How ghost of Avisail Garcia could impact Miami Marlins free agency this offseason

Here's a question for you, Miami Marlins fans:

Just who will be the highest paid player by the Miami Marlins next season?

Some of you will say Sandy Alcantara. Those of you too young to know better will say Kyle Schwarber or Bo Bichette! More realistic optimists will pick from Miami's brightest young stars, counting on a couple of big extensions this winter.

The real ones amongst our Miami Marlins fan community though, those of us who follow this team but also like being right because it takes the sting out of all those baseball losses? They know that there is a very real chance that the answer to that question isn't just a player not on the Marlins roster...but a player that is in zero danger of being on any MLB roster in 2026.

Looking at you, Avisail Garcia- for what is hopefully the very, very last time.

This winter, the long Avisail nightmare will be over for the Marlins, when they pay him the $5 million buyout that complete's the team's financial obligation to the biggest free agent bust in franchise history. To be honest, the contract was so bad, I think I had just assumed it would continue forever- a permanent punishment from the universe on Miami fans for crimes unknown. However, an insightful MLB Trade Rumors piece from Wednesday on the Sandy Alcantara market mentioned the nearing end of the Garcia contract while listing the largest remaining salary obligations on Miami's books.

The gist of that piece was essentially that Miami can start to contend in earnest once all their old big salaries are off their books, which would be achieved by the one final "sell" of dealing Alcantara. Now, my belief that the Marlins should not do that has been written about at length, and will continue to be until I either speak it into existence or the team continues their frustrating tradition of ignoring just about everything I say. However, for this piece, I really just want to hone in on the remaining Garcia money math and what it could mean for how Sherman's Marlins go about building a roster in 2025.

Simply put, if the team did trade Alcantara this winter, would Sherman be willing to endure the public relations bloodbath of the highest paid Miami Marlins player being Garcia at $5 million?

Actually, it could even be worse than that, as the second highest salary could technically end up being Giancarlo Stanton at $3 million. It remains to be seen whether Edward Cabrera will remain with the team, and what he can expect to garner in his first year of arbitration. As successful as the team was relative to expectations in 2025, an Alcantara trade could put the team in the unenviable position of having their three biggest salary outlays be for people no longer with the organization. That's a rough way to try to boost those season ticket sales.

Of course, none of this is to say it isn't a good thing that Garcia's salary is finally off the Marlins books. Indeed, this could end up helping the Marlins hold on to Alcantara for a run at contending in 2026. On the one hand, they have an additional $7 to $12 million (depending on whether you count the buyout) to spend on payroll. On the other, they can no longer make claims about owing tens of millions in useless salaries as an excuse not to keep their more expensive players. Either way, there's just as much of a money argument for the Marlins keeping Alcantara as there is for moving him in light of Garcia's albatross of a contract being behind them. That's Garcia Consequence No. 1.

Garcia Consequence No. 2? The answer to the question of whether or not the Garcia trauma continues once the money stops leaving Sherman's bank account.

Now, there is plenty of evidence that the answer to that question is yes. As noted in that Worst Free Agent bust article cited above, everything that has happened since the end of the 2023 season can be pointed to here. The rebuild, trading other expensive players, Peter Bendix and his cast of thousands in the new Marlins front office...it's all a way to avoid the need to pay for "Future Avisail Garcias". Well, future overpriced mid-tier free agents to make up for the lack of young impact talent at any rate.

Yet if it really is just that last point that was the lasting lesson, not simple sticker shock but just the practice of spending freely and foolishly...then maybe the Marlins do approach this offseason more aggressively now that they have paid off some of their bad debt.

It was already going to be a fascinating offseason for Miami. But with the reminder of how much less dead weight Sherman now needs to pay for going forward?

It puts a whole new light on every decision the Marlins are about to make.