Peter Bendix disappointed, won't overreact to Marlins' 6-22 start

[Kevin Barral]

Prior to Sunday's game against the Washington Nationals, president of baseball operations Peter Bendix addressed the state of the Miami Marlins.

MIAMI, FL—The Miami Marlins are off to the worst start in franchise history and currently on pace to win 35 games. President of baseball operations Peter Bendix did not hide his disappointment while addressing the media prior to Sunday's game.

"It's been very frustrating. There's no other way to characterize it," said Bendix. "It's not the start I was hoping for, it's not the start anybody on this field was hoping for. I've been happy and impressed with the way the group has really held it together."

Marlins manager Skip Schumaker shared the same sentiments the night before.

Christian Bethancourt, who recently came back from the IL, collected his first hit of the season on Saturday, while Nick Fortes had a -4 wRC+ through 53 plate appearances as of Sunday morning.

"I think it's very fair to say that our catchers have struggled," said Bendix. "I think both of these guys have track records to suggest that they're going to bounce back. These guys have a lot of talent, especially defensively, with our pitching staff and lot of the things that don't show up in their stats. I'm also very confident that their offensive performance is going to improve."

Starting pitcher Jesús Luzardo was placed on the 15-day IL Friday due to left elbow tightness. With Luzardo heading to the IL, that opens up a second spot in the Marlins rotation, meaning depth is needed more than ever. With Max Meyer recently sent down to Triple-A Jacksonville, the Marlins rotation has seen Sixto Sánchez, Roddery Muñoz and Anthony Maldonado make spot starts. The Marlins lost each of the games that they started, in part because they couldn't last deep into those games. In regards to Luzardo, there's no new update—results of the testing that was done recently has not arrived yet.

"We're always going to be addressing the depth," said Bendix. "The more guys that are injured, the more important that depth is. Unfortunately, that's something that is the case around the league. We knew this was going to be the case. It will be opportunities for guys to step up...We're going to have guys with that opportunity and it's up to them to take it."

This past offseason, Bendix signed only one player to a major league deal: Tim Anderson. Through 26 games as a Marlin, the shortstop is slashing .222/.263/.244 with four RBIs and a 45 wRC+. Bendix did note that it is still only April and he's not ready to jump to conclusions about his offseason acquisitions. He did note he's been pleased with reliever Calvin Faucher.

How much more losing would it take for the Marlins to begin behaving like "sellers" and shop some of their top current players in exchange for long-term assets?

"We're always assessing," said Bendix. "We're assessing those moves from day one of the season, determining what the 26-man roster should look like, who should be on the team, who should be in AAA, what trades we might want to make and waiver claims. All of that is really an ongoing process."

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[Russell]

Beyond being a part if the club, why did Bruce Sherman want to own a franchise?

Why did Manfred have such a hard on for Derek Jeter (Sherman too?) that they pushed for the guy to be the owner?

Mas making Miami FC the most relevant MLS team, dang would be nice to have translated that to MLB instead.

[Leo Armbrister]

Sherman views the Marlins as an investment and not as an owner who first priority is to win. The resources will never be there to build a competitive team. He should sell to an owner who will invest in signing quality players. 

[Stanley J Makowski]

Of course he isn't upset. Their present journey into ineptitude is a perfect excuse for moving along his road to miserly rebuilding.