5 Low-Cost Free Agents Left for Marlins

Up to this point in the offseason, the Miami Marlins are still yet to sign a free agent to a major league deal. With the new year about to begin, their projected 2024 roster still has clear needs to address. While trades are a strong possibility, it's obviously easier to improve the team when you can acquire new players without giving up anything in return.

Fortunately, two full months into the MLB offseason, there are still a lot of free agent names for Miami to choose from. The players in this articles each have some history of major league success yet could be had on short-term, relatively cheap deals that push the Marlins closer to being competitive next season.

SS Amed Rosario

In 2023, Rosario struggled as he slashed .263/.305/.378/.683 with six home runs, 58 RBIs and an 88 wRC+. He was traded midseason from the Cleveland Guardians to the Los Angeles Dodgers where we was only a part-time player. However, this just seemed like an off year for the Dominican infielder, as in 2022, he slashed .283/.312/.403/.715 with 11 home runs, 71 RBIs and a 105 wRC+.

Rosario has been a good contact hitter throughout his career, especially over the last two years. In 2022, he ranked in the 79th percentile among MLB hitters in K%, per Baseball Savant, and in the 74th percentile in 2023. He's also had three straight seasons of double-digit stolen bases—that fits well with the Marlins, who did not run the bases aggressively last season.

His defensive struggles at shortstop are worrisome. Rosario went from plus-6 defensive runs saved at SS in 2022 to minus-16 in 2023, and by the time he got to L.A., he was mainly playing second base instead. The hope would be that he bounces back in that area.

Entering his age-28 season, Rosario is probably looking for a situation where he could get a starting shortstop job and re-enter free agency next offseason. With former Marlins target Isiah Kiner-Falefa no longer available, he makes plenty of sense for them.

SS Adalberto Mondesi

Mondesi would certainly be a candidate for a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. He didn't play a single game with the Boston Red Sox last season due to a setback recovering from knee surgery. He has only seen action in 35 games since the start of 2022.

Even more so than Rosario, though, the healthy version of Mondesi provides speed and baserunning skills. He has 133 steals in 358 career games at the major league level, very similar to Dee Strange-Gordon's ratio during his Marlins years (2015-2017).

Mondesi provides some power potential as well. If you go back to 2018, he slashed .276/.306/.498/.804 with 14 home runs, 37 RBIs and an 113 wRC+. He also slugged a solid .424 in 2019 when playing a career-high 102 games.

Unfortunately, Mondesi just hasn't been able to put it all together. On top of the injuries, he's always had a low OBP.

That being said, Mondesi's shortstop defense still looks decent. Like Rosario, he is only 28 years old. If he's willing to come to Marlins camp without a guaranteed job, they have nothing to lose.

LHP Hyun Jin Ryu

Miami still needs to find a way to make up for the innings they'll be missing from Sandy Alcantara in 2024. Ryu's career ERA (3.27) is even lower than Alcantara's (3.32), though durability is a concern, which is what will make him affordable for the Marlins.

In 2023, Ryu posted a 3.46 ERA, 4.91 FIP, 6.6 K/9 and a 2.4 BB/9 in 57 ⅓ innings pitched. He threw only 27 innings the year before.

Ryu has an extensive pitch arsenal. The ability to throw his secondary pitches for strikes allows him to find success despite a fastball that sits around 88 miles per hour.

As he heads into his age-37 season, it's unrealistic to think Ryu can go back to being a Cy Young award finalist like he was in 2019 and 2020. If he can just produce like a league-average starter while being healthy for more than half of the regular season, that's exactly what the Marlins need.

RHP Michael Lorenzen

The Marlins were known to have interest in Lorenzen at the 2023 trade deadline. He had been a quality starter for the Detroit Tigers up to that point in the season, with a 3.58 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 7.1 K/9 and a 2.3 BB/9. It's probably for the best that they missed out on him because Lorenzen wasn't the same once arriving to the Philadelphia Phillies where he posted a 5.51 ERA, 5.81 FIP, 5.3 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9. The Phillies only used him for two relief appearances during the postseason.

Lorenzen throws a mid-90s fastball and his changeup in his best pitch for generating whiffs.

Coming off an All-Star selection, Lorenzen could be the most expensive of these "low-cost" free agents.

OF Robbie Grossman

Grossman would be someone who you can place in a platoon situation along with Bryan De La Cruz and Jesús Sánchez. In 2023, the switch-hitter slashed .309/.416/.536/.952 with five home runs and 23 RBIs when facing left-handed pitching.

Grossman has always been able to draw walks at a high rate, including a 13.6 BB% last season.

The hope for Grossman would be to replicate his 2021 season where he was a 2.3 fWAR player. Even if the 34-year-old doesn't fully bounce back to that level, he's shown he can contribute to a championship team. The Marlins have lost several respected veterans to free agency this winter, so there's value to adding someone like Grossman in their clubhouse who's been to the postseason five times during his career and played in the World Series.

Maybe a two-year deal with an AAV of about $5M-$6M would be doable for the Marlins, who have yet to spend a dollar.

Photo: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports