Every year I am stunned about how fast the first half of the year goes and as many expected the Miami Marlins are sitting last in the NL East, 14 games out of first, but it could be worse. The Orioles are 42 games out of first in the AL East. My preseason Marlins 4th ranked prospect, Brian Anderson, has shown that he can be productive in the big leagues and is making the most of his opportunity. Anderson in his 400 AB is hitting .285 with a respectable .364 OBP. He has 8 home runs with 49 RBI. He is 4 hits shy of Starlin Castro for team lead in hits and 1 RBI behind J.T. Realmuto for the team lead in RBI. The future is bright for the 24-year-old Anderson, although he needs to get his defense above his current DWAR of -0.2.
The Miami Marlins drafted 41 players, 25 pitchers, 7 OF, 5 SS/3B and 4 catchers. The Marlins first selection, Round 1, Pick 13, was Plant High School product Connor Scott. Scott is 6’4, weighing in at 180 lbs and scouts rave about his potential to be a 5-tool player. He’s gotten off to a slow start at GCL Marlins hitting .194 with a .321 OBP. He has 0 home runs or doubles but he does have 3 triples, 7 SB in 10 attempts, although it is a small sample size with only 67 AB. Their second selection, Round 2, Pick 53, cousin of Jimmy Rollins and Tony Tarasco, was shortstop Osiris Johnson. Osiris is playing for the CGL Marlins and in 74 AB he is hitting .257 with a .369 OBP. He does have 5 SB in 6 attempts, with 1 HR and 3 doubles, although again, it is a small sample size.
Trading the 2017 starting OF for the Miami Marlins was tough but financially the future of the team is much better off. I wanted to recap the trades and see how those prospects are performing in this 2018 season.
Giancarlo Stanton – 391 AB, .281 BA, .348 OBP, 19 2B, 23 HR, 61 RBI, 135 SO, 4 SB
Marcell Ozuna – 383 AB, .261 BA, .306 OBP, 10 2B, 10 HR, 51 RBI, 77 SO, 2 SB
Christian Yelich – 347 AB, .314 BA, .380 OBP, 19 2B, 14 HR, 54 RBI, 88 SO, 13 SB
Dee Gordon – 380 AB, .287 BA, .306 OBP, 14 2B, 1 HR, 22 RBI, 54 SO, 23 SB
For
Starlin Castro 2B – 408 AB, .289 BA, .335 OBP, 23 2B, 8 HR, 40 RBI, 83 SO, 4 SB
Jose Devers SS (A) – 330 AB, .276 BA, .312 OBP, 12 2B, 0 HR, 23 RBI, 48 SO, 13 SB (ranked 17th)
Jorge Guzman P (A) – 15 GS, 3.21 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 70 IP, 73 SO, 41 BB (ranked 8th)
Nick Neidert P (AA) – 19 GS, 3.10 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 110.1 IP, 113 SO, 24 BB (ranked 2nd)
Robert Dugger P (A & AA) – 18 GS, 4.44 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 101.1 IP, 89 SO, 33 BB (ranked 28th)
Chris Torres SS (A) – 33 AB, .303 BA, .385 OBP, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 7 SO, 0 SB (ranked 18th)
Daniel Castano P (A) – 18 G (17 GS) 4.48 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 98.1 IP, 81 SO, 22 BB
Magneuris Sierra OF (AAA) – 346 AB, .260 BA, .287 OBP, 12 2B, 2 HR, 17 RBI, 73 SO, 14 SB (ranked 22th)
Sandy Alcantara P (AAA) – 14 GA, 3.71 ERA, 1.27 WHIP 87 IP, 65 SO, 36 BB (ranked 3rd)
Zac Gallen P (AAA) – 18 GS, 3.80 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 97 IP, 94 SO, 38 BB (ranked 26th)
Lewis Brinson OF – 290 AB, .186 BA, .232 OBP, 6 2B, 10 HR, 30 RBI, 94 SO, 1 SB
Monte Harrison OF – (AA) 383 AB, .238 BA, .319 OBP, 15 2B, 13 HR, 38 RBI, 162 SO, 22 SB (ranked 1st)
Isan Diaz 2B (AA & AAA) – 316 AB, .250 BA, .369 OBP, 22 2B, 11 HR, 45 RBI, 105 SO, 11 SB (ranked 11th)
Jordan Yamamoto P (A & AA) – 9 GS, 1.92 ERA, .97 WHIP, 51.2 IP, 61 SO, 12 BB (ranked 5th)
The Marlins acquired 14 players from the trades involving the OF and 2B from 2017 and reviewing the deals about halfway through the season and it looks to me as the Marlins have achieved their goal of rebuilding the farm system. 4 of the top 5 prospects were acquired from those trades.
Below is my list of the 2018 Midseason top 50 prospects for the Miami Marlins minor league organization. I will be following this article up with 3 more articles in the upcoming weeks. Article #1 will be details and stats from the bottom 25 of the top 50 prospects. Article #2 will be details and stats from the top 25 prospects. Article #3 will be more details and stats on the players to watch and 5 super deep players to watch. Stay tuned!
I am looking forward to your comments. I welcome any feedback and suggestions and my take is more from a fantasy baseball perspective.
Prospects1500 Tiers:
Tier 1: Players with high expectations of both making the majors and playing at an All-Star level for several years
Tier 2: Players with an above average expectation of making the majors and being a solid contributor
Tier 3: Players with an average expectation of making the majors and being a solid contributor
Tier 4: Players who have the potential of making the majors, or have high likelihood of making the majors but providing minimal impact (e.g. middle reliever, low-ceiling UT guys)
Tier 5: Players who are worth keeping an eye on, but likely to never make a team’s 40-man roster
Tier 1
None
Tier 2
1. Monte Harrison, OF – Age: 22
2. Nick Neidert, RHP – Age: 21
3. Sandy Alcantara, RHP – Age: 22
4. Brian Miller, OF – Age: 22
5. Jordan Yamamoto, RHP – Age: 22
Tier 3
6. Connor Scott, OF – Age: 18
7. Will Banfield, C – Age: 21
8. Jorge Guzman, RHP – Age: 22
9. Braxton Garrett, LHP – Age: 20
10. Trevor Rogers, LHP – Age: 20
11. Isan Diaz, 2B – Age: 22
12. Austin Dean, OF – Age: 24
13. Pablo Lopez, RHP – Age: 22
14. Jeff Brigham, RHP – Age: 26
15. Tristan Pompey, OF – Age: 21
16. Edward Cabrera, RHP – Age: 20
17. Jose Devers, SS – Age: 18
18. Christopher Torres, SS – Age: 20
19. Osiris Johnson, SS – Age: 18
20. Trevor Richards, RHP – Age: 25
21. Ryan Lillie, RHP – Age: 22
22. Magneuris Sierra, OF – Age: 22
23. Joe Dunand, 3B – Age: 22
24. James Nelson, 3B – Age: 20
Tier 4
25. Thomas Jones, OF – Age: 20
26. Zac Gallen, RHP – Age: 22
27. Colton Hock, RHP – Age: 22
28. Robert Dugger, RHP – Age: 23
29. Matt Givin, RHP – Age: 19
30. Tyler Kolek, RHP – Age: 22
31. Braxton Lee, OF – Age: 24
32. John Norwood, OF – Age: 25
33. Cody Poteet, RHP – Age: 24
34. Ricardo Cespedes, OF – Age: 20
35. Rafael Ortega, OF – Age: 27
36. Corey Bird, OF – Age: 22
Tier 5
37. Lukas Schiraldi, RHP – Age: 25
38. Alejandro Mateo, RHP – Age: 24
39. Jhonny Santos, OF – Age: 21
40. Riley Mahan, OF – Age: 22
41. Brayan Hernandez, OF – Age: 20
42. Jarett Rindfleisch, C – Age: 22
43. Parker Bugg, P – Age: 23
44. Cason Sherrod, P – Age: 21
45. Davis Bradshaw, OF – Age: 22
46. Alex Vesia, LHP – Age: 20
47. Zach Wolf P – Age: 21
48. Milton Smith OF – Age: 21
49. Giovanni Lopez, RHP – Age: 22
50. Stone Garrett, OF – Age: 22
5 Players to keep an eye on:
51. Isael Soto, OF – Age: 21
52. Tyler Jones, RHP – Age: 21
53. C.J. Carter, RHP – Age: 18
54. Brett Lilek, LHP – Age: 24
55. Nathan Alexander, RHP – Age: 23
Featured image of Sandy Alcantara – via Minda Haas Kuhlmann on Flickr. Find her on Twitter @minda33 and on Instagram @minda.haas
Stoffer is an avid baseball fan who grew up in the heart of Braves country, but felt he never really fit in until the Marlins came along and then it was game over. He has been playing in deep dynasty keeper leagues for 20+ years and only plays in leagues where there is a prospect component. He currently resides in Jacksonville, Florida, which is the perfect place for him because it's home to the Jumbo Shrimp, the Marlins' Triple-A affiliate.
Your true tier twos are Richards, Lopez, Niedert, and Torres. Alcantara, Harrison, Miller and Yamamoto are a reach. Eveld and Dylan Lee top the tier threes.
With the state of the Miami Marlins right now I think that they fit in the description “Players with an above average expectation of making the majors and being a solid contributor”. Richards and Lopez may have been a little low and their second half’s will decide where they go in the next top 50 list. Torres did not have many plate appearances but that should change going forward.