Bats, bullpen among Marlins' offseason needs

MIAMI -- Skip Schumaker's introductory press conference centered around talk of creating a winning culture year in and year out, so how might the Marlins go about that?

It begins this Hot Stove season, and while general manager Kim Ng and chairman/principal owner Bruce Sherman didn't provide names of potential targets, the areas of improvement were laid out: offense and bullpen.

Sherman noted that every managerial candidate opened their interview with how much they didn't want to come to Miami and face the starting staff. That's certainly the strength of the club, but there's a "sense of urgency to develop that on the offensive side, the position-player side."

"We're looking at a number of different areas that we really need to improve to try and get this thing going in the right direction," Ng said. "We're monitoring everybody's rehab process. Obviously, that was a big point to the story last year in terms of injuries, and really trying to get those guys and keep them out on the field."

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The Marlins entered the 2022 season optimistic after acquiring Avisaíl García (29 HRs in '21), reigning World Series MVP Jorge Soler, reigning Gold Glove Award-winning catcher Jacob Stallings and the versatile Joey Wendle. But the club tallied the eighth-most days lost to the injured list in baseball and finished fourth in the National League East with 93 losses. Free-agent signees García and Soler underperformed and played in just 170 combined games, Stallings got off to a slow start and Wendle landed on the IL three times. Miami hopes for bounce-back campaigns, with Sherman citing Francisco Lindor's jump from his first to second year with the Mets as a possible trajectory for the veterans.

Since the regular season ended, the front office has been restructured. In the past weeks, there has been time to evaluate and plan a course of action. Schumaker is in the process of filling out a staff that will include pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr. and bullpen coach Wellington Cepeda. With the Astros one win away from capturing the World Series over the Marlins' division-rival Phillies, what have been some of the takeaways from the postseason? How far away from that level is Miami?

"I ask that every day," Ng said. "I've said this -- and I've gotten pushback on it -- but I don't think that the record is necessarily indicative of the talent that we have here, based on the injuries that we had, based on the idea that we were trying to get young, young players experience in August and September. Again, the record's not indicative. I do watch, when I can, these postseason games, and there's work to do for sure. I think hiring Skip and getting that part of it on track is the first step to it."

One thing is for certain: the stars shine brightest under the spotlight. Do the Marlins need a superstar in order to get over the hump, then make a deep postseason run? Bryce Harper has lived up to his blockbuster contract with Philly and Alex Bregman continues to be a franchise cornerstone with Houston.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be," Ng said. "I think we saw the Cleveland [Guardians] -- and they did have one in José Ramírez -- but I think the rest of them were not necessarily household names."

That blueprint appears to be the one Miami intends to follow. The organization added to its front office by hiring assistant general manager Oz Ocampo, who played a crucial role in Houston originally signing pitchers Luis Garcia, Cristian Javier, José Urquidy and Framber Valdez for a combined $140,000. That quartet had 112 starts and 56 wins in 2022.

The sustainable success Schumaker's Cardinals and Ocampo's Astros have experienced is what the Marlins aspire to recreate. This fall, Houston led all postseason teams in homegrown talent (14 players, 34.7 bWAR). It's a testament to its farm system and player development department that rookie Jeremy Peña has emerged as Carlos Correa's worthy successor.

"Obviously, last year, disappointing, and we have to not only bring people in from outside the organization via free agency, via trades, via development, but if you look at the success of some of the smaller- and medium-sized clubs, it's come through development," Sherman said. "So I think that's going to be an increased emphasis. And we made a financial commitment in the front office for that. We made a financial commitment in the Dominican Republic for that, and I think ownership has continued to invest those dollars."