Ely Sussman

Fish On First has created this landing page to be frequently updated throughout the year with the latest on injuries affecting Miami Marlins players in both the majors and minors. Major league injuries OF Griffin Conine (60-day IL, left hamstring tear) Last official game appearance: April 9 Suffered injury diving for a ball Underwent left hamstring tendon excision in Dallas during week of April 13 Recovery timeline of 6-8 weeks from time of procedure "Getting close" to a minor league rehab assignment as of May 30 Projected return to Marlins active roster: June RHP Josh Ekness (15-day IL, right calf strain) Last official game appearance: May 26 Recovery timeline of six weeks as of June 1 Projected return to Marlins active roster: post-All-Star break RHP Ronny Henriquez (60-day IL, right UCL reconstruction with internal brace procedure) Last official game appearance: September 28, 2025 Projected to miss entire 2026 season RHP Janson Junk (15-day IL, right shin bone inflammation) Last official game appearance: May 25 Projected return to Marlins active roster: late June RHP Adam Mazur (60-day IL, right UCL reconstruction surgery) Last official game appearance: March 2 Underwent surgery on March 11 Recovery timeline of 13-14 months Will miss remainder of 2026 season LHP Andrew Nardi (60-day IL, left rib cage stress reaction) Last official game appearance: May 27 Projected return to Marlins active roster: September RHP Eury Pérez (15-day IL, right gracilis strain) Last official game appearance: May 27 Recovery timeline of eight weeks LHP Robby Snelling (60-day IL, left UCL repair surgery with internal brace) Last official game appearance: May 8 Underwent surgery on May 23 (performed by Dr. Keith Meister) Recovery timeline of 10-12 months Will miss remainder of 2026 season Minor league injuries Players are listed in alphabetical order INF Maximo Acosta (7-day IL) Assigned to Triple-A Jacksonville Last official game appearance: May 10 uwn1s0.mp4 OF/1B Kemp Alderman (7-day IL, left arm) Assigned to Triple-A Jacksonville Last official game appearance: May 17 1B Chris Arroyo (60-day IL) Assigned to Low-A Jupiter Last official game appearance: April 3 Eligible to be reinstated on June 7 LHP Keyner Benitez (60-day IL, left arm surgery) Assigned to Low-A Jupiter Last official game appearance: May 7 Will miss remainder of 2026 season C Spencer Bramwell (7-day IL, forearm soreness) Assigned to Double-A Pensacola Last official game appearance: May 7 RHP Nick Brink (7-day IL) Assigned to High-A Beloit Last official game appearance: April 17 C Jessada Brown (60-day IL) Assigned to Low-A Jupiter Last official game appearance: September 7, 2025 LHP RJ Shunck (60-day IL) Assigned to Low-A Jupiter Last official game appearance: April 14 Eligible to be reinstated on June 14 RHP Tristan Stevens (60-day IL) Assigned to Double-A Pensacola Last official game appearance: April 17, 2025 RHP Jesús Tinoco (full-season IL, right UCL reconstruction surgery) Assigned to Triple-A Jacksonville Last official game appearance: June 2, 2025 Underwent surgery in September 2025 Began throwing program on March 9 RHP Samuel Vásquez (60-day IL) Assigned to Double-A Pensacola Last official game appearance: April 16 RHP Jake Walkinshaw (7-day IL) Assigned to Triple-A Jacksonville Last official game appearance: April 10 RHP Logan Whitaker (7-day IL) Assigned to Double-A Pensacola Last official game appearance: May 17 LHP Thomas White (7-day IL) Assigned to Triple-A Jacksonville Last official game appearance: May 14 OF Max Williams (60-day IL) Assigned to Low-A Jupiter Last official game appearance: September 7, 2025 RHP Jadon Williamson (7-day IL) Assigned to Low-A Jupiter Last official game appearance: April 14 LHP Kaiden Wilson (full-season IL) Assigned to FCL Marlins Last official game appearance: August 19, 2025

Once again in 2026, I will be monitoring Miami Marlins predictions from our valued SuperSubs, Fish On First staffers and livestream guests. Individual article pages like this one will be created prior to every Marlins series and featured prominently on the FOF site. Consistent participation is key if you want to win this annual contest. Submissions only take a few seconds. Scoring system A "perfect" series is worth three points: Earn one point for predicting which team will win the upcoming series Earn one point for predicting the precise number of victories for each team Earn one point for predicting the “Series MVP” who accumulated the highest win probability added (WPA) during the series as calculated by FanGraphs (could pick a player from either team) FOF SuperSub Nicholas Milton is currently atop the 2026 season leaderboard, which will be updated between every Marlins series. If you are a SuperSub, leave a comment with your Prediction Time picks on this page, or join the Marlins Discord Server and submit there. We'll feature them on the upcoming Fish On First LIVE episode and track your points throughout the season! Any picks submitted prior to the first pitch of the series opener will be counted. If you are not a SuperSub, please consider signing up here to support the FOF staff. Series preview notes Probable starting pitchers: RHP Sandy Alcantara (MIA) vs. RHP Cade Cavalli (WSH) on Monday TBA (MIA) vs. RHP Miles Mikolas (WSH) on Tuesday Probably RHP Ryan Gusto RHP Max Meyer (MIA) vs. LHP Andrew Alvarez (WSH) on Wednesday The Marlins rank 20th in MLB with a 96 wRC+ and 14th in MLB with a 3.97 FIP. They are 4-6 in their last 10 games and have a 8-19 record on the road this season. The following Marlins players are on the injured list: Griffin Conine (10-day IL), Ronny Henriquez (60-day IL), Janson Junk (15-day IL), Adam Mazur (60-day IL), Eury Pérez (15-day IL) and Robby Snelling (60-day IL). The Nationals rank fourth in MLB with a 110 wRC+ and 28th in MLB with a 4.74 FIP. They are 6-4 in their last 10 games and have a 12-17 record at home this season. The following Nationals players are on the injured list: Josiah Gray (60-day IL), DJ Herz (60-day I), Jake Irvin (15-day IL), Max Kranick (60-day IL), Ken Waldichuk (60-day IL) and Trevor Williams (60-day IL).

Fish On First staffers react to the latest Miami Marlins series and prepare you for what lies ahead. Sunday's show was hosted by Ely Sussman and featured panelists Kevin Barral, Nate Karzmer, Alex Carver and Alex Krutchik. The following topics were covered: An awful weekend series in New York Injuries to Janson Junk, Andrew Nardi and potentially Josh Ekness Owen Caissie's month-to-month improvement What to expect from Ryan Gusto as he enters the starting rotation Previewing and predicting the next series against the Washington Nationals You can find Fish Unfiltered and Fish On First LIVE on the Fish On First YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you get your pods. Our next FOF LIVE episode will be Wednesday at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET following the Marlins-Nationals series finale.

Prior to the start of each new Miami Marlins series, we invite the Fish On First staff, FOF LIVE guests and SuperSubs to participate in Prediction Time. Results for the 2026 season will be tracked here. This is how the scoring system works: Earn one point for predicting which team will win the upcoming series Earn one point for predicting the precise number of victories for each team Earn one point for predicting the “Series MVP” who accumulated the highest win probability added (WPA) during the series as calculated by FanGraphs (could pick a player from either team) That's a maximum of three points per series. Rank Name Total Prediction Points Series Winner Points Series MVP Points 1 TenofSpades BK 29 26 3 2 Jeremiah Geiger 27 22 5 3 Baby Seal 27 21 6 4 Robert Hanson 26 22 4 5 Sean Millerick 24 22 2 6 David Fernandez 24 20 4 7 Sean McCormack 22 19 3 8 Sportsman38 22 19 3 9 Daniel Rodriguez 21 20 1 10 Chad Turner 19 15 4 11 Hector Rodriguez 19 18 1 12 Kevin Barral 18 15 3 13 Hans Herrera 18 16 2 14 Stevo 17 16 1 15 2qbn 16 15 1 16 Ely Sussman 16 13 3 17 JustMarlins 15 12 3 18 M.J.S 14 13 1 19 Bassmaster4 14 12 2 20 Michael Cronin 13 12 1 21 JustMyFandom 13 11 2 22 Nate Karzmer 13 12 1 23 1993 fan from start 13 13 0 24 rings 13 13 0 25 MRDHU75 13 12 1 26 Gabriel Revilla 12 10 2 27 Loud Miami Fan 11 9 2 28 Richard 11 9 2 29 Alex Carver 10 10 0 30 Saul Goodman 9 9 0 31 Jose Herrera 8 8 0 32 Ryan Schlesinger 7 7 0 33 Alex Krutchik 6 5 1 34 Casey Marika 6 5 1 35 Shawn 5 4 1 36 Louis Addeo-Weiss 5 4 1 37 HAMPTIME 5 5 0 38 Slacker Mills 4 3 1 39 Isaac Azout 3 3 0 40 Thomas Joseph 3 3 0 41 One Regend 2 2 0 42 David Slaton 2 2 0 43 njp 2 2 0 44 MarlinszDude86 1 1 0 45 ducat2 1 1 0 46 Hippyboi 1 1 0 47 Rob V 1 1 0 48 tbonemalone 1 1 0 Last series

NEW YORK — There's no shame in losing a battle to Juan Soto in your major league debut. The disturbing part for Josh White and the Miami Marlins is what brought Soto to the plate in the first place. After nearly a full calendar year of terrorizing Triple-A hitters, White was recalled by the Marlins prior to Sunday's game. The corresponding roster move was placing Janson Junk on the 15-day injured list with right shin bone inflammation. The news of White's call-up was first reported by marlins.city on Instagram. Fish On First's 21st-ranked prospect entered in the bottom of the sixth inning and looked comfortable initially. White struck out fellow rookie A.J. Ewing with a backdoor slider, then jammed Brett Baty with an inside fastball for a routine flyout. However, poor control fueled an epic two-out rally from there: Walk Hit by pitch Walk Walk Home run (grand slam) Walk A New York Mets team that had only been averaging 3.95 runs per game put up a five-spot against White in two-thirds of an inning. The Ewing slider was an anomaly, as you can see below. White had difficulty landing any of his secondary pitches in the strike zone. Just 20 of his 43 total pitches were strikes. During the month of May alone, White is the sixth different Marlin to make his MLB debut. He joins Josh Ekness (May 3), Joe Mack (May 4), William Kempner (May 5), Dax Fulton (May 6) and Robby Snelling (May 8), the first three of whom are still on the Marlins active roster...for now. There are only two conventional starters on Miami's pitching staff right now (Sandy Alcantara and Max Meyer), plus Tyler Phillips, who's still in the process of getting fully stretched out for that role. All signs point to Ryan Gusto being recalled from Triple-A prior to Tuesday's game to audition for one of the rotation vacancies. The likeliest corresponding move would be optioning a rookie reliever. One nightmarish performance does not dampen White's long-term outlook. The 25-year-old's steep arm angle and nasty breaking balls make him difficult for most mortals to barrel up, and his minor league track record speaks for itself (1.71 ERA and 2.51 FIP in 94.2 IP since 2025). But obviously, this was a discouraging first showing at the big league level.

NEW YORK — The sign still exists. You know, the white one with the black and blue border that reads "LET'S PARTY FIGHTIN' FISH." I saw it in the Miami Marlins dugout two hours before Saturday's game. There just haven't been many occasions to use it lately, or many occasions throughout the 2026 season, for that matter. The Marlins celebrate with the sign after hitting home runs. Well, they have been out-homered in four consecutive games (all losses) and rank 28th among MLB teams in that category. This lack of power is stressing them in other areas and rapidly sinking their chances of postseason contention. Saturday really exemplified how slim the margin can be between offensive excellence and futility. The Marlins scored only one run against the New York Mets despite very well-struck balls off the bats of Otto López, Kyle Stowers and Joe Mack. They traveled 358 feet, 380 feet and 402 feet, respectively, but each of them ultimately landed in an outfielder's glove. Lopez leads the league in hits this season, but only four of those have cleared the fence. A year after breaking out as an All-Star with 25 long balls, Stowers has been limited to three. The rookie Mack is homerless through his first 21 career games. "Get a good pitch to hit, you put a good swing on it, and after that, there's not a whole lot that's within your control," manager Clayton McCullough said postgame. That is an oversimplification. If the quality of contact and its launch angle are good enough, the result is a home run and the opposing defense doesn't have an opportunity to make a play. The Marlins are struggling to reach that standard with their swings. Meanwhile on New York's side, unheralded part-time players Jared Young and Hayden Senger crushed solo shots off Lake Bachar that would've left the vast majority of MLB ballparks. The Marlins have a lot of continuity on the position player side after a surprisingly competitive 2025 campaign. Rather than investing in veterans with proven, consistent track records, they are depending on their young bats to utilize the experience that they've gained and the coaching that they've received to improve. With the notable exceptions of Xavier Edwards and Liam Hicks, most Marlins have regressed instead. Consider these year-to-year decreases in isolated power (slugging percentage minus batting average): Kyle Stowers is down 120 points Heriberto Hernández is down 89 points Jakob Marsee is down 79 points Agustín Ramírez is down 67 points (demoted to Triple-A) Graham Pauley is down 37 points (demoted to Triple-A) Combining their caught stealings/pickoffs with other mistakes on the bases, the Marlins have run into more outs than any other club this season. McCullough has spun it as a positive when speaking publicly, taking pride in being "aggressive" and constantly "pushing the envelope." The reality is, the Marlins play this way out of necessity. Instead of waiting for homers that rarely come, their baserunners have to do more of the heavy lifting themselves. Overall, Miami's offensive production has been nearly average (97 wRC+), but the distribution of those runs is uneven because of how often they are held homerless. That means plenty of good-but-not-great starting pitching performances go to waste. Currently on pace for a 91-loss season, the Marlins have left some meat on the bone. They are capable of playing better defense, for example, and their most experienced pitchers—Sandy Alcantara and Pete Fairbanks—are bound to find their rhythm as the season goes on. However, they won't even sniff a playoff berth without more dingers.

Can Major League Baseball really work in South Florida? Even as the Marlins approach their 34th season, that question is difficult to answer conclusively. While the Marlins were crowned World Series champions in 1997 and 2003, they've enjoyed only blips of local relevance. So many of their games since then have been sparsely attended and it has been difficult to entice established talent (at any position) to join the Fish. To understand the Marlins' bizarre history, you need to familiarize yourself with how the franchise has been operated by ownership. Fish On First chronicles what has transpired under the leadership of past owners Wayne Huizenga, John Henry and Jeffrey Loria, and current chairman and principal owner Bruce Sherman. Ely Sussman, Alex Carver and Alex Krutchik contributed to this guide. List of Florida/Miami Marlins Owners Years in parentheses indicate which MLB seasons they served as control person for the Marlins franchise Bruce Sherman (2018-Present) Jeffrey Loria (2002-2017) John Henry (1999-2001) Wayne Huizenga (1993-1998) Bruce Sherman (2018-Present) Purchased the Marlins for $1.2 billion Marlins valued at $1.5 billion as of March 2026 (via Forbes) .429 regular season winning percentage (entering 2026) Miami's current head honcho, Bruce Sherman made his fortune through wealth-management firm Private Capital Management. Sherman launched PCM in 1986 and sold it in 2001. Following the sale, he retained autonomy over PCM’s portfolio management and investment research. However, Sherman didn't have enough cash to afford the Marlins on his own. He teamed up with recently retired New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and other investors to meet Jeffrey Loria's asking price. At the time of the sale, Sherman owned 46% of the Marlins, according to Mike Ozanian of Forbes. David Ott owned 10%, Doug Kimmelman owned 8%, Jaime Montealegre owned 7%, John Troiano owned 5%, Michael Rogers owned 4% and Jeter owned 4%, with Michael Jordan and a handful of others contributing to the remaining 16%. They paid $1.2 billion despite Forbes only valuing the Fish at approximately $940 million. A group led by Miami native Jorge Mas came close to winning the bidding. There was a $1.17 billion agreement in place as of July 11, 2017, per Ozanian. Mas later went on to purchase the Inter Miami soccer franchise. Sherman's acquisition of the Marlins went into effect on October 2, 2017. He and Jeter held their introductory press conference at Marlins Park the following day. Despite owning such a small stake in the franchise, Jeter had a heavy influence from the beginning. "You have to be present," Jeter said at the introductory presser. "You have to be involved. People won't respect you—in my mind, I don't think they would respect me if I wasn't here." Inheriting a barren farm system, mediocre pitching staff and weak local revenue streams, the new administration did not see a financially viable path toward contending in the near future. They immediately plunged into a rebuild, flipping star players Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich and Dee Strange-Gordon for prospect packages. The 2018 Opening Day payroll was approximately $16 million lower than it had been in 2017, per Cot's Baseball Contracts. It then dropped another $28 million from 2018 to 2019. "The Jeter/Sherman group had no choice but to cut payroll," Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported, "because Jeter—trying to lure investors to cover the bid beyond his modest $25 million investment and Sherman’s $390 million—assured them that there would not be cash calls to cover losses." Longtime Jeffrey Loria executive Michael Hill remained president of baseball operations, but Jeter made numerous front office hires. Not coincidentally, some of them came directly from the Yankees organization where Jeter spent the entirety of his playing career. That included tasking Gary Denbo with turning around Miami's ailing player development department. Even though they had just changed their logo and color scheme entering the 2012 season, the Marlins rebranded again in November 2018. The ballpark fences were repainted from bright green to dark blue. At Jeter's behest, the massive home run sculpture that previously stood in left-center field was relocated to the plaza outside. The fish tank behind home plate was removed. Hill and the Marlins parted ways when his pre-existing contract expired in October 2020. Jeter handpicked Kim Ng as Hill's successor. On February 28, 2022, Jeter announced that he'd be stepping down as CEO and leaving the Marlins ownership group. His statement mentioned that "the vision for the future of the franchise is different than the one I signed up to lead." Denbo left soon after. In the post-Jeter era, minority owner David Ott has become increasingly involved (though he nor anybody else currently holds the CEO title). The Los Angeles Times reported in January 2023 that the Marlins "could go up for sale soon." The then-74-year-old Sherman issued a statement insisting that will not happen during his lifetime. According to multiple reports (including The Athletic and Miami Herald), following the third and final guaranteed year of Ng's contract, Sherman informed her that he would be searching for a new president of baseball operations who would function as her boss. Rather than stay under those conditions, Ng declined her side of a 2024 mutual option and left the organization. Similar to Jeter, she publicly attributed the break-up to being "not completely aligned" with ownership. Former Tampa Bay Rays GM Peter Bendix was hired by Sherman to lead baseball ops, in part because they agree on the principle of using analytics to influence decision-making. Bendix's deal runs through 2028. In February 2024, Sherman began a four-year term on MLB's executive council. He is the first Marlins owner to serve on the council. Under Sherman, the Marlins have been reluctant to participate in MLB free agency. Most of those investments have yielded terrible results, such as Avisaíl García (4 YR/$53M), Corey Dickerson (2 YR/$17.5M), Jean Segura (2 YR/$17M), Johnny Cueto (1 YR/$8.5M), Tim Anderson (1 YR/$5M) and Cal Quantrill (1 YR/$3.5M). Their most-hyped international signing, Victor Victor Mesa, didn't even reach the majors. With the exception of Sandy Alcantara, they haven't shown a willingness to spend what it requires to extend All-Star-caliber players. In addition to the ballpark renovations mentioned above, Sherman has also spent on upgrades to the Marlins' spring training home, Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, and their academy in the Dominican Republic. He has turned loanDepot park into a top destination for international baseball events such as the World Baseball Classic, Caribbean Series and Choque de Gigantes. However, Marlins regular season games continue to draw very poorly unless they feature a popular opponent or a clever non-baseball-related promotion. Their attendance perennially ranks 28th or lower among MLB teams. As first reported by Kurt Badenhausen of Sportico and confirmed by Barry Jackson, Sherman sold an additional 15% of the Marlins in early 2026 to two unnamed South Florida families. The transaction valued the franchise at $1.55 billion, resulting in a cash infusion of approximately $233 million that will be used to help pay down debt. Sherman remains the control person of the Marlins. His ownership group now includes about 15 people, Jackson adds. Sherman is the only Marlins owner to preside over multiple postseason berths (2020 and 2023). However, he's also the only one with multiple 100-loss seasons on his record (2019 and 2024). The club's winning percentage during his tenure is lower than it was under any previous owner. Jeffrey Loria (2002-2017) Purchased the Marlins for $158.5 million Sold the Marlins for $1.2 billion .480 regular season winning percentage Jeffrey Loria came from a baseball background. Say what you will about him—there is plenty of criticism below—but Loria was a genuine baseball fan from a young age. He did not merely see the Marlins as a business. A native of New York, Loria grew up a Yankees fan. He initially made his fortune as an art dealer and buyer, something that would inspire much of what Marlins Park looked like in its early days. Loria’s first dip into the baseball ownership world was in 1989 when he bought the Oklahoma 89ers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He made a serious attempt to buy the Baltimore Orioles in 1993, but was outbid by Peter Angelos. He eventually reached the majors with the Montreal Expos in 1999, becoming a minority owner while being the franchise's control person. Within a couple years, he owned 95% of the Expos. Loria’s time with the Expos was marked by poor play, a failed english-language television deal and an unsuccessful move to a new ballpark when Olympic Stadium fell into disarray. In 2002, Loria would sell the Expos back to Major League Baseball in a rare move explained in this guide's John Henry section. He subsequently bought the Florida Marlins and brought virtually the entire front office down to South Florida, including team president David Samson. The Expos, as we all know, would leave Montreal after the 2004 season and become the Washington Nationals. Many people credit Samson and Loria with killing baseball in Montreal. In Miami, meanwhile, things couldn’t have started any better for this ownership group. Within two seasons, the Marlins would bring in future Hall of Famer Iván Rodríguez, trade for future NL Rookie of the Year Dontrelle Willis, trade for top closer Ugueth Urbina, and bring back “Mr. Marlin” Jeff Conine. In 2003, sparked by Loria's unorthodox midseason hiring of manager Jack McKeon, they won the World Series against the Yankees, who were still in the midst of their dynasty with legends like Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte. Unlike in 1997-98, the Marlins kept their core of guys after their championship…at least for a little while. When the team fell just short of the playoffs the next two seasons and certain veterans were due for larger contracts than the team was willing to pay, Loria and Samson began jettisoning players. They allowed A.J. Burnett, Juan Encarnación, Alex González and Jeff Conine to walk in free agency after the 2005 season. That offseason, they traded away Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, Luis Castillo, Carlos Delgado and Paul Lo Duca. Going into 2006, the Marlins had the youngest roster in the major leagues. Rookie manager Joe Girardi somehow led them to a respectable 78-84 record with the lowest payroll in baseball at just under $15 million. Loria was well known for going through managers quickly and having a short fuse. The Baseball Writers' Association of America honored Girardi with the NL Manager of the Year award. That would be Girardi's lone season as Marlins skipper because Loria fired him. Legend has it that Loria originally fired Girardi in the middle of the season and had to be talked out of it. The Marlins had 10 different managers in 16 seasons under Loria. That brings us to 2007: the year that The Trade happened. Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis were the faces of the Marlins and the last remaining players from the 2003 World Series roster. But they were getting increasingly expensive via arbitration, having made $7.4 million and $6.45 million in '07, respectively. The Marlins packaged them to the Detroit Tigers, receiving highly-touted prospects Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin in return, along with Burke Badenhop, Mike Rabelo, Frankie De La Cruz and Dallas Trahern. While Miller, Maybin, and Badenhop had long and serviceable MLB careers, they didn’t come close to matching Cabrera's Hall of Fame-caliber peak. Whatever production they did have, most of it would come with other teams after the Marlins. Cabrera would go on to win two American League MVPs and a triple crown with the Tigers. Willis flamed out of the league within a few seasons. To this day, it is widely regarded as one of the worst trades in baseball history. Loria ensured that the Marlins had a long-term future in South Florida by doing what the previous two owners couldn’t: build a baseball-first stadium. The process was messy, with Loria threatening to relocate to a different market on multiple occasions, but in 2009, the Marlins broke ground on what is now loanDepot park. Constructed on the site of the old Orange Bowl, it had everything Marlins fans wanted since the team’s inception: air conditioning, no rain delays (other than the 2015 Opening Day fiasco), and perhaps most importantly, a place they can call their own without sharing with another team. Most of the flashy and gaudy things you saw in the early years of the ballpark were handpicked by Loria, who, as mentioned earlier, had a background in art. The multi-colored tiles on the plaza outside, the infamous home run sculpture and the lime green walls were all features that Loria wanted in the ballpark. Of course, even this accomplishment was marred by controversy. The taxpayers of Miami were saddled with most of the funding. The original cost of the stadium was about $500 million, which Miami-Dade County did not have at the time and Loria did not want to pay. So the county sold $500 million worth of public bonds, which were financed by taxes to residents. Miami-Dade will have to start repaying those loans in 2026, with final payment due in 2048. When you factor in the interest rate, it will eventually cost taxpayers $1.2 billion on just that one set of bonds. When you factor in every loan used to pay the original cost, it will actually add up to $2.4 billion. Oh, by the way, after shelling out $191 million to sign José Reyes, Heath Bell and Mark Buehrle in the stadium’s inaugural season, the Marlins began another fire sale the very next offseason. Their season-opening payroll was sliced in half from $101.6 million in 2012 to $50.5 million in 2013. The team was largely middling for the next half-decade. They did well in drafting and developing guys like Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton, J.T. Realmuto and José Fernández, but couldn't get over the hump of 80 wins. That core never made the playoffs. Loria and Samson signed Stanton in 2014 to a 13-year extension worth $325 million, far and away the largest contract in franchise history. The Marlins will wind up paying only $60 million of that as he was traded to the Yankees following the Loria/Sherman ownership transition. "Not long after José Fernández’s tragic death, I began to consider life after baseball," Loria says in his memoir, From The Front Row. "After almost two decades in the game, I was filled with conflicting thoughts. I had already begun to receive numerous inquiries about selling, but I wasn’t convinced that I was ready. As the offers kept coming, I began to consider them seriously, and I decided at least to discuss options for selling the team." The MLB All-Star Game came to Miami for the first time in 2017, Loria's final summer in charge. John Henry (1999-2001) Purchased the Marlins for $158 million Sold the Marlins for $158.5 million .452 regular season winning percentage John Henry founded a global investment management firm in 1981, accruing his wealth by trading commodities futures. Prior to purchasing the Marlins, he owned a Minor League Baseball team and then a 1% stake in the New York Yankees. Don Smiley, who served as Marlins president under Wayne Huizenga, assembled an ownership group in an attempt to buy the Fish. He resigned in December 1998 after his bid was unsuccessful. Henry selected John Boles to be the Marlins manager entering the 1999 season, replacing future Hall of Famer Jim Leyland. When the club made a 15-win improvement in 2000, Boles received a contract extension. He was fired in 2001 after getting off to a 22-26 start. Tony Pérez served as interim manager for the rest of that season. From the very beginning of his tenure, Henry was focused on securing a new ballpark for the Marlins, who had been tenants at Pro Player Stadium since their inception. Pro Player was initially awarded the 2000 MLB All-Star Game, but the exhibition was moved at Henry's request so that the Marlins could host it when their baseball-only facility was ready. In December 2000, Henry reached an agreement with Miami-Dade County to build a retractable-roof ballpark in downtown Miami, primarily using public funds. The Florida Marlins would be renamed the Miami Marlins upon making the move. However, the project did not receive the necessary government approvals. Following that setback, Henry lost his interest in owning the franchise. In his memoir, Jeffrey Loria describes acquiring the Marlins from Henry through "a transaction unprecedented in Major League Baseball or in any other professional sport." Loria had agreed to sell the Montreal Expos to MLB for $120M in the fall of 2001, but Henry "demanded" $158.5M for the Marlins to match what he had paid three years prior. So here's how they resolved it: During the negotiation process, Dave Dombrowski—the only general manager that the Marlins had ever had to that point—left to become president of the Detroit Tigers. Henry is still principal owner of the Red Sox today. Boston's four World Series titles during that span are more than any other MLB franchise. Wayne Huizenga (1993-1998) Paid a $95 million expansion fee for the Marlins Sold the Marlins for $158 million .449 regular season winning percentage Wayne Huizenga not only kept professional sports in South Florida—he made the region a professional sports destination. Huizenga, an established local businessman in several markets, used and furthered relationships to establish both the Florida Panthers and what is known today as the Miami Marlins. However, he is also known for tearing franchises down. Huizenga rose to power as the founder of Waste Management, an eventual Fortune 500 company. He would then become a visionary and co-owner of the media-rental giant Blockbuster Video. He entered the sports realm in 1990 with the Dolphins as a minority owner. During that time, he saw an even larger future for professional sports in the region. “Some people dream of success, while other people get up every morning and make it happen," Huizenga said. "If you just keep your head down, work, and put it on the bottom line, sooner or later that takes care of everything else.” In the spring of 1990, Huizenga purchased 50% of Joe Robbie Stadium, stating a main intention behind the buy was to secure baseball in South Florida. Shortly after the purchase, Major League Baseball announced its own intention to expand. Questionnaires were sent to prospective owners. The main criteria that MLB wanted candidates to adhere to was “the ability for the area in its entirety to support Major League Baseball long term.” Several cities in the state of Florida were named as candidates including Tampa Bay and Orlando. Phoenix was also well in play on the west coast. In the end, Huizenga won the bid for one of the two new teams. On June 10, 1990, the Florida franchise officially came into existence. Huizenga opted to name the team after the state rather than one single region to be inclusive of Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. The centralized location of Joe Robbie Stadium—well within reach of all three counties—had previously corroborated Huizenga’s vision to make baseball as accessible as possible. From the start, excitement about baseball was effervescent in the region. On April 5, 1993, the Marlins played their first game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in front of a sellout crowd at Joe Robbie Stadium. Walt Weiss recorded the Marlins’ first extra-base hit, a triple and RBI. The 45-year-old pitcher Charlie Hough picked up the first win in franchise history. Despite that being the only win of the Marlins’ first two series against Los Angeles and San Diego, they drew over 40,000 fans a game. Fans continued to show up to see the Marlins play throughout that non-competitive campaign. Their 37,838 average attendance is still a team record unlikely to ever be matched. gsd7ir_1.mp4 From 1993-1995, the Marlins went a combined 182-238 (.433 winning percentage). In 1996, bolstered by the arrival of prospects Edgar Rentería and Luis Castillo as well as the signings of veteran pitchers Kevin Brown and Al Leiter, Huizenga saw an immediate path to postseason success for the Marlins. After an 80-82 season (their best on record), Huizenga, likely also swayed by his Florida Panthers falling just short of a Stanley Cup, invested heavily in the Marlins. During the offseason, he spent a total of $89 million on free agent contracts, bringing in the likes of Bobby Bonilla, Moises Alou and Alex Fernandez. Cliff Floyd also came in via trade from the Montreal Expos. Prospects Liván Hernández and Craig Counsell made their debuts while other in-house players started to realize their full potential. The Marlins squeezed into the 1997 playoffs as the NL Wild Card, making the playoffs faster than any previous expansion team across all the major North American sports leagues. The Fightin' Fish swept the San Francisco Giants in their NLDS matchup. Certainly the Marlins’ Cinderella run would end against the Atlanta Braves and their roster stacked with future Hall of Famers Chipper Jones, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Greg Maddux, right? Wrong. The Marlins defeated the Braves 4-2 to advance to the World Series. There, against the AL Central champion Cleveland Guardians, the Marlins performed the impossible. In the 11th inning of a winner-take-all Game 7 on October 26, 1997, Rentería struck a line drive over Charles Nagy’s head. Another rookie, Counsell, scored to put the Marlins in the history books. Hernández received WS MVP honors. Huizenga’s vision had been fulfilled. The Marlins had brought the tri-county region a major sports champion for the first time since 1973. However, with baseball fever running rampant, Huizenga didn’t build off success—he dismantled it, citing financial losses from fielding such a star-studded team. From late 1997 through the middle of 1998, Huizenga sold nearly every asset the Marlins had. The return pieces were mostly up-and-coming prospects. Gone were main contributors Bonilla, Brown, Conine, Sheffield and Charles Johnson. Quotes from executives after the Marlins’ first fire sale are haunting: “My attitude was so thankful and happy that we won the World Series, this (fire sale) was going to happen anyway." —Dan Lunetta “I think we knew once and for all the Thursday after the World Series was over. On Sunday night, there was a big meeting and that was it. Once the meeting was over, it (the Marlins' success) was over." —Frank Wren As quickly as Huizenga was the hero, he became the goat—and he knew it. He made a last-ditch effort to secure a baseball-only stadium for the Marlins funded by taxpayers. This would have allowed Huizenga to try to make a financial comeback and recoup his losses. Once shot down by legislature, Huizenga made his move to sell the franchise. After a dreary 1998 season that is still the worst in franchise history, John Henry acquired the Marlins for $158 million. Subsequent to the Marlins’ sale, Huizenga’s Blockbuster Golf and Games theme park in Sunrise closed in 2000. In 2008, he sold half of the Dolphins. His movie and video game rental business empire filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2014. Only Huizenga’s controlling interest in the Panthers remained until his death in 2018. In the end, Huizenga will be remembered for building something out of nothing. He ascended from small business owner to controlling three major sports teams. As those who watched from the outside, living in Wayne’s World—for however short a time it lasted—was something to remember. Living in the rubble was difficult. Ultimately, Wayne’s dream for a better community that he and his family worked to build will be remembered and forever lauded.

Once again in 2026, I will be monitoring Miami Marlins predictions from our valued SuperSubs, Fish On First staffers and livestream guests. Individual article pages like this one will be created prior to every Marlins series and featured prominently on the FOF site. Consistent participation is key if you want to win this annual contest. Submissions only take a few seconds. Scoring system A "perfect" series is worth three points: Earn one point for predicting which team will win the upcoming series Earn one point for predicting the precise number of victories for each team Earn one point for predicting the “Series MVP” who accumulated the highest win probability added (WPA) during the series as calculated by FanGraphs (could pick a player from either team) FOF SuperSub Nicholas Milton and FOF staffer Jeremiah Geiger are currently tied atop the 2026 season leaderboard, which will be updated between every Marlins series. If you are a SuperSub, leave a comment with your Prediction Time picks on this page, or join the Marlins Discord Server and submit there. We'll feature them on the upcoming Fish On First LIVE episode and track your points throughout the season! Any picks submitted prior to the first pitch of the series opener will be counted. If you are not a SuperSub, please consider signing up here to support the FOF staff. Series preview notes Probable starting pitchers: RHP Max Meyer (MIA) vs. RHP Freddy Peralta on Friday RHP Tyler Phillips (MIA) vs. RHP Christian Scott on Saturday RHP Janson Junk (MIA) vs. RHP Noah McLean on Sunday The Marlins rank 18th in MLB with a 97 wRC+ and 13th in MLB with a 3.92 FIP. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games and have a 8-16 record on the road this season. The following Marlins players are on the injured list: Griffin Conine (10-day IL), Ronny Henriquez (60-day IL), Leo Jiménez (7-day IL), Adam Mazur (60-day IL) and Robby Snelling (60-day IL). The Mets rank 29th in MLB with a 85 wRC+ and seventh in MLB with a 3.65 FIP. They are 3-7 in their last 10 games and have a 12-15 record at home this season. The following Mets players are on the injured list: Francisco Alvarez (10-day IL), Reed Garrett (60-day IL), Justin Hagenman (60-day IL), Clay Holmes (60-day IL), Francisco Lindor (10-day IL), Ronny Mauricio (10-day IL), Tylor Megill (60day IL), Dedniel Núñez (60-day IL), Jorge Polanco (10-day IL), Luis Robert Jr. (60-day IL), Kodai Senga (15-day IL), Tyrone Taylor (10-day IL).