How Marlins stand at each position. A look at the roster at every spot heading into spring
Barring late roster additions, the Marlins will begin spring training next week without a player who hit more than 18 home runs last season or a player who drove in more than 64 runs. They have only two players who hit better than .270.
On the positive side, new manager Clayton McCullough will have the services of a Cy Young winner (Sandy Alcantara) who’s back from Tommy John surgery and ready to pitch on opening day on March 27 at home against Pittsburgh.
The Marlins also will be getting long looks at several promising prospects, including 2024 minor-league home run leader Deyvison De Los Santos and top former Yankees catcher prospect Agustin Ramirez, who are both expected to begin the season in the minors.
Barring the unexpected, this sets up to be another long season in another rebuild with no clear end date. Marlins executive Peter Bendix has declined to say how long the Marlins believe this rebuild will take, and owner Bruce Sherman has declined to say when the team will start spending more money.
The Marlins’ projected $67 million payroll is among the lowest in baseball and well below last season’s $96.6 million, which was 27th among 30 teams. Though the addition of an established, reasonably-priced veteran position player cannot totally be ruled out, the Marlins also don’t want to take at-bats away from their young players that they’re eager to evaluate.
As it stands, here’s where the Marlins’ expected 2025 roster stands in the infield, outfield and catcher heading into FanFest on Saturday at loanDepot Park, with pitchers and catchers reporting to Jupiter on Feb. 12 and everyone else reporting by Feb. 17:
▪ First base: With Jake Burger and his 29 homers traded to Texas for three minor-leaguers, the front-runner at first becomes Jonah Bride, who hit .276 (.357 on base) with 11 homers and 39 RBI in 71 games for Miami in 2024.
But the Marlins also will give a long look to Matt Mervis, the former highly regarded Cubs farmhand who was rated the No. 5 first base prospect in baseball just a year ago.
The Marlins hope the 26-year-old slugger can recapture his 2022 form, when he led the minors with 119 RBI and 78 extra-base hits while splitting the season among Single A, Double A and Triple A. His 40 doubles that season were second most in the minors and his 36 homers were third most.
But he regressed last season, hitting .235 with 15 homers, 43 RBI and 105 strikeouts in 81 games in Triple A, and going 3 for 26 with eight strikeouts in nine games (.115 batting average) during a brief big league stint with the Cubs.
That left him at 18 for 116 (.155) with 40 strikeouts in 127 plate appearances in his brief big-league career, covering 36 games.
Mervis is a left handed batter, and Bride is a right-handed hitter. So a platoon would not be a surprise. Using one at first and one as a designated hitter also would be an option for some games.
De Los Santos, acquired in last July’s A.J. Puk deal with Arizona, hit .294 with 40 homers and 120 RBI for three minor league teams last season, but needs to reduce strikeouts (144 in 137 games). The 21-year-old likely will begin the season at Triple A.
▪ Second base: Otto Lopez appears the clear front-runner after performing competently last season: .270 (.313 on base), six homers, 39 RBI, 23 doubles and 20 steals (in 24 attempts) in 117 games.
▪ Shortstop: Xavier Edwards was something of a revelation last season, hitting .328, with a .397 on base average, 26 RBI and 31 steals in 35 attempts in 70 games for the Marlins. He played all but one of his games at shortstop last season after appearing only at second base and the outfield in 70 games for the Marlins in 2023.
As a shortstop last season, he had seven errors and advanced metrics rated him poorly. But he’s the best option the Marlins have, and they need his bat in the lineup.
“Shortstop is going to be and still is a work in progress [for Edwards],” former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said shortly before leaving the team at the end of last season. “He’s shown some really good signs that he can play there. He’s also shown there’s a lot of work to do. He knows that. He’s shown he’s capable of playing there.”
▪ Third base: Among a bevy of position prospects acquired by the Marlins, Connor Norby is clearly the most advanced.
He agreed to move from second base to third after his July acquisition from the Orioles in the Trevor Rodgers deal, and hit .247 (.315 on base), with seven homers and 17 RBI in 36 games.
“Connor Norby is an everyday player,” Schumaker said late last season. “He’s going to be better next year at third base. He’s going to be a top-of-the order, middle-of-the-order bat, and I think he’s going to do damage. There’s not too many guys that can juice the ball to the opposite field like he can at the major-league level. There’s no reason he can’t be a 20-, 30-home run guy in this league for a number of years.”
▪ Reserve infielders: The nearly automatics (barring disastrous springs or injuries) are Mervis and Eric Wagaman, a right-handed hitter who played seven seasons in the minors before breaking into the majors last season as a September call-up with the Los Angeles Angels.
In 18 games and 74 plate appearances, he hit .250 (.270 on base) with two homers and 10 RBI. He started 17 games at third base for the Angels and also can play first. The Marlins also could use him at DH some.
A reserve middle infield job also is up for grabs, with Javier Sonoja the clear favorite. He hit .291 (.354 on base), with six homers and 58 RBI in 111 games at Jacksonville, then hit .229 (8 for 35) with the Marlins. Sonoja can play shortstop, second base and the outfield.
Others competing include Jared Serna (acquired in the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade with the Yankees) and Max Acosta, who was acquired from Texas in the Burger deal and hit .288 in 104 games at Double A last season, eight home runs, 58 RBI, and 26 stolen bases. Serna figures to begin the year in the minors.
▪ Catcher: The question here is whether the Marlins believe Ramirez needs more minor-league seasoning after hitting .267 (.358 on base) with 25 homers and 93 RBI in 126 games for three (Double A and Triple A) teams in the Marlins’ and Yankees’ minor-league systems last season. There’s a very good chance he could begin the year in the minors unless he’s exceptional in camp.
In that scenario, the Marlins could begin another season with Nick Fortes behind the plate. He hit just .227 (.259 on base) with four homers and 29 RBI in 110 games and committed nine errors, the most among National League catchers.
He threw out just 21.8 percent of basestealers, allowing a league-leading 93 steals but also throwing out 26 basestealers, second most among NL catchers.
Also competing: Rule 5 draft pickup Liam Hicks, who hit .264 with a .379 on-base average with 6 HR and 47 RBI in 113 games in Double A Erie (Pennsylvania) and Double A Frisco (Texas). He has a .275 average and .405 on base average, with 13 homers and 126 RBI in 265 games over four minor-league seasons and has thrown out 17 percent of would-be basestealers (31 of 149).
If Hicks does not remain on the Marlins’ 26-man roster for the entire 2025 season, he must be offered back to Detroit for $50,000.
If Hicks flops in the spring and is offered back to the Tigers — and if Ramirez begins the season at Triple A — then the Marlins will need to claim a veteran backup because Jhonny Pereda was traded to the Athletics last Friday.
The Marlins are bringing veteran former Marlins journeyman catcher Rob Brantly, who has a .222 career batting average in 137 games, to spring training as a nonroster invitee.
▪ Outfielders: No player on the roster had more homers or RBI in 2024 than Jesus Sanchez, who had 18 and 64 in 2024, along with a .252 average and .313 on-base average. He will start (likely in right field) and might even get a chance to face more left-handed pitchers, against whom he has hit just .187 with 105 strikeouts in 303 career plate appearances.
The Marlins hope that Kyle Stowers — acquired with Norby in the Rodgers trade — can recapture some of the promise he showed with the Orioles. Stowers, 26, hit .306 in 36 at-bats for Baltimore early last season.
But for the Marlins, Stowers hit just .186 (29 for 156) with a .262 on-base average, two homers and 15 RBI in 50 games for the Marlins.
“Stowers is a really good athlete,” Schumaker said late last season. “There’s adjustability in his swing. He’s going to get it and be a good major-league player for a long time.”
Stowers and Griffin Conine will compete for the left-field job. Conine will get a look after hitting .268 (.326 on base) with three homers, 12 RBI and 28 strikeouts in 89 at bats.
On a roster bereft of accomplished players, Dane Myers also can make a case to start; he hit .266 (.333 on base) with three homers and 19 RBI in 44 games. He was lost for 10 weeks after fracturing an ankle when he kicked a clubhouse door last July.
Myers are Derek Hill will compete to start in center field; Hill hit .234, .259 on base, four homers, 18 RBI in 32 games. Hill, who missed significant time with a shoulder injury last season, has played center field in 126 big-league games. Myers has played 31 games in center in the majors.
Also on the 40-man roster and competing for a job this spring: Victor Mesa Jr., who hit .259 (.319 on base) with 13 homers and 51 games in 80 games at Jacksonville before missing the final two months with a back injury.
▪ Designated hitter: The Marlins don’t have the prototypical DH — a productive, established bat that isn’t particularly skilled in the field. So they will need to choose among the pool of players above, primarily the backup corner infielders and outfielders.
This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 11:09 AM.
