Photo by Matias J. Ocner
mocner@miamiherald.com
JUPITER
Bruce Sherman and Peter Bendix know what other teams around Major League Baseball are doing compared to the Miami Marlins. The top teams are spending top dollars for top free agents, building what they hope to be championship rosters through large payrolls.
Meanwhile, the Marlins, one of baseball’s perennial underspenders, spent just $20.5 million on four free agent signings this offseason in relief pitchers Pete Fairbanks ($13 million) and John King ($1.5 million), starting pitcher Chris Paddack ($4 million) and utility player Christopher Morel ($2 million). The team’s projected payroll for its 26-man roster, according to FanGraphs, is an MLB-low $73 million.
“We don’t care what other teams are doing,” Bendix, the Marlins’ president of baseball operations, said Monday before the team’s first full-squad workout of spring training. “We’re trying to beat them. That’s what it comes down to. There’s 30 teams. There’s the same number of wins in baseball every single year. We’re trying to get our share higher and higher every single year. So we don’t really concern ourselves with what other teams are doing. We’re just trying to beat them.”
For the Marlins, for better or worse, they’re committed to doing it their way.
That means a priority on infrastructure and player development to build a roster and sustainable success — their calling card catchphrase ever since Sherman bought the Marlins eight years ago — rather than competing in a bidding war with the likes of the Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, Phillies, Blue Jays and Braves of the world who have projected payrolls this season of upwards of $250 million.
They have funneled money into revamping their spring training and minor-league complex in Jupiter, with the renovations unveiled at the start of spring training last week. They have added technology. They have experimented with different innovative ways to prepare and produce, including replacing bullpens with “pitch design sessions” and having the coaching staff call pitches from the dugout.
They hope all of this, with select spending on the roster and improvement from within, leads to their end goal.
“We want to win,” Sherman said. “W. I. N. Period.”
Miami Marlins owner Bruce Sherman speaks to the media before the start of their team’s first full-squad spring training workout at Roger Dean Stadium on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, in Jupiter, Fla. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
To their credit, the Marlins did finish last season on a winning note. After falling a season-low 16 games under .500 on June 11, at 25-41, Miami finished the season winning 54 of its final 96 games — a .563 win percentage over the final 60% of their schedule — to end the season with a 79-83 record and be in the race for a playoff spot going into the final week of the season.
“We did it last year, right?” infielder Connor Norby said. “And we’re only going to be better this year. … We’re looking to take that next step and looking to compete.”
They hope it’s a sign of what’s to come, a foundation that can be built upon — just like they hope the infrastructure they have invested in behind the scenes will serve as the needed backbone to produce on the field.
But will it? They can hope. But results won’t show until the season begins on March 27 against the Colorado Rockies and the 162-game schedule plays out.
“I’m excited about this year and the possibilities,” second-year Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said, “but we can’t fall into the trap of looking months ahead. If you’re a player and you have counting stats that you want to hit, well, what happens in July, if you’re way off of those? Do you give up as a team? Just trying to keep things as in the moment and in the present as we can to enjoy what’s ahead of us. Where we are in September is where we’ll be. I don’t have a crystal ball what that looks like now, but I do know that each day, just trying to make strides and getting better is how you ultimately have a great season.”
Miami Marlins players huddle during the team’s first full-squad spring training workout at Roger Dean Stadium on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, in Jupiter, Fla. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
The Marlins, young and inexperienced and underdogs, know what it takes to make those strides.
Miami went on most of its late-season run last season without several of its top players.
Outfielder Kyle Stowers, who became an All-Star and extension candidate, missed the final six weeks of the season with an oblique strain. Norby, expected to have a breakout season, spent three separate stints on the injured list. Griffin Conine missed almost all of the season with a shoulder injury. Starting pitcher Braxton Garrett missed the whole season, as did lefty high-leverage reliever Andrew Nardi. Fellow starter Max Meyer got hurt in early June and never returned.
They received contributions from a slew of under-the-radar names.
Such as outfielder prospect Jakob Marsee, who is slated to be the starting center fielder; such as utility player Javier Sanoja, who won a Gold Glove while playing seven different positions; and from infielder Otto Lopez, who impressed at shortstop defensively and hit 15 home runs.
Sandy Alcantara and Eury Perez continue to lead the rotation. The bullpen has improved, with Fairbanks and King (and potentially Nardi) adding to the likes of Tyler Phillips, Cade Gibson, and Calvin Faucher in high-leverage roles.
“The state of the organization, top to bottom, I feel like is in a very good spot with a lot of young players that can still get better but can really build upon last year, build upon the second half that we had last year,” Bendix said. “It’s still something that we’re looking to improve at all levels. We need to develop our minor-league system. We need to develop everything to get to our goal of being really good for a long period of time.”
Miami Marlins catcher Joe Mack (80), shortstop Xavier Edwards (9) and center fielder Jakob Marsee (87) run drills during the team’s first full-squad spring training workout at Roger Dean Stadium on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026, in Jupiter, Fla. Photo by Matias J. Ocner mocner@miamiherald.com
But is it enough to make a statement this year? Is it enough to break through and get into the upper echelon of baseball — or at least stay in the tier that should compete?
There are still doubts externally. Marlins are projected to win about 75 games this season, that number fluctuating a game or two depending on the model used. Miami knows its improvements weren’t made in a vacuum, that they weren’t the only team trying to build upon what they did a year ago.
Then again, they were only projected to win about 70 games last year and beat that mark by nine games.
“The reality of it is all 30 teams are trying to get better,” Stowers said. “From the Dodgers to the last-place team, every single team at the end of the season looks to improve. And so the notion that because we won however many games one year and then that many the next, there’s not gonna be that same guarantee of increase, and we know that. There’s got to be the hunger to go earn it and to continue to get as much as we can out of each day.”
Internally, the Marlins know the challenge ahead. They know what will have to be done to accomplish their goals.
And they are embracing it.
“We welcome the pressure,” Bendix said. “The whole idea here is to win. That’s what we’re doing every single day is trying to win. And we’re trying to win not just one season, not just two seasons; we’re trying to win for as many seasons as we can, for a long period of time. ‘Sustained success’ are more than just words. It means important games in September every year. It means playing in October every year. It means winning multiple World Series. That’s what we’re trying to do, everything that we do every day, everything that you see, everything that you don’t see, it’s all towards that goal.”
This story was originally published February 16, 2026 at 2:57 PM.
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Miami Herald
Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.