When Miami Marlins struggle, always remember they chose to do this

Last week was more like it, wasn't it Miami Marlins fans?

When the competition got tough, the watching got tougher when it came to the play of the 2025 Miami Marlins. After a surprising 8-7 start to the season, Miami was unsurprisingly, unceremoniously stomped by the playoff tested Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies to the tune of a 1-5 record over six games.

Yes, some of the games were close. Plenty of that 2025 Marlins grit showed at times throughout the two series. Yet 1-5 is 1-5. Only having three starting pitchers finish the fifth inning last week, and only one starting pitcher manage a quality start all season long is just as bad as it sounds.

However, there is also plenty that isn't working. Which only makes it all the more frustrating that the Miami Marlins front office chose to cut as many as corners as the did this year. If 2024 proved anything, it's that the road to the first pick in the draft isn't remotely guaranteed anymore. Last year's Marlins were horrid in every sense of the word, on purpose, and still only managed to secure the seventh selection. Saving money until the chances of contending are high is one thing, but the Marlins are dead last in team payroll. They even trail the tanking White Sox by over $10 million in active salary. Unless they add tens of millions in payroll by the end of the season, they will likely face an MLB investigation.

So they really couldn't have cut Jose Quintana a $5 million check? They really couldn't have added a couple of reliable, veteran relievers on easily flippable one or two year deals? Edward Cabrera really needed to start MLB games? George Soriano really needed to be here at all?

Again, there are signs of growth. The season has been fun. Ryan Weathers and Andrew Nardi are hurt, and that wasn't supposed to happen. But they knew Braxton Garrett and Eury Perez would be out for as long as they are months ago, and there was plenty of time to do something about that. As I wrote on the site recently, isn't the point of dramatically overhauling analytics and player development to get better at finding and developing players? For the same reason the Marlins shouldn't feel any pressure to trade Sandy Alcantara, they shouldn't particularly sweat losing a few lottery balls either. The impact this team overperforming in a 2006 or 2014 Marlins fashion would have very likely dwarfs the difference between the 7th and 11th selection in next year's draft.

Hopefully, if this success continues, the Marlins will continue to look to filling those holes. The presence of Agustin Ramirez in Miami this early already suggests the club could be thinking that way. Until those bullpen and rotation weak spots are addressed though? It's going to be extremely hard for the Marlins to hold their own against playoff contenders.

And when that happens, just remember that's exactly how the front office drew it up.