As Marlins seek to fill SS, Jazz to stay in OF

NASHVILLE -- While the Marlins have yet to make a move at the Winter Meetings as of Tuesday afternoon, president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and manager Skip Schumaker have provided insight into what the organization is thinking this offseason.

Shortstop is one of the main areas of need, and the pair revealed one name that is unlikely to be thrown into the mix: Jazz Chisholm Jr.

Chisholm, whose rehab from turf toe surgery is going according to plan, developed in the Minor Leagues as a shortstop before becoming an All-Star second baseman in 2022. He moved to center field for the first time in ’23 to make way for the acquisition of Luis Arraez.

“I don't see that happening yet,” Schumaker said of Chisholm’s hypothetical return to the infield. “Jazz really took off kind of the second part of the season in the outfield as our center fielder, so I don't anticipate that happening just yet.”

The primary internal options at short include a trio of utility players: Jon Berti, whom Schumaker believed could get the bulk of the reps should no one else be added to the roster, Vidal Bruján and Xavier Edwards. Then there’s Jacob Amaya, who finished the 2023 season at Triple-A Jacksonville as Miami’s No. 5 prospect.

“I'd like to increase the number of options that we have who can play shortstop,” Bendix said. “I think we have a few people on the roster, off the roster, who are pretty good options, but nobody who's the clear, ‘This is our everyday shortstop.’ So we'd love to add that, and really just adding long-term value to the organization -- whether that is players at the Major League level with control, whether that is prospects. Ideally, it's both. It's supplementing the 2024 club, just building on what's a competitive team already, but also keeping that eye on the future.”

Another priority is adding at least one catcher. Jacob Stallings, who was non-tendered, and Nick Fortes split the reps in 2023. With the departure of Stallings, that leaves Fortes as the lone backstop on the 40-man roster.

“Totally depends on who the catchers are,” Bendix said of the future playing time allotment. “I think that's a really physically demanding position. So asking any one catcher to run out there six times a week, I think there's very few people in the world who can do that.”

Here are other things we've learned so far:

Is anybody untouchable when it comes to trade bait?
"I don't like to consider anybody untouchable," Bendix said. "There's a couple of young players that are very, very good that are very unlikely to be traded."

Without ace Sandy Alcantara, will the Marlins pursue pitching?
Starting-pitching options include left-handers Jesús Luzardo, Braxton Garrett, Trevor Rogers and Ryan Weathers, as well as right-handers Eury Pérez, Edward Cabrera and Max Meyer. Miami is also entertaining the idea of southpaw A.J. Puk -- who pitched out of the bullpen in 2023 -- starting again like he did with the A’s.

“You always need more pitching,” Bendix said. “No matter how much pitching you have, you always need more pitching. At the same time, because of that, everyone else also needs pitching, and therefore the pitchers that you do have are really valuable. And there's a lot of different ways you can take that.”

At what point do the Marlins move on from right-hander Sixto Sánchez?
Sánchez, who has thrown just one inning in a game since 2020, continues to sustain setbacks to his twice-surgically repaired shoulder.

“I don't know the answer for that yet,” Bendix said.

When will the Marlins fill the open front-office positions?
Miami still needs to hire heads of two key departments after the departures of senior director of international operations Adrian Lorenzo and director of amateur scouting DJ Svihlik. Bendix said they are in the process of interviewing people.

“I don't want to put a timeline on it, but that's been the primary focus since I've taken the job is just understanding the front office, understanding what is needed, and trying to figure out what we can do,” Bendix said. “I will say that in those areas in particular, the group that we have in place is a really robust group that's done some really good work. And so I feel confident that even without additional hires, we're in good shape.”