Miami Marlins

Draft History
2025
Connor Norby - protection
13 - Kumar Rocker
43 - Nick Yorke
73 - Dedneil Nunez
103 - Sean Burke
133 - Shay Whitcomb

2024
Eury Perez - protection
5 - Christion Encarnacion-Strand
32 - Jose Caballero
62 - Abner Uribe
74 - Jonny DeLuca
92 - Jeff Hoffman

2023
J.J. Bleday - protection
7 - Vaughn Grissom
31 - Nick Pratto
61 - James Outman
91 - Darick Hall
121 - Cole Ragins

2022
Edward Cabrera - protection
5 - Josh Lowe
37 - Anthony Bender
67 - Ryan McKenna
73 - Yoshi Tsutsugo
125 - Nick Sandlin

2021
Sixto Sanchez - protection
1 - Cristian Pache
31 - William Contreras
61 - Jonathan Arauz
121 - Sam Haggerty
151 - Jimmy Lambert

2020
Isan Diaz - protection
13 - Mitch Keller
17 - Jake Fraley
43 - Jacob Stallings
73 - Genosis Cabrera
77 - Shaun Anderson

2019
Trevor Richards - protection
20 - Ryan O'Hearn
60 - Framber Valdez
105 - John Ryan Murphy
140 - Carlos Tocci
142 - Myles Straw

2018
no protection
30C - Jakob Junis
78 - Richard Bleier
80 - Lane Adams
138 - Jake McGee

2017
Kyle Barraclough - protection
8 - Ryon Healy
91 - Bruce Maxwell
98 - Chad Green
136 - Ji-Man Choi

2016
Justin Nicolino - protection
4 - Michael Conforto
9 - Delino DeShields

29 - Brandon Drury
94 - John Lamb
144 - Keon Broxton

2015
Andrew Heaney - protection
24 - Eddie Butler
89 - Evan Marshall
118 - Hunter Strickland
143 - Stefen Romero

2014
Jose Fernandez - protection
102 - Jake Elmore
126 - Miguel Tejada

2013
Rob Brantly - protection
109 - Eury Perez
118 - Bryan Holaday
132 - Juan Diaz

2012
Matt Dominguez - protection
42 - Bartolo Colon
137 - Mike Gonzalez
140 - Jack Cust
145 - Ryan Adams

2011
Mike Stanton - protection
13 - Mike Minor
39 - Mark Rogers
72 - Logan Ondrusek
133 - Elmer Dessens

2010
Chris Coghlan - protection
4 - Kyle Blanks
24 - Jhoulys Chacin
94 - Jose Morales

2009
Chris Volstad - protection
25 - Blake DeWitt
38 - Matt Tuiasosopo
118 - Bobby Wilson

2008
Rick Vanden Hurk - protection
17 - Jeff Clement
128 - Ben Francisco

2007
Anibal Sanchez - protection
22 - James Loney
24 - Takashi Saito
112 - Jason Smith
142 - Josh Kinney

2006
Jeremy Hermida - protection
50 - Kelly Shoppach
83 - Jason Botts
105 - John Olerud
121 - Joel Peralta

2005

Josh Willingham - protection
68 - Donnie Murphy
108 - Matt Miller

2004
Dontrelle Willis - protection
20 - Brandon Claussen
47 - Rene Reyes

2003
Michael Tejara - protection
22 - Omar Infante
81 - Mike Bascik
108 - Matt Franco
140 - Jeremy Hill
142 - Jason Grabowski

2002
Josh Beckett - protection
110 - Mario Encarnacion
116 - Jeff Wallace
140 - Calvin Pickering

2001

66 - Frank Menechino
96 - Tom Martin
121 - David Dellucci

2025 Miami Marlins

Overview: I’ve been looking forward to this one. How can you not love a team with guys named Genesis, Framber & Sixto? They sound like some cross-cultural jazz trio, not baseball players. But that’s something you can always count on the Marlins for – littering their roster with lyrical names. That is this franchise’s trademark. From Abner to Willson (w/two Ls), there is fun to be had everywhere. And this year it’ll be the best of both worlds, as I believe enough fun will happen between the lines to nudge the M’s into a post-season berth.

Starting Pitching: The front half of this rotation is fantastic, led by lefties Framber Valdez and Cole Ragans. Here is Claude’s (AI) Haiku: Valdez’s sinker - Ragans’ fastball cuts the night - Batters stand frozen. Not bad. NBC hitters should expect roughly the same. Mitch Keller, Andrew Heaney, and Edward Cabrera round out the rest of the rotation. None of them stand out either lyrically or statistically – though Keller is a rare starter with the “T” - but they will take the ball everyday and get the job done. Some say there may be too many southpaws here for success. I suppose we’ll see how well management dodges those teams who are tough on lefties. They also aren’t particularly adept at holding runners, promising a long season for their signal callers. (B-)

Relief Pitching: Miami’s bullpen is in pretty good shape though they could still stand to acquire a role-player or two (i.e. a closer and another tough lefty). At present, Jeff Hoffman seems like the de facto closer in the absence of a rated one. Jakob Junis (can you say fun w/ alliteration?) provides a ton of high-quality setup innings. Genesis Cabrera is the lone lefty followed by Nick Sandlin, Trevor Richards and Sixto Sanchez. Despite the cool moniker, Sixto doesn’t make an appealing option, so more depth is needed here to support a playoff run. (C+)

Catchers: Willson Contreras will absorb most of the PAs behind the plate this season, though Jacob Stallings makes a fine backup and will challenge him for additional reps. I’m tempted to mash these two into a single guy named Willson Stallings. Either way the Marlins will enjoy elevated power production from the position. Call it L4 power. As mentioned previously, controlling the running game will be a challenge for this team and neither catcher helps much in that regard, compounding the problem. Still, all that pop prompts a (B+).

Designated Hitter. Giancarlo Stanton returns for another year of mashing the long ball. He’s not quite full time – but figure him for 35+ homers anyway, though he doesn’t get on base the way he once did. (B+)

Infield: I’d like to introduce you to my personal favorite (and I suspect management’s as well) Jeimer Candalario, or hereinafter, Jeimer the Rhymer. Here is what the Rhymer (AI) has to say about his six compatriots who form an overcrowded infield: Caballero (the only full-time guy here) is a true hero; Strand has powerful hands; protection pick Norby is quite worthy; Grissom’s swing is a blossom; Espinal’s clutch-hitting is optimal; Perdomo’s plays leave fans in slo-mo. I wonder what it means to leave fans in slo-mo? Maybe Marlin management can help us better understand how this presents, since they have presumably seen it happen. But seriously, there is a lot happening here and management will have their hands full managing PAs. They will be challenged defensively as they are still young and developing but could well be a force in years to come. (C+) (disclaimer: Espinal may not actually be a clutch hitter, and we hereby absolve ourselves of any and all liability associated with our employment of AI to generate questionable rhymes).

Outfield: Ahh, an outfield full of J’s. We must begin with JJ Bleday who will play center everday, to the detriment of the pitching staff. His bat isn’t bad, but his defense will be a sore spot for the Marlins this year, as many of the starters (see all but Valdez) have a propensity for surrendering fly balls. If Bleday lent one of his J’s to backup Christian Pache, everyone in the outfield would have one. The manager will juggle Josh Lowe, Jake Fraley, and Johnny DeLuca between the corner spots and a bit at DH. All three can play about ¾ season but look for Fraley to see the most time as he provides the best blend of talent. There is plenty of speed here and the offense isn’t bad. And if there were ever a player whose name was apropos, it would have to be James Outman as he is indeed the odd Man Out. (C+)

Conclusion: The lineup will resemble a work of art in that it will seldom look the same for the Marlins this season as they shift players around to cover everything. At least the lineup card will be fun to write and there will be plenty of fun to be had by the color guys in the booth. Maybe my shades are too rose-colored here, but I see this team sneaking into a wild card spot somehow. Even if not, it should still be fun to play.