After two months of make-or-break decisions, the Miami Marlins have moved one of their top starting pitchers. Will it be Sandy Alcantara or Edward Cabrera? It’s been a question for a long time, but it was answered last week when Cabrera was traded to the Chicago Cubs.
Returning were already young organizations and promising young talent joining major league teams. Despite trading away Cabrera, the Marlins still have a solid rotation, one that many MLB writers still value highly.
ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle We’re looking at the stock prices for all 30 MLB teams heading into spring training next month, and his prospects for Miami are encouraging even after trading Cabrera.
Interest in Marlins remains high despite Edward Cabrera trade, MLB writer
Despite a quiet offseason so far, there’s no question that Miami is not a finished product. Doolittle remains pretty high up the Marlins’ roster, largely due to how good the starting rotation is for second-year coach Clayton McCullough.
“Rotations can be special, but their prospects are based on potential, injury recovery, and positive regression rather than elite performance. Sandy Alcantara is a prime example. Once the former Cy Young Award winner puts up numbers in 2025, the optimism from this situation begins to fade. Only three teams have young rotations, and only three teams have young position groups,” Doolittle wrote.
The second half of the season was very promising for Alcantara and Miami. This showed that he is on track to return from surgery and is ready to be the top-of-the-rotation arm the Marlins hope to once again have.
If Yuri Perez can be number two with Miami and McCullough, they have a chance to compete from a pitching standpoint in 2026. Pete Fairbanks, signed as a closer by the Tampa Bay Rays in free agency, may be one of the most underrated moves of the offseason.
Doolittle isn’t as high up in the Marlins’ starting rotation, but he’s hoping to have a better season than the injury-interrupted breakout 2025 season with the return of Kyle Stowers.
Miami will need some other young position players to break out and have a better season, and if they do, they could be a team that seriously contends for a postseason spot.
The Marlins are a team that has the potential to really break out in 2026. Stocks are steadily rising as we approach mid-January.