One Regend

All three of those men are 1B/DH. Otto Lopez is a middle infielder who could potentially fill in at 3rd. Otto Lopez isn't competing with those guys. He's competing with Edwards and Norby. He's also competing with Serna, Sanoja, and Acosta, though most of those guys arent cracking the roster on Opening Day, barring an injury outbreak.

He shouldn't go anywhere before the ASG. Trading him now would be a massive mistake. He needs time to build up the stock he lost from Tommy John Surgery. If he performs like even 2022 Sandy (I'm not asking for his Cy Young form), he should bring back a premium haul. That said, he's also the face of the franchise and the primary jersey seller. Trading him will also come with its own consequences.

This was embarrassing to read. Who in the world is this proud of not spending on a team? That is truly disgusting. I get that we're a small market team and that we're not going to outspend the Mets or Dodgers, but this is an incredibly bad look on Bruce Sherman, and it leaves me not very hopeful that he'll spend even when our competitive window is open. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want Jeffrey Loria back. He may have also been a penny pincher, and spent recklessly the rare times he did, but at least he actually tries.

The last thing this rebuild needs is a PR mess. The less distractions this team has, the better.

Pivetta was always a someone who had outstanding peripherals but never had the results to back it up. He's a constant headache to whoever team has him for that reason. He clearly has the talent, but has never been able to live up to potential. That said, I think the Padres grossly overspent on him. They've gotten beaten by other teams on a variety of Free Agents, and their deal with Nick Pivetta speaks more about their desperation to sign somebody, rather than how good Nick Pivetta actually is.

Don't forget he was also pitching half his games in Coors Field. That ballpark has the tendency to deflate pitcher value in all of the wrong ways, even post-humidor. That can mess with a pitcher's head. It's why I don't view road splits from Colorado seasons as highly as some others do. Either way, it's a tank season. You're still losing 105+ games even with a marquee pitcher. Might as well buy low on someone and, if it works out, you could get a piece of the future back at the trade deadline. I mean, what else can the Marlins do at this juncture?

If the infield defense improves (knock on wood), I could see Quantrill being a nice trade piece to get a prospect back in return. A nice buy-low guy for what's going to be a 105 loss season.

Maybe Victor Mesa Jr and Robby Snelling if they overperform on a transcendent level, a lot of the reserves are injured, and Bellozo/Stowers stinks it up. But that would likely be mid-season, not to break out of spring training camp.

I mean this is what happens when your entire farm system is loaded with either 1B/DH prospects or prospects you will never see with an exit velocity above 85, with literally no in-between. I have no idea what Bendix's vision for talent even is, if he even has one, but it provides a bleak outlook for us. Even if Agustin Ramirez and Deyvision De Los Santos both turn into studs, we're either fielding 2 defensive messes, or clogging up the DH slot.

I'm not expecting immediate results from Sandy coming off TJS, but if he can reach 97 (instead of the 100 i usually expect from him), that'll at least be encouraging to see.

That's a shame. I was lowkey rooting for Daniel Gaitor as one of very few Bahamian players. Unfortunately, this is just a stark reminder that, if you don't perform, you don't stay on the team, no matter where you come from. Especially in a sport that is as cut-throat as Baseball.

Between 2005 and 2025, I think there are 2 other notable names I would like to mention. Andrew Heaney, and Jordan Holloway. I'll give it to you straight. The Marlins gave up on Andrew Heaney way too soon. Now, that isn't to say he would've changed much with us, but we definitely could've used his services in 2016-2017 when we had a fantastic hitting core but pitching left far too much to be desired. I mean, sure, we got Dee Gordon in that trade, but I still felt like we gave up way too much in that trade to justify the returns we got. As it is, his stint with us is a stark reminder of what that core could have been. Now? He seems to have hit his stride since donning the Dodgers uniform. Jordan Holloway seemed to have found a home as a promising relief pitcher for us, before he got injured. He was a hard-throwing strikeout machine who had command issues, which is typical for a relief pitcher. Now, he seems to have developed the yips, and very likely, his stint with us will likely be his last as a major leaguer.

I agree with not putting Norby in the 2-hole. 2 hole needs to be guys who are good at getting on base. But 8-hole? I can see dropping him to 5th or 6th, but 8th? That is wasted RBI potential if I have ever seen one.

62-100 projections? That's too generous. I see 110 losses, with a minimum of 105.

To be honest, I have no idea what the Padres saw from Woo-Suk Go when they scouted him. Even if he was the next Francisco Rodriguez, you don't throw around $2.25 million AAV to a strictly bullpen guy who has yet to even prove he could get major league hitters out. That kind of mistake should get A.J. Preller fired, but this trade may very well have saved his job.

He was a promising prospect for us... 2 years ago.

When it comes to spending $0 on Free Agency, I saw this coming long ago. I expected them to sign a couple of inconsequential players that do nothing but clog up roster spots. I wasn't expecting literally $0.

We're poised for a 110 loss season, strength of the schedule or not. Boy, I can't wait to have the best odds of getting the #1 overall draft pick only to drop 6 spots and pick 7th overall again because MLB hates us.

Extend Eury Perez now. He's not going to pitch until July at the earliest. He's only 21 years old. He's got a lot to prove because of the injury, but that's why it's important to get it done right now before he asks for $250 million. He's the most talented pitcher we've had since Jose Fernandez. Not taking a once-in-a-lifetime chance like this would be incredibly criminal. This is the best possible time to lock a cornerstone player up.

That remains to be seen. Brinson, Alfaro, Monte Harrison all had loud tools. They couldn't do anything with those tools, but they were loud. Jeter sucked at his job, but at least he tried to find talent. I don't know what Bendix is trying to build here, with the glut of 1B/DH prospects and 2B/COF prospects with no offensive impact. The idea of trading star players do not bother me. This team wasn't going anywhere, even with those players. But if you're going to trade star players, you have to get fair value out of those trades. This is where Bendix drops the ball. Unless you're happy with a bunch of 1B/DH prospects playing out of position and looking like a defensive mess, or you're okay with an Adeiny Hechavarria who can't hit above .250 or get on base over .300, I don't see how you're okay with the trade returns we've got. Bendix's return packages have been mediocre at best, and if I were to assume the worst, downright detrimental to the team's development. I do appreciate that you have hope in this team's future, and believe me, I wish I could. I just do not see it. Come, 4 years down the line, when Starlyn Caba gets Rule 5'd after 3 ineffective seasons, and Deyvision De Los Santos gets traded for lesser value than they gave up for him because he's being blocked by Agustin Ramirez, and PJ Morlando flames out in AA because nobody wants to play a COF guy who can't field or run and can barely hit, you can circle back to this post and I'll be the first to tell you "I told you so." But maybe the Marlins can surprise me. Maybe Starlyn Caba can develop his hit tool or plate discipline. Maybe Deyvision De Los Santos can improve his dexterity and be able to handle 3rd base. Maybe PJ Morlando won't look like a guy that should've been drafted in the 2nd Round. Maybe the Marlins coaching somehow becomes good at developing talent on a generational level. Then, and *maybe then*, do I see this team reaching the heights of 1997. I don't see it happening right now, though.

With all the godawful moves the Marlins have made in the offseason, this is the only transaction I can say with certainty that they have gotten right. Maybe having a good play by play might actually make this team be bearable to watch.

He's not wrong. Why root for a rookie core that's destined to fail? Bendix traded all of our valuable pieces for prospects that are very one-note. How am I supposed to have hope for the future when our prospect core is very flawed? Somehow I feel less hopeful for this team's future than I did following 2017's selloff. At least the prospects we acquired back then had loud tools. I can't think of a single tool this prospect core has that would be considered loud. The closest I can maybe think of is Agustin Ramirez, and he's got his own problems. It hurts watching this team be disassembled and replaced with flotsam and jetsam.

Even if we landed him, it wouldn't help us much. He would elevate this team from 110 losses to 106. And he'd likely be a free agent before we're good again. There's really not much more to say.

I wasn't around to actually vote in the polls, so I will give you my answers in text. I give the Marlins offseason a straight F. They were completely reckless with what little trade assets they had left. We traded two highly reputable players for 1B/DH prospects, prospects with zero power and maybe a glove, and 5'9 2B who have unsustainable power. Any real General Manager mind would've gotten better returns for their valuable pieces. Peter Bendix failed spectactularly here. 2024 was bad. It was so bad, the Marlins lost 100 games for the 4th time in franchise history. Instead of infusing the system with talented prospects, they did nothing but overload an already crowded position. So now 2025 is looking to take an even further step back than 2024 did. Except, now, there will be no help from the farm system. It's very plausible to see this team lose more than 110 games in 2025. This is not hyperbole. Unless they do an immaculate job with drafting prospects (which, sadly, the 2024 draft gave us a brief glimpse at Bendix's drafting strategy, and it doesn't look good), things will remain bleak for the forseeable future. 2024 was horrible, but 2025 is going to somehow be worse. Remarkably worse, at that. If we don't finish last place, then something has gone horribly wrong in Washington.

There's just a major problem with that. Most of the acquisitions we've been getting are 1B/DH type of bats... which Troy Johnston also profiles as. We have DLS. We have Agustin Ramirez. We have Jonah Bride. We just signed Eric Wagaman to a guaranteed deal. We just picked up Matt Mervis for basically free. All of these also profile as 1B/DH types. There's just no room for him on this roster due to the questionable way it was constructed. Peter Bendix masterclass!!