One Regend

The team needs someone that can put their players in the best position to succeed. McCullough is not that guy. The Marlins retained him because either they want an organizational puppet, or they're cheap. I'm starting to lean towards the middle.

Easy answer. Otto Lopez. Good hitting, elite fielding shortstops don't grow on trees. Even though Otto Lopez had that terrible slump in the second half, the fact his overall offensive production on the whole ends up still being solid means there's another level for him to unlock. If he puts it together for the entire season and doesn't have an extended slump like he did, oh boy, watch out NL. And I'm still not ruling out the possibility that, one season, he might just randomly pop off for 25+ HRs. If he does this, then we're talking about an MVP contender.

The Ryan Weathers trade killed the season before it even started. I don't care how good the prospects they got were, none of them are throwing 90+ pitches every 5 days and putting up the great production Ryan Weathers had, nor were they close to MLB-ready in 2026. Not to mention Weathers still being here means one of Tyler Phillips/Janson Junk/Ryan Gusto would be in the bullpen and that by itself would be a major improvement. Was it worth throwing away a postseason berth for a couple of players that maybe might make an impact 3 years from now? That is all I will say on the matter.

I will say this. If Clayton Kershaw didn't exist in this hypothetical world, I believe Jose would've won a Cy Young in 2013. I feel pretty strongly that most of the Clayton Kershaw voters would've gone to Jose. The NL's pitching was stacked in this era, sadly. From 2013 to 2023. It would take 10 more years until Sandy won the franchise's first Cy Young award. Jose accomplished a lot for his team before his tragic death, and sadly, all that will be remembered was not what he had done before the fateful day, but how he died on that fateful day.

This team needs to take a long hard look at themselves over the offseason. Is Clayton McCullough the guy to lead the team? (No, he's not.) Who's going to replace Sandy? (They had literally 2 starting pitchers for basically 65% of the entire season and now they're down one because Sandy is a free agent, the Marlins are not picking up that club option, and I have no hopes they will re-sign Sandy.) Is Eury Perez who we think he can be? (He's not Sandy 2.0. He's literally Edward Cabrera but with a different coat of paint. He gets shelled for 3 games in a row, and then goes out and pitches 9 1-hit innings next outing. You will never know what you're going to get from him on a given day.) What is Agustin Ramirez's role on this team? (He can't catch, they don't want him to learn 1B, and he can't hit home runs anymore. What's even the point of having him then? Did they get hosed by the Jazz Chisholm Jr trade?) What are the ramifications of the Ryan Weathers trade? (They gave up a guy who single-handedly could've gotten them to the post season (his innings + one of Phillips/Junk/Gusto in the bullpen rather than rotation). Were the prospects they got worth losing a playoff season?) Is the Graham Pauley experiment at 3B finally over? (I hope to dear god it is.)

Again, why is Kyle Stowers still playing? Why risk his injured hamstring? The season's lost. Shut him down for the year. Free Kemp Alderman.

If Ryan Weathers were still here, one of Ryan Gusto, Janson Junk, or Tyler Phillips is going to the bullpen. Forget about Ryan Weather's already great production, the fact one of those guys is in the bullpen is already a huge upgrade to the bullpen. We aren't sending up to the pitching mound gas can Cade Gibson and Tyler Zuber in meaningful innings.

After finding out he's being treated for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome? No thanks. He can stay as far away from Miami as humanly possible. The chances that a player can return to becoming a productive Major League player after having surgery for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome is nearly 0%. You'd be better off going to the lottery. And before you respond to me with Zack Wheeler, he's the exception, not the norm.

My biggest disappointment for this team is how much they were underachcieving the entire year. Especially Eury Perez, who the team was relying on as an anchor. His production through May was some of the worst pitching I've seen from him. And we all know Eury Perez is better than that. I was expecting regression to the mean for Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards after their insane statlines through the all-star break but in no way was I expecting literally .500 OPS in the second half. But perhaps, to me, what sank the entire season for the Marlins was their offseason trade that traded Ryan Weathers away. It felt so unnecessary. I don't care how good Brendan Jones and Dillon Lewis are as prospects, they aren't throwing 95+ pitches and 5-6 innings every 5 days while putting up respectable run-preventing metrics. They also weren't anywhere close to contributing to the major league club this year. If they had Ryan Weathers, I'd guarantee you the Marlins would have won at least 5 more games, if not more. Tyler Phillips would be in the bullpen, where he was thriving, and the bullpen would be so much better. I'd argue the Edward Cabrera trade too, but at least that trade made sense, since Cabrera had a volatile history and Owen Caissie has legit 30-HR potential if he isn't striking out in 37% of his plate appearances. Furthermore, if they won 5+ more games by Ryan Weathers simply existing, they wouldn't have dealt away Lake Bachar, and Liam Hicks would still be on the team. That unnecessary trade created an ugly butterfly effect that affected the entire season. Also, why is Kyle Stowers still playing? Why risk his already injured hamstring on games that were next-to-meaningless? Shut him down for the season and bring up Kemp Alderman (who, mind you, is putting up comparable numbers in AAA and is also playing the same positions) so we don't lose him to Rule 5.

And here lies the problem. The Dodgers lose a game-changing talent, they can just depend on the other five or so game-changing talents on their team and still win more games than most other teams. If said game-changing talent is going through a rough stretch, again, the other five or so game-changing talents can just pick up the slack. The Marlins lose a game-changing talent, they have to scramble through scraps and unproven players just to patch together what it is they're missing. If the game-changing talent in question is going through a seriously rough stretch (as is the example with Otto Lopez), the team struggles to try and replicate his prior production. (See also: The 12-game losing skid, and the skid they're currently on now.) This is the difference between the Dodger menace, and the Marlins. And as long as Bruce Sherman continues to not invest in the team, this will continue to be the case.

Caba's only contributions to his teams have really just come via Defense. Defense alone does not make a good player. Just ask Lewis Brinson and Monte Harrison how their careers panned out. Starlyn Caba has not made any progress since arriving in Miami, and that continues to be the case in 2026. He has a high OBP, but that's about the only good offensive tool he has. And I'm still skeptical on whether that tool sticks when facing higher-quality pitching in AA and especially AAA. Next year is his last year before he becomes eligible for Rule 5. Are we really going to put a guy with a career mark of .323 slugging on the 40-man roster? His statline is really just .389 OBP and the rest of the stats are literally just empty calories. Next year, he needs to do something to stand out, or else he'll be left off the 40-man roster just like Nasim Nunez (a similar player) was.

The Dodgers sweep the Marlins. Muncy MVP. EDIT: In response to below. ...Have you seen how the Marlins have been playing the past 10 games? They literally just got swept by the lowly Mets. What chance do they have against the Dodger menace?

Neither are Rule 5 eligible this year. That's why it's important to get Alderman some ABs in September. Which is why calling Graham Pauley up when they did was even more headscratching. They can't risk Alderman to Rule 5 and hope a Troy Johnston situation happens again where every team stupidly slept on him.

At this point, the rest of the games should be played as auditions for next year. If Stowers is still hurt, shut him down for the year and bring up Alderman so we don't lose him to Rule 5.

Starlyn Caba is 1 year away from being Rule 5 eligible. If he doesn't show any semblance of tangible progress next year, then the Jesus Luzardo trade will be up there with Yelich, Realmuto, and Miggy as the worst trades in Marlins history.