If you want to be pedantic about it, the next step for the Miami Marlins is to actually announce their signing of Christopher Morel—the one-year, $2 million deal is still pending a physical as of early Monday morning. Assuming no complications with that, then what?

As has been widely reported, the Marlins are searching for bullpen upgrades via free agency while entertaining trade offers for their starting pitchers, with most of the focus on Edward Cabrera. Contract extensions for Miami’s top pre-arb players are also in play.

I expect the bullpen signing to come first. Most of the relievers on the market who merited multi-year deals have already gotten them, and the Marlins insist on keeping their books clean beyond next season. Kirby Yates feels like the realistic best-case scenario. He was in the conversation for most dominant ‘pen arm in MLB from the beginning of 2024 through the first quarter of 2025 before various injuries derailed him.

Prized Japanese starter Tatsuya Imai has until January 2 to strike a deal with a major league club. Many of the suitors who fall short of acquiring the 27-year-old right-hander figure to be interested in Cabrera, himself being a 27-year-old right-hander. The Marlins might as well wait until then to intensify their negotiations.

Extensions almost certainly will come last. Those can wait until spring training (once the Marlins have the comfort of knowing their extension candidates are fully healthy entering year one of a potential long-term deal).

On Sunday in winter ball, Deyvison De Los Santos (Dominican Republic) went 2-for-4 with a walk. Jacob Berry (Puerto Rico) went 1-for-4, extending his on-base streak to 12 games.

Only 102 days away from Marlins Opening Day.

🔷 After 10 seasons as owner of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Ken Babby sold the team to the Prospector Baseball Group. One of PBG’s co-founders vows to continue running the Triple-A affiliate with “a distinctively local touch, with fans coming first.”

🔷 The Marlins contributed 20 items to the MLB Winter Meetings Charity Auction, which combined to raise $18,165 for the Little League Disaster Relief Fund. A game-used Ichiro Suzuki jersey from 2016 did a lot of the heavy lifting ($7,030 winning bid).

🔷 Congratulations to Marle and Otto Lopez, who had their wedding last weekend in the Dominican Republic. Agustín Ramírez and Xavier Edwards were among the Marlins teammates who attended.

 

🔷 Today marks the final day of the 2025 signing period for international amateur free agents. The Marlins have officially signed 26 players this year, as shown here. That table will be updated if any stragglers join the organization today. The 2026 signing period will open on January 15.

🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the following players signed major league free agent deals: Jorge Polanco with the New York Mets (2-YR/$40M), Merrill Kelly with the Arizona Diamondbacks (2-YR/$40M), Tyler Rogers with the Toronto Blue Jays (3-YR/$37M), Danny Jansen (2-YR/$14.5M), Alexis Díaz and Tyler Alexander with the Texas Rangers, Kenley Jansen with the Detroit Tigers (1-YR/$11M), Amed Rosario with the New York Yankees (1-YR/$2.5M) and Dustin May with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Kansas City Royals traded Angel Zerpa to the Milwaukee Brewers for Isaac Collins and Nick Mears, and they signed Maikel Garcia to a contract extension (5-YR/$57.5M).