Marlins Notes: Cabrera, Alcantara, Weathers, Outfield, Bullpen

While much of the focus regarding the Marlins this offseason has been on their intent to spend more aggressively (relatively speaking) and bolster the lineup, the Fish still have a pair of prominent trade candidates in the rotation. Right-handers Edward Cabrera and Sandy Alcantara are on wishlists for pitching-hungry clubs around the league, though neither is a lock to be moved.

Kevin Barral and Isaac Azout of Fish On First reported last week that the organization “expects” Alcantara to be with the club come Opening Day. MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola offers a similar sentiment today, suggesting that Cabrera is the likelier of the two to be moved this offseason — if either is traded at all. Miami isn’t actively shopping either pitcher at the moment, she writes, though it’s all but a given that there’ll be an uptick in inquiries at next week’s Winter Meetings. De Nicola also lists lefty Ryan Weathers as a potential trade candidate while rightly noting that the Fish would be selling low on a talented southpaw after consecutive injury-plagued seasons.

Acquired in the 2023 trade sending Garrett Cooper to the Padres, Weathers has been a steal for Miami when healthy. That’s been a major caveat, unfortunately. A lat strain, flexor strain and finger strain have combined to limit the former No. 7 overall draft pick to just 24 starts dating back to Opening Day 2024. Weathers has totaled 125 innings in that time and notched a 3.74 ERA with a 22% strikeout rate and 6.8% walk rate. That league-average strikeout rate is backed by a roughly average 11.7% swinging-strike rate. Weathers has sat 96.2 mph on his heater since ’24 and kept a strong 45.6% of batted balls against him on the ground. As with Cabrera, he’s a clear injury risk but has had some recent success and comes with another three seasons of club control.

Cabrera stands as the prize of the Marlins’ potential trade candidates in the rotation, but because of his age (27), affordable salary ($3.7MM projection, via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz), former top prospect status and 2025 results (3.53 ERA, 25.8 K%, 8.3 BB%, 46.6 GB% in 137 2/3 innings), he also surely comes with the highest asking price.

Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN wrote just this morning that Miami has asked for “premium prospects” in for any club that has poked around on Cabrera, and the right-hander’s lengthy injury history has left interested parties wary of making such a commitment. The 2025 season was Cabrera’s first reaching 100 innings in the majors, and he’s spent time on the injured list with an elbow sprain, blisters, shoulder impingement (three times) and tendinitis in his elbow — all since 2021.

Certainly, the Marlins could use their deep supply of starting pitching to bring in some bats to help the lineup, but free agency remains a viable path as well. They’ve primarily focused on first base to this point, but Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that president of baseball ops Peter Bendix and his staff have begun to broaden their search. Miami is also looking into potential outfield and third base acquisitions, believing that the versatility of players like Connor Norby and Griffin Conine could allow them to target bats at other positions.

It’s already known that the Marlins have been considering Norby at first base. Jackson adds that the Fish are planning to get Conine some work at first next spring and also believe that outfielder Heriberto Hernandez could be an option there.

The bullpen has been another point of focus for Bendix & Co., with reports tying Miami to prominent names like Devin Williams (who has since signed with the Mets), Raisel Iglesias (who re-signed in Atlanta) and Pete Fairbanks (who Bendix knows well from his days as Rays general manager). Jackson adds veteran relievers Kyle Finnegan, Tyler Rogers and twin brother Taylor Rogers as three more bullpen arms who intrigue the Marlins.

Finnegan, 34, has closed games for the division-rival Nationals for years but elevated his production to new heights following a summer trade to the Tigers. Detroit pushed Finnegan to use his splitter more and tweaked his release point, and the right-hander was flat-out dominant in the Motor City, emerging as one of manager A.J. Hinch’s go-to relievers. He tossed 18 innings of 1.50 ERA ball following the trade and saw his strikeout rate jump from 19.6% in D.C. to an eye-popping 34.8% in Detroit.

The Rogers brothers have lengthy track records themselves. Taylor, a lefty, was a high-end setup man and All-Star closer with the Twins during his peak years from 2017-22. He’s settled into more of a middle relief role since signing with the Giants — where he teamed with his brother — and subsequently being traded to the Reds and Cubs.

While Taylor was the prominent name early in the brothers’ careers, it’s Tyler who is now the higher-profile reliever. He’s pitched 378 1/3 innings of 2.71 ERA ball dating back to 2021, including a pristine 1.98 earned run average in 77 1/3 frames between the Giants and Mets in 2025. Tyler doesn’t miss many bats, as one would expect from a soft-tossing right-handed submariner whose sinker averages 83.5 mph, but he has impeccable command (2.2% walk rate since 2024) and is all but impossible to square up due to the deception in his delivery. Tyler has the slowest “fastball” and lowest whiff percentage in the majors but also sits in the 95th percentile (or better) of big league pitchers in terms of opponents’ exit velocity, barrel rate and hard-hit rate.

At the moment, Miami has a projected 2026 payroll of just $59MM, per RosterResource. They’re sitting just under $70MM in luxury tax obligations. The general thinking has been that, like the A’s last offseason, the Marlins will want to push that CBT number closer to $105MM in order to avoid any type of MLBPA grievance that might jeopardize their revenue-sharing status. That could be achieved by bringing in free agents, trading for veterans on guaranteed salaries, or extending players already on the roster. The Marlins have reportedly spoken to both Kyle Stowers and Eury Perez about long-term deals; talks with either player could pick back up later in the offseason.