Marlins make roster moves, address questions about trades and holes to fill this winter
On the day of the deadline to essentially protect players before next month’s Rule 5 draft, the Marlins on Tuesday added three well-regarded prospects to their 40-man roster but exposed two former high draft picks.
Three players were added to the 40-man roster, which is now full: first baseman/third baseman Deyvison De Los Santos, left-handed pitcher Dax Fulton and infielder Jared Serna.
De Los Santos, acquired in the AJ Puk trade with Arizona in July, hit .294 (.343 on base) with 40 homers and 120 RBI on three Double A and Triple A teams last season. He had six more home runs than anyone else in minor league baseball in 2024.
Fulton, a Marlins second-round pick in 2020, missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery for the second time. But the Marlins see great upside in the 6-7 left-hander, who has 4.27 ERA in 51 minor league appearances (48 starts), along with 273 strikeouts in 229 2/3 innings.
Serna, who can play second and third base and the corner outfield spots, was acquired in the Jazz Chisholm trade with the Yankees in July, and hit .251 (.337) with 15 homers and 82 RBI on three teams in 2024 (Single A, Double A and Triple A).
Among those not added to the 40-man roster: pitcher Zach McCambley (a 2020 third-round pick who has a 15-19 record and 4.60 ERA in 87 minor league appearances), second baseman Cody Morissette (a second-round pick in 2021 who hit .200 with 10 homers and 46 RBI at Double A Pensacola last season) and shortstop Ian Lewis, who was a well-regarded international signee from the Bahamas who spent last season at the Marlins’ Dominican Academy in part because of visa issues.
Those three players, among others, will be eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft on Dec. 11.
THIS AND THAT
Last summer, the Marlins traded 10 veterans for players who had more years of team control, mostly prospects.
Are the Marlins done making those types of trades or could there be more?
“I don’t know the answer to that yet,” Marlins president/baseball operations Peter Bendix said this week. “We have a lot of really talented players and that gives you a lot of options.”
The Marlins listened on offers for pitcher Jesus Luzardo and Braxton Garrett over the past year, but did not trade either. Both missed the final months of the 2024 season due to injuries.
▪ Asked how far the Marlins are from winning, Bendix didn’t answer directly but said: “Our farm system improved tremendously over the course of the year. Our major league team by the end of the year had some interesting, talented players. We have a lot of talented players in the upper levels of the minor leagues, players we expect to see this season. There is a ton of talent coming to our team very, very soon. We are going to have our pitchers healthier this year.”
▪ In the early stages of another rebuild, the Marlins aren’t expected to be aggressive in free agency in the weeks ahead. With just $31.5 million in 2025 payroll commitments (per spotrac.com), they haven’t said how much they’re comfortable spending on salary via trades or on free agents. They’re expected to explore players who fall through the cracks in free agency.
“We’re trying to be as good as we can as soon as we can,” Bendix said. “We want to be really good, and we want to be really good soon.”
▪ Offense is the glaring shortcoming. The Marlins were 25th in runs scored last season, and Bendix said: “Everyone can use more offense.”
Asked if the 2025 starting shortstop, center fielder and catcher are already on the roster, Bendix said: “We’re always going to look externally to upgrade any way we can, but players we have on the roster at those positions showed a lot of positive things.”
On the 40-man roster, the Marlins have one viable starting shortstop (Xavier Edwards); three catchers (arbitration-eligible Nick Fortes, Jhonny Perada and prospect Agustin Ramirez) and center fielders Derek Hill and Dane Myers. It’s likely they will explore adding veteran help at each position. They’re also likely to add a veteran starting pitcher at some point.
▪ Through the support of Feeding South Florida, the Marlins will distribute Thanksgiving meals to 1000 families at 4:30 p.m. Friday outside loanDepot Park. Families selected through local organizations are receiving those 1000 vouchers, and the Marlins also distribute extra meals to additional families who come to the ballpark.
