\n\tAs of Monday, Miami Marlins spring training is fully underway in Jupiter. I treat this report date as the unofficial end of the Major League Baseball offseason.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tPresident of baseball operations Peter Bendix is famously “always having conversations”\u2014each of his first two seasons on the job, the Marlins have made trades on the literal eve of Opening Day. While we should once again\u00a0expect to see outside acquisitions over the course of the spring, it’s reasonable to assume that the vast majority of candidates to take the field for the Fish on March 27 are already in the organization.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tWith 39 days to go, here is how I project the Marlins to construct their active roster for the 2026 season opener.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\tPosition Players<\/p>\n
\n\tLeft-handed batters:\u00a0Kyle Stowers<\/a>,\u00a0Jakob Marsee<\/a>, Graham Pauley<\/a>,\u00a0Griffin Conine<\/a>,\u00a0Liam Hicks<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n\tRight-handed batters:\u00a0Otto Lopez<\/a>,\u00a0Agust\u00edn Ram\u00edrez<\/a>,\u00a0Heriberto Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a>,\u00a0Connor Norby<\/a>,\u00a0Javier Sanoja<\/a>,\u00a0Christopher Morel<\/a>,\u00a0Esteury Ruiz<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n\tSwitch-hitters:\u00a0Xavier Edwards<\/a>\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tWith a handful of these Marlins players capable of toggling between infield and outfield positions and few true everyday starters, I felt that categorizing them by handedness would be most appropriate. I have ordered the names based on my rough estimate of how many total plate appearances they’d receive.\n<\/p>\n \n\tNorby’s projected role could fluctuate the most over these next five weeks. Maybe he beats out Pauley and reasserts himself as Miami’s primary third baseman<\/a>…or maybe he doesn’t crack the active roster at all. Such is the quandary that the Marlins face due to his blend of offensive upside, defensive awkwardness and poor track record against lefty pitchers.\n<\/p>\n \n\tAll 13 of these position players have minor league options left except for Lopez and Morel.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tJust missed:\u00a0Owen Caissie\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tThis would understandably be a frustrating outcome for Caissie after nearly two full seasons at the Triple-A level. Sending him down doesn’t benefit the club in any meaningful way either unless they intend to keep him down for multiple months, which is what’d take to push back his free agent eligibility by a year.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe opportunity to make his Marlins debut on Opening Day largely hinges on factors outside of his control, such as injuries and Conine’s transition to first base.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \tPitchers<\/p>\n \n\tStarting rotation:\u00a0RHP\u00a0Sandy Alcantara<\/a>, RHP\u00a0Eury P\u00e9rez<\/a>, RHP Max Meyer<\/a>, LHP Braxton Garrett<\/a>, RHP Chris Paddack<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n\tBullpen:\u00a0RHP\u00a0Pete Fairbanks<\/a>, RHP\u00a0Anthony Bender<\/a>, RHP\u00a0Tyler Phillips<\/a>, RHP\u00a0Calvin Faucher<\/a>, LHP\u00a0Cade Gibson<\/a>, LHP John King<\/a>, RHP\u00a0Janson Junk<\/a>, RHP Michael Petersen<\/a>\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tJunk clearly belongs in the majors\u2014his 3.14 FIP was the best of any Marlins pitcher last season! However, these arms are supposed to complement one another. With Meyer, Garrett and Paddack each having negligible professional experience as relievers, I’m expecting them to begin 2026 in familiar roles, with Junk being temporarily relegated to long man duties.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThere is solid talent in this bullpen, but not much standout velocity. That’s where Petersen comes in. It would not have been surprising if the Marlins squeezed him off their 40-man roster at some point of the offseason to make room for new acquisitions. The fact that they prioritized him over many other players in that regard and he’s entering his age-32 season suggests they’ll let him sink or swim in The Show.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tJust missed:\u00a0Lake Bachar, Robby Snelling\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe Marlins frequently trusted Bachar with inherited baserunners in 2025, but he wasn’t proficient at getting out of those jams (allowing 12 of 28 to score). Combining that with his overall slippage in performance during the final quarter of the season, he has moved down the depth chart a bit.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIf any of the current projected starters get hurt this spring, I suspect Junk will slide into their spot. If an additional\u00a0rotation injury occurs, that ought to open the door for Snelling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As of Monday, Miami Marlins spring training is fully underway in Jupiter. 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