1 Starter the Marlins should consider to fill in for Sandy and 2 to avoid

Two to avoid - James Paxton 

The former Red Sox starter James Paxton is a free agent but will not be a good choice for the Marlins and there are several reasons why. Paxton is a lefty first and foremost and the Marlins have a good amount of solid southpaws so they have no real need for a lefty like some other teams. Sandy is a righty so that would be the ideal replacement in that regards. 

Paxton ended the year on the IL with knee issues. The 35 year old pitcher is not a spring chicken, and although the Marlins could use the wisdom the injury bug is a concern. He will be cheap so that might be a plus but he could be another player who signs and plays less than 25% of the season due to injury. 

Finally, his stats aren’t there with regard to his value. He went 7-5 over 96 innings with a 4.50 ERA and a 1.313 WHIP. He gives up an average of 3 walks, 1.7 home runs, and 8.7 hits per nine which again doesn’t help the Marlins upper half of the rotation. I just don’t see the value here and there are other solid pitchers that will cost only a little more with little injury concern.