Marlins designate top shortstop prospect Jacob Amaya for assignment

[Ely Sussman]

Amaya has been squeezed off Miami's 40-man roster to make room for new infielder Emmanuel Rivera. Is his value really that low?

In a depleted Miami Marlins farm system, Jacob Amaya stood out for his solid shortstop defense and well-rounded plate approach...and the Marlins could potentially lose him for nothing? They surprisingly designated Amaya for assignment on Tuesday as the corresponding 40-man roster move for Emmanuel Rivera, who has been acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Quite frankly, I don't get it.

Fish On First was higher than most outlets on Amaya entering the 2024 season, ranking him as our No. 7 Marlins prospect. Not by much, though: MLB Pipeline ranked him ninth and Baseball America ranked him 11th. Conceding that Yiddi Cappe is destined to move off of shortstop, Amaya was seemingly the top internal option that the Marlins had at the position.

In 2023, his first season in the Marlins organization, Amaya played 128 games for Triple-A Jacksonville, slashing .252/.345/.407 (89 wRC+) with 15 home runs and six stolen bases. That included 117 starts at shortstop.

Amaya earned his first MLB call-up in June, though stuck around for only four games. The Marlins entrusted the shortstop position to veterans instead (Joey Wendle, Jon Berti and Garrett Hampson). After being optioned, he OPS'd just .700, which translates to a mediocre 81 wRC+ in the offensively charged International League.

Fast-forward to this spring, Amaya did not get substantial reps in Grapefruit League play and was optioned back to Jacksonville two weeks in advance of Opening Day. When the Marlins traded Berti on March 27, Jonah Bride was recalled to take his spot over Amaya.

Amaya has his warts, including below-average athleticism which hinders his batted ball quality and baserunning value. In the minors, his production has been underwhelming against right-handed pitching. It was difficult to envision him as a true everyday starter in the majors. Even so, Baseball Trade Values estimated that he had $6.7M in median surplus value, far above what we typically see for a DFA'd player (and far above several other Marlins 40-man players). Clearly, the Marlins did not value him as highly internally.

Current Marlins shortstop Tim Anderson is only signed through this season and it's still premature to say that he'll rebound from his abysmal 2023 campaign. Berti has been dealt and slick-fielding Nasim Nuñez, who wasn't protected from the Rule 5 Draft, remains with the Washington Nationals. What is the team's plan moving forward to address this crucial position? Why the rush to DFA Amaya at this early stage of the season?

In the short term, Tristan Gray and José Devers should get most of the shortstop reps for the Jumbo Shrimp.

I'll wait to see where Amaya lands and what the Marlins get in return for him before rushing the judgement, but this looks on the surface like an unforced sell-low situation.

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[Chad Turner]

How is Otto Lopez better than Amaya?  SMH

[Ely Sussman]

4 hours ago, Chad Turner said:

How is Otto Lopez better than Amaya?  SMH

Better get SOMETHING in return for Amaya, otherwise I don't get it.

[Chad Turner]

Well, we got some $$$ and Bellozo.  What a crap return for a top 10 prospect.  I know he wasn't hitting well enough to make the show yet, but crushed 13 more HRs than Lopez last year.  I actually thought Amaya was a little overrated with all the Ks, but never thought we would just dump him and replace with a lesser player.  I'm trying not to overreact to this season yet, but early returns for Bendix are crap.  Brujan and Bethancourt are 0-for-20.  Bride and Gordon sub .150.  Emmanuel, Smith, and Gutierrez over 6.50 ERAs.  I was hoping he would find some diamonds in the rough.  We just picked up the Rays trash.  Bring back Ng?

[Ely Sussman]

2 hours ago, Chad Turner said:

Well, we got some $$$ and Bellozo.  What a crap return for a top 10 prospect.  I know he wasn't hitting well enough to make the show yet, but crushed 13 more HRs than Lopez last year.  I actually thought Amaya was a little overrated with all the Ks, but never thought we would just dump him and replace with a lesser player.  I'm trying not to overreact to this season yet, but early returns for Bendix are crap.  Brujan and Bethancourt are 0-for-20.  Bride and Gordon sub .150.  Emmanuel, Smith, and Gutierrez over 6.50 ERAs.  I was hoping he would find some diamonds in the rough.  We just picked up the Rays trash.  Bring back Ng?

At least the "trashy" Tristan Gray is putting on a fireworks show in AAA this week.

[Slacker Mills]

I think you put Gray at SS or 3rd base, bat him ninth, and absorb his 180 whiffs and 30 homers.  Catchers around MLB had over 30 hits on Sunday ... Marlin catchers have no hits on the season!

 

[Chad Turner]

On 4/6/2024 at 10:51 PM, Ely Sussman said:

At least the "trashy" Tristan Gray is putting on a fireworks show in AAA this week.

Gray is the exception right now, but I never put faith into one week of AAA numbers for a 28 yr old prospect. He does look like a specimen, but batted .182 in the spring and batted .235 in his 3rd AAA season last year.  The list of 28 yr old hitting prospects making a substantial impact in the majors is a very short list.  I do recall you were the only professional writer in the world to include him on a top 30 list (#30), so props to you.