Marlins’ Bendix dishes on various players, starters in pen. McCullough to return

The Marlins are retaining manager Clayton McCullough and are open to using their starting pitchers in save situations again next season if they’re interested in doing that.

Also, the Marlins plan to keep pitcher Sandy Alcantara but are moving on from hitting coach Pedro Guerrero.

Those four news nuggets were among developments to emerge during the aftermath of another Marlins season that ended short of a playoff berth, the 26th time in 34 years that the franchise missed the postseason.

On the McCullough front, the Marlins confirmed he will return next season but declined, per club policy, to say if he will be offered an extension beyond next year’s third and final year of his contract.

“Clayton showed a lot of growth and improvement,” Peter Bendix, the Marlins’ president/baseball operations, said Tuesday. “Clayton and I are very aligned. Clayton is an excellent… voice of the organization and he has helped establish a fantastic culture in our clubhouse. He’s an excellent communicator. He’s very good at a difficult job.”

McCullough has guided the Marlins to records of 79-83 last season, and 80-82 this season, despite the team’s payroll limitations. (Miami had one of the two lowest payrolls in baseball this season, along with playoff-bound Cleveland.)

McCullough has left himself open to criticism by yanking several starting pitchers early in games, citing data that starters aren’t as effective when facing a batting order for a third time. That approach, which is in line with the general organizational philosophy, was effective at times, less so at others. The Marlins fully support how he handled his pitching staff.

That approach included using starting pitchers Sandy Alcantara, Eury Perez and Janson Junk in late-inning situations late in the season. Alcantara recorded three saves in his three relief appearances, and Perez struck out the side against the Cubs in his only bullpen appearance.

“I have no idea where it goes in the future,” Bendix said. “But it shows innovation of the organization; we continue to be willing to try these things. Willing to try it even though it’s nothing that’s been done before.

“The commitment shown by Janson and Sandy opened the door for that. Maybe it’s something we do a lot. Maybe it’s something we never do again.”

But a source with direct knowledge said the Marlins are open to continuing to do this next season if Alcantara, Perez and Junk are willing. But the Marlins will not pressure any of their starting pitchers to pitch in relief between starts; those pitchers would need to want to do it, which was the case this past month.

Meanwhile, Bendix confirmed that Guerrero will be the only member of the coaching staff who won’t return next season. Under his guidance, the Marlins finished sixth in on-base percentage, tied for ninth in OPS (on-base plus slugging) but 18th in runs.

As for Alcantara, Bendix — citing club policy of not discussing contracts — declined to say if the Marlins will exercise his $21 million team option next season or whether they will try to extend his contract beyond that. But a source said the Marlins have no plans to trade Alcantara this offseason.

Under Bendix and McCullough, the Marlins won their most games, over two seasons, since 2009 and 2010. But neither season ended in a playoff berth.

“I’m disappointed,” Bendix said. “We’re all disappointed. We are not satisfied with where we are. That said, I’m also very proud of our team, our organization. There was tremendous progress shown on the field, off the field.”

Bendix declined to disclose any top offseason priorities.

“There are a lot of things we can do better,” he said. “That starts with me… [But] our team is very well-rounded. We have a bunch of players in the upper minors we expect to contribute. It’s difficult to say we clearly need X, Y, Z. There are a lot of things we need.”

Bendix addressed other issues:

▪ Bendix did not answer directly when asked whether the Marlins’ miscalculations in free agency would sour owner Bruce Sherman on spending in free agency.

Though Peter Fairbanks saved 19 games (along with a bloated 6.31 ERA), none of the Marlins’ free agents completely fulfilled expectations. The Marlins spent $21 million on free agents, with Fairbanks getting $13 million. All of the Marlins’ other free agent pickups — Chris Paddack, John King and Christopher Morel — were released during the season.

Sherman also had unfulfilling experiences in free agency under previous regimes, including Derek Jeter’s decision to give a four-year, $53 million contract to Avisail Garcia.

Even beyond any potential budget limitations, Bendix philosophically does not believe in adding 30-plus something free agents at astronomical dollar amounts.

But the Marlins plan to be moderately active in free agency — regardless of whether the owners succeed in cajoling the players to accept a salary cap and salary floor in what are expected to be contentious labor negotiations.

An MLB lockout is considered likely on Dec. 1; officials with the 30 teams are not permitted to discuss the owners’ proposal for a cap and floor.

“I have no idea what’s going to happen in the lockout,” Bendix said, going as far as he’s allowed to speak on the issue. “Nobody has any idea. We are preparing to play 162 games.”

▪ Bendix said “our minor-league system took another large step forward. It solidified a lot of the processes with regard to the aggressive training, with regard to getting our players bigger, faster, stronger.”

He praised outfield prospects Cam Cannarella, Brandon Compton and Max Williams. The Marlins believe Cannarella will be ready to compete for a big-league job next season.

▪ Bendix said Perez “showed what he can do. We saw the upside Eury has. He can do it over long stretches of time. [But] we saw the downside of Eury, which is that he doesn’t always throw enough strikes. There’s a lot of room for Eury to improve. I still believe in him as a top of the rotation pitcher.”

▪ On catcher Joe Mack: “Joe was incredible. He’s an elite defender. He’s got real power. His offensive game is still growing.”

▪ On catcher/designated hitter Agustin Ramirez: “Gus had a tough year. He struggled. It’s hard to [go from the majors to the minors and back to the majors] and maintain a high level of performance. Gus recovered really nicely. He dealt with the adversity really nicely. He showed he still has the ability to be a good catcher… and a middle of the lineup hitter.”

▪ Bendix said Javier Sanoja “showed us he’s an everyday major-league player who can be a superstar. He got stronger, he got faster. He kept getting better offensively and defensively. Second on the team in WAR [wins over replacement] despite not even getting to 600 plate appearances. [And] he’s only 24.”

▪ Kyle Stowers “probably” will continue to play both first base and the outfield.

“We know what Kyle is capable of offensively,” Bendix said. “It’s getting his body in position to be a really good defensive first baseman and outfielder.”

Injury updates

Center fielder Jakob Marsee experienced left elbow discomfort while throwing in recent days and plans to see Keith Meister, a renowned sports medicine specialist and orthopedic surgeon. Pitcher Tyler Zuber also plans to see Meister about his elbow discomfort.

▪ Pitchers Max Meyer, Anthony Bender and Ronnie Henriquez and outfielder Owen Caissie should be ready for spring training. Bender missed the final three months with a shin injury and Henriquez missed the season after undergoing elbow surgery.

Meyer didn’t pitch after July 18 because of a neck strain. Caissie missed the final two weeks of the season with a lower-back stress fracture.

▪ Fairbanks, an impending free agent, will undergo thoracic outlet surgery on Oct. 8 and isn’t considered likely to return to the Marlins.

▪ Pitcher Robby Snelling, one of the Marlins’ top pitching prospects, is expected back in May or June after undergoing Tommy John surgery this past May. Pitching prospect Adam Mazur is expected to be ready for game action in April or May after undergoing elbow surgery this past March.

▪ Pitchers Will Kempner and Andrew Nardi, who were both sidelined since August with elbow injuries, are expected to miss most or all of next season.

This story was originally published September 29, 2026 at 12:45 PM.