Ely Sussman

Miami Marlins players Kyle Stowers, Xavier Edwards, Otto Lopez, Jakob Marsee, Janson Junk and Eury Pérez combined to receive nearly $2 million from the MLB pre-arbitration bonus pool, per the Associated Press. Players can become eligible for bonuses based on where they finish in the voting for major awards (MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and All-MLB). However, each of the six Marlins were paid according to a proprietary wins above replacement formula. This is the second straight year that Edwards and Lopez have earned pre-arb bonuses. Marsee spent the first four months of the 2025 season in the minor leagues, yet was so valuable as an all-around player down the stretch that he made up for lost time. He winds up collecting more money from the bonus pool than he did in salary during his partial season on the Marlins roster. Ronny Henriquez and Heriberto Hernández are among the other young Marlins who fell just barely below the bonus pool cut-off. Courtesy of Spotrac, we can combine these bonuses with each player's cash earnings at the major league level to approximate their overall income for 2025: Kyle Stowers, $1,317,218 Xavier Edwards, $1,158,237 Otto Lopez, $1,067,012 Eury Pérez, $982,753 Janson Junk, $779,784 Jakob Marsee, $523,282 Ten members of the Milwaukee Brewers received bonuses, making them the only team better represented than the Marlins. The pool was divided among 101 total players. Edwards, Lopez, Pérez and Stowers will be eligible for arbitration beginning in 2027, so they'll have only one more opportunity next year to be included in the pool. Junk and Marsee won't be arb-eligible until 2028 at the earliest. View full article

"The Miami Marlins are active in the closer market, talking with free-agent right-hander Michael King and other starting pitchers, and are also weighing upgrades at first and third base," according to a Monday morning report from Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic. Rosenthal had reported earlier this offseason that the Marlins might "double down on their rotation as a strength," but this is his first time linking them to a specific pitcher. Fun fact: King was involved in the very first trade of Bruce Sherman's ownership tenure. On November 20, 2017, the Marlins dealt him to the New York Yankees in exchange for Garrett Cooper and Caleb Smith. King made his major league debut in 2019 and was used primarily as a reliever by the Yankees. More recently, he was named Opening Day starter for the San Diego Padres in 2025. Through 10 outings, he was on an All-Star trajectory (2.59 ERA in 55.2 IP). However, he was limited to only five starts after Memorial Day due to right shoulder inflammation and left knee inflammation. He pitched one scoreless inning of relief for San Diego during the National League Wild Card Series. He turns 31 next May and has never previously been a free agent. Since moving to the rotation, King's average sinker velocity has sat around 93 mph, which is below average for a righty. However, his changeup is one of the best in baseball. His strikeout rate has steadily declined from a high of 33.2% in 2022 to 24.7% this season. qlxctj.mp4 The Padres extended a $22.025 million qualifying offer to King earlier this month. He rejected it, anticipating that he'll be able to garner a multi-year deal at a similar average annual value. It would be extremely out of character for the Marlins to be the highest bidders for King. In two previous offseasons with Peter Bendix serving as their president of baseball operations, the club has only guaranteed a total of $8.5 million to MLB free agents (Tim Anderson and Cal Quantrill). "People familiar with their plans" tell Ken Rosenthal that this willingness to add veteran talent is borne out of the opportunity to be a legitimate postseason contender coming off a 79-win campaign. However, Rosenthal and Drellich remind us that in 2025, the Marlins fell far short of the spending thresholds outlined by the collective bargaining agreement. They were expected to receive "roughly $70 million if not more" from league revenue sharing alone, yet finished with a luxury-tax payroll of approximately $85 million. As a result, they could face a greivance from the players' union this offseason if this frugal behavior persists. The Chicago Cubs are among King's other suitors, according to The Athletic's Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney. Regarding the closer market, the only high-profile name who was come off the board so far is Raisel Iglesias, who re-signed with the Atlanta Braves on a one-year, $16 million deal. View full rumor

On this day in 2005, the Florida Marlins and Boston Red Sox finalized the following blockbuster trade: Red Sox acquire RHP Josh Beckett, 3B Mike Lowell and RHP Guillermo Mota Marlins acquire RHP Jesús Delgado, RHP Harvey García, SS Hanley Ramírez and RHP Aníbal Sánchez Just two years later, the Sox won a World Series title, and both Beckett and Lowell played pivotal roles along the way. The former finished runner-up in 2007 American League Cy Young Award voting and was named MVP of the ALCS, while the latter placed fifth in AL MVP voting and took home WS MVP honors. They combined to spend 12 seasons in Boston, accumulating 30.0 fWAR. All four of the prospects that the Marlins received in exchange made MLB appearances for their new franchise. Ramírez immediately emerged as a brilliant offensive player en route to winning 2006 National League Rookie of the Year. He remains unequivocally the greatest shortstop that the Fish have ever had. Regardless of position, his 30.5 fWAR as a Marlin trails only Giancarlo Stanton (33.6 fWAR). Sánchez's tenure with the team also stretched from 2006-2012. He was a solid No. 3 starter. Some of you may disagree with sticking the "win-win" label on this deal considering that the Marlins didn't have a single postseason berth to show for the Hanley/Aníbal era. They constructed particularly solid rosters in 2008 and 2009, but back then, there was only one wild-card spot available in each league. If today's postseason format with three wild-card spots was in place at the time, we would've likely seen October baseball in South Florida. On Sunday in winter ball, Deyvison De Los Santos (Dominican Republic) went 1-for-4 with a sacrifice fly. Jared Serna (Mexico) went 2-for-4 with a triple double. Serna leads LMP with 45 hits and ranks second with a .995 OPS. Only 122 days away from Marlins Opening Day. 🔷 Freddy Tarnok signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal with Nippon Professional Baseball's Hiroshima Carp. It surprised me when the Marlins waived him earlier this offseason, but that makes sense now. Tarnok presumably requested his release in order to pursue this opportunity in Japan, which guarantees him nearly doubled what his MLB salary would've been in 2026. 🔷 The Marlins concluded their 2025 First-Year Player Camp last week. Wilfredo Lara won the camp's MVP award, Wilson Weber was the American MVP and Yohanfer Santana was the strength and conditioning MVP. 🔷 Louis Addeo-Weiss presented the statistical case for Cole Hamels to be considered for the Baseball Hall of Fame. 🔷 Continuing their series of World Baseball Classic-inspired national team rosters, Son Los Marlins constructed the best possible Cuban team comprised of former Fish (en español). 🔷 Happy 25th birthday to Josh White. A new addition to the Marlins 40-man roster, White has spent his entire professional career with the organization. Through four minor league seasons, he has posted a 2.97 ERA, 31.7 K% and .205 BAA in 203.1 IP (124 G/14 GS). 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the New York Mets and Texas Rangers agreed to a bad contract swap, exchanging Brandon Nimmo for Marcus Semien (with the Mets sending an additional $5 million to Texas). Both veterans are still solid everyday players, but they've clearly entered the decline phase of their careers. Nimmo was a pest against the Marlins throughout the past decade (.260/.368/.475 slash line with 17 home runs and six stolen bases in 118 games). However, I believe the Mets got the better end of the deal. Semien will bolster their leaky infield defense and he's signed for only three more years (Nimmo is signed for five more). In free agency, the Atlanta Braves inked Joel Payamps to a one-year, $2.25 million contract. View full article

The San Francisco Giants acquired outfielder Joey Wiemer from the Miami Marlins on Friday in exchange for cash considerations. Wiemer joined the Marlins in August when they claimed him off waivers from the Kansas City Royals. He quickly made it up to the major leagues on the heels of a Triple-A hot streak and Kyle Stowers' oblique injury. In 27 games, the 26-year-old slashed .236/.279/.436 with three home runs and an 88 wRC+. Thanks to great defense in right field, he accrued 0.4 fWAR in that small sample. The Marlins designated Wiemer for assignment this past Tuesday in the process of making room on their 40-man roster for prospects Joe Mack, Josh White and William Kempner. A significant factor behind the DFA decision? He is out of minor league options entering 2026. A transaction like this is a glorified waiver claim. Multiple teams put in a claim for Wiemer, valuing him enough to absorb him onto their roster, but none were willing to give up any of their own players in return. Even so, it's mildly amusing that Gabe Kapler's first "trade" since being promoted to Marlins GM involves the club he managed from 2020-2023. The most direct beneficiary of Wiemer's departure is Dane Myers. A fellow right-handed-hitting outfielder, Myers is three years older than his former teammate, but more disciplined at the plate. There is now a simpler path for him to make Miami's Opening Day roster in a part-time role if this outfield group remains intact for the rest of the offseason. For those interested in looking ahead, the Giants will visit loanDepot park next season from June 19-21. View full article

This particular subject has been top of mind for me since last offseason. There is so much potential surplus value the Marlins can create with early career extensions, with Yelich being a prime example. Leaning entirely on player development to eventually replace every productive veteran is not sufficient. Bendix will need to eventually make long-term bets on certain players. If he doesn't get the resources from ownership to buy out free agent years for rising stars, they'll inevitably fall short of being consistently competitive.

Still a final opportunity today to cut him loose with no strings attached. Despite coming up on arb eligibility, keep in mind Nardi has all of his minor league options left. Holding onto him through tonight's deadline just signals that he's worth a 40-man spot, not necessarily a 26-man one.

We're still awaiting the official reveal of the 2026 Miami Marlins coaching staff, but these are the anticipated changes: Assistant hitting coaches Chris Hess and Corbin Day replacing Derek Shomon (now with the Chicago White Sox) First base coach Craig Driver replacing Tyler Smarslok (Washington Nationals) and Joe Singley (Baltimore Orioles) Bullpen catcher Harry Wilonsky replacing Chi Chi González On Thursday in winter ball, Jared Serna (Mexico) went 0-for-4 with a walk and Eric Rataczak (Australia) went 1-for-4. Only 125 days away from Marlins Opening Day. 🔷 The Marlins have signed two pitchers to minor league deals in recent days: right-hander Chris McKendry and right-hander Samuel Vásquez. Neither have prior MLB experience. McKendry has been knocking on the door at Triple-A for the past three years, though a lack of fastball velocity limits his perceived ceiling. Vásquez, on the other hand, occasionally touches 100 mph—he just doesn't really know where it's going. 🔷 Fish On First LIVE made its return on Wednesday, reacting to the Marlins' Rule 5 draft protection decisions and early free agent activity around the league. 🔷 FOF's Kevin Barral joined Jeremiah Geiger of Locked On Marlins to discuss the possibility of trading Edward Cabrera and the Marlins' pursuit of a veteran closer. 🔷 The Marlins will hold their annual Thanksgiving Distribution at loanDepot park this afternoon, providing meal boxes for 1,000 families in the Little Havana community. President of baseball operations Peter Bendix, president of business operations Caroline O'Connor and manager Clayton McCullough are all expected to participate. 🔷 The MLB non-tender deadline is today at 5:00 p.m. ET. Although Andrew Nardi is projected for a 2026 salary that's barely above the league minimum, MLB.com's Christina De Nicola previously reported that he is a likely non-tender candidate due to his lingering back injury. The Marlins 40-man roster is full, so non-tendering Nardi or anybody else would create the necessary room to acquire outside reinforcements. 🔷 Joey Wiemer remains in DFA limbo. His fate will be determined by Tuesday at the latest. 🔷 La Gente del Barrio Foundation is bringing a celebrity softball game and home run derby to loanDepot park on December 6. The derby will feature Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and baseball's biggest Dominican stars, including Juan Soto, José Ramírez, Ketel Marte and Fernando Tatis Jr. With the derby being the main event, I'm perplexed that outfield seats aren't being sold (as shown below). Ticket prices start at $32. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Japanese infielder Kazuma Okamoto, Japanese right-hander Kona Takahashi and Korean infielder Sung-mun Song were officially posted for MLB teams. The posting windows for Okamoto and Takahashi close on January 4, while Song's window closes on December 21. The Women's Pro Baseball League held its inaugural draft, which included 120 overall picks. Nick Nelson of Twins Daily wonders whether the Minnesota Twins will do a reverse of their original Pablo López trade and ship him out for an impact bat. View full article

The Miami Marlins have inked right-hander Samuel Vásquez to a minor league deal with an invite to major league spring training, as first reported by Chase Ford of Milb Central and confirmed by the player himself. Originally a Cleveland Guardians prospect, Vásquez was acquired by the Washington Nationals two years ago via the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft. In 2025, he split his season between High-A Wilmington and Double-A Harrisburg, posting a 3.16 ERA in 57 innings pitched (46 G/0 GS). He walked 11.9% of opposing batters—that is slightly worse than average, but an encouraging improvement from his 14.6% rate in previous MiLB seasons. The 6'3" Dominican is entering his age-26 season. Vásquez's fastball velocity averages approximately 98 mph, based on my video review of several Double-A outings. He complements it by throwing sliders away to right-handed batters and changeups at the bottom of the strike zone to lefties. He had massive platoon splits in 2025, allowing a .443 OPS to RHB compared to a .845 OPS to LHB. c2ok9p_1.mp4 This will be Vásquez's first time as a spring training NRI. Last spring, the Nats brought him over from minor league camp for one brief relief appearance on March 10. He was also included on Washington's Spring Breakout roster, but did not pitch during that prospect showcase. Given his mixed MiLB track record (career 5.07 ERA) and limited upper-level experience, it would be a shock if Vásquez broke camp with the big league team. More realistically, the Marlins are hoping he makes enough strides as a strike-thrower to earn a 40-man roster spot by the end of 2026. View full rumor

The free agency floodgates have cracked open. The Miami Marlins' first catch of the 2025-26 offseason is right-hander Evan McKendry, who has signed a minor league deal which includes an invite to spring training, as announced on Tuesday by McKendry's agent, Gavin Kahn. Entering his age-28 season, McKendry is a former ninth-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Rays. He got his first taste of Triple-A in 2022, but he's been stuck there ever since. This past season, he pitched 87 ⅓ innings (24 G/14 GS) with a 5.26 ERA for the AAA affiliates of the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago White Sox. Although he has demonstrated sharp control as a pro, he's also been homer-prone, even when facing same-handed batters. Regardless of how the rest of this winter unfolds, McKendry will be among the softest throwers in Marlins camp. His four-seam fastball only averages 90.8 mph. His arsenal also includes a sinker, cutter, changeup and sweeper. McKendry will attempt to become the first former Hurricane to play a major league game for the Marlins since Peter O'Brien in 2019. In case you missed it, Kevin Barral and Sean McCormack recently floated the names of 10 other minor league free agents who'd fit well with the Fish. View full rumor

It isn't very often that I'm in full agreement with the Miami Marlins on roster moves, but Tuesday was an exception. They selected catcher Joe Mack and right-handers Josh White and William Kempner to their 40-man roster, protecting them from next month's MLB Rule 5 draft. To clear a spot on the 40-man to accommodate all three prospects, outfielder Joey Wiemer was designated for assignment. Mack has risen to No. 2 on the Fish On First Top 30 list following a season in which he represented the Marlins at the Futures Game. Spending most of 2025 at the Triple-A level, he slashed .257/.338/.475 with 21 home runs and nine stolen bases, and he played plus defense behind the plate, including a 33.3% caught stealing rate. He turns 23 next month. White (FOF #21) has emerged as a fascinating relief arm. Another homegrown Marlins prospect, he pitched to a 1.86 ERA, 40.8 K% and .166 BAA in 45 appearances this season against AA/AAA competition. He could challenge for an Opening Day job depending on how active the team is shopping for veteran relievers this winter. The unranked Kempner was nearly as effective as White (2.26 ERA, 33.6 K% and .162 BAA in 67.2 IP), though his lack of control upon being promoted to Jacksonville indicates that more developmental time is needed. A former San Francisco Giants farmhand, he was acquired by the Fish in January in exchange for international bonus pool money. As for Wiemer, he was claimed off waivers by the Marlins in August. In 27 games for them, he slashed .236/.279/.436 with three homers and an 88 wRC+. He played excellent defense in right field over that small sample (4 DRS and 3 OAA). Worth noting that if Wiemer clears waivers this time around, the Marlins can outright him to the minors and maintain club control of him for the 2026 season—that's because he has never been outrighted before and does not have the seven years of professional experience needed to elect minor league free agency. Notable Rule 5-eligible prospects who were left unprotected by the Marlins include: OF Andrew Pintar (acquired in the 2024 A.J. Puk trade) 1B Nathan Martorella (acquired in the 2024 Luis Arraez trade) INF/OF Jacob Berry (Miami's 2022 first-round draft pick) INF Yiddi Cappe (2022 Marlins Minor League Player of the Year) RHP Matt Pushard (career 3.21 ERA in 174 innings pitched as a minor leaguer) The Rule 5 draft will be held on December 10 in Orlando as the final event of the MLB Winter Meetings. The draft order is determined by the previous season's reverse standings, so the Marlins will pick 12th. View full article

I have already shared my thoughts on Rule 5 draft-eligible Miami Marlins players Joe Mack, Josh White and William Kempner. Everybody else who is eligible has been listed below, grouped by whichever minor league affiliate's roster they're currently assigned to. It would be surprising if the Marlins devoted 40-man roster spots to protect any of them from the draft's major league phase. However, a lot of these names will be placed on the organization's Triple-A reserve list to prevent them from being poached in the minor league phase. Triple-A roster INF/OF Jacob Berry—You would be hard-pressed to identify a more inconsistent MiLB player than Jacob Berry. He perennially performs like one of his league's worst hitters during the months of April and May, only to find his form after that. There's still a shred of hope for the $6 million man offensively, but being truly positionless on defense will deter any team from seriously considering him in the Rule 5. INF/C Bennett Hostetler—A full-time shortstop at North Dakota State, Hostetler began converting to catcher soon after the Marlins drafted him in 2021. The 28-year-old has enjoyed some impressive hot stretches with the bat as a pro, but he rode the Jumbo Shrimp bench this season, slashing .179/.325/.221 in just 36 games. 1B Nathan Martorella—Martorella's production as a member of the Marlins org is somewhat misleading. None of their other farmhands (min. 400 PA) have suffered from a lower batting average on balls in play. RHP Zach McCambley—McCambley's 2025 campaign was the best of his professional career. He struck out 41.1% of all right-handed batters faced. The Marlins initially tried developing him as a starter, but he's been working out of the bullpen for the last three seasons. LHP Patrick Monteverde—Having turned 28 in September, Monteverde is the oldest non-40-man player currently in the Marlins organization. He's also the only Rule 5-eligible guy with MLB experience, though that experience consists of a single mop-up appearance. INF Cody Morissette—The Marlins were projecting much better on-base skills from Morissette when selecting him in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft. A career .291 OBP as a pro won't cut it when you only play second base and third base. OF Andrew Pintar—Both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline described whether or not to protect Pintar as the toughest decision facing the Marlins on Tuesday. Perhaps the front office has a bias toward him because he was acquired so recently (July 2024), but between his injuries this season and the low likelihood of him becoming a serviceable hitter in the majors, I'd leave him off the 40-man without losing any sleep over it. Good glove in center field, though. RHP Matt Pushard—A former undrafted free agent out of Maine, Pushard finished 2025 on a high note by tossing 11 ⅓ consecutive scoreless innings in September (regular season and postseason combined). When things go poorly for him on the mound, they tend to snowball, but his overall MiLB track record has been solid. With average fastball velocity for a big league righty and the ability to land his breaking balls in the strike zone, Pushard has the highest probability of being taken in the Rule 5 among all of the players on this page. TzBaYjlfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X1VBaFVCbFJRQlZZQUNsTUVVZ0FIQkZkZkFGaFFVRkFBQkZ4UVV3UUVVd0VEVWdCVw==.mp4 LHP Dale Stanavich—Stanavich had a golden opportunity to earn a call-up to Miami in 2025 given the club's dearth of left-handed relievers. Unfortunately, he completely lost control of his fastball. RHP Riskiel Tineo—Tineo has only 10 career innings pitched above the Low-A level. When properly executed, his splitter is an intriguing weapon. Double-A roster RHP Jesse Bergin—Bergin lost two full seasons (2022 and 2023) due to injury. He has fared well since then—2.50 ERA in 86.1 IP—but he isn't missing nearly as many bats in Double-A as he did at lower levels. RHP Gabe Bierman C Spencer Bramwell INF Yiddi Cappe—Very little has gone right for Cappe since being named Marlins Minor League Player of the Year in 2022. On the bright side, he shattered his career-high with 29 stolen bases in just 62 games in 2025. On the other hand, nearly half of his playing time came as a designated hitter and he spent the final month of the season on the injured list. RHP Orlando Ortiz-Mayr C Sam Praytor RHP Alex Williams High-A roster or below INF Jesús Hernández RHP Holt Jones—The 6'8" reliever may have helped his stock a bit during the Arizona Fall League. Jones and some of the other players in this section may get a look from other teams in the minor league phase of the Rule 5, but to be clear, there's zero chance that they'd make the leap straight to MLB. INF Wilfredo Lara UTIL Ian Lewis—The Bahamian switch-hitter couldn't compete stateside in 2024 due to visa issues. He was very effective as a part-time player in his return, slashing .278/.357/.431 in 73 games. The caveat is those numbers were inflated by beating up on kids in Low-A. merge-7icf2l.mp4 LHP Brayan Mendoza—I was bullish on Mendoza when the Marlins acquired him in the Jake Burger trade. Turning 22 in January, time is on his side, but he was strangely ineffective against same-handed hitters in the Midwest League and spent the whole season there. RHP Natanael Polanco RHP Juan Reynoso RHP Franklin Sánchez—Sánchez's fastball velo was clocked as high as 99 mph this season, but he still doesn't know where it's going (22.3 BB% in 22.1 IP). LHP Dameivi Tineo RHP Brandon White View full article