Why Miami was the right fit for Fairbanks

Right-hander Pete Fairbanks dove into his first foray of free agency with no expectations.

As the process unfolded, the Marlins seemed like a good fit over other teams. On the personal front, his family in St. Petersburg, which is about four hours from Miami, will welcome a third child around Opening Day. On the baseball front, Fairbanks saw the direction the Marlins had taken under president of baseball operations Peter Bendix, who was previously part of the Rays’ front office until leaving for Miami in November 2023.

"We talked a few times," Fairbanks said of Bendix. "It's nice to have a relationship with the guy in charge, just to make that process easy. I had questions; it was easy to reach out to him and have those answered and be in a pretty good spot. Obviously, that's how we ended up here. But I think that, again, playing against the core position guys last year, it's a good, solid young core. If I come in and do what's expected of me, and lock down some games on the back side of things, and couple that with a very good rotation, I think that you've got the chance for a pretty good ballclub."

The Marlins officially announced their agreement with Fairbanks on a one-year contract on Sunday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Fairbanks will earn $13 million in 2026, per source, and the contract includes a $1 million signing bonus, plus another $1 million in incentives based on appearances. There’s also an acquisition bonus of $500,000 if he is traded.

The agreement fit Miami's goal of targeting one-year contracts this offseason and marked the largest annual salary the Marlins have ever given a relief pitcher, passing the $9 million average Heath Bell earned in his three-year, $27 million contract from 2012-14. Fairbanks became the second free agent to agree to terms with Miami this offseason, joining first baseman Christopher Morel.

Fairbanks became a free agent for the first time – heading into his age-32 season – when the Rays declined his $11 million option for 2026, instead paying him a $1 million buyout. That decision closed the book on a successful tenure with Tampa Bay. After three straight seasons with at least 23 saves, Fairbanks left the Rays with the third-most saves in franchise history (90), as well as the fourth-most games pitched (267).

News of the deal first broke last Wednesday, less than two days after Miami announced that high-leverage arm Ronny Henriquez will miss the 2026 season because of a hybrid Tommy John surgery/associated internal brace procedure. The Marlins, which surprisingly finished just four games out of the final National League Wild Card spot, had been in the free-agent relief market before then looking to improve a bullpen that finished 22nd in ERA (4.28) and 25th in K/9 (8.21).

Though the Marlins played matchups and pockets in 2025, utilizing a committee to close out games without an established closer, Fairbanks would fit into either that role or a more traditional one. Other late-inning options for Miami include righties Anthony Bender, Calvin Faucher and Tyler Phillips. Fairbanks expects to rely on former Rays teammate Faucher to help get him acclimated to his new ballclub after seven seasons with Tampa Bay.

"I know that I'll be throwing leverage," Fairbanks said. "Whether that's the ninth -- I'm sure it will be the ninth at times -- I'm sure it might end up being the eighth at times. Or if you've got to get an out in the seventh against the heart [of the order], I'm sure that it'll be something like that. I'm quite familiar with how the leverage-based bullpen gets ran, as I did it for quite a while, until, really, the past three years. Whether it's accruing the counting stats in the ninth or facing the heart of the eighth, whatever is asked of me is going to be what I do."

A ninth-round pick by the Rangers in the 2015 Draft out of Missouri, Fairbanks pitched briefly for Texas in 2019 before being traded to Tampa Bay that July. By the next season, he established himself as a key member of the team’s bullpen as it made a run all the way to the World Series. From 2020-25, he appeared in 254 games, recorded 88 saves, posted a 2.87 ERA and struck out 11.2 batters per nine innings, while opponents managed a mere .584 OPS against him.

The biggest issue for Fairbanks during his Rays tenure was staying healthy. He spent time on the injured list in each season from 2021-24 before avoiding it in 2025, when he set career highs with 61 appearances and 60 1/3 innings.

Fairbanks remained effective in 2025, with a 2.83 ERA and 27 saves in 32 chances, but there were some concerning signs beneath the surface. From 2023 to ‘25, Fairbanks’ strikeout rate declined from 37.0% (one of the best marks in the Majors) to 24.2% (just 2 percentage points above league average).

On the other hand, even as Fairbanks posted middling chase, whiff and K rates this past season, he retained elite fastball velocity (97.3 mph) and excelled at limiting damaging contact (93rd-percentile barrel rate). In addition to his hard four-seamer, Fairbanks relies heavily on a slider that is his top strikeout pitch, also mixing in some changeups and cutters.

"I would say probably because I was throwing the fewest pitches per inning in my career," Fairbanks said. "There's certainly some execution things that can go into it, but if you can get a one-pitch groundout to short, I'll take that almost more than fighting a seven-pitch battle to get to a strikeout, right? I think that there's plenty of ways to skin the cat, and efficiency is something that I very much try and pride myself in getting in and out as quick as possible. And if that comes via strikeout or via first-pitch popup to first, I'm not going to complain about it either way."