Miami Marlins Winter Meetings Top 3 Needs According to Allen Settle

MLB's annual Winter Meetings represent the cheif fuel from which baseball's hot stove burns. Representatives from all 30 clubs, including your Miami Marlins, as well as top free agents and their agents will all be under one roof.

With the lines of communication wide open, this is the perfect time for baseball's top decision-makers to use both trades and free-agent signings to ignite their roster-building process. This is a prime event for clubs like the Marlins, who have several noticeable roster flaws, to build a depth chart worthy of their postseason aspirations.

Miami Marlins Winter Meetings Top 3 Needs According to Allen Settle

The Fish are without with workhorse Sandy Alcantara. Their 2023 home run leader, Jorge Soler, has opted for free agency (although he has been spotted around former teammates in Miami). New President of Baseball Peter Bendix is settling into his role as lead decision-maker and on top of it all, the Marlins are seeking to join the powerhouse Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies as legitimate contenders in a loaded NL East, as they seek to build off of their surprise 2023 run to the NL Wild Card round.

There are a lot of big decisions looming around the franchise, and the Winter Meetings represents the perfect time to reignite the excitement for the South Florida fanbase, while appropriately addressing the club's biggest needs. Where should Bendix and the rest of teh front office start? Here are my top three priorities:

Honorable Mentions:

• Trade Avisail Garcia (likely in a bad contract swap);
• Add reliever depth behind Tanner Scott (some options listed here);
• Add a DH with power;

3) Address the Cather Position

Miami's catching situation is a mess. Jacob Stallings is no longer with the club following a below-average 2023 season. Currently, Nick Fortes, who was also sub-par in nearly every important catching metric, is the only player listed on the active depth chart.

The Marlins are targeting help at this position. Trade options like Elias Diaz or Danny Jansen would immediately fill this void. The free agency pool also included high-upside veterans such as Mitch Garver or Gary Sanchez, as well as lower-cost options such as Tom Murphy or Victor Caratini. Considering the current state of the position, even a short-term fill-in such as Yasmani Grandal would represent an upgrade.

Fans and media members differ on which of these solutions they prefer. However, what is clear is the fact that Miami cannot enter the 2024 season with Fortes as the #1 backstop.

There is no better time to solidify this critically important position than the Winter Meetings. Regardless of what their board of top candidates looks like, Bendix and company must be aggressive in adding an MLB-level backstop to serve as their everyday starter.

2) Address Alcantara's Absence in the Rotation

The Marlins have a massive void in their starting pitching unit as they await the recovery of ace Santy Alcantara. While starters like Eury Perez and Jesus Luzardo are capable of locking down the top end of the rotation, the club is noticeably thin at SP.

Remember, Miami needed to give Johnny Cueto meaning innings last season. Now, the 184.2 innings Alcantra provided before the league premier innings-eater suffered a UCL injury.

I've written before that players like Mitch Keller or Logan Gilbert could be targets in a mini-Miami blockbuster. Free agents like Seth Lugo and James Paxton could also provide quality innings without a premium price tag.

Upper-tier free agent starters such as Marcus Stroman, Eduardo Rodriguez, or even Jordan Montgomery, are also available to the highest bigger. While each would require a heftier contract, any of this trio would make sense for Miami as they seek to build off their impressive 2023 postseason run.

Again, I have my preferences out of the names mentioned. And I imagine you do as well. However, Miami cannot afford to allow the winter meeting, and the busy portion of the player movement window, to pass without adding at least one quality starter.