Rule 5 draft: Notable Marlins prospects likely to be left unprotected

[Ely Sussman]

I have already shared my thoughts on Rule 5 draft-eligible Miami Marlins players Joe Mack, Josh White and William Kempner. Everybody else who is eligible has been listed below, grouped by whichever minor league affiliate's roster they're currently assigned to.

It would be surprising if the Marlins devoted 40-man roster spots to protect any of them from the draft's major league phase. However, a lot of these names will be placed on the organization's Triple-A reserve list to prevent them from being poached in the minor league phase.

 

Triple-A roster

INF/OF Jacob Berry—You would be hard-pressed to identify a more inconsistent MiLB player than Jacob Berry. He perennially performs like one of his league's worst hitters during the months of April and May, only to find his form after that. There's still a shred of hope for the $6 million man offensively, but being truly positionless on defense will deter any team from seriously considering him in the Rule 5.

INF/C Bennett Hostetler—A full-time shortstop at North Dakota State, Hostetler began converting to catcher soon after the Marlins drafted him in 2021. The 28-year-old has enjoyed some impressive hot stretches with the bat as a pro, but he rode the Jumbo Shrimp bench this season, slashing .179/.325/.221 in just 36 games.

1B Nathan Martorella—Martorella's production as a member of the Marlins org is somewhat misleading. None of their other farmhands (min. 400 PA) have suffered from a lower batting average on balls in play.

RHP Zach McCambley—McCambley's 2025 campaign was the best of his professional career. He struck out 41.1% of all right-handed batters faced. The Marlins initially tried developing him as a starter, but he's been working out of the bullpen for the last three seasons.

LHP Patrick Monteverde—Having turned 28 in September, Monteverde is the oldest non-40-man player currently in the Marlins organization. He's also the only Rule 5-eligible guy with MLB experience, though that experience consists of a single mop-up appearance.

INF Cody Morissette—The Marlins were projecting much better on-base skills from Morissette when selecting him in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft. A career .291 OBP as a pro won't cut it when you only play second base and third base.

OF Andrew Pintar—Both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline described whether or not to protect Pintar as the toughest decision facing the Marlins on Tuesday. Perhaps the front office has a bias toward him because he was acquired so recently (July 2024), but between his injuries this season and the low likelihood of him becoming a serviceable hitter in the majors, I'd leave him off the 40-man without losing any sleep over it. Good glove in center field, though.

RHP Matt Pushard—A former undrafted free agent out of Maine, Pushard finished 2025 on a high note by tossing 11 ⅓ consecutive scoreless innings in September (regular season and postseason combined). When things go poorly for him on the mound, they tend to snowball, but his overall MiLB track record has been solid. With average fastball velocity for a big league righty and the ability to land his breaking balls in the strike zone, Pushard has the highest probability of being taken in the Rule 5 among all of the players on this page.

LHP Dale Stanavich—Stanavich had a golden opportunity to earn a call-up to Miami in 2025 given the club's dearth of left-handed relievers. Unfortunately, he completely lost control of his fastball.

RHP Riskiel Tineo—Tineo has only 10 career innings pitched above the Low-A level. When properly executed, his splitter is an intriguing weapon.

 

Double-A roster

RHP Jesse Bergin—Bergin lost two full seasons (2022 and 2023) due to injury. He has fared well since then—2.50 ERA in 86.1 IP—but he isn't missing nearly as many bats in Double-A as he did at lower levels.

RHP Gabe Bierman

C Spencer Bramwell

INF Yiddi Cappe—Very little has gone right for Cappe since being named Marlins Minor League Player of the Year in 2022. On the bright side, he shattered his career-high with 29 stolen bases in just 62 games in 2025. On the other hand, nearly half of his playing time came as a designated hitter and he spent the final month of the season on the injured list.

RHP Orlando Ortiz-Mayr 

C Sam Praytor

RHP Alex Williams 

 

High-A roster or below

INF Jesús Hernández

RHP Holt Jones—The 6'8" reliever may have helped his stock a bit during the Arizona Fall League. Jones and some of the other players in this section may get a look from other teams in the minor league phase of the Rule 5, but to be clear, there's zero chance that they'd make the leap straight to MLB.

INF Wilfredo Lara

UTIL Ian Lewis—The Bahamian switch-hitter couldn't compete stateside in 2024 due to visa issues. He was very effective as a part-time player in his return, slashing .278/.357/.431 in 73 games. The caveat is those numbers were inflated by beating up on kids in Low-A.

LHP Brayan Mendoza—I was bullish on Mendoza when the Marlins acquired him in the Jake Burger trade. Turning 22 in January, time is on his side, but he was strangely ineffective against same-handed hitters in the Midwest League and spent the whole season there.

RHP Natanael Polanco

RHP Juan Reynoso

RHP Franklin Sánchez—Sánchez's fastball velo was clocked as high as 99 mph this season, but he still doesn't know where it's going (22.3 BB% in 22.1 IP).

LHP Dameivi Tineo

RHP Brandon White 

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[One Regend]

I once had hope for Yiddi Cappe. He flashed so much potential in 2022 as a five-tool player. There was a chance he could add bulk to his frame, generate more power from his swing, and develop into a slugging 3rd baseman of the future. He just was never able to develop.

Considering how awful our development staff was pre-Bendix (the jury's still out on Bendix obviously, but I mean the staff before him), it makes me wonder how Cappe would've turned out in a system that had a good track record of developing young players.

Oh well. What a waste of talent.

[THOMAS JOSEPH]

I can't sweat losing anyone from that group mentioned. Every team has the same opportunity and fears. But, it's a crapshoot, like a bunch of gold panhandlers straining silt in the same river.