Marlins might be holding off on signing free agents due to lack of value

The Miami Marlins have been very quiet this offseason and fans are of course restless wanting a deal to come through. The biggest issue of this off-season’s trade and free agent market is lack of depth, and maybe that’s why Bendix hasn’t jumped at anything. The Marlins will need to pull off a big signing or deal at some point but it could be for a name that is not yet being circulated. 

Peter Bendix controlling the Marlins budget in a big spending off-season

This could be a very wise move for new President of Baseball Operations Peter Bendix and Assistant GM Gabe Kapler if they don’t see much benefit due to a shallow talent pool. The recent signings show just how much teams are overpaying for players due to that very fact. Lucas Giolito just signed a 2 year $38.5 million contract. Giolito is a quality pitcher but that is a huge overpay for his current performance levels.  I’m glad Bendix didn’t go for Giolito in that same fashion. 

There are plenty of decent names remaining but the question is are they worth the price they might command. Certainly the Marlins were never going to anti-up for Shohei Ohtani or Yamamoto, or Juan Soto, as much as fans would have wanted any of those players on the team. Josh Bell’s additional salary is almost all accounted for with Segura being gone, and with Soler gone, they would have around $10 million to sign a free agent or make a trade, since Bell takes some of the $16.5 million. 

The Marlins don’t spend as we wrote about previously so the next few weeks will be interesting to see where their money goes and what kind of quality players are brought in. My guess is most of the remaining money will go to the big bat in the lineup and a small fraction that remains will go into shortstop. They might do well and save some money by signing or trading for a big bat at shortstop. Then they could focus on a more cost friendly outfielder to fill in right field duties.