The Marlins are the hottest team in baseball and they apparently want to keep it that way. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the club is likely to make some additions ahead of the August 3 deadline and plans to keep right-hander Sandy Alcantara. The report mentions third base, the rotation and the bullpen as places where Miami will probably look to add.
The Fish have been ostensibly rebuilding since Peter Bendix took over as president of baseball operations, though that began in a slightly unusual way. Miami snuck into the playoffs in 2023 with 84 wins. Despite that, owner Bruce Sherman didn’t have faith in the long-term prospects of the club, given their weak farm system. He parted ways with general manager Kim Ng and hired Bendix.
After getting the job, Bendix had a very quiet offseason. Going into 2024, his biggest free agent signing was a $5MM deal for Tim Anderson. Even though the Marlins were coming off a postseason appearance, he didn’t hesitate to act as a seller. They got out to a slow start in 2024 and Luis Arraez was traded to the Padres on May 4. They ended up losing 100 games that year. They were more respectable in 2025, finishing at 79-83.
The most recent offseason didn’t suggest the club was moving out of rebuild mode. Their biggest free agent signing was a $13MM deal for Pete Fairbanks. They made some sell-side moves, flipping out pitchers Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers for prospects.
The early part of this season didn’t point to an end of the rebuild either. On June 7th, the Marlins were 31-35 and 14 games back of Atlanta in the National League East. But since then, as mentioned, they have been the best team in baseball. They are now 52-42 and only three games back. They are in possession of a Wild Card spot, at least three games clear of all the clubs below them.
That still doesn’t mean the Marlins are ready to fully commit to contention. Per Rosenthal’s report, the Marlins still don’t think their farm system is as strong as they would like it to be. Baseball America updated their farm system rankings this week and had Miami 20th. As such, the Fish probably aren’t going to throw a bunch of prospects on the table in order to make splashy trades. Rather, they might make more strategic additions. Rosenthal suggests the club could even trade from the big league roster in order to keep more prospects.
Bendix worked for the Rays for many years before coming to Miami. The Tampa club is known for often walking a fine line of buying and selling, as they balance short- and long-term needs. For instance, at last year’s deadline, they traded away big league players like Danny Jansen, Taj Bradley, Zack Littell and Curtis Mead while picking up Griffin Jax, Adrian Houser, Nick Fortes and Hunter Feduccia. This winter, they traded away Shane Baz, Brandon Lowe, Josh Lowe and others but also added Cedric Mullins, Ryan Vilade, Nick Martinez and more. Perhaps we will see Miami try to strike a similar balance, adding in some areas but subtracting in others, ideally helping in 2026 but without meaningfully hurting the club’s long-term trajectory.
It seems this approach will involve Alcantara staying in Miami. He has been in trade rumors for years, which is understandable since the Marlins have been willing to trade away so many starting pitchers over the years. However, there have been some reasons to expect him to stay. Rosenthal reported in May that the righty is a personal favorite of Sherman and is a leader in the clubhouse. Sherman effectively confirmed that report last week. As relayed by Jordan McPherson of The Miami Herald, Sherman appeared on Marlins Radio and spoke glowingly of the righty. “He’s our franchise icon,” Sherman said, “and for us, I look forward to many years in the future and what this all becomes.”
There is also the financial aspect to consider. Per MLBTR’s Payroll Tracker, the Marlins have the second-lowest cash payroll in the league this year at $83MM, ahead of only the Guardians. Miami’s $84MM competitive balance tax figure is last in the league. Alcantara is the highest paid player on the team, making $17MM this year. There’s a $21MM club option for next year with a $2MM buyout. That would be solid value even if he’s not quite the ace he was a few years ago.
There’s a nonzero chance the Marlins can’t have their payroll so low again next year. With the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations, the league is pushing for a cap/floor system. Their initial proposal had the floor at $171.2MM, more than double what the Marlins are currently paying. The MLBPA won’t agree to that system but even their proposal included a soft floor and other measures designed to get smaller clubs to spend more.
It’s too early to tell how those negotiations will play out but the Marlins have to at least plan on what they will do if they are forced to spend more money in the future. In that scenario, it makes more sense to extend Alcantara than to trade him, since removing him from the books would put them even further away from a solution.
Rosenthal floats the possibility of the Marlins taking on some money at this year’s deadline, as that would be a way to minimize the prospect capital needed to acquire players. However, he also suggests the Marlins aren’t likely to go after a big commitment such as that of Matt Chapman. The Giants would surely love to find a taker for Chapman since he is owed $100MM over the next four years, on top of his remaining salary this year. But while the Marlins are still waiting to see what the next CBA looks like, they aren’t likely to be interested in something like that, even if Chapman were willing to waive his no-trade clause and move to Miami.
It’s possible the club could take on money in smaller ways, perhaps on impending free agents. The Giants have Robbie Ray and Tyler Mahle, both making eight-figure salaries. If they want to just dump those contracts, perhaps the Marlins could agree to take them on while sending marginal prospects the other way. It’s unclear if the Giants would be open to that. They certainly want to open up long-term payroll capacity, but for short-term deals, they might be willing to eat money in order to secure better prospect returns.
Turning to the possibility of the Marlins trading from the big league roster, Rosenthal floats catcher/first baseman Liam Hicks as someone who would garner interest from other clubs. A Rule 5 pick last year, he produced league average offense in 2025 while playing competent defense at his two positions. He has been even better at the plate this year, with a .286/.358/.459 line and 123 wRC+.
That kind of production is useful for the Marlins but they also have other options for the spots Hicks plays. Kyle Stowers came up as an outfielder but has become Miami’s regular first baseman lately. He is hitting .243/.327/.467 on the year for a 114 wRC+. Catcher Joe Mack began this year in the minors but has now put 50 big league games under his belt with roughly league average offense and really strong defense.
Hicks has been occasionally playing those two spots while mostly serving as the designated hitter. If the Marlins were willing to move on from Hicks, they could keep Stowers at first with Mack behind the plate. Brian Navarreto is already on the roster as a backup catcher. The DH spot could then be used to rotate various guys through, or the Marlins could pick up another bat in trade. Rosenthal mentions Agustín Ramírez, who is currently on optional assignment. He’s a poor defensive catcher but decent hitter, so perhaps he could replace Hicks in the role of a guy who mostly hits but can catch occasionally. They would surely get plenty of interest in Hicks, given his production. He is also still pre-arbitration and controlled for four more seasons, which only adds to the appeal.
Turning to the needs, Rosenthal mentions a back-end starter, which makes sense for the club. They have a strong front-end of their rotation with Alcantara, Eury Pérez and Max Meyer, but things get shaky from there. They lost Robby Snelling to Tommy John surgery after just one start. Prospect Thomas White has a capsular strain and might miss the remainder of the season. Tyler Phillips and Janson Junk are doing serviceable work in back-end jobs but the depth isn’t strong at the moment. Pérez and Meyer also have workload concerns, so bolstering this area makes plenty of sense.
Earlier this week, as part of MLBTR’s Trade Deadline Outlook series for Front Office Subscribers, Anthony Franco threw out Mahle, Eric Lauer and Brady Singer as theoretical targets for back-end starters who wouldn’t cost much. Those are just a few of many possibilities.
Rosenthal also mentions a leverage reliever as a possible addition. The Miami bullpen has actually been good overall, with a collective 3.73 ERA that puts them seventh in the league. But they recently lost Anthony Bender and John King to the injured list.
Also, Fairbanks is struggling, with a 6.75 ERA on the year. It’s possible that’s just bad luck, as his .328 batting average on balls in play and 54.9% strand rate are both to the unfortunate side while his 30.2% strikeout rate is quite good and his 9.5% walk rate close to average. His 4.79 FIP and 3.34 SIERA suggests he has deserved far better, but it’s understandable that the Marlins would look to bolster their late-game mix regardless. There are dozens of relievers who could be available, including Luke Weaver, Kirby Yates and more.
At third base, Javier Sanoja is getting most of the playing time these days. He is having a decent season but he can play all over the diamond, so the Marlins could bring in an external addition and then have Sanoja in a super utility role. Rosenthal throws out Blaze Alexander, Ezequiel Durán, Gabriel Arias and Oswald Peraza as a speculative possibilities.
Time will tell who the Marlins target but their general position is a notable one. Broadly speaking, there are very few teams who are clear sellers in the wide open playoff races, making it a seller’s market. As of a few months ago, the Marlins were trending towards doing some selling but have played well enough to flip the script. With Alcantara seemingly off the market, that could impact the prices of other arms. For the Marlins, it’s already been an exciting season and perhaps the front office can keep the momentum going.
Photo courtesy of Mike Watters, Imagn Images
