This time last year, the Miami Marlins had just made the playoffs for the first time in a full season since 2003. The roster had young, controllable and marketable talent on both sides of the ball and the 2023 Manager of the Year Skip Schumaker at the helm. While they would be missing their best pitcher, Sandy Alcantara, for the entire year, the expectations were for the franchise to build upon its successes in 2024.
The team moved on from general manager Kim Ng in favor of bringing in Peter Bendix as president of baseball operations. Bendix previously served as GM of the vaunted Tampa Bay Rays organization, a model that Owner Bruce Sherman was keen to follow.
“Peter is an established industry leader with an extensive skillset and deep experience that will continue the momentum we have made on the Major League level, while also strategic[ally] building the foundation for sustained success,” Sherman said when he hired Bendix.
Instead of success, the team finished 62-100, the third-worst record in the team’s history. The marketable talent is gone, they have no manager and fans are grappling with the reality of another long rebuild.
WHAT WENT WRONG?
The obvious place to start looking for explanations of how the season turned south are injuries. That’s especially true for the starting rotation. In addition to the aforementioned Alcantara, young star Eury Perez also missed the entire season. Plus, Jesus Luzardo, Braxton Garrett and Max Meyer only made a combined 30 starts before ending their seasons early. On top of that, Edward Cabrera and Ryan Weathers missed significant time. Trevor Rogers, who was dealt at the deadline to the Orioles, was the only pitcher to throw more than 100 innings for the team.
The other massive factor was the team’s atrocious start. The Marlins started the season 0-9 and by May, their record was 7-24. Three days later, Luis Arraez was traded to the San Diego Padres for prospects and the white flag was flying.
The July 30 trade deadline was a bloodbath. Including Rogers, nine starting players were traded for prospects. The list included outfielder Bryan De La Cruz, closer Tanner Scott and, most painfully for fans, outfielder Jazz Chisholm Jr.
The trade activity and injuries combined to see 79 different players suit up for the team in 2024, a Major League record.
That inconsistent roster put up disappointing results. The pitchers had the second-worst team ERA in the sport and the offense had an OPS+ of 83, meaning the team hit 17% worse than league average — again second worst in baseball.
Losing Schumaker was also a tough pill to swallow. The team and Skip mutually agreed to terminate the final year of his contract, making him a free agent at the end of this season. Schumaker left the team during the season’s final series due to a family matter, but informed the team he would not be back before he left.
Bendix was opaque about any of the conversations that led to the decision.
“I have a lot of respect for Skip. I enjoyed working with him,” he said. “I’m going to keep the private conversations that we had private. But I truly, I wish him and his family nothing but the best.”
BRIGHT SPOTS
It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the team. Jake Burger, acquired last year at the deadline, proved himself as the power bat of the future who likely has a spot in the center of the batting order for years to come.
Xavier Edwards hit .328 in over 300 plate appearances, and while his defense at shortstop leaves something to be desired, his ability to get on and steal bases makes him an incredibly valuable leadoff man.
Jonah Bride, who was acquired from Oakland for cash considerations in February, plays either corner infield spot and was sensational at the plate with an OPS+ of 121 in 232 at bats.
The rotating door of waiver claims and Class AAA promotions essentially meant that the team held tryouts for a number of journeymen. For instance, infielder Otto Lopez, a waiver claim in April who didn’t play at all in 2023, played terrific defense at second base and was more than serviceable at the plate. On the other side of the ball, reliever Jesus Tinoco had 2.03 ERA in 26.2 innings. Tinoco had been designated for release twice and traded once before being claimed by Miami. He’ll likely compete for a roster spot next spring.
Another bright spot is the farm system. Miami began the season with the 29th ranked system according to MLB.com, but after the midseason rebuild, ended the year as the 15th ranked system. In fact, six of the Marlins top 10 prospects were acquired in trades this season.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The Marlins have been plagued for their entire history by a few recurring questions. Can the meager fanbase survive another failed rebuild and will an owner finally spend money on players? As far as the latter goes, when asked, Bendix conspicuously avoided answering directly.
“Conversations with [Sherman] are ongoing. And he’s been incredibly supportive of giving us the resources, the space that we need to build this organization into a long-term, successful organization. There’s a lot of different ways that we can do that,” he said.
With no real commitment to spending money, that may mean the organization will leverage the only resources available– its Major League talent. Luzardo will certainly be a popular name at winter meetings this offseason and even Sandy Alcantara is not untouchable.
The coaching staff will also undergo a massive change with the new manager, and even the entire scouting department has been replaced over the last few weeks.
“I feel like I have a really good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of our organization, of what we need to get better,” Bendix said. “We’ve been able to make a lot of improvements over the last year. I’m excited about the foundation that we’ve been setting.”
What looms ahead for Miami is a floor up rebuild of not just from the on-field product, but of the entire organization.
BUT WILL ANYONE CARE?
The Marlins have had the lowest attendance in the National League every year since 2013. A year removed from the first playoff appearance in a full season in 20 years, there is no clear path back to the postseason and no clear plan to draw fans.
But that isn’t because Miami hasn’t embraced baseball. The 2023 World Baseball Classic drew over 30,000 fans for its knockout rounds in Miami, and the 2024 Caribbean Series saw even better numbers in February. In November, loanDepot Park will host Choque De Gigantes, a tournament of six winter league teams. It’s more than likely some of those games will draw more fans than any Marlins game did in 2024.
Amazon purchased Diamond Sports Group, the team’s regional broadcast partner in January, but recently announced it would be dropping the Marlins, among other teams, from coverage. As of now, the team has no TV station to play on.
Even local media has given up on the franchise. This year, the Miami Herald took one of their reporters off of the Marlins beat.
Bendix’s job is on the line with this rebuild, but so is the Marlins’ good will in South Florida. Another failed rebuild could see the team go from perennial disappointment to national laughingstock.
