The Marlins made the postseason in 2023, their first time in the playoffs of a full season since 2003. But the good news stopped there. They were quickly swept by the Phillies, then their ace announced that he underwent Tommy John surgery. This was followed by general manager Kim Ng stepping aside after disagreements with chairman Bruce Sherman. Guaranteed Contracts , RHP: $45MM through 2026 (includes buyout on 2027 club option) , OF: $29MM through 2025 (includes buyout on 2026 club option) , 1B: $16.5MM player option , OF/DH: $13MM player option Option Decisions 1B can opt out of $16.5MM salary OF/DH can opt out of $13MM salary Club holds $10.5MM club option on RHP with $2.5MM buyout Clubs holds $9MM club option on RHP with $2.25MM buyout ($8MM option increased to $9MM when Barnes was traded, per ) Club holds $3.625MM club option on IF/OF with $25K buyout (Berti can be retained via arbitration even if option is declined) 2024 financial commitments (a suming Bertis option is the only one exercised): $24.625MM Total future commitments: $107.625MM* * Includes $30MM owed to Yankees as part of deal, to be paid from 2026-2028 Arbitration-Eligible Players(projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz) (5.149): $3.6MM (5.059): $5.8MM (5.010): $1.3MM (4.121): $10.8MM (4.101): $1.2MM (3.165): $5.9MM (3.124): $1.8MM (3.109): $1.2MM (3.094): $1.5MM (3.075): $2.8MM (3.035): $800K (2.153): $900K (2.118): $2MM Non-tender candidates: Stallings, Hampson, Davis Free Agents , , , , The Marlins went 84-78 in 2023, just enough to squeeze into the Wild Card picture during the final weekend of the season. It would be fair to wonder whether the club was actually as good as that record would indicate. Their run differential was -57, which would be more in line with a 75-win club. Despite allowing more runs than they scored by a significant margin, they succeeded by going 33-14 in one-run games, a difficult tightrope to walk for an extended period of time. Whether you think the club deserved their record or not, they will be challenged just to stay at that level. required Tommy John surgery at the end of the season and will now mi s the entire 2024 campaign. He wasnt quite in his previous Cy Young-winning form in 2023, but the Marlins are nonethele s worse off without him. There will likely be lo ses in the lineup as well. Each of and have upcoming opt-outs that allow them to return to free agency. Solers deal originally had a $9MM salary for 2024 but he upped that to $13MM via plate appearance escalators. He hit 36 home runs this year and walked in 11.4% of his plate appearances, leading to a wRC+ of 126. Even though hes not a strong defender, he should be able to parlay that platform into a strong multi-year deal. Whoever is in charge of the Miami front office will then have to decide whether to extend a qualifying offer to Soler, with this years QO likely to be . If they decide to make that offer, he would be a borderline candidate to accept, but it may not be po sible with the clubs financials. More on that later. As for Bell, his season wasnt quite as potent as Solers, but he finished strong. He hit .233/.318/.383 for the Guardians but then .270/.338/.480 after being traded to the Marlins. He is ineligible to receive a qualifying offer because of that trade. Given that, and the weak market for impact bats, he may be able to leave that $16.5MM on the table and find a multi-year deal of some kind. Chairman Bruce Sherman will first have to find someone to navigate this, with general manager Kim Ng deciding not to trigger her end of a mutual option. It was reported that she did so because Sherman planned to hire a president of baseball operations to work above her, in addition to reported disagreements about some other staff decisions. Given that reporting, its po sible he has someone in mind, but few details have been leaked about the front office search. That makes it somewhat difficult to project what the winter plans are, but there will be some early decisions to be made, whether someone has been hired or not. The Soler QO decision is the only challenging one, however, as the others are fairly straightforward. Both and had injury problems and poor results when on the field, so their options will be bought out. just had his second straight season of managing to produce more than 2 WAR in a utility role, so his option should be picked up. He can be retained via arbitration even if its not. But after that, there will be bigger choices to be made about the clubs path forward. In terms of the financials, the 2023 Opening Day payroll of $93MM was the highest of the Sherman era, according to data at . They are currently projected for a budget of $103MM next year, per . If Soler and Bell opt out and a couple members of the arb cla s are non-tendered, that number will drop down to around $70MM. That will give the club some money to spend, but they will have to replace two key bats from the lineup. The Marlins scored 666 runs in 2023, better than just four clubs, while their wRC+ of 94 was better than just 10. With Soler and Bell perhaps set to become free agents, the Fish will need to find ways to add offense just to break even. Giving a qualifying offer to Soler risks tying up Seth Martinez Jersey $20.5MM in one player when they have multiple needs to addre s. In recent years, the focus has been on the Miami pitching staff and how it could be parlayed into an offensive upgrade. That may be a little trickier now that the club already made a significant move, flipping and prospects to the Twins for prior to 2023. With Alcantaras surgery and trade of prospect , the rotation surplus doesnt seem quite as robust as it did a year ago. There is still a strong foundation there, with , and giving the club a strong front three, but it gets shaky after that. was excellent in 2021 but struggled in 2022 and then mi sed most of 2023 due to injury. has flashed a tantalizing strikeout-groundout combo at times but the walks have become a serious concern. Former first-round pick underwent Tommy John surgery in August of 2022 and mi sed all of 2023. , a former first-round pick of the Padres, has a 5.88 ERA in his major league career thus far. was once a highly-touted prospect but has been limited to just one inning of minor league work in the past three seasons and is now out of options. After the Lpez trade in the last offseason, the Marlins pivoted to grab Cueto from free agency. Perhaps they find someone to trade in this group and try a similar path this winter. Cabrera is now out of options and could be plausibly flipped to a rebuilding club with the ability to be patient with his development, but that would likely leave the Marlins looking for at least one free agent starter, as well as relying on Rogers or Meyer to be healthy and effective. If the Marlins look to add offense via free agency, catcher would be one obvious target. hit .210/.287/.290 over the past two seasons after coming over from the Pirates in a trade. took over as the primary backstop in 2023. He didnt hit much either but his defensive grades were generally strong. With Stallings about to turn 34 and set for an arbitration raise, it seems fair to expect the club to move on. Fortes is still is in his pre-arbitration years and can act as a cheap glove-first part of a catching tandem. The arent amazing, but they are certainly more enticing than Stallings. had a strong second half with the Padres, hitting 19 home runs in 75 games, but should still be affordable. In 2023, he had to settle for minor league deals with the Giants and Mets. The latter selected his contract but designated him for a signment le s than a week later. A waiver claim by the Padres gave him the chance to launch those 19 home runs and raise his free agent stock, but his season was ended by a wrist fracture in September, which could give some clubs pause. would be an excellent fit as a bat-first catcher, combining with Fortes behind the plate. But he hit well enough in 2023, including for the Rangers in the playoffs, that they may give him the qualifying offer. For an oft-injured catcher going into his age-33 season, it would be tough for him to walk away from over $20MM. A player with a similar profile is . Hes only been able to play 315 games dating back to the 2015 season due to various injuries, but he generally hits well when hes in there. In 2023, he served as backup to of the Mariners, hitting eight home runs in answers. In conjunction with this post, Darragh McDonald held a Marlins-centric chat on 10-26-23. to read the transcript. Tucker Barnhart Jersey