A national writer unpacks the Miami Marlins' curious strategy: rebuilding without truly tearing down, sparking fan debate and anticipation for unexpected moves.
The Miami Marlins are in a rebuild, but they aren't at the same time, says one national MLB writer.
According to Chad Jennings of The Athletic, the Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals are each rebuilding.
This might surprise or even enrage some Marlins fans.
A team that won 79 games with the league's youngest roster last season should be trying to make the playoffs, not tearing down its roster.
But Jennings writes that a teardown isn't exactly what the Marlins are doing.
He pointed out that while the Marlins did trade two of their projected starting pitchers in Edward Cabrera (Chicago Cubs) and Ryan Weathers (New York Yankees), the team has the rotational depth to account for it, in contrast to the Cardinals, who have traded veterans Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras and Nolen Arenado this offseason and don't have the depth to account for it.
Jennings also mentioned that the centerpiece of the Cabrera trade, outfielder Owen Caissie, is a guy who could be a key contributor to the big league roster soon, and that Miami "even managed to get something, a minor league reliever, for the light-hitting Eric Wagaman."
He then brought up the Marlins signing former Tampa Bay Rays closer Pete Fairbanks, and suggested that the Marlins would move him if he performed well.
Fairbanks — and all closers — are an interesting case.
Even if the Marlins are in the playoff hunt come the trade deadline, there will still be temptation to move the 32-year-old, since teams tend to overpay for relief pitching. Then again, it's always risky business for a contender to trade with another contender, so the Marlins' decision on what to do with Fairbanks would be much easier if the team weren't winning in late July.
It's hard to gauge what the Marlins will do because, over the last three seasons, there haven't been many teams in baseball, if any, that have been less consistent.
The 2023 Marlins were good and thus made the playoffs. The 2024 Marlins were awful and thus lost 100 games.
The 2025 Marlins were somewhere in between, and although they lost more than they won and missed the postseason, a 17-game improvement is never anything to sneeze at.
For better or worse, the past three seasons have been adventures for Miami, and it's doubtful that 2026 will be any different.
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