Marlins claim Christian Roa, begin post-World Series roster crunch

For most of the MLB offseason, the injured list is not a thing. Players who finished the previous season on the IL (even if they are expected to begin the upcoming season on the IL as well) either need to be rostered or made available to other teams. As the Miami Marlins prepare to officially reinstate everybody from the 60-day IL, they placed a handful of their most expendable players on waivers this week to create space on their 40-man roster. On Friday, they also scooped up right-hander Christian Roa, who had been waived by his former club after finishing 2024 on the IL himself.

Cincinnati's second-round draft pick in 2020, Roa has posted a 4.46 ERA and 1.49 WHIP with 386 strikeouts in 318 ⅔ innings as a minor leaguer (86 G/62 GS). He had been developed as a starter throughout his pro career until transitioning to the bullpen in 2024 with Triple-A Louisville. A new role did not improve his results (5.55 ERA, 1.75 WHIP and 47 K in 48.2 IP). The 25-year-old last pitched on August 10, then was sidelined for the rest of the season due to a right shoulder sprain. Although the Reds transferred Roa to the major league injured list, he has no MLB regular season experience.

Roa's fastball averaged 95 mph this season. He complements it with a slider, which generates almost all of his whiffs, and an occasional changeup. He had massive platoon splits, holding right-handed batters to a respectable .699 OPS, but surrendering a 1.079 OPS to lefties with more walks than strikeouts.

Five players who contributed to the 2024 Marlins have been waived so far.

RHP Roddery Muñoz—The others listed below cleared waivers, but Muñoz was claimed by the St. Louis Cardinals. He spent half of his rookie season in the Marlins rotation, posting a 6.53 ERA, 7.27 FIP and .268 BAA in 82.2 IP. Despite those struggles, it is mildly surprising that he was cut so early in the offseason considering he's still only 24 years old and could fare much better moving forward if utilized as a right-on-right reliever.

RHP Adam Oller—Oller made eight late-season starts for the Fish (5.31 ERA, 5.32 FIP and .261 BAA in 42.1 IP). Similar to Muñoz, he possesses a nasty breaking ball that could play up in a relief role. Instead, KPRC 2's Ari Alexander reports that he's expected to "explore a move to Asia," presumably where he will have a rotation gig.

RHP Darren McCaughan—The soft-tossing McCaughan had two separate stints with the Marlins organization this year (pitched for the Cleveland Guardians in between). 

UTIL David Hensley—Claimed right before the trade deadline, Hensley slashed .212/.293/.288 (65 wRC+) in 58 plate appearances.

RHP Shaun Anderson—The Broward county native spent most of his summer with the Jumbo Shrimp. He made spot starts for the Fish on June 14 and June 22.

As of late Friday afternoon, the Marlins 40-man roster is at 36. There are at least two more transactions coming soon to make room for all of the IL reinstatements.