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.
More to come.