Christopher Morel says he’ll do anything to earn playing time with the Marlins as he looks to revive his career and help Miami win in 2026.
Christopher Morel knows exactly where he stands -- and he’s embracing it.
The Miami Marlins didn’t just give Morel a roster spot this offseason. They gave him a lifeline. At $2 million, he’s the only free-agent position player the Marlins signed to a major-league deal, and that contract technically makes him the franchise's highest-paid hitter. It’s an odd distinction for a player coming off one of the roughest seasons of his career, but it underscores just how open this opportunity really is.
Morel’s 2025 numbers with Tampa Bay were hard to ignore: a .219/.289/.396 slash line, 11 home runs, a 90 wRC+, and a staggering 35.7-percent strikeout rate, the highest in the American League among qualified hitters. Those struggles nearly pushed him out of MLB altogether. By his own admission, his most serious alternatives this winter weren’t other big-league clubs, but teams in Korea and Japan.
That reality has sharpened his edge.
“I’m truly going to give my best every moment, every second that the manager gives me the opportunity,” Morel said in Spanish at Marlins Media Day, according to Fish On First. “I’ll give 100 percent of myself … so we can win and keep pushing forward.”
That desperation isn’t empty talk. It’s driving a willingness to reinvent himself on the fly.
Defensively, Morel has never had a permanent home. Left field last year. Second and third base before that. Now, in 2026, the Marlins are asking him to do something entirely new: learn first base—a position he’s never played in a game. Morel joked that he’s already “dancing bachata” over there, but the humor masks something important. He’s not resisting the move. He’s leaning into it.
“Wherever the manager needs me, I’ll be there to help the team,” he said.
For Miami, the bar couldn’t be lower. The Marlins were one of just seven teams in baseball last season to get sub-replacement production at first base. They don’t need an All-Star. They need competence -- and ideally, upside.
That upside still exists. As recently as 2023, Morel crushed 26 home runs with a 120 wRC+. If he even approaches that version of himself, the Marlins suddenly gain flexibility, control, and a potential long-term piece through arbitration all the way to 2028.
There’s also a personal layer that makes this fit feel less random. Morel shares a long-standing friendship with Eury Pérez, dating back to their childhoods in Santiago, Dominican Republic. For a player trying to rebuild confidence and stability, familiarity matters.
Morel isn’t promising stardom. He’s promising effort, adaptability, and urgency. For a Marlins team searching for value in overlooked places, that might be exactly the kind of bet worth making.
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