It seems that problems are only going north for the Miami Marlins. Their ownership issues, retention issues, and losing records are only making things worse for them. That’s what the Phillies star Nick Castellanos said. Yes, as per Castellanos, players don’t want to be with the Marlins nor do the fans get associated. Reportedly, Marlins are his hometown franchise and he grew up watching them play. So, it’s painful for Castellanos to witness this downfall, but again, can the Marlins be considered as a top-tier team? 

Well, the Miami Marlins were rather a good team getting two World Series titles from their first two playoff runs. Now, that’s some records to flaunt, but it all went south after that. With such history, it is expected that teams will be aggressive in new signings and turnaround, but nothing much is evident with the Marlins.

What went wrong with the Marlins?

Everything went wrong for the Marlins! Well, the Miami Marlins are historically infamous for trading their good performers away because of payment issues and not putting effort and money into scouting new and big names. With mediocre scouting, how can a team take the fight to top-tier teams like the Dodgers and Yankees? There it is, the reason why the Marlins are performing bad to worse with every season. Reportedly, since 2012, they have held a 43.6% win rate, and that’s horrible, to say the least. What about the new players then?

Yes, there are a good amount of free agents available, and trading options are also open with other teams. However, a team needs to put money in line to attract the top talents and also to offer security and stability for the new joinees, which the Marlins are not offering. How? Well, the World Series-winning team of 1997 was disbanded because the owner felt that they were not well-supported by the fans. So, with this instability, the new talents will not feel secure enough to get to the Marlins. Exactly what Castellanos has said in a podcast with Ely Sussman.

Now the fans! So, with the team not scouting good talents and big names, the fan attraction is expectedly minimal. As per Castellanos, in the case of the Phillies, fans associate themselves by seeing players like him who have been playing for years, but the Marlins are poor in retaining their performing talents. So, with new guys coming in every season, how can the fans relate to them? This also adds up to their poor performance, making things worse. But, with a buzzing place like Miami and enough baseball fanbase there, maybe the Marlins are a win away from regaining their trust.

Can the Miami team recover?

There’s still time for the Marlins to make a comeback and this year may be the right time. There are a few returns planned this year like Alcantara, Luzardo, and Eury Perez, which can improve their slugging and pitching. Moreover, younger talents like Connor Norby, Otto Lopez, and Xavier Edwards have the potential to shine for them. However, they also need to get some big and experienced names for the team. For example, free agents like Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso are still available. They can contribute with their experiences and can bring in fan interest. But this can only be possible if the Miami team is ready to break the bank.

Reportedly, manager Schumaker is not returning for 2025 and it will not be an easy task to replace him, considering he is one of the best in business. So, the new manager should be someone who will have a long-term plan looking at the 2025 postseason. Considering the lower payrolls, the Marlins are always behind in landing the top names. But this time, they should be in contention with the bigger teams to make it bigger in 2025. 

The inclusion of big and experienced names and retaining them will help them enhance their performance and will surely create positive branding for the team among fans. Only time can tell how the team will fare this year, but with good planning can they revive themselves. That is if they stop penny pinching!