This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola’s Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Life without Sandy Alcantara.

The Marlins’ ace will be in cheerleader mode during the 2024 season as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, leaving a Cy Young-sized hole in a rotation with plenty of potential and question marks.

Fourteen pitchers made at least one start for the Marlins in 2023, including three relievers in an opener role. Several of Miami’s young starters have been the subject of trade rumors, and whether any of them stays or goes will have a ripple effect on the rest of the staff.

Here’s a look at whom the Marlins could have in the mix for their rotation in 2024:

LHP Jesús Luzardo
Miami’s most valuable starter in 2023 wasn’t Alcantara but Luzardo, who finished with the eighth-best fWAR among National League qualifying pitchers. The 26-year-old arrived on his hometown team in a Trade Deadline deal in '21, and the change of scenery has done him good (Luzardo posted a 4.79 ERA before the trade and a 3.99 mark after).

Under club control for three more years, Luzardo has garnered interest from teams this Hot Stove season.

LHP Braxton Garrett
The 26-year-old Garrett went from being the odd man out in the Opening Day rotation to the club’s NL Wild Card Series Game 2 starter. The seventh overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft, Garrett became the Marlins’ most reliable starter in '23, finishing second in starts (30) and ERA (3.66) and third in innings pitched (159 2/3). He held opponents to one earned or fewer in 16 starts -- second in MLB behind NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell.

RHP Eury Pérez
How can the precocious Pérez, who turns 21 on April 15, follow up his rookie season? After becoming the youngest Dominican-born starting pitcher to make his MLB debut, Pérez posted a 2.36 ERA through 11 starts (minimum 50 innings) -- the lowest for a pitcher 20 years or younger in the Live Ball Era.

But last year wasn't without challenge. Pérez nearly doubled his career high for innings (128 between the Minors and Majors), and it caught up to him in the form of a 5.19 ERA in four September starts and a shutdown following left SI joint inflammation. Miami will continue to be careful with him.

RHP Edward Cabrera
Which Cabrera will show up in 2024: the one with frontline-starter potential who recorded a 137 ERA+ in 2022? Or the one who was optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville in August '23 due to command issues (6.0 BB/9 -- the highest mark among MLB pitchers with a minimum of 90 innings)? The 25-year-old has been the subject of trade rumors in the past, and that’s unlikely to change despite his down season.

LHP Trevor Rogers
Can the 26-year-old Rogers stay healthy? Since finishing as the 2021 NL Rookie of the Year runner-up, Rogers has been limited to 27 starts with a 5.26 ERA due to a combination of injuries: back spasms, a left lat strain, a left biceps strain and a right lat strain.

LHP A.J. Puk
You’re reading this correctly. Puk, who began the 2023 season in the closer’s role, is prepping to be a starter in '24. Prior to the Feb. 11 trade that brought him to Miami, the 28-year-old was also gearing up for that role in Oakland.

Puk has never made a Major League start in his four-year career, but he did so coming up through the Minors.

RHP George Soriano
Ranked by MLB Pipeline as Miami’s No. 28 prospect entering 2023, Soriano made his MLB debut in mid-April in a multi-inning role. He flourished from there, posting a 1.98 ERA through his first 11 outings. The 24-year-old was mostly a starter in the Minors, and he made one spot start for the Marlins on Aug. 5 in Texas (three runs in three innings).

LHP Ryan Weathers
Miami acquired the 24-year-old Weathers ahead of last season's Trade Deadline hoping to strike on another reclamation project like Luzardo. The seventh overall selection in the 2018 MLB Draft, Weathers didn’t live up to the billing with the Padres (5.73 ERA in 43 games and 29 starts). He can reach the mid-90s from the left side, but he must cut down on the walks to make a lasting impact in the big leagues.

RHP Bryan Hoeing
Hoeing is the epitome of a swingman, meaning he can either start or relieve, commanding whichever role the club needs at the time. The 27-year-old made the seventh-most starts for the 2023 squad.

His ERA splits are a bit underwhelming (6.59 ERA as a starter vs. a 4.71 mark as a reliever), but those numbers were skewed by two bad outings. Hoeing allowed seven runs in 3 2/3 innings as a starter on June 30 and nine runs in three frames as a reliever on Sept. 22.

RHP Max Meyer
Miami’s No. 3 prospect hasn’t pitched in a game since July 23, 2022, due to Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow. After a minor setback in Meyer's rehab this past summer, the 24-year-old is ready to return and help the club in any way. The organization won’t rush him back to the Majors, though, and it will monitor his workload upon his return.

RHP Sixto Sánchez
As long as the 25-year-old Sánchez remains on the 40-man roster, he continues to be an option. After undergoing two shoulder surgeries and experiencing multiple setbacks, Sánchez threw one scoreless inning for Double-A Pensacola on Sept. 12 in his first game action since 2021 Spring Training. But he didn’t make his next scheduled rehab appearance.

LHP Devin Smeltzer
Like Hoeing, Smeltzer is a swingman. After electing free agency in October, the 28-year-old is back with the Marlins on a Minor League deal. Smeltzer bounced back and forth between Miami and Triple-A, eating up innings when a rundown pitching staff needed help.