The Miami Marlins’ top brass held their annual Spring Training media session with local reporters on Monday. Although the organization is unrecognizable from past iterations in many ways, the overall vibes remain the same. Owner Bruce Sherman and President of Baseball Operations Peter Bendix tried to tell us otherwise, but both gave less-than-convincing performances.
Sherman: “I’m really optimistic about what’s going on here. We just got through talking to the players, and I can feel the vibe.”
Bendix: “I’ll echo all that. The vibes, the energy, the feeling of optimism here…it’s really palpable.”
I don’t expect any organization to come out on Day 1 of Spring Training and admit that they expect their team to lose 100 games. Everyone will hype up the moves they made in the offseason and the guys fighting for a spot on the 26-man roster; I get that.
Sherman and Bendix spent much of their time reminding fans about the improvements they’ve made to the analytics department, player development, and the organizational structure. The Marlins have lagged behind successful clubs in each of these areas, and these were necessary investments. I haven’t met a fan who doesn’t agree! But what took so long? Sherman is entering his seventh season as Principal Owner of the Marlins, and he’s just getting around to these changes now. Better late than never, but I digress.
When asked by a reporter about how the team can engage fans who are concerned about the big-league roster and low payroll, this was Sherman’s response:
Sherman: “Everybody wants you to sign every free agent that’s available. We understand that. And we have signed free agents…not the big-name free agents but we’ve signed free agents. Cal [Quantrill] was signed; we signed a lot of minor league free agents. We have done more trades than almost any club in baseball. We have an incredible crew of young talent that’s going to emerge for multiple years. We’re really, really excited about that.
I think if you take the time to look, to get to know our organization, get to watch the players, and get to see how we continue to develop on the field, we’re going to create the fans that I want, that Peter wants, and all of you want.”
Sherman can’t help but dismiss the very real concern many fans have about the lack of spending at the major league level. Everybody wants you to sign every free agent, Sherman said earlier. It’s almost as if he’s saying “We can’t make every fan happy, so we’re going to ignore the very real concerns some have and only engage the fans who believe in our frugal methods.”
But Marlins fans aren’t naïve. We don’t expect the team to pursue Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, or whoever each year’s top free agent will be. As Ely Sussman of Fish on First wrote earlier this week, Marlins fans “Just want to see more of the club’s revenue-sharing proceeds reinvested into the payroll so that this latest rebuilding opportunity doesn’t go to waste.”
And it’s not just Marlins fans that have this view. Buried in a December 23, 2024 article about Carlos Santana selling his home, The Athletics’ Ken Rosenthal reported that the Miami Marlins were at risk of a grievance from the MLB Players Association if they failed to “Carry a luxury-tax payroll more than one and a half times the amount they receive from local revenue sharing.” Rosenthal pegged the Marlins’ revenue-sharing number at “Roughly $70 million,” meaning the magic number would be around $105 million.
In an early January episode on the Foul Territory podcast, Rosenthal repeated how he’s watching the Marlins’ lack of spending as it relates to reinvesting the money they receive from revenue sharing. As of February 21, 2025, the Marlins’ luxury tax payroll sits at $86.6 million according to FanGraphs. That’s far short of the figure they need to be at as required by baseball’s collective bargaining agreement.
Sandy Alcantara’s Days Seem Numbered
The first half of this press conference was more or less what I’ve come to expect as a Marlins fan. A lot of clichés about a new season, a fresh start, and how they’re confident in the guys in the clubhouse and the direction the organization is headed. I’ve also become accustomed to whoever is in charge finding a way to evade questions about players’ futures or how much money they’ll commit to the roster.
But when Bendix was asked about Sandy Alcantara’s future with the team, his visible and emotional response signaled the question struck a nerve.
i’ve been stewing about this all week and i’ve got thoughts! pic.twitter.com/AHf5qHR69R
— Nicole Cahill (nicolecahill.bsky.social) (@NicoleCahill_) February 21, 2025
Bendix: “We can’t really comment on what might happen in the future. Sandy is here right now.”
As Marlins fans, we’ve heard this before. Most recently, under this ownership, it was Luis Arraez and Jazz Chisholm Jr. Don’t believe me? I’ve got receipts.
At the very same spot in 2024, Bendix was asked about extensions for certain players. When asked specifically about Luiz Arraez publicly saying he wanted to remain in Miami, Bendix said, “I love that he wants to stay here. I would much prefer players want to stay here than not.” Less than three months later, Arraez was traded to the San Diego Padres for a package of prospects.
On the night Arraez was traded, Bendix discussed the decision to trade the reigning NL batting champion. When asked if Jazz Chisholm Jr. would be on the Marlins at the end of the season, Bendix said he didn’t know what to expect. A few months later, Chisholm was traded to the New York Yankees.
Going back further, it was Derek Jeter shipping off Giancarlo Stanton to the Yankees, Hanley Ramírez flashing the L.A. on his way out of Miami, and not one but two infamous post-championship fire sales. Many young Marlins fans, myself included, are too young to remember the World Series-winning Marlins teams but old enough to know we’ve seen this movie before.
At what point do the Marlins realize they’ve alienated their fans beyond repair? This city has proven it will show up when you give it a reason to, but the franchise has repeatedly failed to make an effort in good faith.
Sherman and Bendix continue to operate as if making behind-the-scenes investments and putting together a competitive big-league team are mutually exclusive, but maybe they’ll be able to create the types of fans that believe it is if they drag this out long enough.
Adapted by Kurt Wasemiller (@kurt_player02 on Instagram & Threads, @kuwasemiller.bksy.social on BlueSky)
Well said.