4 underrated MLB free agents who could help the 2026 Marlins

Admit it, you thought the 2025 Miami Marlins would be bad. It's okay—I did, too.

And yet, they finished a year with disaster in the forecast at 79 wins and played meaningful baseball late into September. With a pipeline of projectable minor league talent expected to make an impact, the prospects for a competitive Marlins club in 2026 seem within reach. 

However, the organization cannot solely rest on the laurels of what they already have. What reinforcements can they bring aboard to continue moving the needle in the direction of postseason contention?

Stating the obvious, certain marquee names are unrealistic for the Fish, whose revenue streams pale in comparison to most other MLB franchises. They would inevitably get outbid for the likes of Kyle Tucker, Kyle Schwarber, Pete Alonso and Edwin Díaz. Rather, I'll be highlighting several free agents who have less leverage and more inconsistent track records, but intriguing skill sets nonetheless. 

SP Dustin May

Key 2025 statistics: 4.96 ERA, 4.88 FIP, 132.1 IP, 1.42 WHIP

Regardless of how 2025 played out, there was a time in the not-too-distant past when Dustin May was among the more exciting young pitchers in baseball. The flame-throwing right-hander pitched to a 3.10 ERA in 191 ⅔ innings of work over parts of five seasons from 2019-2023, but an injury history highlighted by Tommy John surgery in 2023 kept fans wondering what would be of May once fully healthy. 

The result was a 4.96 ERA split between the eventual world-champion Los Angeles Dodgers and wild card-bound Boston Red Sox.

While not the outcome May would have liked, there remains light beneath the paltry results. For one, May threw a career-high 132-plus innings, and with reports from May himself that an elbow issue that cut his season short is now healed, confidence in him assuming a similar or possibly even higher workload isn't out of the realm of possibility. Two, age is still a friend, as May will pitch 2026 in his age-28 season.

For the Marlins' sake, May's suspect track record of health and recent subpar season make him affordable, even by their conservative spending standards. The prospect of a healthy and more productive May could be a welcome addition to a club expected to part with some of its current pitching staff. 

RP Andrew Chafin

Key 2025 statistics: 2.41 ERA (177 ERA+), 3.46 FIP, 5.1 BB/9

If you've followed my work here, you know I've been on the "sign Andrew Chafin" train for the past several years. After another productive season in 2025, I'm still buying a ticket.

While he didn't make his season debut until May 3, Chafin didn't miss a beat, pitching to a sub-3 ERA with Washington before finishing the year with an even better sub-2 ERA in his brief time with the Angels. As was the case in Washington, Chafin's underlying metrics suggest luck—he issued walks at the highest rate of his career—but the larger body of work says otherwise. In 542 career innings pitched over his 12 seasons, Chafin owns a 3.30 ERA and 3.35 FIP. 

Chafin isn't without concern. His fastball velocity continues to deteriorate, ranking merely in the fourth percentile among MLB pitchers this year. But with uncertainty surrounding the status of Andrew Nardi, who missed all of 2025 due to injury, Chafin represents a cost-effective—emphasis on effective—option for Miami in 2026.

1B Nathaniel Lowe

Key 2025 statistics: .689 OPS (94 OPS+), 18 HR, 10.2 BB%

If the 2026 Marlins want to emulate the 2002 "Moneyball" Oakland A's, then Nathaniel Lowe could be their Scott Hatteberg.

The version of Lowe that the Nationals got in 2025 (.665 OPS) would have most running for the hills, but upon arriving in Boston on August 18, he resumed his old ways, hitting .280 with a 114 wRC+ and helping the Red Sox reach the postseason for the first time since 2021.

Lowe brings a Silver Slugger, World Series championship, power, and a career 10.9-percent walk rate to the table despite a career-worst season. The Sox designated him for assignment on Tuesday rather than pay a projected $13.5 million salary in his final year of arbitration eligibility, so he should be attainable for a significantly lower price than that.

Lowe can provide a boost to a Marlins team whose first basemen ranked 28th with a 83 wRC+ in 2025. Better than having Eric Wagaman atop the club's depth chart at the position.

1B Rhys Hoskins

Key 2025 statistics: 90 G, .748 OPS (108 OPS+), 11.6 BB%

Similar to Lowe, Hoskins would provide the Marlins with an injection of offense that they severely need at first base. Profile-wise, the two are eerily similar, sporting above-average plate discipline with above-average over-the-fence power and negative defensive value as strictly 1B/DH types. The difference, however, is in age, as Hoskins will enter his age-33 season in 2026, sporting a 102 OPS+ over the last two seasons with Milwaukee.

Despite being two years his senior, Hoskins can still very much turn on a fastball. Among the 261 MLB hitters with at least 100 plate appearances ending on four-seamers in 2025, Hoskins' 59.7-percent hard-hit rate ranked 31st. Against all varieties of fastballs, he whiffed only 18.6% of the time (compared to his 27.6 whiff% overall).

A notorious Marlins killer in his younger days, perhaps it's time for Hoskins to make amends by joining the Fish.