MIAMI -- Ahead of Marlins No. 2 prospect Robby Snelling's Major League debut, president of baseball operations Peter Bendix addressed a range of topics surrounding the club with a small group of reporters.
Here are some of the highlights:
On message made by recent moves regarding Agustín Ramírez, Chris Paddack and Graham Pauley
"We're trying to win. We are trying to win this year. We're trying to win beyond this year. We're looking for the best 26 guys, and we're looking for all of our guys to continue to get better. A lot of these moves are designed to really try to put the best team on the field that we possibly can."
On Ramírez's struggles
"If you look back at when Gus was called up [in April 2025], he was called up after several other guys got hurt. He was called up relatively early in the year, and to his credit, he hit the ground running, and he took advantage of that. But he didn't have the level of development, especially defensively, in the Minor Leagues with us, that we might have been planning for him. And so I think getting him down to Triple-A, where he can really worry about getting better without all of the noise that comes with being at the Major League level, I think, is really going to do him a lot of good."
On what happens to the active roster if Ramírez improves defensively
"I will sign up for the scenario in which we have three really good catchers. I think that very well could happen. If it does, then we'll deal with it. But that's the kind of problem we want to be dealing with."
On handling the possible disappointment of 40-man roster pitchers being passed up for Snelling
"Having a lot of good pitchers is a great problem to have, and we know that it takes more than 26 guys to get through a season. We know that, especially with pitchers, things can change. Guys get hurt. There's opportunities. If you're not on the team, you have to stay ready, because you never know when you're going to be needed."
On Braxton Garrett
"He's been great, and I think the fact that Braxton is in Triple-A really speaks to the depth of pitching that we have. There will be an opportunity for him, I'm sure of it. He will be ready for it. I'm sure of that, too. The fact that he's healthy and throwing the ball, well, that's what's important."
On the aggressiveness of pulling starters and bullpen management
"Before every game, there is a meeting that involves a lot of different people that is run by [manager] Clayton [McCullough] to talk through as many different scenarios as we can imagine coming up in that game. I think the best decisions are the decisions that are made ahead of time, in the sense that you don't want to be caught off guard. You want to be prepared for anything that might happen, and know what's option A, what's option B, what's option C.
"That's not to say it's scripted or predetermined. It's just thought about ahead of time. And so there's a lot of time spent on that. A lot of it is managing both to win today and to get through 162 games. Or in May, to get through 26 games in 27 days, keeping guys fresh, healthy, available. All of that in addition to trying to win every single game."
On Jakob Marsee's season
"He adds a lot of value in addition to when he's hitting. He's a great baserunner, playing really well defensively. He's still taking his walks. He's doing all of the things that we want to see him do. The league adjusted to him. Now he has to adjust back. That's what baseball is all about. But very optimistic about where he is."
On the urgency level and how team is performing
"We're very happy with the progress that we've shown, and it hasn't quite shown up in the wins the way that we want to, but it's shown up in the way that we're in every game. It's shown up in the way that we're never out of a game, that we are able to go into Los Angeles and take two out of three from the Dodgers and really just be very competitive. At the end of the day, competitive is not the goal. Winning is the goal. But I think you can evaluate progress and things in addition to your wins and lost records."