Four Takeaways From the Miami Marlins’ 2025 Season

Heading into the 2025 season, the Marlins’ offseason was disappointing yet again. Led by first-year manager Clayton McCullough, they had only two major league signings, one of which was released before the season ended, and they traded both Jesús Luzardo and Jake Burger. Two players who many thought were going to be stable pieces in their organization because of their youth and years of control.

At the end of each season, it is par for the course to have key takeaways from how a team performed. The best thing about the Marlins’ season was the fact that they might be closer to contention than anyone could have guessed.

How Far Ahead Are They?

As has been stated repeatedly to this point, the Marlins beat all their preseason predictions by a long shot. Peter Bendix has seemingly continued to squeeze every ounce of value out of each signing and trade. Through all of these moves, the Marlins have been able to put together a core that looks to be ready to truly take that next step towards being true contenders.

Start with the offensive side of the ball.

There was no bigger breakout than the one from outfielder Kyle Stowers. After putting together an All-Star campaign, the Marlins look to have solidified at least one of their outfield spots and a middle-of-the-order bat in one player alone. Rounding out the other two spots look to be Griffin Conine, another breakout before his season-ending due to injury, and rookie sensation Jakob Marsee.

You then look at the infield and realize that the first base position is the only one that truly needs to be addressed this offseason.

Connor Norby looks to man the hot corner. Otto Lopez has proven to be one of the more underrated and under-appreciated players in all of baseball, and he provides them with a Gold Glove-caliber defender at shortstop.

After his transition over from short to second base, Xavier Edwards now has a firm hold on as Lopez’s double-play partner up the middle. Then you have Agustín Ramírez, the rookie catcher who was the main piece in the Jazz Chisholm trade in 2024, who came out of the gates scorching hot from his debut date in Miami. While the defense still leaves a lot to be desired, there is hope that he will be a long-term answer in their offense.

Add in the fact that they have a core of minor league players who are on the brink of also contributing at the major league level as soon as 2026.

After the offense, you then switch over to the pitching side, and that is where the biggest question resides.

The Marlins Have A Pitching Problem

The Marlins do, in fact, have a pitching problem.

The problem is that they have a surplus of major league starting pitching options to fill five rotation spots come the start of the 2026 season. The list of names includes: Sandy Alcantara, Edward Cabrera, Eury Pérez, Ryan Weathers, Braxton Garrett, Max Meyer, Adam Mazur, Robby Snelling, Thomas White, and Noble Meyer.

Alcantara is coming off his first season returning from Tommy John surgery. While the first half of the year was abysmal, it did not stop the trade rumors from swirling. Rather than selling him at a low point, the same way he did with Luzardo, Peter Bendix held onto El Caballo, and he rewarded them by posting a 3.34 ERA over 70 innings in 11 starts.

We don’t know what this offseason will hold in terms of his prospects for being on the roster for 2026, but the second-half resurrection will surely net them a much better return.

Pérez was also returning from his own elbow surgery, and though it was a little tough towards the end of the year, he continued to flash his dominance during the season.

Cabrera was another name that was at the top of the trade candidate lists across the league, and the Marlins also held firm. This was easily a career year for the young right-hander who has always shown promise. The issue was consistency and staying on the field. He was able to correct both under the tutelage of the Marlins’ new pitching development staff.

While some of the other names have yet to make their debuts in Miami, it is not a stretch to say that they will all have accumulated innings in the big leagues once we get to this point of the year in 2026.

The notion that you can never have enough pitching is a cliché, but there comes a point where you need to figure out how to properly address a situation like this and try to find ways in which each of these arms can create a positive impact on the big league roster. Whether that is by their performance for the team, or the transaction in which they are involved in to help address another need on the roster, the Marlins look to be large benefactors of proper pitching scouting and development.

The Offense Is Missing Another Bat

This offseason is going to tell us a lot about the Marlins’ front office’s thoughts as to where they see themselves. As I noted earlier, the Marlins have seemingly stumbled into a solid foundation of players who look to be a part of their future.

Despite that, they are still missing that one consistent power bat to plug into the middle of the order. With what the Marlins currently have on their roster, this bat is likely to come via the first base position. This bat could be acquired via trade, maybe using some of the excess pitching in their system, or through free agency.

While they aren’t likely to be players at the top of the first base free agency pool (i.e., Pete Alonso, Cody Bellinger), there are still plenty of options who could be available to them.

Could a reunion with their 2015 first-round pick, Josh Naylor, be in the cards? The 28-year-old is coming off a career-high 128 wRC+ in a season where, if you were to combine his career stolen bases before this season, it still wouldn’t amount to the 30 he stole this year between Arizona and Seattle.

Other available options for the Fish would be veterans like Paul Goldschmidt, Ryan O’Hearn, and Carlos Santana if they wanted to go with the experienced route at the position.

Either way, whether it be at first base or not, another thumper in the order is needed if they truly want to take that next step.

In Bendix We Trust

There has been much said about Peter Bendix since he was hired after Kim Ng and the organization parted ways.

Most of that has been negative.

Since the hire, I have been writing about my plea for Marlins fans to be patient with Bendix. Now, two full seasons into his tenure, i think he has done more than prove that he knows what he’s doing.

Sure, the “flashy” moves may come from him trading players away, but the returns have proven that he and the team he has assembled have an eye for talent evaluation and development. The latest hire of Gabe Kapler as the team’s General Manager, who has been in the organization with Bendix from the beginning, should show Marlins fans that sustainability and familiarity are two things they strive for.

The positive strides have been made.

This is going to be a huge offseason for Peter Bendix and the Miami Marlins.