The Miami Marlins traded away two of their starting pitchers in the offseason, and haven’t done much to replace them.

Miami did take a small step earlier this week by signing Garrett Acton, who theoretically could start games for Miami in 2026.

But Acton is has primarily worked out of the bullpen, and since Miami’s bullpen depth is a question mark, it seems to make the most sense for him to be used in middle relief, with the occasional spot start.

Spring training is less than three weeks away as of this writing, and it’s conceivable that the Marlins could go into it without adding a single external option to the rotation.

Of Miami’s five projected Opening Day starters, only one, Sandy Alcántara, is established, and he’s coming off the worst year of his career (5.36 ERA).

The remaining rotation as of now -- Eury Perez, Max Meyer, Braxton Garrett and Jansen Junk -- all have potential, but none has established himself beyond one quality season, if that.

Even the best rotations need depth, and Miami doesn’t have it.

Marlins Roundtable wrote about Chris Bassitt, who has been one of the more consistent starters in baseball and is still a free agent in early February.

But who are some other guys the Fish could go after?

Previous team: Cincinnati Reds

Projected cost: $24 million over two years (per FanGraphs)

Littell most recently played for the  Reds, but before that, he spent three seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays, who claimed him off waivers in May 2023 -- the last season Peter Bendix was general manager before becoming Miami’s president. 

Before Littell got to Tampa, he started four games over five-plus seasons.

By August 2023, Littell was a regular in Tampa’s starting rotation, and that carried over into the next season.

Littell ended 2024 with a 3.63 ERA, and had a 3.58 mark through 22 starts in Tampa the next season.

The Reds liked Littell enough to trade for him at the deadline as part of their playoff push.

Pitching in the bandbox that is Great American Ballpark, Littell had a 4.39 ERA over 10 starts (eight of which, curiously, were no decisions).

Littell’s biggest problem last season was giving up home runs (26 in 22 starts for Tampa Bay, 10 in 10 starts for Cincinnati.)

To be fair, 17 of those were at either George M. Steinbrenner Field, which was Tampa’s home last season, or Great American Ballpark, both of which notoriously favor hitters.

Littell throws in the lower 90s and doesn’t strike out a lot of batters (6.9 K/9 in 2025) but he also doesn’t walk many (1.9 BB/9), a combination that makes him a solid option for the back end of the rotation, if nothing else.

The Marlins currently have the lowest payroll in baseball, per FanGarphs ($69 million), so they probably could afford some talent.

Right now, Littell projects to earn $24 million over two seasons, and since the Marlins haven’t signed a free agent to a multi-year contract since Avisail Garcia in 2021, history doesn’t favor them giving out that type of deal.

But if Littell wants to sign a one-year deal, its conceivable that Miami could give him something similar to what it gave Littell’s former Rays teammate, Pete Fairbanks (one year, $13 million).

Previous team: Chicago Cubs

Projected contract: One year, $8 million 

Civale had a wild 2025. He started the season on a good team (Milwaukee Brewers), got traded to a terrible one (Chicago White Sox) and ended up another good one (Cubs).

Before 2025, Civale was with the Rays, where Bendix liked him enough in 2023 to trade away Kyle Manzardo, who had been Tampa’s No. 4 prospect per MLB.com, at the deadline.

Things didn’t work out for Civale in Tampa.

He had a 5.36 ERA over 10 starts in 2023, then had a 5.07 ERA over 17 starts for Tampa in 2024 before the Rays traded him to Brewers.

Civale pitched well down the stretch for Milwaukee, going 6-3 with a 3.53 ERA and helping the Brewers to the NL Central championship.

That didn’t carry over imo 2025, and as a result, Civale wasn’t there to celebrate Milwaukee repeating as division champs.

But when Civale became a Cub, he pitched well, putting up a 2.08 ERA in five games out of the bullpen.

Travis Sawchik of MLB.com also pointed this out about Civale.

“Civale ranked 22nd in strikeout-minus-walk percentage (20.5%), an elite rate in a useful metric that accounts for what pitchers largely control,” he wrote.

Civale doesn’t have much leverage to argue for a multi-year deal, which makes him a realistic option for Miami.

If he can eat innings the way he did in 2024 (161, which would have been behind only Alcantara on last year’s Marlins), he’d be worth the minimal risk.

Previous team: Boston Red Sox

Projected cost: $36 million over two seasons

This one is the least likely to happen since, well, Giolito would probably cost the most.

But the fact that he’s still on the market should interest Marlins fans.

Thanks to Tommy John Surgery, Giolito started just six games over the 2023 and ‘24 seasons.

Last year, he had a renaissance with the Red Sox, going 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA.

That production would be welcomed in any rotation, and Miami would certainly be making a statement by signing Giolito.

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