Fish On First’s Kevin Barral and Isaac Azout reported last week that the organization “expects” Alcantara to be at the club on opening day. Christina De Nicola of MLB.com offers There’s a similar sentiment today, suggesting Cabrera will likely be moved this offseason – if either is traded at all. Miami is not currently actively looking for either pitcher, she wrote, although it is almost certain there will be an increase in inquiries during next week’s Winter Meetings. The Nicola also mentions links Ryan Weers as a potential trade candidate, while rightly noting that the Fish would sell low on a talented left-hander after back-to-back injury-plagued seasons.
Acquired during the 2023 trade shipment Garrett Cooper for the Padres, Weathers has been a steal for Miami when healthy. Unfortunately, that was a big warning sign. A combination of a lat, flexor and finger strain has limited the former No. 7 overall draft pick to just 24 starts, dating back to Opening Day 2024. Weathers has totaled 125 innings in that time, posting a 3.74 ERA with a 22% strikeout rate and a 6.8% walk rate. That league-average strikeout rate is backed up by an average swinging-strike rate of 11.7%. Weathers has hit 96.2 mph on his heater since ’24 and kept a whopping 45.6% of batted balls against him on the ground. As with Cabrera, he is a clear injury risk, but he has had recent success and can add another three seasons of club control to his name.
Cabrera is the prize of the Marlins’ potential trade candidates in the rotation, but due to his age (27), affordable salary ($3.7 million projection, via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz), former top prospect status and 2025 results (3.53 ERA, 25.8 K%, 8.3 BB%, 46.6 GB% in 137 2/3 innings), he also certainly comes with the highest asking price.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel wrote just this morning that Miami has requested “premium prospects” from any club sniffing around Cabrera, and the right-hander’s lengthy injury history has made interested parties wary of making such a commitment. The 2025 season was Cabrera’s first 100 innings in the Majors, and he remains on the injured list with an elbow sprain, blisters, shoulder impingement (three times) and tendonitis in his elbow – all since 2021.
Sure, the Marlins could use their deep pool of starting pitching to bring in some bats to help the lineup, but free agency remains a viable avenue as well. So far, they’ve mostly focused on first base, but Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and his staff have begun broadening their search. Miami is also exploring potential acquisitions in the outfield and third base, believing player versatility is nice Connor Norby And Griffin Conine could allow them to target bats at other positions.
It is already known that the Marlins are considering Norby at first base. Jackson adds that the Fish plan to give Conine some work next spring and also believe that outfielder Heriberto Hernández could be an option there.
The bullpen is another area of focus for Bendix & Co., with reports linking Miami to prominent names like Devin Williams (who has since signed with the Mets), Raisel Iglesias (who re-signed in Atlanta) and Pete Fairbanks (whom Bendix knows well from his days as Rays general manager). Jackson adds veteran relievers Kyle Finnegan, Tyler Rogers and twin brother Taylor Rogers as three more bullpen arms that intrigue the Marlins.
Finnegan, 34, has closed games for the division rival Nationals for years, but increased his production to new heights after a summer trade with the Tigers. Detroit forced Finnegan to use his splitter more and adjusted his release point, and the right-hander was downright dominant in the Motor City, emerging as one of manager AJ Hinch’s favorite relievers. He threw 18 innings of 1.50 ERA ball after the trade and saw his strikeout rate rise from 19.6% in DC to an eye-popping 34.8% in Detroit.
The Rogers brothers themselves have a long track record. Taylor, a lefty, was a high-end setup man and All-Star closer with the Twins during his prime years from 2017-2022. He has settled into more of a center relief role since signing with the Giants – where he teamed up with his brother – and then being traded to the Reds and Cubs.
While Taylor was the prominent name early in the brothers’ careers, it is now Tyler who is the most prominent reliever. He has thrown 378 1/3 innings of 2.71 ERA ball dating back to 2021, including an impeccable 1.98 earned run average in 77 1/3 frames between the Giants and Mets in 2025. Tyler doesn’t miss many bats, as you might expect from a soft-throwing right-handed submariner whose sinker averages 83.5 mph, but he has impeccable command (2.2% walk rate since 2024) and is virtually impossible to correct due to the deception in his delivery. Tyler has the slowest fastball and lowest whiff rate in the majors, but is also in the 95th percentile (or better) of major league pitchers in opponent exit velocity, walk speed and hard hit rate.
Right now, Miami has a projected 2026 payroll of just $59 million. per RosterResource. They are just under $70 million in luxury tax liabilities. The general thinking was that the Marlins, like last offseason, want to get that CBT number closer to $105 million to avoid any kind of MLBPA complaint that could jeopardize their revenue sharing status. That could be accomplished by bringing in free agents, trading veterans with guaranteed salaries, or adding to players already on the roster. The Marlins have reportedly spoken with both Kyle Stowers And Eury Perez about long-term agreements; Talks with both players could resume later in the offseason.
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