The Miami Marlins may be down to their last out, but are already winners

Not dead yet, Miami Marlins fans.

Sure, that's hard to sell after the 11-1 drubbing Miami suffered at the hands of the NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies Wednesday night. Per the intrepid reporters at Fish on First, a franchise record was just set for most home runs allowed in a single game. However, the Cubs and Dodgers both came through, holding back the damn for at least one more night by defeating the Mets and Diamondbacks. One more win from either club, and the Marlins are eliminated- regardless of whether or not they win out.

Yes, the NL Wild Card race is pretty ridiculous right about now.

However, what there should be zero confusion about is just how amazing of a job this Miami Marlins team has done, and how far this franchise has come this season. The vibes really could not have been lower during the offseason, when the club decided the response to losing 100 games was to spend next to nothing in free agency and continue trading away effective players.

Fast forward six months, though? It might just be the Florida Panthers Bill Zito that currently enjoys more trust in South Florida for making the right move at the right time for their respective franchise. Owner Bruce Sherman...that's another story for another time. But the young players in this system really came through, and now faith is there that the next crop of players will do the same thing. Trust is growing amongst local fans, and national recognition is starting to trickle in as well. True, the national outlets could be doing a better job of reminding fans that the Marlins are still in the race. But recognition that something is brewing, and that the Marlins might be getting better at player development? That's happening.

In other words, exactly the kind of sentiment that did not happen during the first Marlins rebuild under Sherman. There were some highlights to be sure, but never a real sense of the potential of things getting better going forward. Even after those two playoff runs in 2020 and 2023, there was a pretty healthy awareness of just how flukey and lucky those runs were, and how hard pressed the Marlins would be to repeat.

Yet this year's team has been both a ton of fun to watch this season, and also feels like just the beginning for this franchise.

The 2025 Miami Marlins might not deliver a playoff berth, and that's okay. Because they've already more than come through on delivering the one thing Bendix and Sherman needed them to deliver to their fanbase above all else.

Hope.