Marlins' new front office faces ease into Meetings

NASHVILLE -- The Winter Meetings can be a springboard for networking or Hot Stove moves. In the case of the Marlins, it's a combination of both.

At the beginning of November, the Marlins named Peter Bendix president of baseball operations. Day 1 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort marked the first time Bendix, returning personnel, front-office additions Vinesh Kanthan and Gabe Kapler as well as new assistant hitting coach Bill Mueller could brainstorm under the same roof.

The goal? To improve the club in order to reach the postseason again in 2024.

"A lot of the time at the Winter Meetings is spent with people, and I look at it as a team bonding event," Bendix said. "And that was true in my previous job, and it's even more true now considering that I haven't spent very much time with these people. And so getting everybody in one place at one time, focused for the purpose of talking about small things, that's a lot of fun.

"We've had a few different meetings throughout the day. We'll have a more formal meeting after this, actually. And then we're going out to dinner tonight. So that's always a good icebreaker."

Bendix, who had served as Tampa Bay's general manager since December 2021, is now No. 1 in the chain of command in Miami. That means he gets final say on decisions. As a newcomer, however, he is leaning on those who were around last year as he catches up to speed.

"Fundamentally, it's very similar in the sense that we're putting together the best roster that we can," Bendix said. "We're looking at this year's club, we're looking into the future at the same time. The difference now is that I don't know the people here as well. I don't know the players here as well, and so just learning as much as I can."

A year ago, manager Skip Schumaker went through that same experience. In Monday's meetings, it was a combination of Bendix offering his observations as an outsider as well as learning the ropes from those with institutional knowledge.

"I think us knowing the players already is good, not a ton of meetings about each guy because we already know who they are, and just trying to figure out how they can get better now is mainly the conversation instead of like trying to figure out who they once were type deal," Schumaker said. "But nothing has really changed other than that.

"I think Peter is one of the brightest guys around, and obviously really smart. I've already learned a lot from him in the last couple of weeks of how he sees things. If I gave him my take on everybody, I don't think that's fair, because I want him also to make his own opinions of people in the organization or players or whatever. And then, we can bounce ideas off of each other as far as the players and staff and that type of thing. But I think it's a lot of organic conversations."

While Bendix felt the market was moving a little more slowly than usual, the Marlins need to stay prepared for when it starts to speed up. Catcher and shortstop are areas to supplement for the 2024 ballclub. One thing has been noticeable thus far: Miami's success in '23 can be a big selling point. The time is being spent gathering information from other teams and agents as well as understanding their own players.

Bendix had a chance to meet third baseman Jake Burger, who lives in the area during the offseason. Acquired ahead of the Trade Deadline, Burger fits the profile of what the Marlins are looking for: MLB-level players with control. He offers long-term value to the organization as a piece to build around.

"I think you want to get to know them on a human level," Bendix said. "You want to understand who they are, who their family is, what makes them tick. And then you want to get to know their ability, right? And so their ability is watching video, asking the coaching staff, asking Skip, asking the A-GMs who have been here, everybody who's been here and watched them play. Digging into them from a statistical perspective, from a scouting report perspective, and try to understand, 'All right, what are they good at? What do we expect from them next year?'"