Marlins roster moves: 14 prospects released from Dominican Summer League

[Ely Sussman]

The Miami Marlins released the following prospects from their DSL Marlins and DSL Miami rosters on Friday: LHP Andelzon Abad, OF Khris Almonte, RHP Luis Espinoza, OF Daniel Gaitor, SS Adrian Ibarra, RHP Jeyson Mejía, C Kevin Novoa, RHP Johan Palacios, LHP Robert Puente, RHP Brandon Smith, LHP Alfonso Suriel, RHP Fraylin Suriel, RHP Hiroshi Takahashi and RHP Roosevelt Trinidad.

These are essentially corresponding moves to make room for the 18 new players who have joined the organization since the 2025 international free agency period opened on January 15. Still, it's notable that they are cutting ties with several guys who received substantial signing bonuses in recent years.

As covered in Fish On First's international free agent signings guide, Gaitor ($300k bonus), Ibarra ($190k) and Almonte ($140k) received six figures from the Fish. Each of them made their Dominican Summer League debuts in 2023 and performed worse in 2024 while repeating the level.

Listed at 6'9", Palacios was the tallest prospect in the Marlins farm system, but wasn't throwing enough strikes to earn a stateside opportunity. The top performer of the bunch was Luis Espinoza (pictured above), a reliever who posted a 2.53 ERA with a manageable walk rate across 46 ⅓ innings pitched in the DSL.

None of the newly released players ever appeared on any edition of the FOF Top 30 prospects list or received serious consideration for a spot.

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[One Regend]

That's a shame. I was lowkey rooting for Daniel Gaitor as one of very few Bahamian players. Unfortunately, this is just a stark reminder that, if you don't perform, you don't stay on the team, no matter where you come from. Especially in a sport that is as cut-throat as Baseball.