Below is an analysis of what will happen in the Miami Marlins farm system. The inspection reports were compiled from information provided by industry sources and my own observations. This is the fourth year we’ve defined between two expected relief roles, the abbreviations of which you’ll see in the “position” column below: MIRP for multi-inning relief pitchers, and SIRP for single-inning relief pitchers. The ETAs listed generally correspond to the year a player must be added to the 40-man roster to avoid becoming eligible for the Rule 5 draft. Manual adjustments are made where appropriate, but we use that as a rule of thumb.
A quick overview of what FV (Future Value) means can be found here. A more in-depth overview can be found here.
All prospects at the bottom level also appear on IBoard, a service that provides a site with editable evaluation information for the entire organization. It has more detail (and updated TrackMan data from various sources) than this article and includes individual team lists so readers can compare prospects across farm systems. It can be found here.
Other Opportunities for Awareness
Grouped by genre and listed in order of popularity within each category.
One Impact Pitch
Jack Sellinger, LHP
Josh White, RHP
Xavier Meachem, RHP
Valente Bellozo, RHP
Sellinger, a 2023 Day Three pick out of UNLV, is a nice lefty, opposite with a great breaking ball and a below-average heater. He has a LOOGY look and dominates Low-A. White will show you 92-95 with a mysterious command and two bad breaking balls from time to time. He was the team’s fifth-round pick in 2022 out of Cal. Meachem is another late 2023 pick (North Carolina A&T) who is off to a good start, as he sits 93-94 and bows out with an extra slider in Beloit, though he is eligible for 30. Bellozo returned to Houston as part of the Jacob Amaya trade. He works a nice changeup, but his other contributions are below average.
Power Projection
Fabian Lopez, SS
John Cruz, WE
Breyias Dean, 1B
Jose Gerardo, WE
I didn’t have enough confidence in this group of hitters to put them in the main category of the list, but they are all well-rounded hitters with great power. Lopez is a changeup shortstop currently chasing a ton in the Florida complex. I warned readers about Cruz on the Yankees roster before he came in the Jon Berti trade. His swing is extremely long and very raw, but he should grow stronger as he fills out. Dean is an 18-year-old Bahamian power bat in the DSL who became the youngest player to win the Don’t Blink: Home Run Derby in Paradise event held in the Bahamas a few years ago. Gerardo sent the big velos out of the 2022 DSL and spent more than 40% of the time in trouble in 2023.
The Power Is There
Griffin Conine, WE
Cody Morissette, 2B
Zach Zubia, 1B
Mark Coley II, WA
Jeff’s son still has 70 power and 20 hit tool. He’s 26 and has reduced his strikeout rate enough that it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets a cup of coffee after the Marlins’ upcoming cleanup. I was high on Morissette before he was drafted and I thought he would be a Michael Massey type of striker, but he didn’t have an effective sense of connection at the highest levels. Zubia has solid NFL measurements at 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, and has great power and plate discipline, but a 20- or 30-grade hitter is a tough profile for a first baseman. Coley is a good old bat who crushed Low-A before being promoted to Beloit, where he returned to Earth.
Grip Depth
Johnny Pereda, C
Paul McIntosh, C
Pereda was in the prestigious section of the prospect list as a first baseman with rare communication skills at the position. McIntosh is similar, except his offense focuses on pulling power.
Contact the bats
Yoffry Solano, SS
Shane Sasaki, OF
Victor Ortega, C
Salano is a 19-year-old shortstop who has had one of the best strikeout rates on the team over the past two seasons. Sasaki was also part of the Berti/Ben Rortvedt team, a corner outfielder who consistently outperformed his physical tools in the minors. He is currently in IL. Ortega is a 5-foot-8, 20-year-old Mexican catcher who has been heavily linked in rookie ball and owns a .300 career average as of publication of the roster.
Small Jars
John Cabral, RHP
Eliazar Dishmey, RHP
Johan Palacios, RHP
A 6-foot-1, 18-year-old right in the complex, Cabral sits 93-96 with an extension and a promising curveball. The kind of effort it takes him to get off the mound like that shows the hope of helping. A 6-foot-1, 19-year-old righty with a very athletic build, Dishmey produces high-effort arm speed that produces a 93-96 mph fastball with pitch and run. You need to find the breaking ball. Palacios is a 6-foot-9 righty with low-90s velocity. He has been wandering around that velo band for the past few years despite his size and promising looks.
Deep Launchers
Ike Buxton, RHP
Emmett Olson, LHP
Evan Fitterer, RHP
Buxton sits at 92-96 and has a plus slider, but he also has 40 control. He produced mixed results at High-A Beloit. Olson, last year’s fourth-round pick out of Nebraska, is a four-pitch lefty with an above-average slider and changeup. He hit 91 and started the season in Low-A before his recent promotion to Beloit. A 2019 fourth-round high school signing for $1.5 million, Fitterer is a kitchen sink Double-A righty who produces a ton of ground balls. He turned 97 this year, but his sense of place has not really improved.
Not enough Bat
Troy Johnston, 1B
Jacob Berry, DH
Johnston was a consistent bat-to-ball player in the minors, but lacks first base power. Berry struggled to get off the floor. He has yet to hit a high ball and is limited defensively. It has been a long time since he did anything to take her as a hope.
System Overview
The Marlins have a big hill to climb to compete not only with the titans of their division, but with the plebs. Not only is the big league team about to begin a rebuild, but the minor league locker room is empty. This program is light on both impact and depth, especially regarding position players. Part of the reason the big league team is so bad is because of injuries (a healthy Eury Pérez and Sandy Alcantara might be one of the two best pitchers in baseball), but it’s almost certain that the team will continue to be bad (while the farm system hopefully gets better). as the new president of baseball ops, Peter Bendix, puts his stamp on the org.
Tanner Scott and Josh Bell are in their contract years, trade talks are swirling around Jesús Luzardo according to the rumor mill, and teams’ tendency to need picks and catches at the deadline should open up the market for Christian Bethancourt and other Miami pitchers. Without Luzardo (who has two and a half seasons left in team management), there may not be a blockbuster in that mix, but Miami’s pro scouting department has been tasked with packing the bags to set up the franchise’s future success. In that department, this is a compelling time to work for this club.
If there is a silver lining in this program, it is that the international scouting team keeps finding interesting dishes. The Marlins have two DSL rosters again this year, and successfully entering the international market will be an important part of Bendix maintaining consistent success in this tough division. People in the game seem to think that Bendix has carte blanche to hire baseball ops staff until he is satisfied with the staff; Bruce Sherman has reportedly admitted that he won’t turn off the faucet when it comes to off-field hires. Ideally that philosophy will eventually apply to big league salaries, but it’s a start.
Source link
