Despite quiet Winter Meetings, Miami Marlins say moves will come. But when?
Miami Marlins general manager Kim Ng knows the organization left MLB’s annual Winter Meetings without much — or anything, really — to show for what they did during the four days. There’s no satisfaction, she said, in not having a tangible product — a signing, a completed trade.
Despite the holding meetings well into the night Wednesday before making a cross-country trip back to Miami, optimistic that moves in the free agent market orchestrated by other clubs were “opening some doors” with the team’s next steps, nothing major materialized. The only players the Marlins actually acquired during their time in San Diego came via the Rule 5 Draft (reliever Nic Enright in the MLB phase and three other prospects in the minor-league phase). The team also announced late Wednesday that it acquired outfielder prospect Jake Mangum from the New York Mets to complete a previous trade that sent pitchers Jeff Brigham and Elieser Hernandez to the Mets.
But as she spoke to reporters late Wednesday as the team wrapped up those final meetings on the West Coast, Ng gave one overarching declaration:
“The team that we have right now,” Ng said, “is not going to be the team that you see on Opening Day.”
That’s good to say and all.
But moves need to be made to supplement the sentiment before the first pitch is thrown at loanDepot park on March 30 when the Marlins host the Mets. Actions need to back up the words if the Marlins truly are going to find ways to improve after last season’s 69-93 finish outside of riding starting pitching and hoping key players stay healthy (namely Jazz Chisholm Jr.) or bounce back from poor seasons (namely outfielders Jorge Soler and Avisail Garcia).
It doesn’t need to be any of the megadeals that were rampant during the past week — the ones that the New York Yankees gave to Aaron Judge (nine years, $360 million) or the Philadelphia Phillies gave to Trea Turner (11 years, $300 million) and Taijuan Walker (four years, $72 million) or the San Diego Padres gave to Xander Bogaerts (11 years, $280 million) or the Texas Rangers gave to Jacob deGrom (five years, $185 million) or the Boston Red Sox gave to Masataka Yoshida (five years, $90 million plus the $15.4 million posting fee) or the St. Louis Cardinals gave to Willson Contreras (five years, $87.5 million) or the Mets gave to Justin Verlander (two years, $86.66 million) or the Chicago Cubs gave to Jameson Taillon (four years, $68 million).
The Marlins are not going to match the payrolls any of these aforementioned teams are assembling.
But something — anything — needs to be done to show the Marlins will try to have a fighting chance in an NL East that features three teams fresh off playoff appearances who have been willing to spend.
The team targeted players such as outfielder Cody Bellinger and first baseman Josh Bell, but did not get a deal to materialize for either — Bellinger is heading to the Cubs on a one-year $17.5 million deal, while Bell is going to the Cleveland Guardians for two years and $33 million.
“You always want to do things as soon as you can,” Ng said, “but it’s just not always in your court. You can’t always dictate the pace at which we go. ... We’ll try and do things judiciously and meticulously and methodically.”
There are options to address their needs either through trade or free agency. They’re not the superstars, but the likes of, say, a Brandon Nimmo, Andrew Benintendi, Michael Conforto or Joey Gallo could help solve their outfield need. Bryan Reynolds and Cedric Mullins are trade options on that front. The team has also expressed interest in former Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner. They ideally need a first baseman as well to work with Garrett Cooper, the only natural first baseman currently on the team’s 40-man roster.
Maybe something materializes in the near future. Maybe something doesn’t. The offseason didn’t end because the Winter Meetings concluded, so there is still time for moves to be made.
“We still have [about] four months left until Opening Day,” Ng said. “It’s hard to say if you get to that moment [where other teams’ moves force you to make moves]. We’re definitely not at that moment yet.”
The clock is still ticking, though.
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