed and D!
Your suggestion would never be accepted by the Marlins, so the posters in here are closer to understanding Arraez’s value to the Marlins than you do.
I’m so glad you and your infinite baseball acumen speak for the Marlins organization.
@JJ7
Well, I follow them and know more about them than you do.
But if you feel you got this right, I’ll wait to see your proposed trade to happen in real life…not MLB The Show. If you’re confident in your trade suggestion, hold your breath until it happens.
Nobody has said the Yankees would even go after him. I was suggesting he’s a contact lefty bat which the Yankees need so they reach out and see if he’s available. You’re just butt hurt about my proposal.
It’s a ridiculous trade suggestion and you see I’m not the only one that pointed it out.
With every word you show how little you know about the game so at this point, you’re mocking yourself.
Yeah, says the guy that offers a ridiculous trade that is called out by multiple people.
A trade suggestion that involves little for a guy that lowers the value of the best player on a team that actually made the Playoffs to put him on a team that didn’t, but the guy whose team didn’t make the Playoffs wants to undervalue the best player from a Playoff team.
And just for a simple add, making the usual ridiculous trade suggestion of a guy trying to dump little value to get a good player from another team in a trade where he suggests giving up guys he doesn’t want on his team for a player he wants from another team.
So considering the ways that I broke this down for you, who is it that is showing how little he knows about the game, and is mocking himself?
PS: and just to kick you when you’re down. I actually played ball into Division I. I think I know more about the game than you. And I’d surely destroy you in it if we ever played each other. You video game, fantasy league, last batter on his rec league, self-anointed star geniuses are laughable. Yeah, I guess you wonder how I’m able to guess that about you. Guys that actually played the game can see it in guys like you from so many tells you don’t realize.
I played in college too, idiot….so even in that area you’re wrong. Lol. Bless your heart
The difference between you and I? Despite me playing at a high level myself, I don’t take that as a opportunity to announce to the board that my opinion should hold more weight. Newsflash moron…..MANY people played college ball. You’re not special. I made it to AA before blowing out my shoulder. But my opinions or trade ideas on here are still just opinions like anyone else’s.
You sound like Al Bundy over there. But then again, your job at the bowling alley probably affords you more time to share your infinite knowledge with the rest of us peasants. Lol.
All of this over a proposed trade. Get a life, dude.
Oh, the “blew my arm out” excuse. Why is it that people that are full of feces use the same excuse? And don’t use what you actually do for a living to throw my way. I actually took advantage of my scholarship, got my degree and have built a nice career and life. And unlike all of the full of crapes people with their “blew” something fiction, in my real life experience playing Division I, I just sucked at that level, so I did my four years and took advantage of my education.
But since you’re a fellow ball player, let’s exchange some discussion that also involves the in-game stuff too, that would take you out of the realm of sounding like someone that learned all of his baseball in fantasy league and/or video games. I’m sure you will be up to it, or will you pull off a Bill James excuse of “not being sophisticated enough in the game” to have certain baseball discussions that require having played it at some level beyond rec league?
And even with all of this, it still doesn’t change the fact that you made one of those usual dumb ash trade suggestions that benefits your team, and I’m not the only one on here that pointed it out. I guess you know more than all of us that pointed out that your trade suggestion was dumb.
You seem to have a lot of time on your hands to write these long, idiotic diatribes on how wonderful you are and how others aren’t worthy. Everyone else is full of feces and you’re so dead accurate. You’re a baffoon on a chat board with too much time and a huge ego. Frankly, I’m bored making you look stupid. So go ahead and get the last word in so you can tell the others how you, “won” the fictional trade war. Lol. Wow.
So, the Bill James with a touch of Brian Kenny excuse it is.
Somehow I sensed you wouldn’t have wanted to have any discussions that involve in-game baseball knowledge. That’s always when you stats guys always bail out.
And yes, the guy that multiple posters pointed out made a dumb trade suggestion is the one that made someone else look stupid.
Go back to playing MLB the Show and fantasy league with your buddies in that sheltered universe run by databases.
Move through rays or marlins to Buffalo!
Nah, South Florida > Buffalo.
You should move.
Nobody goes…. bills mafia would love a baseball team unlike South Florida
Yeah, I’m sure playing baseball in that frigid dump would be much more appealing than in sunny Florida. Not.
@Big Smoke
What’s not to like about Buffalo over Miami?
That frozen tundra over vast forests of nothing is better than our year-round warm weather with so many things around us when we don’t feel like going to the beach.
And the women. Oh the women! Who seriously would compare the women we have in Miami with their curves and beach bodies over those Sasquatch-looking women in Buffalo with their Yeti-esque hotness?
Where has the Marlins guy gone? The dude who always wore the orange jersey and sat in the best seat at every big sporting event
A lot of fans got annoyed with him and made it clear that he was giving all of us a bad name.
Time to move Arraez, Tanner Scott and Cabrera. Obviously not to give them away, but teams like the Reds, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Mariners, San Diego Toronto have the talent that Miami needs.
Time for you to go to rehab.
Ha, ha. I don’t live in the glory of the moment. This team has alot of needs. We need to be wise like the Rays. Maximize assets. We are not going to win a spot next season. Atlanta, Philly etc are very good for the next 2 or 3 years. Marlins are not going to sign Arraez long term, Sandy is out all of 24. Can not intellectually honest and pretend that this is a World Series bound team with what the have. Look at the minors the best prospects are 2 tob3 years away. So be honest and tell me what this team need and how to make it aa good as Braves, Philly, Padres, even the Mets can come back next year becauae they have Cash, plwnty of it and also, the Nationals have very good prospect in the minors. So fix it, make this Marlin squad very good next season without Sandy, Bell, Soler a huge hole at shortstop and catching and a bad overall defensive team.
Bell and Soler are both going to greener pastures. Although Josh Bell would be a typical Marlin free agent signing. A quasi-star. A guy who is only valuable when he’s hot and when he’s not he drags you down. Doesn’t hit for enough power to be truly middle of the order although he does walk enough but he’s a 2 war player that Miami might pay like a 4 war guy. It will be Sherman’s shut up fans we did something this off-season. After the Ng debacle they are trending down.
I would sign Bell but not Soler. Bell two years 34 mill not more. Look for ways to make the team better longterm. How? Marlins have assets, Arraez, Scott, Cabrera, Rogers, Jazz. I would start with Arraez, why ? his value is really high at this time. Also lets be real, Marlins are not going to sign him longterm. They can bring in good return package of ready now ball players and prospects. Then i would look to trade Scott and Cabrera. Why? Pitching is a prime asset and in demand. Every team out there will line up. So what am I looking for ?. Outfield ready talent Catcher, shortstop. Now I have to say this, I like Nuñez to be my shortstop next season. Nunez, wins games with his defense, base stealing abilities and knows how to take a walk. He reminds me of Mark Belanger of the Orioles but even better. Cardinals, Reds, Mariners, Dodgers, Rangers are loaded with what they need. So lets do it and let the trades begin.
Thank god you two are far away from an actual major league front office.
I’ll note this next to my ole file of Mets fans comments in 1998 through 2002 guaranteeing that the Mets would win their next championship before the Marlins ever did.
Dude the only reason they are still playing baseball in Miami is because of teams like the Mets Yanks Red Sox who without the revenue they share the Marlins couldn’t sign Avi Garcia. Those Marlins championship teams turned into real dynasties. Oh they didn’t ownership had a fire sale twice. And now you have Sherman who chased the best thing go had in your front office. Who btw was gifted to the Marlins by Derek Jeter
Even the writers don’t count the asterisk season of 2020.
Where did I make a front office prediction? I said Bell is the type of player the Marlins go after. A quasi-star. No front office should sign or trade for this guy. Maybe you should stay away from the keyboard and I’ll stay away from the front offices.
Who are you talking to?
Marlins offseason is along these lines:
Need an upgrade at Catcher – either complete upgrade or just replacing Stallings with a better piece, especially now that Sandy is gone for a year, so Stallings doesn’t have the “Sandy’s personal catcher” status anymore.
Need an upgrade at SS. Virtually anything truly capable of starting there will be an upgrade over Wendle.
!B and DH need to be addressed by either keeping the status quo or making sure to match or improve at those spots.
Need to find a sucker or a bad contract swap to move on from Avi Garcia. We can’t have him back taking playing time away from Sanchez or De La Cruz.
Look for upgrades in various spots.
All we need is to compete for those three Wild Card spots. The Braves are winning the division until someone else proves otherwise.