Starting pitchers the Marlins could've signed instead of Cal Quantrill

It needed to be done. After trading Jesús Luzardo and losing Braxton Garrett to season-ending surgery, the Miami Marlins had insufficient starting rotation depth for 2025. Regardless of how little the team cares about winning games this upcoming season amidst a rebuild, you still have to participate in them, ideally without rushing prospects to the major leagues or stretching unqualified depth players beyond their reasonable limits.

Enter Cal Quantrill. The Canadian right-hander is only a couple years removed from starting playoff games. He owned a solid 3.88 ERA and 7.2% walk rate in his MLB career prior to last season's brutal second-half slump. Getting his services for a $3.5 million guarantee with up to $500,000 in performance bonuses is a bargain for the Fish.

Which other stopgap starters were available in free agency for a comparable price? I consulted the MLB Trade Rumors contract tracker to generate the following list of pitchers with recent rotation experience who signed guaranteed major league deals worth $5 million or less during the 2024-25 offseason.

Kyle Hendricks is the most accomplished of the bunch. He peaked as the National League ERA leader nearly a decade ago. For much of his career since then, Hendricks has produced like a high-end No. 3 starter, though he's coming off a nightmarish 2024 campaign and can't top 90 mph anymore.

Martín Pérez is a boring yet safe floor-raiser with 13 years of MLB experience and a deep pitch mix.

Griffin Canning shouldered the heaviest workload last season (171.2 IP), following closely by Colin Rea (167.2 IP).

The track records of Jakob Junis, Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Joe Ross and Bryse Wilson suggest they will be moved back and forth between the rotation and bullpen throughout the year depending on their teams' needs.

Considering these alternatives, I have to admit that the Marlins chose well. As long as they can resolve the uncharacteristic control issues that derailed Quantrill last summer, he is as likely as anybody else on this list eat to valuable innings and do so effectively enough to appeal to contending teams come the trade deadline when Miami will be shopping for prospects.

Of course, there was a wider universe of arms to choose from if the Marlins weren't so frugal. It would have been difficult to recruit future Hall of Famers Max Scherzer ($15.5M) or Justin Verlander ($15M) to a team of this caliber, but what about Alex Cobb ($15M), Tomoyuki Sugano ($13M) or Mike Soroka ($9M), who also signed one-year deals with no strings attached beyond 2025? I say it's fair game to cite them in this conversation as well.