The Three Most Underrated Miami Marlins Acquisitions of the Offseason

Peter Bendix & Co. have been extremely busy this offseason, especially in the past month, with six (6!!) trades occurring in the past month, with the most recent one being the addition of Bradley Blalock to the Marlins bullpen depth. Between waiver claims and big league trades, the Miami Marlins are going to look very different this upcoming season. There have been big acquisitions, like Pete Fairbanks or Owen Caissie, but there are a lot of players that fly under the radar.

Player One: Brendan Jones (OF)

Brendan Jones is a player who, if you squint your eyes, may seem a little familiar to you. In fact, his 2025 season is very similar to fellow Marlin Jakob Marsee’s MiLB 2025 stats. With a matching 126 wRC+, BB% and K% within 1% difference of each other, and 10+ HR and 45+ SB, they are a near carbon copy. Jones flew under the radar initially by Marlins fans since the most intriguing piece in that acquisition is the outfielder (chosen one round later in the 2024 draft) Dillon Lewis. One big change I want to see from Jones is to begin to swing more for line drives. He currently sits at about 44.6% on his fly ball rate, and 22.3% on his line drive rate. With Jones’ speed, beginning to spray balls instead of launching them will allow him to be able to utilize his legs on the basepaths more. Jones should be expected to start in AAA-Jacksonville with a crowded competition, but his athleticism and attitude will make him a mainstay in the majors for a long time.

Player Two: Edward Cabrera (RHP)

I know, I know. We traded away Edward Cabrera, we didn’t trade for him. Now, Edward was stellar last year, with a 2.8 bWAR, a 125 ERA+, and a 3.53 ERA. Edward also pitched his career high in innings last season at 137 IP. However, with his 4 prior seasons with the Marlins, he had only pitched 294 innings in 63 G, for a 4.4 bWAR, averaging 4.2 IP per outing, with 5.14 BB/9. However, with the subtraction of Edward Cabrera, it allows the freedom for players like Robby Snelling and Thomas White to start the season in the majors. Robby Snelling, who came over in the Tanner Scott trade from San Diego, is poised for a big rookie season, after holding a 1.27 ERA in his first taste of AAA with a 11.5 K/9, while holding baserunners to a minimal 0.99 WHIP. Clearing up this rotational space allows an opportunity for the Marlins MLB ready pitchers to showcase their talents in the majors.

Player Three: Christopher Morel (1B/3B/OF)

The Marlins first MLB signing of this offseason, Christopher Morel comes to Miami after some really rough seasons in Tampa. Morel’s biggest flaw has been his struggle against the fastball. In 2024, he hit .164 off the 4-seam, and last season he hit .207 off the 4-seam. If he can find a way to become serviceable against the fastball, and learn to chase less, his bat can become impactful again. Even in his struggles last year, he still slugged, with a high bat speed of 76 MPH and an average exit velocity of 91.8 MPH. Now, Morel is scheduled to play a majority of his innings at 1B, a position in which he has not played at all in his professional baseball career thus far. It will be interesting to see how he fares defensively, and if that takes any focus away from his offensive capabilities. All that being said, I do expect Morel to be a positive WAR player. At $2 million this season, if there isn’t a positive impact, it’ll be an easy pill to swallow.