Outlook out of season: Miami Marlins

The Marlins rode on a large September winning series to the edge of the Wild Card Race and were not mathematically eliminated from the late season until 25 September. They have very little money in the books for the 2026 season and saw a number of important young players perform as potential building blocks. The Front Office, led by President of Baseball Operations Peter Bendix while he enters his third winter in work, will now have to determine how real that rise was and how strongly following Win-Now movements for next year.

Guaranteed contracts

• Sandy AlcantaraRHP: $ 19 mm until 2026 (including a buy -out of $ 2m of $ 21 mm club option for 2027)

Additional financial obligations

• $ 10 mm per year to Yankees, until 2028, as part of Giancarlo Stanton trade
• $ 5mm buyout at 2026 club option for since then released Avisail Garcia
• $ 500k buyout on 2026 Mutual option for since then released RHP WOO-S

Optional decisions

Total 2026 obligations: $ 32.5 mm
Total future obligations: $ 54.5 mm to 2028

Arbitration-intelligent players (service time in brackets; Salaris projections via MLBTR employee Matt Swartz)

Non-tender candidates: Nardi

Free agents

Bendix offered little insight into the direction of his club during his press conference at the end of the season. The former director of Rays noted that he was both proud of the strong finish of his club for the season, but disappointed to talk to the media when other clubs were still playing. Bendix spoke in typical general baseball operations, who bumped questions about his expected level of aggression this season to say that he hoped to build a team that could be as good as possible if it could be. Asked if fans should expect that Sandy Alcantara would be a Marlijn by the time that the spring training walks around, he sid and emphasized the importance of open -minded for all scenarios (Link via Isaac Azout van Vissen at the first).

None of that is meant as a criticism of the president of Miami, to be clear. The simple reality of running a Low-Payroll club and trying to navigate a degree of rebuilding is that difficult decisions have to be made and that wage offers will continue to exist every year. It is unlikely that the Marlins will be in the deep of the free desk this winter, but there is enough reason to assume that they can also be a little more active than they have been in recent offseasons.