Top 30 prospects: updated Marlins list following 2024 trade deadline

[Fish On First Staff]

The latest update to the Fish On First Top 30 incorporates numerous trade deadline acquisitions and reflects how minor leaguers have developed through the first four months of the 2024 minor league season.

The Miami Marlins farm system is almost unrecognizable from what it looked like entering 2024, and that's a good thing. Many of the new prospects acquired in exchange for big leaguers during the final days of July not only go straight onto Fish On First's Top 30 list—they rank among the very best future building blocks that the franchise has.

Each player's previous ranking—as of July 18—is shown in parentheses ("new" means they were not part of the Marlins organization when we made the previous list). Click the hyperlink in a player's name to visit their prospect profile.

 

FOF Top 30 as of August 5, 2024

1. LHP Thomas White
2. INF/OF Connor Norby (new)
3. RHP Noble Meyer (previously #2)
4. 1B/C Agustín Ramírez (new)
5. 1B Deyvison De Los Santos (new)
6. INF Carter Johnson (#5)
7. INF Jared Serna (new)
8. LHP Robby Snelling (new)
9. RHP Adam Mazur (new)
10. OF Victor Mesa Jr. (#4)
11. OF Dillon Head (#6)
12. OF Andrés Valor (#7)
13. OF PJ Morlando (#8)
14. C Joe Mack (#9)
15. LHP Dax Fulton (#10)
16. INF/OF Javier Sanoja (#11)
17. OF Luis Cova (#12)
18. RHP Karson Milbrandt (#13)
19. RHP Juan De La Cruz (#17)
20. OF Jakob Marsee (#14)
21. OF Andrew Pintar (new)
22. RHP Aiden May (#15)
23. RHP Jacob Miller (#16)
24. RHP Eliazar Dishmey (#18)
25. INF Graham Pauley (new)
26. RHP Jun-Seok Shim (new)
27. RHP Grant Shepardson (#22)
28. C Ryan Ignoffo (#27)
29. RHP Josh Ekness (#23)
30. OF Kemp Alderman (unranked)

Removed since the previous update: RHP Max Meyer (previously #3) graduated; 1B Nathan Martorella, 1B Troy Johnston, C Will Banfield, OF Griffin Conine, INF Gage Miller, DH Jacob Berry, LHP Emmett Olson, INF Yiddi Cappe and RHP Nigel Belgrave no longer ranked.

Honorable mentions: Belgrave, Conine, Miller, LHP Keyner Benitez, 1B Julio Henriquez

 

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The FOF Top 30 will be updated again at the end of the 2024 MLB regular season.

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[Slacker Mills]

I tend to favor Fangraphs as top talent evaluator. They see Norby as only a 40 F/V player.

 

[Chad Turner]

Great list.  After seeing clips of Shim pitch, I think I was low on him.  I also think you were right to remove Cappe.  As for Norby, I hope you're right! I think 23 errors in his last 134 games at 2B is a bit much, but the bat looks great (although his K rate has increased at age 24).  Hopefully he's Dan Uggla and not Isan Diaz.  

I am very disappointed with the FG list.  They have Yohanfer Santana 7 and Martorella 8.  Come on.  Norby (18?) is much better than them.  I also think Valor (30?) is going to be better than Cova (14). BA has this wrong too.  

I am most pumped about DLS.  His numbers since last July are insane and he just turned 21.  I don't care about his shortcomings.  I was tempted to put him #1.  This is more than a hot streak.  This is real.  He's giving me Stanton/Ozuna tingly vibes. I'm glad you put him top 5.  FG has him at 13.  Boo! 

I'm nervous about Agustin Ramirez.  He's a career .265 guy and batting .263 this year.  I know he has power, but he looks stiff to me.  I also don't see him sticking at C or 1B, so he's a RF/DH guy to me.  I see Avi Garcia when I watch him.  

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

Many of us rely on FOF for prospect information - thank you for all the hard work. 

[Ely Sussman]

On 8/5/2024 at 7:10 AM, Slacker Mills said:

I tend to favor Fangraphs as top talent evaluator. They see Norby as only a 40 F/V player.

 

Reading the latest FanGraphs report on him, our main disagreement is on his defense. He can be a positive at both infield and corner outfield spots, whereas they have him as a liability. His actions and tools reminds me quite a bit of old friend Brian Anderson, who was a solid 50 FV prior to his shoulder injury.

[Ely Sussman]

On 8/5/2024 at 10:01 AM, Chad Turner said:

I am most pumped about DLS.  His numbers since last July are insane and he just turned 21.  I don't care about his shortcomings.  I was tempted to put him #1.  This is more than a hot streak.  This is real.  He's giving me Stanton/Ozuna tingly vibes. I'm glad you put him top 5.  FG has him at 13.  Boo! 

I'm nervous about Agustin Ramirez.  He's a career .265 guy and batting .263 this year.  I know he has power, but he looks stiff to me.  I also don't see him sticking at C or 1B, so he's a RF/DH guy to me.  I see Avi Garcia when I watch him.  

I see where you're coming from on both of these guys.

With DLS, the issue will be adjusting to the quality of MLB stuff. Even hundreds of PAs at Triple-A can't prepare you for it. When chasing outside the zone vs. MLB pitchers, it's so much harder to make quality contact. He must get more selective at the plate.

Strongly considered putting DLS ahead of Ramirez for the reasons you point out.

[Russell]

So we all knew Berry didn’t really have a position, and now you’re telling me the bat won’t transition either? Looking like a great no.6 overall pick. Fabulous.

[Slacker Mills]

The especially tough thing to handle with the Berry pick was that Brooks Lee was still sitting there, waiting to get plucked. In addition to matching Berry's hitting performance in the draft year, Lee played good defense at shortstop and had good speed. He also would have been the Marlins top prospect coming into the 2024 season.

[Chad Turner]

9 hours ago, Russell said:

So we all knew Berry didn’t really have a position, and now you’re telling me the bat won’t transition either? Looking like a great no.6 overall pick. Fabulous.

As Ely pointed out, he was battling injuries earlier in the season, which led to an atrocious April/May.  Berry has been much better the last 2 months - hitting close to .300.  But he still has a lot to prove.  

[Chad Turner]

3 hours ago, Slacker Mills said:

The especially tough thing to handle with the Berry pick was that Brooks Lee was still sitting there, waiting to get plucked. In addition to matching Berry's hitting performance in the draft year, Lee played good defense at shortstop and had good speed. He also would have been the Marlins top prospect coming into the 2024 season.

I wanted Brooks Lee also, especially when I watched the two defensively.  I think we have fixed the problem.  Everyone is happy with this draft. I feel we got a younger Berry and a version of Lee in this last draft, but 10 picks later and on a budget.  That enabled us to nail the rest of the draft too.  I think we go 10 of the top 200 ranked picks that signed. 

[Ely Sussman]

13 hours ago, Russell said:

So we all knew Berry didn’t really have a position, and now you’re telling me the bat won’t transition either? Looking like a great no.6 overall pick. Fabulous.

The Berry-led 2022 draft class is trending toward being the least productive in Marlins history. It's possible to overcome a botched first-round pick, but barring an unexpected player development breakthrough, very little to get excited about regarding that particular class.

[Slacker Mills]

The especially tough thing to handle with the Berry pick was that Brooks Lee was still sitting there, waiting to get plucked. In addition to matching Berry's hitting performance in the draft year, Lee played good defense at shortstop and had good speed. He also would have been the Marlins top prospect coming into the 2024 season.

[Slacker Mills]

Interesting debate on Serna vs Sanoja, multi-positional munchkins at 5-7.

Not sure how Serna, I think a year older than Sanoja and a level behind (AA vs AAA) with very similar career stats, can be rated higher than Sanoja.

Honestly, I like them both and wish they were in the lineup for the Marlins right now. How about Serda at SS, Edwards at 2B, and Sanoja in CF?

[Slacker Mills]

Noble Meyer has turned into a mess. Not liking that in the least, especially when Marlins passed on such a good catching prospect as Teel to draft a high risk high schooler.

[Slacker Mills]

And our other pitching Meyer, Max, is looking very questionable too.

[Ely Sussman]

8 minutes ago, Slacker Mills said:

Interesting debate on Serna vs Sanoja, multi-positional munchkins at 5-7.

Not sure how Serna, I think a year older than Sanoja and a level behind (AA vs AAA) with very similar career stats, can be rated higher than Sanoja.

Serna generates so much more power than Sanoja does despite their physical similarities. His ceiling as a player is far higher. Still waiting on Sanoja to more efficiently translate his speed into valuable baserunning. That would partially close the gap between them.