As Marlins’ sell-off begins early, who — and what — might be next?

Major League Baseball

Published May. 15, 2024 10:00 a.m. ET

Jazz Chisholm Jr. considers Luis Arráez one of the greatest human beings he has ever met. The two grew to be close friends after Arráez was traded from Minnesota to Miami before the start of last season, hanging out not only on the team plane and bus but also off the field, going out to eat and often spending off days together.

So, it’s no surprise that May 3 was especially painful for the Marlins center fielder.

In the days that followed the trade that sent Arráez from the sinking Marlins cross-country to the Padres — a move that signaled yet another rebuild likely to come in Miami — it still hadn’t fully sunk in for Chisholm that his friend was gone, mostly because they hadn’t stopped communicating.

“We still talk every day,” Chisholm told FOX Sports last week, three days after the move that brought reliever Woo-Suk Go and three prospects to Miami. “We’re just talking every day, just like, we can’t believe it happened. But it is what it is right now.”

Chisholm credits the players and staff around him in Miami for keeping the spirits up in the locker room, but the positivity hasn’t prevented a seemingly never-ending nosedive or speculation about who might go next from a Marlins team that was coming off its first full-season postseason appearance in 20 years, led by the National League Manager of the Year.

The early October euphoria lasted all of a couple weeks.

Twelve days after getting swept by the Phillies in the wild-card round, the person who orchestrated Miami’s elusive postseason berth was shockingly out. Reports emerged that Kim Ng, the first woman to serve as a Major League Baseball general manager, had declined her mutual option to remain with the team after the Marlins planned to hire a president of baseball operations above her.

Weeks later, the Marlins tabbed their new head of baseball operations in Peter Bendix, a longtime executive for a Rays franchise renowned for its robust player development factory. Tampa Bay’s ability to consistently churn out winning teams on a low payroll drew Miami’s attention — and signaled the likely overhaul to come after poaching Bendix.

The Marlins did virtually nothing to bolster their roster this past offseason, signing just one free agent to a major-league deal (for one year and $5 million). The recipient, Tim Anderson, entered this week with the fourth-worst OPS in the majors among players with at least 100 plate appearances. The lack of spending, a regression to the mean for a Marlins group that won 84 games last year despite a minus-57 run differential and injuries throughout the rotation — the area of the team that provided the most reason for optimism — combined for calamity.

The spiral began immediately. The Marlins didn’t secure their first win until their 10th game of the year. By then, while already playing without injured starting pitchers Sandy Alcántara, Braxton Garrett and Edward Cabrera, the team had announced that last year’s breakout rookie Eury Pérez would need Tommy John surgery.

“Losers will say, ‘Here we go again,'” Skip Schumaker told FOX Sports. “I don’t want the complaining culture. That’s not who we are. Injuries happen.”

Highlights from the Marlins’ walk-off win vs. Phillies

In a short period of time in Miami, the second-year manager worked diligently to craft a culture built on positivity and growth. He garnered respect both within the clubhouse and around the league as he turned the Marlins’ fortunes around last year with a 15-win year-over-year-improvement.

This year, though, the results haven’t improved from the early slide. At 9-24, seeing an opportunity to bolster what is widely considered one of the weakest farm systems in the sport — one that has consistently failed to develop offensive talents — Bendix effectively threw in the towel on this season by dealing away his best hitter.

“It was the type of deal that we were worried wasn’t going to be there if we waited,” Bendix told reporters after paying down Arráez’s 2024 salary to send him to the Padres and secure a package of minor-leaguers headlined by Dillon Head, a 19-year-old outfielder selected in the first round last season. “The fact is that we’re unlikely to make the playoffs this year, and trading that for future value seems like the right thing for this organization right now.”

None of the players the Marlins received are considered top-100 talents, but MLB Pipeline already ranks all three prospects the Padres parted with — outfielders Head and Jakob Marsee and infielder Nathan Martorella — among the top 11 prospects in Miami’s system. It was an understandable move. Of course, that doesn’t ease the sting for Marlins fans hoping to build off last year’s success or for the Miami players who had grown close to Arráez, a back-to-back batting champ who was universally adored in the clubhouse.

Schumaker could sense the initial daze that enveloped the clubhouse. One Marlins player described it like losing a brother. After Arráez’s sudden departure, the skipper tried to further instill his message to Marlins players through conversations both individually and in small groups about being professional and maintaining focus.

“The game doesn’t stop for anybody,” Schumaker said.

It’s a line that multiple players echoed to FOX Sports when asked about moving on from the Arráez shock.

“The goal of a coach or a manager is to get them confidence and swag going into the game, into this jungle you’re about to play in, right?” Schumaker told FOX Sports. “This is a high-pressure situation. How do you keep building them up every single day? When you’re getting your butt kicked early in the season, that is the real challenge for the coach, because it’s easy to come in when you’re 20-8. It’s tough when you’re 8-20. But I think if you have a player see you sweat, that’s when they can see right through you. They won’t see me sweat.”

On a young team, Schumaker has some veterans to help deliver a similar message. On the hitting side, Josh Bell stepped up quickly as a stabilizing voice. On his first day with the team last year, the deadline acquisition spoke up in the hitters’ meeting about what he thought the Marlins’ identity should be. Bell, who has played for four different teams the past two years, is in a contract year.

The biggest leader on the pitching side is under contract through at least 2026, but he isn’t taking the mound for a while. Still, as Alcántara recovers from Tommy John surgery, he remains present. The 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner was on the Marlins’ recent road trip to Oakland and Los Angeles and plans to continue to travel with the team throughout the year.

He was initially a mentor for Pérez, the 21-year-old Dominican sensation who is now out for the year, but Miami still values Alcántara’s leadership, and the seven-year vet wants to be around to answer questions other young pitchers might have. Plus, being on the road allows him to rehab with the major-league trainers rather than traveling back and forth from Jupiter, Florida. Eight months after his procedure, Alcántara is now throwing out to 90 feet. He has not ruled out a return before season’s end.

Last year, after throwing his final pitch on Sept. 3, he put off surgery until after the season so that he could remain with the club in October. He celebrated the team’s successes and attended both postseason games in Philadelphia, as frustrating and difficult as it was not to contribute.

“I’m the guy who always likes to compete,” Alcántara told FOX Sports. “When that happened to me, my heart broke, because I know myself. I know what I can do out there.”

Like others, Alcántara, who is under contract for at least the next three years, has tried to stay positive through the team’s precipitous fall and the likely fire-sale ahead. He knows there are elements out of his control.

“I think I‘m a strong man,” he said. “Being the only player who was here since 2018, just got to be more patient, because I can’t make the decision to tell them that we need to sign Giancarlo Stanton or Aaron Judge. We’re here to play baseball, man.”

Alcántara represents one of the few positives to come out of the Marlins’ most recent attempted rebuild. From 2017 to 2019, they traded away All-Stars Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich and J.T. Realmuto. The deal for Ozuna was the only one to yield long-term value, bringing in Alcántara and Zac Gallen, who was then dealt for Chisholm, who could soon be part of the next wave of trades. Chisholm has tried to avoid the rumor mill by stopping himself from logging onto Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok.

“I don’t want to think about it,” Chisholm said. “I just want to be here and play ball with my boys.”

That is easier for him than most.

Chisholm, who is under team control through 2026, said he is rarely on his phone in the first place.

“The hard part is that right now I just want to go on my phone and talk to Luis,” Chisholm said last week. “So, it’s hard to not go and see a message from my mom or my sister saying, ‘Hey, you getting traded here? I saw this say you’re about to get traded, or you just got traded to this place.’ I’m like, ‘I’m still sitting here.'”

To this point, Chisholm said he hasn’t heard anything of substance. He has maintained his joy at the ballpark despite the team’s woeful struggles. Through 43 games last year, the Marlins had 22 wins. They had half that through 43 games this year.

“The team’s record is what it is right now,” Bendix said.

Because of that, there’s reason to believe the wheeling and dealing is just beginning. Despite the Marlins’ 12-32 record, they have a number of intriguing young starters on the mound who could dramatically impact a contending team at or before the deadline.

Jesús Luzardo, a 26-year-old left-hander who struck out 208 batters last year, is now back from the injured list. Like Chisholm, his final year of arbitration is not until 2026, which could yield a significant return. Fellow 26-year-old starters Garrett and Cabrera are also back from injury and are under team control through 2028.

Then there’s closer Tanner Scott, one of the few members of the Marlins roster in a contract year. The 29-year-old lefty, who led all NL relievers in strikeouts last year, has also done his best not to think too far ahead or allow rumors to impact his psyche. It helps that Scott welcomed his son to the family last September, when the Marlins were making their late playoff push. It’s easier to leave baseball behind when he’s with his child.

“When I go home, I don’t think about it,” Scott said. “I talk to my family and that’s about it. I don’t really think about anything baseball related. I show up the next day and go from there.”

That’s all Marlins players can do right now as they attempt to right the ship amid the uncertainty ahead. Even Schumaker’s days in Miami could be numbered. USA Today reported last month that the reigning NL Manager of the Year got the Marlins to void the club option on his contract next season, potentially setting the scene for his departure this offseason. It seems obvious after last year’s triumph that he had a different vision for Miami’s future.

For now, though, the game doesn’t stop.

“We have a job to do,” Schumaker said. “Let’s try to figure this thing out.”

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on Twitter at @RowanKavner.

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