Guardians could be impacted in free agency by most unlikely small market team

Last year the Miami Marlins finished the year 79-83 as a faraway third-place team behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East. 

But it seems like the Marlins aren’t your average team with a losing record, as almost every notebook dump from MLB insiders has made it seem like the Marlins are preparing to spend this offseason. 

That theme hit a fever pitch last week when The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal put out a report saying that Marlins were active in the closing and starting pitcher market along with upgrades to first and third base. 

And we got even more confirmation of that thinking on Monday when Rosenthal and Katie Woo wrote that the Marlins are interested in signing closer Pete Fairbanks, who recently became a free agent after the Rays declined their $11 million option on him for 2026. 

The Marlins spending could hurt the Guardians in free agency this year

Normally the Marlins being involved in talks for a free agent like Fairbanks would be unheard of given they routinely rank near the bottom of baseball in spending and have been subject to past grievances from the Major League Baseball Players Association over their lack of spending.

But it seems like that could be changing soon given the amount of scuttlebutt around them being big players in this year's free agent market.

While the Marlins spending money to field a competitive team is great for baseball, it may hurt the light-spending Guardians, who will now have to compete with the Marlins in the free agent market. 

Last offseason the Marlins’ lone offseason signing was old friend Cal Quantrill, who signed a one-year $3.5 million deal and was waived in August. Now it seems like the Marlins are poised to be moderate players in free agency, and their interest in Fairbanks (who would be a perfect fit in Cleveland) is a tangible example of that thinking.

In years prior, teams like the Marlins were an afterthought in free agency, now it seems like they’re going to be swimming in the same free agency pools as the Guardians. 

And it would be one thing if the Marlins were going after guys like Kyle Tucker who were out of Cleveland’s price range. Instead it seems like they’re going to go after some of the B and C-tier free agents the Guardians are also interested in.

The Marlins have a solid core of young players in Kyle Stowers, Agustín Ramírez, Heriberto Hernández and Jakob Marsee alongside former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara and Edward Cabrera, and are in a position where adding impact veterans make sense.

It’s the same kind of position the Guardians are in, albeit with Cleveland having more of a winning track record to sell teams on. 

The good news is that the Guardians have a clear advantage in the trade market thanks to an abundance of MLB-ready prospects along with some players on their big league roster who could stand out as trade chips. 

Still, the Marlins looking to spend is a big deal when thinking about the totality of the MLB landscape, and could be yet another pothole Cleveland’s front office has to navigate on the road to competing in 2026.