The Miami Marlins have quite a few promising young players on their roster, and one of the positions where they seem to have the most is the starting rotation. Most reports indicate they could attempt to trade players away from their pitching rotation to try and clear up the bottleneck and add some relievers or bats in the offseason, which makes for an intriguing proposition.
Another interesting thing to keep an eye on is just how many prospects they have in their pitching core. With the team focusing on the future and building for the next few years, having as many high-end young talents as they can get is always a positive, and unfortunately, one of their improving relief arms is set to hit free agency.
Righty reliever Christian Roa recently showed up on the team’s transactions list from MLB.com, stating he has elected free agency. The former second-round pick by the Cincinnati Reds ended up on the Marlins via a waiver claim, and looked pretty impressive during his 50-game stint in Triple-A as well as his few innings in the MLB. Unfortunately for Miami, he will now be hitting the open market in search of a new team.
Feb 19, 2025; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins pitcher Christian Roa (82). / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
Roa was a bit hit or miss with the Reds, and ended up having an injury that ended his stint with them before joining Miami. Since being claimed by the latter, he has shown an immense improvement in his all-around production. In Triple-A, he pitched 60.1 innings in 50 games, accruing a 10-2 record, 2.83 ERA, 1.094 WHIP, 64 strikeouts, 28 walks, 12 games finished and two saves.
He did get a short opportunity to play with the Major League squad as well, and in two appearances, he pitched three innings, not allowing any runs, picking up three strikeouts and three walks. Additionally, he only allowed one hit in that span, which was a pretty similar type of production to what he had in Triple-A, only allowing 38 total there.
Congratulations to Christian Roa, who tossed 2.0 scoreless innings last night in his major league debut!
Roa is the 19th Jacksonville alumnus in 2025 to debut in The Show!https://t.co/rhW8qKkFry
— Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (@JaxShrimp) September 7, 2025
Having him as a bullpen arm would be outstanding for the Marlins, so maybe they look to retain him for 2026 if they can on a new contract. However, they will have to contend with other teams for his services now, and with how much he showcased over the past few months, he may get looks from other teams to add to either their minor league system or even the active roster.