The Miami Marlins endured another difficult year losing 100 games in 2024. They’ve lost 90 or more games in five of the last six seasons (excluding the shortened 2020). A once-promising stable of arms has deteriorated into obscurity with serious questions on health and the viability of future rotations.
Miami took major steps this year reshaping their front office in an attempt to spark new, innovative ideas to build a winner. The farm system has some exciting pieces on the horizon. Should the team elect to rebuild this offseason, the big league roster has pieces that could net controllable talent that’d be a part of the next winner in South Beach.
After a 100-loss season, the Fish have the best chance (22.45%, tied with the Colorado Rockies) at the No. 1 pick and almost certainly will select in the Top 5 in the 2025 MLB Draft. They’ve picked higher than six just twice in 10 years and haven’t picked No. 1 overall since they tabbed Adrian Gonzalez the top pick in 2000.
DEVELOPMENTS
The Marlins selected Thomas White with the No. 35 overall pick back in 2023 and the prevailing opinion at the time was the arm the club took at No. 10, right-hander Noble Meyer, was the better talent.
A year later White’s outstanding 2024 has pushed him to the top of the system. He threw a ton of strikes with an easy, compact delivery. He hides the ball through an explosive release. There’s ride and hop to the four-seam fastball, comfortably into the mid-90s and beyond, and both his secondaries look like big-league pitches more often than not.
White just turned 20 and sped up his timeline to the majors by at least a year, and it wouldn’t surprise if he saw Miami in the first half of 2026. It’s ace upside if the control and command continue to grow.
Meyer, on the other hand, struggled with both, walking 55 in 74 innings, but the raw stuff remains high-end and he’ll turn 20 in January.
White is among the elite arms in the minors and the sky is the limit.
QUESTIONS
The club’s top arms are a year or two away, but they may have a few bats coming. Are there enough first-division regulars on their way or is Miami years from legitimate contention?
The club picked up a large handful of intriguing prospects at the deadline, completely overhauling the system, but each of them have hurdles to clear before projecting comfortably to the majors as impact pieces.
The more who break through, the better the parent club’s chances to compete in 2025 and 2026.
ADDITIONS & SUBTRACTIONS
After the May trade to acquire OF Dillon Head, OF Jakob Marsee, 1B Mathan Martorella, and RHP Woo-Suk Go from the San Diego Padres for IF Luis Arraez, the Marlins were busy in July, too.
First, they sent lefty A.J. Puk to the Arizona Diamondbacks for 1B Deyvison De Los Santos and SS Andrew Pintar.
Then, they shipped IF/OF Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the New York Yankees for C Agustin Ramirez and middle infielders Jared Serna and Abrahan Ramirez.
But the Fish weren’t done. Next was trading LHR Tanner Scott and RHP Bryan Hoeing for RHP Adam Mazur, 2B Jay Beshears, 3B Graham Pauley, and LHP Robby Snelling.
They finished by moving OF Bryan De La Cruz to the Pittsburgh Pirates for RHP Jun-Soek Shim and 3B Garret Forrester, and LHP Trevor Rogers to the Baltimore Orioles for 2B Connor Norby and Cf Kyle Stowers.
Before the deadline, the club added several prospects via the draft, led by first-round pick 1B PJ Morlando, second-rounder SS Carter Johnson, RHP Aiden May in the Competitive Balance portion prior to Round 3, then infielder Gage Miller (3) and Fenwick Trimble (4).
GRADUATIONS
Otto Lopez, 2B
Xavier Edwards, SS
Kyle Stowers, OF
Connor Norby, 3B
Calvin Faucher, RHP
Declan Cronin, RHP
Sixto Sanchez, RHP
Valente Bellozo, RHP
Darren McCaughan, RHP
Max Meyer, RHP
Roddery Munoz, RHP
Lopez was claimed by the Marlins in April and started 106 games in 2024. Edwards was a revelation, slashing .328/.397/.423 with 31 stolen bases in 70 games, serving as the club’s shortstop the rest of the way.
Norby flashed power with the Marlins, smacking nine homers in 45 games, but he struggled to make consistent contact (33% K).
Faucher served as a reliable arm out of the pen, as did Cronin, but former top prospects Meyer and Sanchez struggled as their rookie status expired.
BIG-LEAGUE RADAR (yet to debut)
Ramirez, C
De Los Santos, 1B/3B
Snelling, LHP
Joe Mack, C
Serna, SS
Kemp Alderman, OF
Pintar, OF
Marsee, OF
Jacob Berry, 3B
Dax Fulton, LHP
SCOUT SAYS
“For the better part of three decades, Miami has been a place for raw talent, and that’s certainly true today. They’ve lacked the hitters the past several years, but it’s a tough job having to turn over your entire roster every 4-6 years. There’s only one Tampa Bay Rays and they don’t play in Miami.”
“They sure flipped it over this year and found a lot of good depth, but I don’t see more than maybe a couple of everyday players. So they have the chance at another homegrown rotation, but where’s the offense coming from? They could struggle to score for a while if they don’t add veterans to bridge the gap.”
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