Miami Marlins off-season grade might surprise you

The off-season is coming to an end and it's time to take a look at how things are looking. I will make our official season predictions later on, but for now let's take a look at how the off-season went. It was full of wait, big trades and unexpected position switches! How do the Miami Marlins look as the dust settles? Well.... a whole of a lot better than before the off-season started! The main objective was to improve the offense, so that was the main goal of the off-season.

The Miami Marlins had a successful off-season.

The Miami Marlins didn't want to give up on Jacob Stallings after he hit .281/.361/.381 in the second half of 2022. The Fish pursued upgrades at first base, but smartly didn't give out any lengthy deals to declining sluggers. It still looks like a position of need, but to be fair Garrett Cooper was an All-Star last season. The middle infield was shaken up with superstar Jazz Chisholm Jr. moved from second base to CF. This should solve the CF issue and I believe Jazz's promise that he can be a Gold Glover at the position. He has the skillset to be elite at the position.

The big trade between the Miami Marlins and the Minnesota Twins sent expendable SP Pablo Lopez and his 3.94 career ERA for new second baseman Luis Arraez. Arraez is the reigning AL batting champ and should be a massive boost to the lineup. Pablo was replaced by SP Johnny Cueto and his 3.35 ERA/3.79 FIP. I think that while Cueto will probably not be as good in 2022, he should match Pablo's performance. SS Miguel Rojas was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers after a disastrous .236/.283/.323 batting line in 2022. In return The Fish received an elite Minor League defender Jacob Amaya.

The revolving door at third base was resolved by new signing Jean Segura. There's some concern about him moving to third base, but he should have no problem playing the position, and gives the lineup another contact hitting boost that it badly needs. Team defense should be improved further by Jorge Soler moving from LF to DH. He was one of the worst defensive players in the Majors throughout his entire career.

The bullpen has been improved with a big trade that brings A.J. Puk to the team. Puk is a very good reliever who will help the team quite a bit in late innings. I think this covers the team's major moves, so let's see how we can rate it. The bullpen has improved a bit, the rotation largely stays the same (but was already elite). The lineup has improved quite a bit by subtracting Rojas, a revolving door at third base and adding Arraez and Segura. I really don't think that the defense will be a big issue.

So what's the grade? I give the Miami Marlins off-season a solid B+. I wish that Kim Ng improved first base and the bullpen more, though the team has been improved in a big way already.