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\n<\/p>\n\n\tThe Miami Marlins held their annual FanFest on Saturday. A total of\u00a020,737 fans attended the event, per a club official, the most in loanDepot park history. As usual, the Marlins held a variety of Q&A sessions with players and “State of the Marlins” with team leadership. On top of that, the second Marlins Legends Hall of Fame class was revealed and teal uniforms were revived. Entry to the four-hour event was free.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAll things considered, this was one of the best FanFests that the Marlins have ever hosted. Here’s what you may have missed.\n<\/p>\n
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\n\tFrom 4:30-6:30 pm on the main stage, Marlins players were organized into small groups. It started with the voice of Marlins Radio, Jack McMullen, talking to pitchers Braxton Garrett, Max Meyer and Pete Fairbanks and outfielder Jakob Marsee.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tSpanish Marlins\u00a0radio voices Yiky Quintana and Jos\u00e9 Luis N\u00e1poles did a panel in Spanish. In that interview, Agust\u00edn Ram\u00edrez<\/a>\u00a0said\u00a0that his goal is to hit 30 home runs and drive in 100 runs.\u00a0He was joined by Eury P\u00e9rez, Sandy Alcantara and Otto Lopez.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe last time a Marlins player reached 30 home runs and 100 RBI in the same season was Giancarlo Stanton (59 HR and 132 RBI) and Marcell Ozuna (37 HR and 124 RBI) in 2017. Stanton won the National League MVP and Ozuna made the All-Star Game and finished 15th in MVP voting. Only 12 Marlins ever<\/a>\u00a0have achieved a 30 HR\/100 RBI season.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIn his rookie season, Ram\u00edrez slashed .231\/.287\/.413\/.701 with 21 home runs, 67 RBI and a 91 wRC+ through 136 games played.\n<\/p>\n \n\tRam\u00edrez also stated that he wants to prove to everyone that he can remain a catcher. He emphasized throughout the interview that he has worked extremely hard to make that possible.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \tState of the Marlins<\/p>\n \n\tAt 6:30 pm, president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and manager Clayton McCullough took the stage to answer questions from Marlins.TV play-by-play man Kyle Sielaff.\u00a0Later on, fans asked questions and let out some of their frustrations.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe first question asked was about why the Marlins do not spend more money or value having veteran leadership on their roster. Bendix said that money is being invested in all aspects of the organization. He first mentioned the recently renovated Jupiter Academy.\n<\/p>\n \n\tRegarding veteran leadership, he agreed with this fan, and then said that they signed Pete Fairbanks. Fairbanks, 32, is the oldest player on the team and has the second-most service time (6.057) behind Alcantara (7.100).\n<\/p>\n \n\t“Pete Fairbanks is here partly for that reason,” Bendix said. “I have a relationship with Pete from my time in Tampa Bay. I know what he brings to the table on the mound, and I know what he brings to the table in the clubhouse. I think he’s going to be really really good for our clubhouse.”\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tNot only does the Marlins media ask McCullough about bullpen management, but fans do as well. One fan asked if sometimes decisions were made for developmental reasons instead of trying to win games.\n<\/p>\n \n\t“I definitely hear the feedback,” McCullough said. “I think with the bullpen, when we get into a good stretch and we are playing close games every day, I’d love to be able to pitch the same people all the time, but in reality, you just can’t do that. In order to get through a full season and have a chance to win a lot of games, everybody has to be able to contribute.”\n<\/p>\n \n\tMcCullough also mentioned that when very high-leverage situations present themselves early in the game, he will “try to go win this moment” instead of limiting his best options to the eighth and ninth innings.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tOne clever fan began his question by naming Marlins infielders and when he got to first, he asked, “Who’s first?” Bendix with a smile said, “I don’t know,” so McCullough took the longer answer noting all the competition that is happening throughout camp, specifically first base.\n<\/p>\n \n\t“There will be a lot of competition for playing time and one thing that we tried to put upon our group last year and preach was positional versatility and flexibility,” said McCullough. “We have talked to a number of players this offseason about being open-minded about it.” Christopher Morel and Griffin Conine were brought up as examples, both of whom are completely inexperienced at the position.\n<\/p>\n \n\tFor the final question of this session, a fan asked Bendix if we will see players get locked up to contract extensions. No Marlin has been extended in nearly four years (Richard Bleier in March 2022), which was when Kim Ng was still general manager.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIt was reported this offseason that Kyle Stowers, Jakob Marsee and Eury P\u00e9rez have been engaged in extension talks. Stowers seems to be the least likely of those candidates given that the Marlins already have club control of him through age 31, but Marsee and P\u00e9rez are both realistic.\n<\/p>\n \n\t“We’re expecting that we are going to have a lot of these really good players for a long time,” Bendix said. “Right now, we have a lot of players who are 23, 24 and 25. These guys are going to be here for a while. Yes, the answer to your question is we want to keep our best players for as long as possible.”\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tFollowing that final statement, the crowd erupted as Bendix and McCullough walked off the stage. With how much of a closed book Bendix typically is, that statement was likely the most transparent he has ever been in public to fans or media.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \tMarlins Hall of Famers<\/p>\n \n\tVery briefly, the Marlins announced that they will be inducting pitchers Josh Beckett<\/a> and Dontrelle Willis<\/a>\u00a0into their Marlins Legends Hall of Fame.\u00a0Both Beckett and Willis were on the 2003 World Series-winning team. Unlike the players chosen for the inaugural HOF class in 2025, they were not in attendance at FanFest.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIsaac Azout has more on the upcoming inductions of both players, which will take place on September 6 (Beckett) and September 13 (Willis).\n<\/p>\n \t\u00a0<\/p>\n \tThe teal is BACK<\/p>\n \n\tAfter months of build-up, the Marlins announced that they will be bringing back teal jerseys for every Sunday home game. The uniform set also includes Florida\u00a0Marlins caps. The blue jerseys previously used on Sundays are now out of the regular season rotation, but will remain their primary spring training look.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\u00a0<\/p>\n \tWhat’s next?<\/p>\n \n\tMarlins pitchers and catchers will report to Jupiter, Florida, on Wednesday. The full-squad report day is Monday. February 16. The first spring training game will take place on Saturday, February 21 at 1:10 pm in Port St. Lucie against the New York Mets.\n<\/p>\n