Ely Sussman

Rewatch the best hits, throws and catches from Dane Myers' three seasons with the Fish. Myers was traded to the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday. View full video

There is a growing list of players who were designated for assignment by their previous MLB teams, only to very quickly experience newfound success with the Miami Marlins. That list includes Declan Cronin, who was Miami's most effective reliever for an extended stretch of the 2024 season. Cronin showed a lot of versatility as a rookie—he frequently went multiple innings, worked back-to-back days and inherited baserunners depending on what the club needed from him. He pitched a total of 70 ⅓ innings with a pedestrian 4.35 ERA, but a far more encouraging 2.58 FIP. However, Cronin was unable to build upon that campaign in 2025 because of a series of injuries. Anything he achieves once he fully recovers will transpire in a different uniform. Cronin's age-27 season got off to a delayed start. During spring training, he suffered what was publicly announced as a left hip strain. Cronin got much more specific in an interview with Ben Lindbergh on Friday's episode of Effectively Wild, explaining that incorporating a new drill into his workout routine caused damage to "delicate little muscles" in his hip. Rotating his hips while going through his pitching delivery aggravated the injury. "What I probably should've done was taken some serious time off from throwing, just actually allowing the muscles and the tissue to fully heal before putting them through that stress again," Cronin said. "But I wanted to kind of 'go, go, go,' so we 'kept the arm moving,' kept throwing." He began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Jacksonville on April 10. While making back-to-back appearances on April 12-13, he had a setback and was "back to square one." A hip specialist in Nashville provided Cronin with a different interpretation of his unique injury and his rehab plan changed accordingly. A month later, he was throwing pain-free and cleared to face live batters again. Although Cronin's velocity and pitch shapes weren't all the way back to his 2024 form, "I and everyone else kinda thought, 'Okay, you're just getting back into the swing of it. You gotta remember this is kinda like a second offseason/on-ramp for you.'" When the Marlins optioned Cronin to Jacksonville on May 31, he believed that he was only a week or two away from being major league-ready. Unfortunately, "I just never got back to what I felt like before the hip injury," Cronin said. "My body had patterned—over months of low-intensity throwing and/or throwing with pain—certain kind of compensatory movement patterns that just totally compromised by ability to throw how I want to throw. Even though I was pain-free, I could not convince myself to throw normally and to use my lower half specifically normally." That led indirectly to shoulder pain. Even when that subsided and Cronin returned from another IL stint in early August, he still felt out of sync. "Something has to give here," he remembered thinking at the time. Indeed, on August 16, his right UCL gave out. "I immediately knew," Cronin said. "I could feel the space in my elbow expand at ball release...I kinda felt that 'pop' and release of tension." After consultation with renowned surgeon Dr. Keith Meister, it was clear that Cronin would need Tommy John surgery. Cronin was under the impression that the Marlins would be retaining him for the 2026 season, placing him on the 60-day IL throughout the year-long rehab process. That's what they will be doing for Ronny Henriquez, who had his own elbow surgery earlier this month. Instead, before the procedure even took place, the Marlins released Cronin on September 6. "It was very surprising," he said. "Certainly not something that I anticipated or anybody close to me anticipated. It also kinda wasn't what we had been told and nothing I'd ever seen before, but check the rulebook, they're allowed to do it, so power to them to exercise their rights." The Marlins apparently had doubts about Cronin reestablishing himself as an impactful pitcher in 2027. Even so, the timing of the release was callous. Rather than making him navigate the surgery and early rehab process on his own, they could have easily waited until the conventional 40-man roster cleanup period in November. In free agency, Cronin signed a two-year minor league deal with the Texas Rangers. Many teams expressed interest in him, but the Rangers were the first to submit a written offer. "I'd play for Skip (Schumaker) any day, so I was really excited to see that he was over there," Cronin said about reuniting with his 2024 manager. His former Fish teammates Jake Burger, Jonah Bride and Anthony Veneziano are also in the Rangers organization. View full article

The Miami Marlins traded Dane Myers to the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday afternoon. In exchange, they picked up outfielder Ethan O'Donnell. Myers landed in Miami three years ago as a minor league Rule 5 draft pick and immediately surpassed expectations. The converted pitcher raked in the upper minors and made his MLB debut on July 4, 2023. Playing the game with an extremely high motor, he quickly became a fan favorite. The 2025 season was a rollercoaster for Myers. At age 29, he looked to be emerging as the Marlins' everyday center fielder, slashing .333/.377/.481 in 44 games played through June 15. Coincidence or not, he was hit by a pitch on June 16, and from that point forward, Myers became a liability at the plate. His campaign ended prematurely after colliding with the outfield wall at Citizens Bank Park on September 23. Overall across parts of three MLB seasons, Myers is merely a .245/.299/.354 hitter (81 wRC+). However, he's a weapon versus left-handed pitching (.297/.360/.456 and 126 wRC+). O'Donnell was drafted by the Reds out of the University of Virginia in 2023. He spent this past season with Double-A Chattanooga, where he slashed .236/.327/.325 with seven home runs, 20 stolen bases and a 90 wRC+ in 125 games. Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs cautions that there is "a huge hole in his swing against fastballs up and away from him." MLB Pipeline had O'Donnell ranked 18th on their Reds top prospects list, while Longenhagen didn't rank him at all among the organization's top 39 prospects. The left-handed hitter has gotten professional reps at all three outfield positions. He turns 24 years old in March and will be Rule 5-eligible after the 2026 season. Fish On First's own Isaac Azout reported that the Reds also attempted to acquire Myers prior to the July 31 trade deadline. It's unclear if he had other suitors back then or during this offseason. Myers' departure fully clears the runway for Heriberto Hernández to make his first career Opening Day roster coming off a productive rookie season. It seems as though the ultra-versatile Javier Sanoja will be utilized as Jakob Marsee's backup in center field. Christopher Morel and Connor Norby could contend for whatever right-handed corner outfield reps are left over. This also creates a temporary opening on the Marlins 40-man roster. That opening should be filled in the coming days when the club's one-year, $13 million deal with reliever Pete Fairbanks is officially announced. View full article

During a Fish On First Twitter space, Ely Sussman and Kevin Barral share their initial reactions to the Marlins signing free agent Pete Fairbanks to a one-year, $13 million deal. View full video

The Miami Marlins are signing Pete Fairbanks to a one-year, $13 million deal. It includes a $12 million salary, $1 million signing bonus, $1 million in incentives based on total appearances and a $500,000 acquisition bonus if he is traded during the 2026 season. The deal is pending a physical. Will Sammon of The Athletic was first to report Tuesday afternoon that an agreement had been reached. Fairbanks, who turned 32 earlier this month, has spent the vast majority of his MLB career with the Tampa Bay Rays. In 2025, he set career-highs with 60 ⅓ innings pitched and 27 saves, though his 3.61 FIP was the worst mark since his rookie season. The Rays could've retained him for 2026 on an $11 million club option, but declined it. Fairbanks has generally utilized a two-pitch arsenal, consisting of a four-seam fastball and slider. However, he gradually increased his changeup usage last season to 4.9% and also introduced a cutter in September. The Marlins upped their offer to Fairbanks recently, as Fish On First's Isaac Azout reported last week. Losing Ronny Henriquez to season-ending elbow surgery may have pushed them to sweeten the deal even more. Various other reports linked Fairbanks to the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers during his free agent process. Adding Fairbanks along with Christopher Morel (1-YR/$2M) means that the Marlins have signed multiple players to fully guaranteed major league free agent deals in the same offseason. The last time that happened was 2022-23 (Johnny Cueto and Jean Segura). Miami's 40-man roster is full, so there will have to be a corresponding move for them to officially announce the signing of Fairbanks. View full article

The Ronny Henriquez news is a gut punch. After emerging as the most impactful Miami Marlins reliever in 2025, he has been ruled out for the entire 2026 MLB season following Tommy John surgery. Finding somebody to fill his shoes is a daunting task, particularly at this stage of the offseason with many of the most accomplished free agent relievers no longer available. That being said, perhaps it instills confidence in the Marlins front office to remember they originally acquired Henriquez as a waiver claim. Browsing the 40-man rosters of every team, I have identified three arms with many of the same attributes. While we can't count on them getting designated for assignment like Henriquez did, they should be attainable at a very low cost. The following pitchers each meet this criteria: Primarily used as a reliever by their current team Above-average fastball velocity Multiple secondary pitches with at least 10% usage Finished 2025 season healthy Out of minor league options Pre-arbitration eligible RHP Colin Selby (Baltimore Orioles) Major League Baseball made a rule change in recent years to prevent teams from constantly shuttling players back and forth between Triple-A and The Show. The Orioles pushed Colin Selby to the legal limit in 2025, optioning him on five separate occasions before we even reached the halfway mark of the season. A hamstring strain sidelined him throughout most of the second half. Selby's arsenal consists of a sinker, curveball, slider and four-seam fastball. The curve is his most intriguing weapon with massive vertical drop from his high arm slot and an average spin rate of 2,840 rpm. OTc5blFfVjBZQUhRPT1fRGdKWVVWQU1Yd3NBWFZOUVh3QUhCQUJVQUZsUlcxa0FCMU1HQVZBRENRSlhWZ0ZR.mp4 Selby is still under club control for six more years and landed 64.5% of his pitches for strikes in limited action with the O's, so it would almost certainly take a trade of some kind for the Marlins to pry him loose. Then again, Henriquez was in an identical situation last February when the Minnesota Twins surprisingly let him go. RHP Chase Silseth (Los Angeles Angels) Chase Silseth made the transition to full-time reliever last summer. From 2022-2024, his propensity for allowing home runs was a serious issue (19 HR in 89.0 IP). However, in 10 late-season appearances out of the Angels 'pen, the only batter to take him deep was Nick Kurtz. No shame in that. Silseth used to throw as many as seven different pitch types. In 2025, he simplified his approach—four-seamers and splitters to lefties, with the addition of sweepers and sinkers to righties. Although Silseth's upside is alluring, he had a lengthy IL stint for right elbow inflammation in 2024 and has only been tasked with pitching back-to-back days once in his professional career. RHP Carlos Vargas (Seattle Mariners) Carlos Vargas was already out of options entering 2025, so he spent the entire year on Seattle's active roster (excluding one series he missed while on the paternity list). He posted a 3.97 ERA with a 16.3% strikeout rate in 77 innings pitched. He stuck around during their postseason run, too. Leaning heavily on a high-90s sinker, Vargas is a ground ball machine (95th percentile among MLB pitchers in GB%). There were 12 ground ball double plays turned behind him, tied for the second-highest total of any reliever. cf960766-f4a78de5-d3ee3413-csvm-diamondgcp-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4 Vargas had jarring reverse platoon splits during his age-25 campaign—lefties slashed .205/.248/.341 while righties slashed .327/.404/.485. He could benefit a lot from learning a sweeper, much like Henriquez did upon being acquired by the Fish. View full article

All Fish On First podcasts are brought to you by Jet Ski Rentals of South Florida—offering Miami’s best jet ski and boat adventures. With six jet ski locations and over 120 boats, there’s something for every style and every budget. With Christmas and New Year’s around the corner, boats fill up fast—everyone wants that view of the fireworks from the water. They’re reservation-based only. To inquire, call 305-990-2192, or check them out online at SFJetskiRentals.com. Ely Sussman explains why the recent trade of Shane Baz to the Baltimore Orioles gives us a clear idea of what Edward Cabrera is currently worth. Then, Matt Goudreau, president and general manager of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, discusses all aspects of his role with the Marlins Triple-A affiliate. You can find The Offishial Show on the Fish On First YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you get your pods. Our audio programming also includes Fish On First LIVE, Fish Unfiltered, Swimming Upstream and more. Although Cabrera's major league career has been more successful than Baz's to this point, these right-handed starters have more in common than you might realize at first glance. Both have three remaining years of club control, similar projected salaries for the 2026 season and plus fastball velocity. The quality of contact they've allowed has been comparable as well. Traditionally, a player's last season is weighted heavily when determining their current value. However, this particular MLB offseason has been rife with examples of pitchers who were coveted despite run prevention struggles. All things considered, I estimate that Cabrera's value is only 5-10% higher than Baz's. Matt Goudreau joined the Jumbo Shrimp in June 2021 as assistant general manager after stints at the University of Memphis, San Francisco 49ers, San Jose State University and Pittsburgh Pirates. Goudreau was at the forefront of the multi-year VyStar Ballpark renovations ("Project NEXT"), which included the complete remodel of both home and visiting clubhouses, new video board and ribbon boards, new right field building which includes the team’s new administrative offices, street level team store and the Right Field Hall/Power Alley, the PNC Home Plate Club, and a new main gate. Additionally, he has managed the stadium operations team, been the primary liaison to the Jumbo Shrimp coaching staff and Marlins player development department, and has also helped oversee gameday staff working events at VyStar Ballpark. Earlier this month, Goudreau was promoted to his current role. Shortly after, the Jumbo Shrimp were sold by longtime owner Ken Babby to the Prospector Baseball Group. Swim Around the Diamond At the end of every episode of The Offishial Show, I will be highlighting and recommending Marlins-related content that was posted recently outside of FOF. Here's what I picked this time: Graduates: Welcome to the big leagues (East Carolina University) Edwards' youth camp growing in size, support (MLB.com) Miami Marlins Best to Wear Jersey Number Series (Marlin Maniac) Edward Cabrera exclusive interview (El Primer Out) Follow Ely (@RealEly) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Join the Marlins Discord server! Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com. View full article

Dismissed by the Miami Marlins at the end of the 2024 season, Jeff Schwarz filed a civil complaint against his former employer in Palm Beach County Circuit Court on Thursday. Schwarz, who was 60 years old when the Marlins dismissed him, alleges that he was the victim of age discrimination. He's seeking "in excess of $50,000" through this lawsuit. It's unclear exactly when Schwarz was originally hired by the Marlins, but the photo above is from 2004. Across several different stints with the organization, his various roles included Triple-A pitching coach, Gulf Coast League pitching coach, pitching coordinator and (most recently) rehabilitation pitching coach. Quite frankly, I wasn't aware of his existence until learning of this legal action and therefore don't have any insight into the quality of his coaching. Schwarz's lawsuit references both president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and director of player development Rachel Balkovec, both of whom are in their 30s. Balkovec delivered the news of his termination, allegedly attributing the decision to "cleaning house" rather than job performance. Schwarz attempts to establish that there was a pattern of discrimination on the basis of age in violation of the Florida Civil Rights Act. In total, 11 Marlins coaches who were at least 46 years old got canned in October 2024 despite being "eminently qualified for their position," he claims. That group included Triple-A Jacksonville manager Daren Brown, High-A Beloit manager Billy Gardner and minor league pitching coordinator Scott Aldred. Schwarz feels that he is entitled to compensation for "extreme emotional distress, mental pain and suffering, past and future pecuniary losses, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of the capacity for the enjoyment of life and other non-pecuniary losses, along with the loss of back and front pay, interest on pay, bonus, and other fringe benefits." You may download the full lawsuit here (Jeffrey Schwarz v. Marlins Teamco LLC). I'm not a lawyer, but this situation seems highly likely to be settled out of court. View full rumor

East Carolina University selected Miami Marlins manager Clayton McCullough to be their fall 2025 commencement speaker. True to his nature, McCullough was self-deprecating while delivering his 11-minute address at ECU's Minges Coliseum on Friday. “ECU took a chance on me—mostly because the baseball team needed a catcher,” he said. “Coach Keith LeClair believed in me when honestly I didn’t believe much in myself.” He brought up his poor grades and the fact that he didn't finish his degree until age 26 after his professional playing career ended. "One of (the Marlins') core philosophies is simple: Development doesn’t stop in the major leagues,” McCullough explained. “Every Marlins player, no matter how experienced or talented, is on an individual path to be their best version.” “Today, you close one chapter. Tomorrow, a new one begins. You won’t have it all figured out. That’s OK— I certainly didn’t,” he added. “But if you commit to growth, find people who can show you the way, and keep showing up and getting better, I promise you this: Your future can exceed even your own expectations. Class of 2025, welcome to the big leagues.” You can watch McCullough's full speech below beginning at the 50-minute mark. On Sunday in winter ball, Deyvison De Los Santos (Dominican Republic) went 2-for-4 with a walk. His team, Gigantes del Cibao, needs one more win to clinch a LIDOM postseason berth. In Puerto Rico, Jacob Berry went 1-for-4 with a walk and Chris Arroyo went 0-for-2. Berry's 18-game on-base streak is the longest active streak in the league. In Venezuela, Jesús Bastidas went 3-for-6 and Riskiel Tineo had his 11th consecutive scoreless relief appearance. Marlins Opening Day is only 95 days away. 🔷 The Marlins released outfielder Danny González. The right-handed hitter signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2022 for $150,000. He never advanced beyond rookie ball despite half-decent offensive numbers. In 101 career minor league games, González slashed .223/.335/.348 with eight home runs and 21 stolen bases. 🔷 Sean McCormack explained how Robby Snelling has closed the gap with Thomas White for the distinction of Marlins top pitching prospect. 🔷 Former Marlins rehabilitation pitching coach Jeff Schwarz has sued the Marlins for age discrimination. 🔷 Xavier Edwards hosted his eighth annual XE9 baseball skills camp. Through the years, the event has grown from 18 to more than 200 campers. Marlins teammates Anthony Bender, Griffin Conine, Tyler Phillips and Braxton Garrett were among the many guest instructors with MLB experience. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, to everybody's surprise, Japanese superstar Munetaka Murakami signed a two-year, $34 million deal with the Chicago White Sox. When he was posted for MLB teams earlier this offseason, Murakami was widely projected to receive at least twice as much guaranteed money. Instead, the lefty slugger has positioned himself to re-enter free agency entering his age-28 season. The St. Louis Cardinals traded Willson Contreras to the Boston Red Sox for Hunter Dobbins, Yhoiker Fajardo and Blake Aita. View full article

In most cases, players spend merely a "chapter" of their careers with the Marlins. It's hard for a franchise to retain quality contributors without the willingness to pay them market value nor the allure of winning on a consistent basis. Thankfully, there have been a few exceptions. I am defining the length of a player's tenure as starting with their first major league regular season appearance with the Marlins and ending on the day that they were officially acquired by another organization via trade or free agency. Time spent developing with minor league affiliates prior to debuting was ignored—otherwise, the likes of Isaac Galloway would be featured prominently, and that isn't the spirit of this exercise. Here are the players who had the distinction of being Marlins big leaguers for longer than anybody else. 8. Jeff Conine Marlins debut: April 5, 1993 First Marlins departure: November 20, 1997 Marlins return: August 31, 2003 Final Marlins departure: January 11, 2006 We begin with a complicated case because Conine had two separate stints as a Marlin. Put together, he played a total of six years, 11 months and 26 days with the Fish. Every player featured below exceeded seven calendar years. Conine was remarkably durable, which allowed him to accumulate 1,014 games played—that ranks second in franchise history. "Mr. Marlin" has remained involved with the Marlins for most of his post-playing life. He's currently a special advisor to principal owner Bruce Sherman. 7. Josh Johnson Marlins debut: September 10, 2005 Marlins departure: November 19, 2012 On the other hand, it doesn't feel like Johnson's tenure was especially long because a large chunk of it was spent on the injured list (it was known as the "disabled list" back then). He pitched the necessary innings to be a qualified MLB starter only three times, earning National League All-Star selections in two of those campaigns. Despite being frequently sidelined, JJ is the most productive pitcher that the Marlins have ever employed in terms of both bWAR (25.8) and fWAR (21.4). 6. Ricky Nolasco Marlins debut: April 5, 2006 Marlins departure: July 6, 2013 Ricky Nolasco was a statistical anomaly. No pitcher during MLB's modern era with a minimum of 1,500 career innings had more of an "unlucky" gap between their ERA and FIP. That gap was even more pronounced as a Marlin (4.44 ERA/3.80 FIP) than it was with the other clubs we later pitched for. Nolasco overcame a chronically inflated batting average on balls in play to become the all-time Marlins wins leader in 2012 and nobody has come close to catching him since then. 5. Álex González Marlins debut: August 25, 1998 Marlins departure: February 6, 2006 His individual numbers were unimpressive, but González provided the Marlins with seven-plus seasons of continuity at the shortstop position. One of his ugliest slumps as a hitter coincided with the 2003 postseason—González entered the World Series with a .100/.122/.150 slash line. The Marlins' patience was rewarded when he launched a walk-off home run to win Game 4. He also scored the go-ahead run in Florida's Game 6 clincher. 4. Giancarlo Stanton Marlins debut: June 8, 2010 Marlins departure: December 11, 2017 Stanton is the only player who has ever signed a "lifetime" contract with the Marlins. Just days after celebrating his 25th birthday, he received a record-breaking extension covering the next 13 years. However, new ownership took over three years later and their top priority was reducing payroll. Fresh off the greatest season of his career, Stanton was put on the trade block. He exercised his right to veto agreed-upon deals with several other teams before eventually landing with the New York Yankees. Although the relationship ended awkwardly and Stanton's tenure did not result in any team success, hopefully the Marlins will shower him with the affection he deserves once his career concludes. 3. Miguel Rojas Marlins debut: June 27, 2015 Marlins departure: January 11, 2023 What a journey. The acquisition of Rojas was an afterthought, but eventually, he emerged as the leader of the Marlins clubhouse. He was one of the only holdovers from the Jeffrey Loria era who was wholeheartedly embraced by Sherman's front office (his contract was extended twice). Alas, outside of South Florida, there won't be many fans associating Rojas with the Marlins moving forward. The first paragraph of his baseball epitaph will describe him as the perfect "glue guy" who helped the Los Angeles Dodgers to back-to-back championships. He'll be finishing his playing career with the Dodgers in 2026. 2. Sandy Alcantara Marlins debut: June 29, 2018 Alcantara just began the final guaranteed year of his contract, which the Marlins astutely signed him to before his Cy Young campaign. He was made available to contending teams at the 2025 trade deadline, but reportedly at a steep price that none of them were willing to meet. As a result, he has become the longest-tenured Marlins pitcher ever. A durable 2026 season spent entirely with the Fish would allow him to become the franchise leader in career innings pitched, career strikeouts and wins at loanDepot park. 1. Luis Castillo Marlins debut: August 8, 1996 Marlins departure: December 2, 2005 Like Conine, Castillo has already been inducted into the Marlins Legends Hall of Fame. An excerpt from his plaque will suffice: "A three-time National League All-Star and three-time Gold Glove recipient (2003-05), the switch-hitting infielder also led the NL in stolen bases twice (2000 and 2002). The San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic, native played 10 seasons with the Marlins, and upon his induction, he ranked as the franchise leader in hits (1,273), at-bats (4,347), plate appearances (4,966), games played (1,128), singles (1,081), triples (42), walks (533), and stolen bases (281). View full article

If you want to be pedantic about it, the next step for the Miami Marlins is to actually announce their signing of Christopher Morel—the one-year, $2 million deal is still pending a physical as of early Monday morning. Assuming no complications with that, then what? As has been widely reported, the Marlins are searching for bullpen upgrades via free agency while entertaining trade offers for their starting pitchers, with most of the focus on Edward Cabrera. Contract extensions for Miami's top pre-arb players are also in play. I expect the bullpen signing to come first. Most of the relievers on the market who merited multi-year deals have already gotten them, and the Marlins insist on keeping their books clean beyond next season. Kirby Yates feels like the realistic best-case scenario. He was in the conversation for most dominant 'pen arm in MLB from the beginning of 2024 through the first quarter of 2025 before various injuries derailed him. Prized Japanese starter Tatsuya Imai has until January 2 to strike a deal with a major league club. Many of the suitors who fall short of acquiring the 27-year-old right-hander figure to be interested in Cabrera, himself being a 27-year-old right-hander. The Marlins might as well wait until then to intensify their negotiations. Extensions almost certainly will come last. Those can wait until spring training (once the Marlins have the comfort of knowing their extension candidates are fully healthy entering year one of a potential long-term deal). On Sunday in winter ball, Deyvison De Los Santos (Dominican Republic) went 2-for-4 with a walk. Jacob Berry (Puerto Rico) went 1-for-4, extending his on-base streak to 12 games. Only 102 days away from Marlins Opening Day. 🔷 After 10 seasons as owner of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Ken Babby sold the team to the Prospector Baseball Group. One of PBG's co-founders vows to continue running the Triple-A affiliate with "a distinctively local touch, with fans coming first." 🔷 The Marlins contributed 20 items to the MLB Winter Meetings Charity Auction, which combined to raise $18,165 for the Little League Disaster Relief Fund. A game-used Ichiro Suzuki jersey from 2016 did a lot of the heavy lifting ($7,030 winning bid). 🔷 Congratulations to Marle and Otto Lopez, who had their wedding last weekend in the Dominican Republic. Agustín Ramírez and Xavier Edwards were among the Marlins teammates who attended. 🔷 Today marks the final day of the 2025 signing period for international amateur free agents. The Marlins have officially signed 26 players this year, as shown here. That table will be updated if any stragglers join the organization today. The 2026 signing period will open on January 15. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the following players signed major league free agent deals: Jorge Polanco with the New York Mets (2-YR/$40M), Merrill Kelly with the Arizona Diamondbacks (2-YR/$40M), Tyler Rogers with the Toronto Blue Jays (3-YR/$37M), Danny Jansen (2-YR/$14.5M), Alexis Díaz and Tyler Alexander with the Texas Rangers, Kenley Jansen with the Detroit Tigers (1-YR/$11M), Amed Rosario with the New York Yankees (1-YR/$2.5M) and Dustin May with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Kansas City Royals traded Angel Zerpa to the Milwaukee Brewers for Isaac Collins and Nick Mears, and they signed Maikel Garcia to a contract extension (5-YR/$57.5M). View full article

Back on October 1, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported that the Miami Marlins payroll was "expected to rise" from its 2025 level, "but the extent of the increase remains to be determined." Jackson provided an update on Friday in the aftermath of the club agreeing to terms on a one-year deal with free agent Christopher Morel: "a source said last week that while the payroll will increase some, a significant payroll increase would not happen." While it's unclear what "significant" means, the 2025 Marlins had a year-end 40-man roster payroll of $67.7 million, according to Cot's Baseball Contracts. Their luxury-tax payroll estimate was $84.9 million. Since Bruce Sherman took over as the franchise's principal owner during the 2017-18 offseason, the Marlins have perennially ranked in the bottom third of MLB team spending, but they had never been dead last in either category until now. For context, from 2022-24, the Marlins averaged a 40-man payroll of $97.1 million and a luxury-tax payroll of $123.6 million. Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic previously theorized that "the Marlins might be operating with an additional motivation" because they did not come close to spending 150% of their league revenue-sharing intake on player payroll—approximately $105 million for luxury-tax purposes. "When a club fails to hit the specified number, the burden of proof shifts from the (Major League Baseball Players Association) to the club," encouraging the union to file a greivance against them. The Athletics found themselves in a similar predicament last winter and their payroll spiked accordingly. Jackson disputes the notion that the Marlins are concerned about this. If challenged by the MLBPA, they will argue that an ample amount of money is being spent to bolster the organization's infrastructure ("things you don't see," to quote Sherman himself). President of baseball operations Peter Bendix has been clear that the Marlins' overarching goal is to qualify for the postseason as frequently as possible. Coming off a 79-win season, they are only a few effective moves away from genuinely contending for an October berth. Yet the budget is apparently so tight that Bendix had to address the team's biggest weakness—first base—by rolling the dice on Morel, who's coming off a sub-replacement-level season and has zero experience at the position? As currently constituted, the 40-man roster payroll for the 2026 Marlins would already be in the $70 million range (though that is based on my rough estimates of Morel's compensation and not-yet-determined salaries for arbitration-eligible players). View full rumor

My timing is impeccable, isn't it? As of early Friday morning when this article was originally published, the Marlins had widespread "interest" in players capable of improving their lineup and late-inning relief, but had been unable to close any deals. That changed on Friday afternoon with the signing of Christopher Morel to a one-year deal. More than two months since Isaac Azout's pre-offseason roster projection, at least something has changed. On top of that, Fish On First's recent reporting from the Winter Meetings has added some clarity to how Miami's internal options would be utilized if the 2026 season started today. Position players Default starting lineup: C Agustín Ramírez, 1B Christopher Morel, 2B Xavier Edwards, 3B Graham Pauley, SS Otto Lopez, LF Kyle Stowers, CF Jakob Marsee, RF Griffin Conine, DH Heriberto Hernández Bench: C/1B Liam Hicks, UTIL Javier Sanoja, INF/OF Connor Norby, OF Dane Myers Ten of these 13 names finished the 2025 season on the Marlins active roster. The only exceptions to that outside of Morel are Stowers (oblique strain) and Myers (knee laceration), both of whom have since fully recovered from their injuries. I was debating whether to squeeze Eric Wagaman or Myers off the club to make room for Morel. Wagaman was the much more productive hitter throughout the second half of last year, but Myers can greatly impact games with his defense and baserunning. I'll give Myers the edge in that roster battle for now. Just missed: 1B Eric Wagaman, C Joe Mack Historically, most prospects with Mack's pedigree have been excluded from the Marlins Opening Day roster for service-time manipulation purposes—assigning them to the minor leagues for two weeks delays their free agent eligibility by a full year. Particularly during Bruce Sherman's ownership tenure, cost-efficiency has taken priority over winning ballgames. I have to assume that approach will continue until proven otherwise. Similar to Ramírez last year, Mack will likely debut in mid-to-late April. Pitchers Starting rotation: RHP Sandy Alcantara, RHP Edward Cabrera, RHP Eury Pérez, LHP Ryan Weathers, RHP Max Meyer Bullpen: RHP Ronny Henriquez, RHP Anthony Bender, RHP Calvin Faucher, RHP Tyler Phillips, LHP Cade Gibson, RHP Lake Bachar, LHP Andrew Nardi, RHP Janson Junk It feels like an eternity ago, but there was legitimate excitement around Meyer as a starter in spring training. He looked to be justifying the hype with a 2.10 ERA and 33.9% strikeout rate through his first five regular season starts. Regression hit him hard after that and his struggles were exacerbated by a hip injury. Although he ought to be on a short leash given the Marlins' abundance of rotation candidates, the former top draft pick will probably break camp with a starting job. The Marlins tendered Nardi a contract coming off a completely lost season. That doesn't mean his nagging back issue has been resolved. Even if available to take the mound, perhaps the quality of stuff will have diminished too much for him to reprise his 2023-24 role. Just missed: LHP Braxton Garrett, RHP Josh White Garrett would be the biggest beneficiary of a potential Cabrera trade. Barring that, he may have to bide his time in Jacksonville until a rotation spot opens up. White should be a welcome reinforcement for a bullpen that lacked swing-and-miss in 2025. It's just hard to squeeze him onto the roster if everybody's healthy and the Marlins decide to carry multiple lefty relievers. View full article