After having yet another team fire sale in 2018, the Miami Marlins’ never-ending rebuild appears to finally be making progress. This offseason, Miami signed veterans Jean Segura and Johnny Cueto and acquired reigning American League batting champion Luis Arraez. With the improvements the Marlins made this offseason, I believe they will be a much-improved team this season.
Despite losing 93 games last year, the Marlins’ pitching staff was one of the best in baseball. The staff registered an ERA of 3.87. Ace pitcher Sandy Alcantara won the National League Cy Young Award. Aside from Trevor Rogers (5.75 ERA), no Marlins starting pitcher had an ERA above 3.75.
Miami’s offense was one of the worst in Major League Baseball last season. Only the Pirates, Athletics, and Tigers had a worse OPS than the Marlins. Part of the reason the offense was so bad was that key contributors spent a combined 437 days on the injured list. This included projected starters like Jazz Chisholm, Garrett Cooper, Avisail Garcia, Jorge Soler, Joey Wendle, Brian Anderson, and Jon Berti.
To improve their offense, the Marlins traded Pablo Lopez, Jose Salas, and Byron Chourio to the Minnesota Twins for AL batting champion Luis Arraez. This a great move by the Marlins because Lopez had a good year in 2022 and the Marlins needed more offensive production. They also had a surplus of young pitchers making Lopez expendable. Arraez has three years of team control left and won’t be a free agent until 2026. The Marlins are showing that they want to contend very soon, otherwise, they wouldn’t make this move.
Despite trading away Lopez, the Marlins still have a very solid starting rotation. With Alcantara leading the way, the Marlins still have Trevor Rogers, Braxton Garrett, Edward Cabrera, and Jesus Luzardo. Garrett, Cabrera, Rogers, and Luzardo are still young pitchers and with Lopez now gone; all of them will have bigger roles and must take the next step. They also signed veteran pitcher Johnny Cueto as well. During his stint with the White Sox, Cueto showed he could be an effective pitcher.
One thing that the Bruce Sherman-led ownership is doing unlike the previous regime’s is spending money. This is something that Jeffrey Loria often never did. Heck, Loria would often pathetically cry poverty whenever he annually got rid of one or more key players.
Something else that is becoming evident in Miami is unlike under Jeffrey Loria, this team has a direction. A balanced core is also starting to form in Miami with Sandy Alcantara, Jazz Chisholm, and Garrett Cooper becoming a part of that. Throughout their history, the Marlins have struggled to establish a well-balanced core group of players. The Marlins have never had a well-balanced core for multiple seasons. The old Marlins would trade away one or more players that could’ve been a part of their core.
Despite the big steps the Marlins took this offseason, they won’t be contending in the NL East. The talent gap that exists between them and the Braves, Mets, and Phillies is just too great. However, the Marlins aren’t going to be a doormat for any of those teams anymore. With the progress, Miami is making in developing a core and as long as key players stay healthy, they could be playing late-season games that matter this season.
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