Ridiculous suggestions would not have saved this Marlins season
![Joc Pederson](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_3173,h_1784,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_752,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/86/01j1agtkw5zf8xgrc9dq.jpg)
Did you sign up to watch the Miami Marlins for free yet? This season has not been as good as many of us had hoped it would be. This means that it's natural to criticize management and look for answers. I wrote about some "what-if" signings in hindsight. What do Joc Pederson, Tommy Pham, Rhys Hoskins, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Jorge Soler, Adam Duvall have in common? Read on and laugh...
The Miami Marlins were apparently a few of these bats away from winning the division!
Hindsight is a tricky thing. It's easy to judge things in the past based on what we know now. However, that's not a good way to evaluate past moves and non-moves. With ace Sandy Alcantara out for the season, the Miami Marlins still had recent elite prospect Eury Perez, Jesus Luzardo and Braxton Garrett set for the rotation. Then there was Edward Cabrera and his elite strikeout rate to continue developing, Trevor Rogers, former top prospect Ryan Weathers and top prospect Max Meyer. Keep in mind that Sandy is coming back next season as well.
There was literally no reason for The Fish to sign any more starting pitchers, nor would many sign not being guaranteed a spot. The staggering amount of injuries could not possibly have been predicted. Turning over to the hitting, it's important to point out that Peter Bendix clearly wants to use the DH spot to rotate players, and that once 1B Josh Bell picked up his player option for the season, first base was locked too.
With all of this out of the way, there are apparently fans who think that Bendix could've saved the season by signing a bunch of for lack of a better word "scrubs". It's mind boggling to think that those players would've made any kind of difference but let's take a look...
We'll start with Jorge Soler, who is terrible defensively, injury-prone and inconsistent outside his contract years. If you're focused on his 36 home run contract year in 2023, remind yourself of his .207/.295/.400 performance in 2022, as well as his .221/.306/.381 production so far this season. Imagine signing this guy for 3 years?! Joc Pederson is another bad defender, who also has trouble against lefties. There was no reason to sign him either.
Tommy Pham almost had to settle for a Minor League deal at 36 years old, and is coming off a .256/.328/.446 performance in 2023. With his defense declining along with his production, it's unclear why anyone would see him as an upgrade to what The Fish already have. Adam Duvall is especially silly to suggest, as the 35 year old is currently batting .166/.242/.291 Rhys Hoskins would've been interesting, but there was no room for him after Bell picked up his option. He's also hitting .221/.317/.413.
Overall, none of the hitters suggested would've made an ounce of difference for this Miami Marlins team.
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