The Marlins meant business when they put their “For Sale” sign up.
The organization proved to be one of the most active in baseball over the last few days as it extracted value from nearly every possible outlet in a sell-off of epic proportions.
Most shockingly, the flurry of maneuvers came not even a year after Miami went a surprising 84-78 and reached the NL wild-card round before losing in a sweep to the Phillies.
The 2024 season, however — and the second under manager Skip Schumacher — has proven a much different tale, with Miami sitting just 39-67, good for the third-worst record in baseball.
New president of baseball operations Peter Bendix wasted no time waving the white flag when he sent star infielder Luis Arraez to the Padres on May 3, just 34 games into the 2024 season.
Then, nearly three months later, hardly anybody was spared by Bendix.
The headliner moves on offense included sending the versatile Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the Yankees, first baseman Josh Bell to the Diamondbacks and outfielder Bryan De La Cruz to the Pirates.
To broaden the circumstances of just how drastic the Marlins look now compared to during their brief 2023 postseason stint, just two of their nine main starting hitters — Jake Burger and Jesus Sanchez — are still calling South Florida home.
Other previous notable departures include Jorge Soler (signed with the Giants this winter but traded to the Braves this deadline), Jon Berti (traded to the Yankees in March), Garrett Hampson (signed with the Royals), Joey Wendle (singed with the Mets but now with the Braves) and Yuli Gurriel (in the Braves’ Triple-A organization).
In total, the Marlins have now lost the players responsible for over 75 percent of their hits and 69 percent of their home runs from 2023.
While Miami’s pitching staff has looked starkly different in 2024, much is due to injuries to headliners like Sandy Alcantara, Jesus Luzardo and Eury Perez.
Nonetheless, the Marlins still shipped away a glut of valuable arms that were on the 2023 postseason team, including Tanner Scott (Padres), Bryan Hoeing (Padres), Trevor Rogers (Orioles), A.J. Puk (Diamondbacks), Dylan Floro (Diamondbacks), new Met Huascar Brazoban and J.T. Chargois (Mariners).
Altogether, Miami lost its 2024 leader in innings pitched and strikeouts in Rogers and a combined 53 saves across the last two seasons via Scott, Puk and Floro.
While this year’s team — which has a 0.0 percent chance of making the playoffs, per FanGraphs — may seem hapless, the good news is that a boatload of young talent is on the horizon.
Overall, Miami landed top-100 pitching prospect Robby Snelling (No. 44) plus talented youngsters including outfielder Kyle Stowers, infielder Connor Norby (both from the Orioles), pitcher Adam Mazur (Padres’ No. 4 prospect), infielder Graham Pauley (Padres’ No. 5), outfielder Dillon Head (Padres’ No. 6), outfielder Jakob Marsee (Padres’ former No. 9), first baseman/outfielder Nathan Martorella (Padres’ former No. 13), Deyvison De Los Santos (Diamondbacks’ No. 14) and catcher Agustin Ramirez (Yankees’ No. 20).
With some better health luck and an influx of young talent, maybe it won’t be long before the Marlins — without most of their recognizable names over the last few years — are back on the upswing.
