New GM Bendix refines plans as Winter Meetings close

NASHVILLE -- Although the Marlins left the Winter Meetings on Wednesday afternoon having not made a move, new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix was encouraged by the progress made as the offseason continues.

"Lots of conversations, moving things along with free agents, with other teams, internal discussions, all of that," Bendix said. "In a lot of ways, it's not terribly dissimilar to another week in the offseason. But there's just more of those conversations because everybody's focused on this during the week.

"I think it really helped move things forward. I think we learned a lot more about the market, about what to expect, and so much of this is just gaining information so that we can understand how best to attack things."

Biggest remaining need

1. Catcher
I must sound like a broken record at this point, but Nick Fortes is the only backstop on the 40-man roster. Miami will bring in at least one catcher, and the playing-time allocation will depend on the personnel. Bendix and manager Skip Schumaker have said they want a leader behind the dish who can manage the talented pitching staff. A productive hitter would be a bonus.

2. Shortstop
On Day 1 of the Winter Meetings, Bendix acknowledged that there wasn't a clear-cut everyday shortstop already on the roster. Jon Berti, Xavier Edwards and Vidal Bruján are best suited for utility roles. Jazz Chisholm Jr. will remain in center field for now. That means Miami will continue looking at external options, which can be tricky. It's a relatively thin free-agent class, and shortstop is a priority position, so why would a club deal from its MLB or MLB-ready talent?

"You summarized the challenges very well," Bendix said. "It's something where you have to stay patient and you have to understand that the season doesn't start until March 28. There's a lot of time between now and then. A lot of things can happen."

Rule 5 Draft

The Marlins didn't make a selection during the Major League phase despite having an open spot on the 40-man roster, but they did lose Nasim Nuñez, their No. 17 prospect per MLB Pipeline, to the Nationals.

Nuñez, who was selected in the second round of the 2019 MLB Draft by Miami out of Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, Ga., was named the 2023 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game MVP and played in the Arizona Fall League.

"It's tough," director of Minor League operations Hector Crespo said. "You hate losing good players but even better people, and we've had Nas, we developed Nas. I'm really close, and I love the kid. I'm so happy for him that he gets this opportunity. Hate that he's no longer ours, but just so happy for the person in general. So I wish him nothing but the best, love him to death, and he's going to be great."

The 23-year-old Nuñez has yet to play above the Double-A level, but with the rebuilding Nationals, he could get plenty of chances to showcase his speed (70 grade) and defense (70 grade while trying to develop his hitting (40 grade).

"That's a great opportunity for him," Bendix said. "That's the cool thing about the Rule 5 Draft: It provides an opportunity for players to go show what they can do in a new organization. It's difficult to stick all year, but some guys are able to do it, and he'll have his chance."

Miami made five selections in the Minor League portion of the Rule 5 Draft:

OF Yeral Martinez (NYM)
OF Marty Costes (HOU)
3B Sean Roby (SF)
LHP Adam Laskey (CHC)
RHP Julio Dilone (SEA)

"I think it's a credit to our pro scouting staff," Crespo said. "They do tireless work to kind of line this list up. It's been cool to see just the returns on investments the last couple of years, of [guys like] Dane Myers and Charles Leblanc, who've had really good success in this portion. So credit to them. I think the main strategy was looking for something that we didn't have in the system already. So I think you saw a couple of power bats, a couple of power arms, just kind of bringing in more talent into the system. So I think that was kind of the priority, but credit [to our team]. I think we were really happy with the guys we got."

President's bottom line

"You have to be opportunistic, and the more you think about what other teams are going to do, the more you're going to make a mistake. You have to be looking at what's best for the Marlins' organization, short term and long term. Other teams are going to do what other teams are going to do. We have no control over that. We only control the moves that we make, the process that we have, the discipline that we have." -- Bendix