The Marlins are staring at a familiar offseason shape, but with a pricier twist.
If Miami wants to bring back the same group next season, it can do that, with reliever Pete Fairbanks as the lone pending free agent as long as the club picks up the option in Sandy Alcantara’s contract. But unlike the last offseason, more of the roster has now crossed into arbitration territory, and that means real money is about to come into play.
On Friday, MLB Trade Rumors released its annual arbitration projections, and 11 Marlins cleared the estimated service-time threshold of two years and 133 days. The numbers add up quickly.
Here’s the full list of projected salaries, from highest to lowest:
$5.4 million for Otto Lopez (first arbitration year)
$3.5 million for Xavier Edwards (first)
$3.4 million for Anthony Bender (fourth and final)
$3.2 million for Eury Pérez (first)
$3.2 million for Kyle Stowers (first)
$2.9 million for Calvin Faucher (second)
$2.7 million for Max Meyer (second)
$1.4 million for Victor Vodnik (first)
$1.3 million for Esteury Ruiz (first)
$1.1 million for Andrew Nardi (second)
$900,000 for Tyler Zuber (first)
The Marlins have more than a month before they need to make their final calls, but the expectation is that nine of the 11 will be tendered contracts. The two likely exceptions are Nardi and Zuber, both of whom are coming back from elbow injuries and struggled even before they got hurt this season. If those two are left off the roster math, the projected cost of the arbitration class drops to $27 million.
Faucher’s case is worth a closer look. At one point, he seemed like a possible non-tender, but he finished strong. In 22 appearances after the trade deadline, he posted a 1.25 ERA and a 2.09 FIP.
Around the league, it’s become more and more common for teams to lock up their best players with extensions before arbitration ever arrives, buying cost certainty and avoiding yearly back-and-forth. The Marlins, under Peter Bendix, still haven’t managed to land one of those deals.
In Other News...
Marlins May Be Better Than Their Record Lets On
The Marlins record has not always reflected it, but there were signs in 2026 that the club was doing a few important things better than it had a year earlier. The biggest jump came on the mound, where Miami trimmed its team ERA from 4.60 to 4.09, a meaningful step for a staff that needed more consistency. Sandy Alcantara, Max Meyer and Eury Prez all finished with ERAs below 4.00, and Meyers turn into a 2.68 mark gave the rotation a real lift.
Miami also got more from the lineup, enough to suggest this was not just a pitching-only story. The Marlins finished ninth in team OPS and third in triples, with Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards among the players helping drive that progress. Put together, the improved run prevention and a more productive offense hint at a club that may have been better than its record suggested, even if the standings did not fully show it. [Read more 🡒]