Ely Sussman

The only sensible place to begin is by sending my well wishes to any of you whose homes (or whose family members' homes) are in the path of Hurricane Milton. Please prioritize your safety over these next couple days. On Tuesday out in the desert, the Peoria Javelinas lost their first Arizona Fall League game, 15-13. Three Marlins prospects were involved—Kemp Alderman went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run and started in left field, Andrew Pintar went 1-for-5 with a single and a sacrifice fly while manning center field, and LHP Justin King struggled in relief (2.0 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K). You can rewatch the game here. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 Fish On First LIVE returns on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. ET. It's a special edition of Marlins Jeopardy, focused fully on the bizarre 2024 season, featuring Marlins radio broadcaster Kyle Sielaff as a contestant. We will be filling an entire category with audience submissions. Use the form embedded below or click here. Loading… 🔷 I have been humbled to receive a lot of positive feedback about the latest episode of The Offishial Show, a sitdown with former Marlins coordinator of baseball information services Bradley Woodrum. Linking to it one more time for anybody who missed it! 🔷 Fish On First SuperSub David Tobin is looking to unload well-preserved Marlins media guides from throughout the team's history. Contact him if interested. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Mets and Padres have pushed the higher-seeded Phillies and Dodgers to the brink of elimination, winning Tuesday's games by the final score of 7-2 and 6-5, respectively. The Rockies signed Bud Black to a one-year contract extension. Coming off back-to-back-to-back last-place finishes in the NL West, Black's tenure will presumably end after 2025 unless there is a meaningful uptick in the club's winning percentage. Luis Tiant passed away at the age of 83. One of the greatest Cuban baseball players ever (and one of the first to achieve MLB stardom), Tiant is best known for his stints with the then-Guardians and Red Sox. The Guardians, Brewers and Twins announced that their television broadcasts will be produced and distributed by MLB moving forward, splitting up with their local Bally affiliates. 🔷 Today's postseason schedule: Cleveland Guardians vs. Detroit Tigers, 3:08 p.m. ET (ALDS Game 4) Philadelphia Phillies vs. New York Mets, 5:08 p.m. ET (NLDS Game 4) New York Yankees vs. Kansas City Royals, 7:08 p.m. ET (ALDS Game 4) Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres, 9:08 p.m. ET (NLDS Game 4)

On Monday, Fish On First recorded an extended interview with Bradley Woodrum, whose seven-year tenure with the Marlins analytics department ended last month. We covered a ton of ground, such as how he got his foot in the door in the first place, the challenges that his department faced, his optimism for the franchise's future and why "there are no greater fans on earth than Marlins fans." Subscribe to Fish On First wherever you get your podcasts! Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 Kevin Barral projected what the 2025 Marlins Opening Day roster could look like if the team stood pat this offseason. Defense would still be a major weakness, in my opinion. 🔷 Our staff collaborated on an updated FOF Top 30 list. Kevin and I co-hosted a Twitter Space to explain the most significant changes and show some love for the honorable mentions who just missed the cut. 🔷 Josh Norris of Baseball America ranked RHP José Paulino among the top Dominican Summer League prospects of 2024. "Paulino’s stuff is as loud as any in the DSL, even if the results might not necessarily bear it out," Norris writes. "The 17-year-old’s fastball has peaked at 99 mph and sat around 95-97 mph. He backs the heater with a slurvy breaking ball in the high 70s featuring high spin rates and a seldom-thrown changeup that averaged around 87 mph." 🔷 As mentioned last week, the Marlins and Bally Sports Florida are renegotiating the terms of their local television deal. Assuming that their partnership continues, the network will be rebranded from Bally to FanDuel next season, according to Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal. This is contingent on Diamond Sports Group emerging from bankruptcy, which will be determined during a November 14 court hearing. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, each of the ALDS/NLDS matchups are tied at 1-1. Kerry Carpenter's ninth-inning home run off of Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase accounted for all of the scoring in the Tigers/Guardians game, while the Royals rallied for four runs in the top of the fourth to even their series with the Yankees. Although it wasn't enough to erase the deficit, Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit his first career postseason homer in the bottom of the ninth. a4o5bt.mp4 🔷 Speaking of Chisholm, happy 20th birthday to INF Abrahan Ramírez, who the Marlins acquired from the Yankees as part of that trade package. Ramírez has posted an elite 153 wRC+ in three seasons of rookie ball. He should be an everyday player with Low-A Jupiter in 2025. 🔷 The Arizona Fall League season has begun. The Peoria Javelinas, whose roster includes Marlins prospects, play their opening game today at 4:30 p.m. ET. 🔷 Today's MLB postseason schedule: Philadelphia Phillies vs. New York Mets, 5:08 p.m. ET (NLDS Game 3) Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres, 9:08 p.m. ET (NLDS Game 3) Marlins podcast episodes

If you're still a Miami Marlins fan, you simply need to listen to this. Bradley Woodrum, the team's former coordinator of baseball information services, joins Ely Sussman to reflect on the perks and challenges of working in baseball. Topics covered during our conversation: Getting hired to work in baseball Salary and compensation Peter Bendix's vision Gabe Kapler's front office future Overcoming payroll limitations The increased role of David Ott Young players for Marlins to build around Find The Offishial Show on the Fish On First YouTube channel, our new-look Apple Podcasts channel and wherever else you get your pods. FOF's audio programming also includes Fish Unfiltered, Swimming Upstream, Big Fish Small Pod and more. More than 70 baseball operations employees have been fired by the Marlins in recent weeks. That includes Woodrum, whose tenure began in January 2018. Having had the experience of working under previous baseball operations leaders Michael Hill and Kim Ng, Woodrum describes the main difference in Peter Bendix's approach: "With Hill and honestly with Kim, there was a mindset—especially as it pertained to my department—that analytics was one of the tools we're gonna take into battle with us. It was one of the pieces of the puzzle. I think the big paradigm shift...was there was a desire to develop analytics not as a tool, but as the glue that held everything together. "I'm sympathetic to that mindset. I think that's why I really have high hopes for where the Marlins are still going even though they're unfortunately gonna be going without me. Peter really sees analytics as this unifying force that is ingesting scouting reports, is ingesting reports from the coaches, is ingesting data in a way that then becomes actionable." Our interview expanded upon topics that Bradley previously discussed in this Reddit AMA. Follow Ely (@RealEly), Bradley (@BradleyWoodrum) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Subscribe to Bradley's YouTube channel. Join the Marlins Discord server! Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com.

Acquired via international free agency in 2024 ($1.5M signing bonus) August 2025: Unlike typical international amateur signings, León began his minor league career in the Florida Complex League, and he was immediately humbled by the quality of competition. The athletic Cuban recorded only eight hits in 24 games played, striking out at a staggering 46.6% rate. All but one of his defensive appearances came in center field. León's older brother, Pedro León, made his major league debut with the Houston Astros in 2024. FOF Top 30 history October 2024: #24 December 2024: #25 January 2025: #28 March 2025: honorable mention

Arguably the most high-profile of all MLB managerial candidates is off the market. As first reported by MLB.com's Mark Feinsand on Thursday night, Terry Francona is in agreement with the Cincinnati Reds to replace David Bell, who the club fired two weeks ago. Francona is a slam-dunk future Hall of Famer. He amassed 1,950 regular season wins and 44 more in the postseason during his stints with the Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Guardians/Guardians. He led the Sox to the 2004 and 2007 World Series titles. Citing health concerns, the 65-year-old ended his Guardians stint after the 2023 season and didn't have a full-time baseball gig this past year. According to The Athletic's C. Trent Rosecrans, Zack Meisel and Jenna West, the Reds had interest in outgoing Miami Marlins manager Skip Schumaker, who spent the final two seasons of his playing career (2014-2015) in Cincy, "though they didn’t reach the interview stage with him before hiring Francona." It isn't yet known whether the Marlins tried for Francona. The Reds also missed qualifying for the postseason, but finished 15 games better than the Fish did in 2024 and likely would be considered a more appealing vacancy to somebody with prior major league managerial experience. This news leaves the Marlins and Chicago White Sox as the only MLB teams who are openly searching for new managers. Last year's Craig Counsell fiasco is a reminder that other changes are possible around the league (teams can covertly negotiate with outside candidates to replace their incumbent skippers).

"The injuries that we sustained were one of the reasons that we had a difficult season," Miami Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix said during Tuesday's end-of-season press conference. That point is inarguable. Entering 2024 spring training, Jesús Luzardo, Eury Pérez, Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera were atop Miami's starting rotation depth chart. Each of them spent multiple months on the injured list with Pérez being sidelined for the full year. Spring standout Ryan Weathers helped fill the void through early June, only to lose more than half the season with his own fluky finger injury. Moreover, Sandy Alcantara, the most accomplished pitcher on the club, was ruled out for the entirety of 2024 before it even began while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. "At this point, we're optimistic about all of their health," Bendix continued, "and we know what those guys can do when they're healthy." Bendix declined to elaborate on why he's optimistic that the Marlins will be more effective at repelling the injury bug in 2025, simply saying, "we're always evaluating ways that we can get better." Within hours of this media availability, Bendix acted upon his evaluation. Head athletic trainer Lee Meyer and strength and conditioning coach Brendan Verner are among the 70-plus Marlins employees who have been fired recently, Craig Mish and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald report. Similar personnel changes are being made at lower levels of the organization as well. As of Thursday afternoon, the Marlins have seven job postings related to minor league athletic training, strength and conditioning, rehab and nutrition. Simultaneously onboarding qualified people for each of those positions and making sure they are philosophically aligned could have its benefits. That being said, I wanted to take a moment to properly calibrate expectations. Too often, injured pitchers are likened to robots undergoing routine maintenance. Reduced innings totals in a given season are "bullets saved" for subsequent seasons. There is no evidence to substantiate this. One of the only hard truths in this notoriously gray area is that past injuries are the strongest precursor of future injuries. The Marlins losing so many arms for extended periods was unequivocally bad for their long-term outlook. The 2024 campaign should not be dismissed as an anomaly and the outgoing support staff should not be scapegoated for it. To use Garrett and Luzardo as examples, sure, they are capable of pitching fully healthy seasons. The left-handers co-anchored the 2023 Marlins rotation, making every scheduled start. However, the vast majority of their professional seasons have been abbreviated by injuries. Both are Tommy John survivors who had new forearm scares this year. Fresh off of his own TJ rehab, Alcantara will try to emulate 2015 Matt Harvey and 2022 Justin Verlander, immediately re-establishing himself as an ace. That should be considered the ceiling for his performance, not a guarantee. El Caballo is extraordinary yet mortal, susceptible to the same unforeseen setbacks in availability and sharpness that afflict most other pitchers who've been in his exact situation. An additional layer of uncertainty: How successful will the Marlins be at developing new waves of reinforcements without the services of longtime pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. and minor league pitching coordinator Scott Aldred? Each of the aforementioned pitchers singled them out as positive influences on their careers. Bendix has elected to replace them anyway. Lastly, it's crucial to point out that pitchers do not have full control of their results. Even the most dominant ones rely on the fielders behind them to record the majority of their outs, and the Marlins' existing defensive alignment stinks. With the exceptions of Otto Lopez at second base and Nick Fortes behind the plate, the incumbent pieces do not fit together. There will be a frustrating gap between their actual and deserved results unless something changes this offseason. There is some randomness involved with the frequency and severity of injuries. It feels like the Marlins got especially unlucky in 2024. However, it'd be irresponsible to plan on Alcantara, Luzardo, Garrett, Pérez, Weathers and Cabrera all being healthy at the same time. If Bendix intends to field a significantly improved team in 2025, he ought to be proactive about adding depth and quality to this roster rather than banking on their luck evening out.

On Wednesday, Craig Mish of SportsGrid confirmed our reporting that the entire Marlins major league coaching staff has been let go. That includes Mel Stottlemyre Jr. (pitching coach since 2019) and bullpen coach Wellington Cepeda (bullpen coach since 2020). In the Miami Herald, Mish specifies that the organization has interest in bringing back bench coach Luis Urueta and first base/outfield coach Jon Jay in 2025, but that is up to the next manager to decide. Also within that Herald article, Mish and Barry Jackson describe there being mutual interest between the Marlins and Bally Sports Florida to continue their television broadcasting partnership. The club was due to receive more than $50M in local TV rights next season, but that deal is being renegotiated as Bally's parent company, Diamond Sports Group, goes through bankruptcy proceedings. Assuming 2025 revenue is lower than initially projected, don't be surprised if the Marlins' player payroll is impacted. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 Another nugget from the Herald: play-by-play announcer Paul Severino has reached the end of his contract, though "there's no indication that the Marlins want to make a change." Severino has been willing to consider other opportunities, putting his name in the mix for the Yankees radio job. No decision has been made regarding the TV analyst rotation of Tommy Hutton, Rod Allen, Gaby Sanchez and Jeff Nelson. 🔷 Kevin Barral summarizes how Marlins trade deadline departures and their teams fared over the final two months of the regular season. 🔷 Marlins 1B Deyvison De Los Santos was a 2024 All-MiLB Team first-team selection. 🔷 Voting for the All-MLB team is open until October 11. Luis Arraez, Jake Burger, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Tanner Scott are on the ballot. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Padres, Royals and Tigers won the second game of their respective Wild Card Series matchups, eliminating the Braves, Orioles and Astros. The O's have lost 10 straight postseason contests dating back to 2014. Detroit used a bullpen game with former Marlins prospect Sean Guenther recording five huge outs and earning the winning decision. It's the first time since 2016 that the Astros have fallen short of reaching the ALCS. Young Brewers outfielders Jackson Chourio and Garrett Mitchell combined for three homers to force a winner-take-all matchup against the Mets. 🔷 Today's MLB postseason schedule: New York Mets vs. Milwaukee Brewers Game 3 at 7:38 p.m. ET Marlins podcast episodes

On Tuesday, Peter Bendix spent 12 minutes taking questions from the media at loanDepot park...and not providing much transparency with his answers. Asked repeatedly about Skip Schumaker leaving the Miami Marlins, he declined to elaborate on why the relationship ended and what efforts the team made to retain him ("I'm going to keep the private conversations that we had private"). Bendix also wouldn't comment on the future of the coaches who had been on Schumaker's coaching staff in 2024. Mere hours after the press conference, our own Isaac Azout learned that all of them are being let go amidst a "bloodbath" of baseball operations personnel changes. Many of those who lost their jobs had expiring contracts anyway and likely saw the writing on the wall, but it's nonetheless a bold step. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 Previously outrighted to the minors by the Marlins, José Devers, Kent Emanuel, Cristian Pache and Ali Sánchez exercised their right to elect free agency. Among them, Sánchez had the longest stay on Miami's active roster in 2024, serving as backup catcher from late June through August. MLB Trade Rumors has a roundup of 30 other MiLB players from other organizations who also hit the open market on Tuesday. 🔷 Speaking of MLBTR, Matt Swartz shared his annual arbitration salary projections. Barring veteran offseason additions, the Marlins will have a smaller arbitration class than usual in 2025, consisting of Jesús Luzardo (projected $6.0M), Jesús Sánchez ($3.2M), Edward Cabrera ($2.2M), Braxton Garrett ($1.8M), Nick Fortes ($1.6M) and Anthony Bender ($1.4M). 🔷 No matter what, a former Marlin will receive a World Series ring this year. I listed 35 people with Fish ties whose current teams are participating in the MLB postseason. 🔷 Hector Rodriguez discusses which players stood out most during last month's Prep Baseball All-American Game in Miami. 🔷 Peter Pratt concluded his tenure as host of Locked On Marlins (final episodes embedded below). Peter's enthusiasm for the team is unmatched and I know his podcast was appreciated by many of you. Even though he's ending this chapter of his content creation career, I look forward to talking Fish with him frequently in the future. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Tigers, Royals, Mets and Padres won the opening games of their respective Wild Card Series matchups. Corbin Burnes and Michael King had terrific starts, though Burnes' came in a losing effort. The Giants hired recently retired franchise legend Buster Posey as their new president of baseball operations. The Cubs let go of first base coach Mike Napoli, hitting coach Jim Adduci and bullpen coach Darren Holmes; and the Pirates parted ways with hitting coach Andy Haines and bullpen coach Justin Meccage. 🔷 Today's postseason schedule: Tigers vs. Astros Game 2 at 2:32 p.m. ET (Tigers lead 1-0) Royals vs. Orioles Game 2 at 4:38 p.m. ET (Royals lead 1-0) Mets vs. Brewers Game 2 at 7:38 p.m. ET (Mets lead 1-0) Braves vs. Padres Game 2 at 8:38 p.m. ET (Padres lead 1-0) Marlins podcast episodes

It's a near-annual tradition. There are pleasant surprises like 2023 when the Miami Marlins themselves sneak into the MLB postseason field. Far more often than not, unfortunately, the Marlins turn into spectators during October. So which former Fish will win World Series rings in 2024? In advance of Tuesday's playoff action, here is a team-by-team roundup on who's in the mix. Unless otherwise clarified in parentheses, everybody listed below previously played MLB regular season games with the Marlins and is eligible to compete in the postseason (though some will be left off of their team's roster). I've also listed notable people who have less obvious yet still relevant connections to Miami. Atlanta Braves Adam Duvall Dylan Lee (ex-Marlins prospect) Marcell Ozuna Jorge Soler Baltimore Orioles Fredi Gonzalez (ex-Marlins manager) Brandon Hyde (ex-Marlins coach and interim manager) Emmanuel Rivera Trevor Rogers Cleveland Guardians Josh Naylor (ex-Marlins prospect) Detroit Tigers Sean Guenther Juan Nieves (ex-Marlins coach) Houston Astros Joe Espada (ex-Marlins coach) Kansas City Royals Yuli Gurriel Garrett Hampson Los Angeles Dodgers Austin Barnes (ex-Marlins prospect) Kiké Hernández Miguel Rojas Alex Vesia Milwaukee Brewers Colin Rea Christian Yelich (unavailable due to injury) New York Mets Huascar Brazoban Starling Marte Ryne Stanek New York Yankees Jon Berti Jazz Chisholm Jr. Cody Poteet Giancarlo Stanton Philadelphia Phillies J.T. Realmuto Kyle Tyler San Diego Padres Luis Arraez Bryan Hoeing Michael King (ex-Marlins prospect) Sean Reynolds Tanner Scott Donovan Solano

Luis Arraez has done it again. The former Miami Marlin and current San Diego Padre is the 2024 National League batting champion. Arraez won his league's batting title each of the previous two years as well (2022 AL and 2023 NL). He is the first player in AL/NL history to win batting titles as a member of three different teams, and he accomplished the feat in back-to-back-to-back fashion. The 27-year-old Arraez has had only three seasons as a qualified MLB hitter, all of them resulting in the same hardware. He won his first batting title with the Minnesota Twins, the organization that originally signed and developed him. The Venezuelan infielder edged out AL MVP Aaron Judge for the 2022 crown (.316 BA to .311 BA). He was traded to Miami the following offseason in exchange for a package of Pablo López, José Salas and Byron Chourio. Last season while playing exclusively for the Marlins, Arraez got off to a blazing start. He finished with a .354 batting average, 17 points above the second-best NL qualifier (Ronald Acuña Jr., .337 BA). He also set a Marlins franchise record for highest single-season batting average in the process and enjoyed his most productive overall season as a big leaguer in the estimation of both fWAR (3.3) and bWAR (4.9). There was more drama this time around. Arraez underperformed early in 2024, going 0-for-10 in his first two games of the season and recording multiple hits just once in his first nine games. Through 33 games, he recovered to a .299 BA, but that went along with zero home runs and poor defense at second base. Arraez could've hit 1.000 and it would not have been enough to salvage this wretched Marlins season. Practically every veteran on the roster struggled to an even greater extent than he did while injuries decimated their starting rotation. The Marlins owned a 9-24 record when news broke shortly before first pitch on May 3 that a deal was being finalized to send Arraez to San Diego. From May 4 onward, the Padres posted the second-highest winning percentage in the majors, with Arraez occupying the leadoff spot in their lineup. It took only a few weeks for him to climb atop the NL batting average leaderboard. In June, he suffered a torn ligament in his left thumb, but he continued to play on a near-daily basis. From September 17-26, Arraez had a 2-for-28 slump that nearly opened the door for Shohei Ohtani and Marcell Ozuna to snatch the title from him. However, he stopped the bleeding with a 3-for-5 effort this past Friday and clinched the title with a 1-for-3 Sunday performance. Back in Miami, Xavier Edwards has brilliantly filled Arraez's table-setting role, hitting .328 this season during his first extended opportunity in The Show. Time spent on the injured list prevented Edwards from qualifying for the batting title (min. 502 PA), but he was the NL leader in that category if you lower the minimum threshold to 300 plate appearances. Health permitting, he ought to one of Arraez's main challengers for the 2025 crown. Despite earning a familiar accolade, this was not a good year by Arraez's standards. His wRC+, which had been 130 in both 2022 and 2023 (30% better than league average), dipped to 109. He made contact more frequently than ever, but sacrificed the quality of that contact. Arraez also moved the wrong way on the defensive spectrum from full-time second baseman to splitting time between first base and designated hitter. Meanwhile, his salary has increased via arbitration from $6.1M in 2023 to $10.6M in 2024 to a projected $15M+ in 2025 (his final year of club control). You might say it's a good problem for the Padres to have, but it is a problem nonetheless to assess how much Arraez's injury impacted his production and whether they're interested in extending him beyond 2025 (the Twins and the Marlins clearly were not).

On Sunday, Ryan Weathers (6.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 97 pitches/57 strikes) concluded his 2024 campaign on an awesome note. That's about as nasty as I've ever seen his sweeper. The Marlins took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Jonah Bride's two-run single and never relinquished it. Jake Burger started a game in the leadoff spot for the first time in his major league career, though his pursuit of a 30-home run season fell short. Anthony Bender recorded four outs to convert his first save of the season. The Marlins won, 3-1, completing what was only their second sweep of 2024. Their final record: 62-100. At 8:00 p.m. ET, the Marlins addressed the elephant in the dugout. Chairman and principal owner Bruce Sherman announced that they have "mutually agreed to part ways" with Skip Schumaker and "will immediately begin the process of searching" for his replacement. Schumaker had a 146-178 overall record (.451 W-L%) with the Fish, which is fittingly identical to Jim Leyland, who led Florida to a 1997 World Series title, only to have his roster gutted the next season in a cost-cutting effort. Leyland was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this year, primarily due to his achievements with other clubs. I think Schumaker has a lengthy and successful managerial career in front of him as well. He's studious, observant, fiery and humble with innate leadership skills. It will be difficult to find a new skipper who handles the role as effectively as he did. Coincidentally, I was talking about Schumaker on State of the Fish exactly when the news broke. Listen back to the full recording for our staff's thoughts concerning the future of the Marlins, on and off the field. Here's more Marlins news and content: 🔷 Various stats that stood to me about the 2024 Marlins...They scored nearly as many runs (637) as the 2023 postseason-bound team (666). Their 22-win decline largely stemmed from pitching and defensive struggles. Otto Lopez accrued plus-8 defensive runs saved; the rest of his teammates combined for minus-35. Xavier Edwards ranked fifth in the majors with a .397 on-base percentage among players who had at least 300 plate appearances. His injury-shortened season was genuinely elite, though I remain skeptical of his fit at shortstop. Kyle Stowers' 35.5 K% was the worst among all players to receive meaningful playing time for the Marlins. He'll have a lot to prove in spring training. 🔷 The 2024 Prediction Time winner still has not been determined! After 52 Marlins series, there was a tie atop the leaderboard between @Daniel Rodriguez and @Nicholas Milton. As a tiebreaker, they will be predicting the outcomes of this week's Wild Card Series matchups. 🔷 I outlined all of the key dates that bridge the gap between the end of the 2024 season and the start of 2025 spring training. 🔷 Several Marlins players shared their optimism for 2025 and beyond, as Isaac Azout details. 🔷 Francys Romero of Beisbol FR reports that Roman Ocumarez is a finalist to take over the Mets' international scouting department. Ocumarez spent nearly three years with the Marlins prior to being let go this summer. 🔷 Voting for the All-MLB team is open until October 11. Luis Arraez, Jake Burger, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Tanner Scott are on the ballot. 🔷 On this day 15 years ago, Ricky Nolasco established a Marlins franchise record that still stands by striking out 16 batters in a single game, including nine in a row at one point. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the regular season ain't over yet. The Braves and Mets will meet in Atlanta today for a straight doubleheader to determine the final two National League Wild Card spots. Sweeping the doubleheader would eliminate the losing team from making the playoffs, while a split would eliminate the Diamondbacks. Much like the Marlins, the White Sox got uncharacteristically hot during the season's final week, winning five of their last six games, so they finished at 121 losses, just one more than the previous modern-era record. Luis Arraez clinched his third consecutive batting title, leading all qualified NL players with a .314 BA (he previously led the AL in 2022 and the NL in 2023). Tarik Skubal won the AL pitching crown, pacing the league in ERA (2.39), strikeouts (228) and wins (18). Marlins podcast episodes

Now that the deplorable 2024 Miami Marlins season is over, our full attention shifts to how the franchise will go about improving. Some seeds were planted during the course of the summer via front office personnel changes and trades that bolstered Miami's farm system, but there's a lot of heavy lifting still ahead to even sniff Peter Bendix's stated goal of "long-term sustainable success." Needless to say, the 2025 Marlins roster will look different than the 2024 one did. I curated these key offseason dates to help fans understand the timing and rationale of certain transactions that you'll see in the coming months. I leaned heavily on the Cot's Baseball Contracts transaction calendar when formulating this article. Awesome resource! October 1: Peter Bendix's end-of-season press conference The Marlins are scheduled to hold a media availability with their president of baseball operations at loanDepot park to discuss the club's 2024 season, the decision to "mutually part ways" with manager Skip Schumaker and next steps. October 8: Peoria Javelinas Arizona Fall League season opener The following Marlins prospects are participating in the AFL this year: OF Kemp Alderman, INF Jay Beshears, LHP Justin King, LHP Patrick Monteverde, OF Andrew Pintar, RHP Jun-Seok Shim, LHP Justin Storm and RHP Brandon White. The AFL regular season runs through November 14 with the championship game scheduled for November 16. Five days after the World Series: MLB free agents eligible to sign with new teams The Marlins don't have any pending MLB free agents of their own. Last offseason, they barely participated in free agency, signing only one player (Tim Anderson) to a guaranteed deal. However, now that Bendix has had a full year to get acclimated to his position and lighten the team's future payroll commitments via trade, there is the flexibility for the Fish to be more active this time around. This also serves as the deadline to reinstate all players from the 60-day injured list and make corresponding 40-man roster moves if necessary. Miami finished the regular season with six guys on the 60-day IL: Sandy Alcantara, Braxton Garrett, Jesús Luzardo, Andrew Nardi, Eury Pérez and Sixto Sánchez. Early November: GM Meetings Lead baseball executives from the 30 MLB teams convene. Bendix will presumably be accompanied by at least one of his assistant general managers (Gabe Kapler and Brian Chattin). Mid-November: Deadline to protect Rule 5 Draft-eligible players To protect key prospects from potentially getting picked in the major league phase of the Rule 5 Draft, the Marlins will have to select them to their 40-man roster. Recently acquired infielders Deyvison De Los Santos and Jared Serna are the most notable Rule 5-eligible Marlins. This deadline typically spurs trade activity around the league, either involving Rule 5-eligible prospects or the players being displaced from a team's 40-man to make room for those prospects. November 22: MLB non-tender deadline This is when teams have to ask themselves whether they value their players as much as the arbitration process does. It's their last opportunity to release them with no strings attached, like the Marlins did last year with Jacob Stallings and Garrett Hampson. The following unsigned players on the Marlins roster will be eligible for raises if retained for the 2025 season: Jesús Luzardo (third year of arbitration eligibility aka Arb 3), Jesús Sánchez (Arb 2), Anthony Bender (Arb 2), Braxton Garrett (Arb 1), Edward Cabrera (Arb 1) and Nick Fortes (Arb 1). December 8-11: Winter Meetings Dallas, Texas, will be hosting the league's annual Winter Meetings. This is where the 2024 Rule 5 Draft and 2025 MLB Draft lottery are being held. By virtue of finishing with a bottom-two record among lottery-eligible teams, the Marlins have 22.45% odds of winning the No. 1 overall draft pick. There is no specific deadline for when the Marlins must announce Skip Schumaker's successor, but every MLB manager traditionally attends the Winter Meetings, so expect it to happen sometime before then. December 15: End of 2024 international free agent signing period So far, Miami's international class consists of 32 players, headlined by Cuban INF Luis Manuel León—whose signing has not yet been announced by the team as of this writing—and Venezuelan OF Luis Cova. Beisbol FR's Francys Romero reports that the Marlins have $167,500 left in their bonus pool. Bonus pool space does not roll over to the next signing period (use it or lose it). January 15: Start of 2025 international free agent signing period The Marlins have a $7,555,500 bonus pool for the 2025 signing period, tied for the largest among all MLB teams. They already have deals in place to allocate most of that money. Those players can begin putting pen to paper on Jan. 15. Mid-February: Players report to spring training As has been the case for two-plus decades, Marlins spring training will be based at the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium complex in Jupiter. Pitchers and catchers will report during the week of February 10 (exact date TBD). The Marlins face the St. Louis Cardinals in their Grapefruit League opener on Feb. 22.