Why Marlins Must Make Right Choice This Offseason Regarding Trading Pitchers
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This offseason, a lot of the chatter surrounding the Miami Marlins has been around their starting pitching and whether any of them will be traded. It will be something discussed until spring training begins or until they actually do make a deal.
There are teams reportedly interested in Edward Cabrera, Sandy Alcantara, and Ryan Weathers, but so far, the president of baseball operations, Peter Bendix, has yet to trade any of them. There have been reports that they are not moving any of their pitchers, and there has been some thought that they will move a pitcher. Time will tell.
As far as going into the decision on what to do, if they make a deal, they need to get a return that makes it worth doing. Not making a trade would not be the worst thing in the world, as they overachieved in 2025 and have visions of being a playoff team in 2026, according to Christina De Nicola of MLB.com. To do that, they'll have to rely on their starting rotation.
"The Marlins believe they can compete for a postseason berth in 2026, and Alcantara is a frontline arm to help get them there like he has done twice before. He and Garrett are the only pitchers with a postseason start (Weathers made a relief appearance for the Padres in his MLB debut),'' De Nicola wrote.
Why Marlins Need to Make the Right Decision on Pitching
When Clayton McCullough took over, little did anyone know that Miami would be hanging around the National League Wild Card race until the final week. They went 79-83 and finished just four games behind the Cincinnati Reds for the final NL Wild Card berth.
They had some younger players break out offensively, which greatly helped the Marlins. Kyle Stowers was a finalist for a Gold Glove Award, as well as a Silver Slugger Award. He didn't win either, as he was up against some stout competition. But it was a season that nobody saw coming.
There is no guarantee that Stowers will have another season like he just had, but it's certainly something to build off of. The direction of teams early in the National League East is still foggy this offseason, with the New York Mets suffering some big losses, with Pete Alonso going to the Baltimore Orioles and Edwin Diaz going to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Aside from the Philadelphia Phillies, this is a division where the Marlins could do some damage.
To do that, they need to keep as much pitching as they can, as you can never have enough of it. Miami has a plethora of arms available to compete. There are some big decisions this winter, and the biggest is around their strength, the starting pitching. The door is open for Miami to compete in the division in 2026, just two years after losing 100 games. That's not something a lot of teams can do.
