Who doesn\u2019t love a bargain?<\/p>\n
The Miami Marlins have MLB\u2019s lowest payroll, but they\u2019re getting more wins per dollar than anyone in baseball.<\/p>\n
Using payroll figures and current standings, Miami is spending roughly $2 million per win, squeezing out the lowest cost-per-win in MLB and slightly ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays, where Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix spent nearly two decades.<\/p>\n
After Wednesday afternoon\u2019s 12-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies, the Marlins (37-38) sit two games behind the San Diego Padres for the NL\u2019s final wild-card spot, even while carrying a $80.4 million payroll and dealing with a slew of early injuries.<\/p>\n
A familiar blueprint<\/p>\n
The overlap between Miami and Tampa Bay is hard to ignore, not just financially, but in the way each team\u2019s roster is carefully constructed.<\/p>\n
The Rays\u2019 40-man roster includes 22 players acquired by trade, nine homegrown players, seven free agents and two waiver claims.<\/p>\n
The Marlins\u2019 40-man roster isn\u2019t far off: 20 trade acquisitions, nine homegrown players, six free agents, four waiver claims and one Rule 5 pick.<\/p>\n
When Bendix accepted the job in Miami in 2023, Marlins owner Bruce Sherman openly acknowledged that Tampa Bay\u2019s proven winning formula was something he admired, and hoped Bendix could bring with him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not blind to Tampa\u2019s success,\u201d Sherman said. \u201cWhatever secret sauce he has … hopefully he brings that to this organization over multiple years.\u201d<\/p>\n
This season, most of Miami\u2019s production has come from players making less than $1 million.<\/p>\n
Shortstop Otto Lopez, making just more than $800,000, has been one of baseball\u2019s best hitters, leading the majors in hits (98) and batting average (.336). Second baseman Xavier Edwards, also making close to the league minimum, has given Miami another reliable bat near the top of the lineup, tying for fifth in the NL with 80 hits while helping form one of baseball\u2019s most productive middle-infield combinations.<\/p>\n
Marlins manager Clayton McCullough believes the low-cost double-play tandem belongs in the All-Star conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the starts that those guys have had, X in particular, he\u2019s had certainly an All-Star-caliber first half, as has Otto,\u201d McCullough said. \u201cHe\u2019s led the league in hitting really from Opening Day. He\u2019s played above-average shortstop. Both those guys, I think, are more than deserving [of] being in that conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liam Hicks has become one of the league\u2019s top run producers while making $790,000, hitting .280 with 13 home runs and ranking near the top of the NL with 52 RBI.<\/p>\n
Max Meyer, making just under $1 million, is showing why he was once the No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, building a serious All-Star case after opening the season 7-0 with a 2.75 ERA.<\/p>\n
Depth at a discount<\/p>\n
The low-cost production doesn\u2019t stop with the potential All-Stars.<\/p>\n
Rookie catcher Joe Mack, making $780,000, has hit .333 throughout the month of June over 33 plate appearances with two home runs and eight RBI before homering again in Miami\u2019s win over Philadelphia. He\u2019s also given the Marlins reason to believe he could be their future behind the plate, ranking in the top five among MLB catchers in caught-stealing percentage this season.<\/p>\n
Former NL Rookie of the Month Jakob Marsee hasn\u2019t matched last year\u2019s offensive production, but he\u2019s still given the Marlins value in almost every other area. Making less than $800,000, Marsee ranks fourth in the NL with 17 stolen bases, while boasting a perfect fielding percentage in center field and tying for third among NL center fielders in runners thrown out.<\/p>\n
Miami has also continued to receive contributions from low-cost players who outperformed their contracts last season, including Gold Glove utility player Javier Sanoja ($791,500) and 2025 All-Star Kyle Stowers ($804,200), who was slowed by an early season hamstring injury but hit two home runs and drove in five runs Wednesday against the Phillies.<\/p>\n
With pitchers Eury P\u00e9rez and Janson Junk, both also making less than $1 million, on the injured list, relievers like Tyler Phillips (3.10 ERA) and Lake Bachar (2.97 ERA) have helped Miami stay afloat by stepping into starting roles.<\/p>\n
Still taking shape<\/p>\n
The Marlins aren\u2019t the Rays, yet.<\/p>\n
Miami has been able to stack wins, but their near-.500 record shows how quickly losses have piled up, too, dropping three or more consecutive games six times already this season.<\/p>\n
They still have to prove this is more than a strong month.<\/p>\n
But with baseball\u2019s smallest payroll, multiple sub-$1 million All-Star candidates and a playoff spot still within reach, the early signs of Tampa Bay\u2019s \u201csecret sauce\u201d are hard to miss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Who doesn\u2019t love a bargain? The Miami Marlins have MLB\u2019s lowest payroll, but they\u2019re getting more wins per…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-312289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}