Marlins’ Sherman explains spending that ‘you don’t see.’ And player decisions due Friday
Marlins owner Bruce Sherman declined to answer specifically this week when asked why Miami cannot have a $150 million player payroll, in light of the fact that National League East rivals New York, Philadelphia and Atlanta spent between $236 million and $318 million on their rosters last season, dwarfing the Marlins’ $97 million.
But with the Marlins having less than $40 million in 2025 payroll commitments so far, Sherman insists he’s spending money in ways that aren’t visible to the fan base.
“We’re bringing new technology to the front office, [upgrading] the clubhouse,” Sherman said during manager Clayton McCullough’s introductory news conference. “We’re spending a lot of money on things you don’t see.”
Asked to elaborate on that after the news conference, Sherman said: “We have resources, tens of millions of dollars going into the front office that you don’t necessarily see; nobody talks about it. Everybody talks about free agents.
“This will continue to go into all our minor league complexes, everything we do in the Dominican Republic. The quality of people we are hiring as hitting, pitching, base running, defensive directors, slots we haven’t had before.”
Sherman suggested he has given his front office everything it has asked for.
“When requests have been made for technology, money is there,” Sherman said. “It’s substantial dollars. When requests are made for the player development area, it’s all happening. You don’t see it, but it’s happening simultaneously. And ownership is supporting it in a tremendous way.”
When asked whether the Marlins simply cannot afford a $150 million payroll or if the 15-plus member ownership group actually has the money but doesn’t want to spend it, Sherman said:
“As far as spending the money, you saw us spend money at the trade deadline in 2023 [for Josh Bell], which is good money to spend. We will do it again in 2025, this season, if we have the opportunity. We’re not going to spend money foolishly. You can look at some of our trades in the past, some of our free agent signings in the past, they’re only going to get better. The moves we’ve made have been extraordinary.
“All the fans focus on free agency. I understand it. We signed Sandy [Alcantara] to an extension.”
Sherman insists he has “never given” president/baseball operations Peter Bendix a payroll ceiling or told him “we are spending X dollars in the front office [so] that comes out of player payroll. We will spend money at the right time, I guarantee it. Nobody wants to win more than I do.”
ARBITRATION DEADLINE
Friday is the deadline to offer arbitration to arbitration-eligible players, and at least one Marlins player - catcher Nick Fortes - appears in serious jeopardy of not being tendered. Last season, Fortes hit .227 with four homers and 129 RBI in 110 games and 308 at bats and threw out 21.8 percent of attempted base-stealers (26 of 129).
MLBtraderumors.com projects Fortes could make $1.6 million if he were tendered and went to arbitration. Here are the Marlins’ other arbitration-eligible players and that web site’s projection for their salaries:
Pitcher Jesús Luzardo: $6 million
Pitcher Anthony Bender: $1.4 million
Outfielder Jesús Sánchez: $3.2 million
Pitcher Braxton Garrett: $1.8 million
Pitcher Edward Cabrera: $2.2 million
