Marlins continue to not learn offseason Morel, turning low-risk move into huge blunder

Back in the good old days of December 2025, the Miami Marlins made a low-risk, high-reward signing when they inked Christopher Morel to a one-year deal. 

He was a former top prospect. He'd demonstrated significant power upside in the majors. It was only $2 million, with the potential to keep him cheaply for years to come as he was still arbitration eligible and wouldn't hit free agency until 2029. 

All reasonable enough. 

However, it was then reported that Morel was being brought in to compete for the first base job. Granted, he would be an improvement over the ball rolling into the first base dugout on account of no one being there— a real possibility given Miami's lack of first base depth at the time. Still, it seemed odd as he had never played the position before. It continued to be odd as no other competition was brought in throughout the rest of the offseason, despite zero statistical evidence from spring training suggesting he would perform well. 

Concurrent to all this lack of excitement at first base though, a supporting narrative had emerged that Miami was hesitant to block any of their superior internal options. In terms of actual first basemen, that meant Deyvison De Los Santos . Yet it was also suggested that there was concern about blocking Agustin Ramirez, Miami's breakout catcher with the bat of an All-Star but the glove of a Little League fourth outfielder. First base would be the easiest switch if the defense failed to improve behind the plate, since relegating him solely to DH duties wasn't an option at the time. 

Again, all reasonable enough, at least for a cash-poor team like the Marlins. The Ramirez element even helped to tease excitement for an aggressive promotion of defensive-wunderkind Joe Mack . There was certainly skepticism, but concern seemed unwarranted. After all, if it didn't work out, surely Miami would just move on. 

But then...the first two months of the 2026 MLB season happened, leaving every red-blooded Marlins fan and even a broadcaster or two to wonder what in the world Morel is still doing in the majors. 

Those spring training stats of his? Usually such numbers can be dismissed as meaningless, but in Morel's case, they were astonishingly predictive in hindsight. After slashing .150/.239/.200 this spring, he's gone on to post a .169/.222/.220 line in the regular season and has done so with roughly 20 more at-bats. Sure, he missed the beginning of the season due to injury, but there's been no indication he's still dealing with something. He's gotten nearly twice the number of at-bats Austin Slater did before being cut loose and is closing in on the sample size that was deemed enough to send Graham Pauley down to the minors.

The defense has been poor. The offense has been worse. After a particularly poor performance the other night, he refused to be interviewed. There is zero track record of past success with the organization for him to lean on. 

As for those possibly acceptable excuses offered in the offseason? Pretty much all gone. It would have been impossible for the Marlins to make it any plainer they don't view Ramirez as a first base option. Since his demotion, he's played 14 games, with 12 coming at catcher and 2 at DH. And that's with Mack locked in at catcher after an early arrival and Liam Hicks having an All-Star caliber season. De Los Santos is hardly knocking the cover off the ball, but both his MiLB and MLB production this year tops that of Morel.

Then there's the as of yet unmentioned issue of platoon splits. As fans are frequently told, Morel's presence in the lineup is often to give Miami a better chance against lefty pitchers. Which would be awesome—this team certainly does need help there—except for the fact Morel's 2026 stats against lefties aren't any better than the players he most frequently replaces. Want to guess which Marlins player has the fewest home runs off a lefty between Morel, Connor Norby, and Javier Sanoja? 

You only need one guess, which is one more than the zero dingers supposed power bat Morel has hit with Miami. 

In short, it's becoming increasingly difficult to conclude that Morel's continued presence is about anything other than money. His salary makes him the fourth highest paid player on the active roster. Which is frustrating seeing as how the Marlins have already moved on from their other offseason financial misfires in Slater and Chris Paddack. A case could be made that bad luck with other players has played a part. The Kemp Alderman and Griffin Conine injuries. The fact Ramirez was playing bad enough to need to demote. The fact that De Los Santos hasn't yet pounded down the door in AAA. 

Once again, all fair. Except...he's a veteran on a one-year deal hitting .169/.222/.220. Peter Bendix could throw a dart at a list of options and find someone that couldn't be any worse than that. 

Morel is hardly the only problem with the 2026 Marlins, but he's easily one of the biggest. He's also the easiest problem to fix. 

Bottom-line? It was a worthwhile experiment, but it's an experiment that has now arguably cost the Marlins multiple games. If the team doesn't learn their lesson quickly, it could cost them a season.