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Brantly played 98 MLB games with Miami from 2012-2013. He has played only 40 total games in the majors since then, but teams continue to value him as organizational depth. Shams Charania did not get hacked when breaking the Luka Dončić trade news and neither did MLB.com's Christina De Nicola when reporting Tuesday night that the Miami Marlins have signed journeyman catcher Rob Brantly to a minor league deal that includes an invitation to spring training. Difficult as it is to believe, yes, Brantly is still an active player all these years later. Brantly was previously in the Marlins org for two-and-a-half years, acquired from the Detroit Tigers in a 2012 midsummer trade along with Brian Flynn and Jacob Turner in exchange for Omar Infante and Aníbal Sánchez. He debuted in the majors shortly after being acquired, split time behind the plate with Jeff Mathis in 2013 and was claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox during the 2014-15 offseason. Somebody who caught the likes of Heath Bell, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, Tom Koehler and Ricky Nolasco could potentially become a member of the 2025 Marlins. The 2012-2013 Fish remain the only team that's ever given Brantly a long leash to prove himself in The Show. What a fascinating career snapshot this is (courtesy of Baseball-Reference). He has played MLB games in seven of the last 11 seasons, but never more than 14 games in any given year. There have been three separate seasons in which he's made exactly one appearance. Brantly is the 65th player who's been invited to Marlins big league camp. At age 35, he's nearly five years older than fellow NRI Albert Almora Jr., the next-oldest player in camp. Brantly joins Nick Fortes as the only catchers in camp with major league experience—you could argue that is worth something. Barring injuries to Fortes and Rule 5 Draft pick Liam Hicks, he won't be in consideration for an Opening Day roster spot. The purpose of this signing seems to be simply finding a non-40-man substitute for Jhonny Pereda after Pereda was claimed off waivers last week. Lots of bullpen sessions need to be caught in Jupiter over the next two months! If Brantly remains with the Marlins at the conclusion of camp, expect him to be assigned to Triple-A Jacksonville and catch once or twice a week. View full article

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. View full rumor

Today's news roundup also includes the oldest player on the Marlins roster celebrating a milestone birthday. The Marlins overhauled their major league coaching staff heading into this season and there have been substantial changes made throughout the minor leagues as well, Fish On First farm director Alex Carver reports. The Triple-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp will have a new manager, hitting coach and pitching coach with the departures of Daren Brown, Greg Colbrunn and Jeremy Powell from those respective roles. Kevin "Smoke" Randel had been the longest-tenured manager with a Marlins MiLB affiliate, but instead of returning to Double-A Pensacola, he has taken a different role within the organization. At lower levels, Nick Weisheipl (Low-A Jupiter) and Gianni Bloom (Dominican Summer League) have announced themselves that they'll be managing affiliates for the first time. Marlins Opening Day is 52 days away. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 Happy birthday to Anthony Bender. The right-handed reliever is turning 30 years old, which makes him the only 30-something player on the Marlins 40-man roster. Signed to a minor league deal four years ago, Bender has made 141 appearances for Miami, posting a 3.37 ERA, 3.31 FIP and .229 BAA in 133 ⅔ innings pitched. He is highly likely to be part of the Opening Day bullpen. 🔷 Baseball Prospectus' PECOTA has unveiled its 2025 season projections. The median projection for the Marlins is a 62-100 record, identical to last season. They're projected to score the fewest runs in the majors (616). 🔷 Our Marlins Jeopardy trivia competition returns on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. ET! I'm the quizmaster for this one. The questions will focus entirely on the past seven seasons of Marlins baseball (since 2018). If you have trivia from that time period, submit it here for a chance to be featured in our audience questions category. 🔷 Congratulations to Jeremiah Geiger on being named the new host of the Locked On Marlins podcast. He'll be uploading pod episodes every weekday moving forward, beginning today. 🔷 Marlins FanFest week is here. Fish On First will publish a guide to the event as Saturday draws closer. A family of Pensacola Blue Wahoos fans won a free trip to Miami for it after building a Blue Wahoos snowman. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, Jack Flaherty is returning to the Tigers (2 YRS/$35M), whom he signed with last offseason. He'll be able to opt out after the 2025 season. Although it's a nice raise for Flaherty, it was widely expected that he'd get a longer deal as a 29-year-old coming off a very productive 2024 campaign. Former MLB commissioner Fay Vincent passed away at the age of 86. Vincent held the position from 1989-1992 and oversaw the birth of the Florida Marlins as an expansion franchise. Marlins podcast episodes View full article

I'm passing along John Rodriguez's extensive research on the best players in Marlins franchise history based on their state and country of origin. The players represent 45 different U.S. states and 24 countries/territories. The graphics are color-coded by era—teal for players whose peak Marlins seasons were prior to 2012, orange for 2012-2018 and Miami Blue for 2019 or later. Best Marlins players by U.S. state Alabama - Juan Pierre Alaska - Chad Bentz Arizona - Brian Banks Arkansas - A.J. Burnett California - Giancarlo Stanton Colorado - Jordan Holloway Connecticut - Carl Pavano Delaware - Joey Wendle Florida - Charles Johnson Georgia - Kevin Brown Hawaii - Charlie Hough Indiana - Craig Counsell Iowa - Derek Hill Kansas - Brad Ziegler Kentucky - Dan Uggla Louisiana - Pat Rapp Maine - N/A Maryland - Chris Coghlan Massachusetts - Steve Cishek Michigan - Jon Berti Minnesota - Josh Johnson Mississippi - Corey Dickerson Nebraska - Pat Venditte Nevada - Brandon Kintzler New Hampshire - Jeff Locke New Jersey - Al Leiter New Mexico - Cody Ross New York - Tom Koehler North Carolina - Cameron Maybin North Dakota - Rick Helling Ohio - Tanner Scott Oklahoma - J.T. Realmuto Oregon - Cole Gillespie Rhode Island - N/A South Carolina - Preston Wilson South Dakota - N/A Tennessee - Bryan Harvey Texas - Josh Beckett Utah - Payton Henry Vermont - N/A Virginia - Mat Latos Washington - Jeff Conine West Virginia - N/A Wisconsin - Jonah Bride Best Marlins players by country/U.S. territory Australia - Mark Hutton Brazil - Andre Rienzo Bahamas - Jazz Chisholm Jr. Canada - Ryan Dempster Colombia - Edgar Rentería Cuba - José Fernández Curacao - Ralph Milliard Dominican Republic - Hanley Ramírez Germany - Jeff Baker Hong Kong - Austin Brice Jamaica - Devon White Japan - Ichiro Suzuki Mexico - Alfredo Amézaga Netherlands - Rick van den Hurk Nicaragua - Oswaldo Mairena Panama - Carlos Lee Peru - Jesús Luzardo Puerto Rico - Mike Lowell South Korea - Hee-Seop Choi Taiwan - Wei-Yin Chen US Virgin Islands - Jerry Browne

In an interview with MLB Network's Hot Stove, Marlins legend Jeff Conine and current Marlins outfielder Griffin Conine discuss Griffin's 2024 MLB debut, new uniform number for the 2025 season and more. View full video

"Old Fish meet New Fish." Griffin Conine will wear uniform No. 18 in 2025 while Ryan Weathers will wear No. 35. Eight players returning from the 2024 Miami Marlins have selected new uniform numbers entering 2025, the team announced on Wednesday. In the cases of Griffin Conine and Ryan Weathers, there is a nostalgic twist: they'll be donning numbers that previously belonged to their fathers. It's important to be specific about this because Jeff Conine and David Weathers each had two separate stints with the Marlins and wore different numbers during those stints. The elder Conine aka "Mr. Marlin" was No. 19 as a member of the inaugural Florida Marlins in 1993 and kept it through the 1997 World Series. When Conine was traded back to Florida in August 2003, the number belonged to Mike Lowell, so he switched to No. 18. Although Jeff was a more productive player during his No. 19 era, Griffin is only old enough to remember his No. 18 era—I'm going to assume that influenced this decision. The Marlins gave David Weathers his first extended opportunity to establish himself in the big leagues from 1993-1996, logging 342 ⅓ innings. He wore No. 35 throughout that period. He eventually made his way back to the Fish in 2004 as No. 25, but only for the final few weeks of that season (16.2 IP). Ryan is understandably honoring the longer stint even though it took place before he was born. Last season, Weathers had No. 60 and Conine had No. 56. Health permitting, Weathers is a lock to be in the Marlins starting rotation. He posted a 3.63 ERA, 4.11 FIP and .234 BAA in 86 ⅔ innings pitched during a campaign that was interrupted by a fluky finger injury. At age 27, Conine finally got his first taste of the majors late in the season and made a strong impression (.268/.325/.451, 114 wRC+ and 0.4 fWAR in 30 G). There's a lot of uncertainty about how the Marlins will align their 2025 outfield, but I project him to make the cut on Opening Day as part of a right field platoon. More uniform number notes: The Xavier Edwards switch to No. 9 was a long time coming. "That's my favorite number, my mom's favorite number and the number I've worn my whole baseball career," he told Fish Unfiltered in August. Edwards just had to wait for the previous number wearer, Josh Bell, to be traded. Jesús Sánchez used to be No. 7 in 2022 and 2023. He only became No. 12 during spring training last year to appease free agent signing Tim Anderson. Javier Sanoja's old No. 86 went to first-year manager Clayton McCullough (more coaching staff numbers here). A complete list of 2025 player uniform numbers, including offseason acquisitions and spring training non-roster invitees, will be available in two weeks. View full article

The vast majority of players who suited up for the 2024 Fish are no longer with the organization. Even the most obsessive Miami Marlins fans would have a hard time remembering everybody who suited up for the team last season. After all, they set a major league record for player usage. Many of those individuals have since been traded, waived or released, but with few exceptions, their playing careers will continue into 2025. The Marlins used 70 different players in regular season games a year ago. Only 25 are still with the organization: Lake Bachar, Valente Bellozo, Anthony Bender, Jonah Bride, Edward Cabrera, Griffin Conine, Declan Cronin, Xzavion Curry, Xavier Edwards, Calvin Faucher, Nick Fortes, Braxton Garrett, Derek Hill, Otto Lopez, Max Meyer, Dane Myers, Andrew Nardi, Connor Norby, Jesús Sánchez, Javier Sanoja, George Soriano, Kyle Stowers, Jesús Tinoco, Anthony Veneziano and Ryan Weathers. What about everybody else? With MLB Opening Day only a month away, I have tracked their whereabouts below. Found new homes The following ex-Marlins have secured contracts for the 2025 season with new professional teams (parentheses denote a foreign pro league): Shaun Anderson—Los Angeles Angels Tim Anderson—Los Angeles Angels Luis Arraez—San Diego Padres Mike Baumann—Yakult Swallows (NPB) Josh Bell—Washington Nationals Jonathan Bermúdez—Rakuten Monkeys (CPBL) Christian Bethancourt—Toronto Blue Jays Huascar Brazoban—New York Mets Vidal Bruján—Chicago Cubs Jake Burger—Texas Rangers JT Chargois—Texas Rangers Yonny Chirinos—LG Twins (KBO) Jazz Chisholm Jr.—New York Yankees Brett de Geus—Pittsburgh Pirates Bryan De La Cruz—Atlanta Braves José Devers—Atlanta Braves Nick Gordon—Baltimore Orioles Tristan Gray—Chicago White Sox David Hensley—Detroit Tigers Bryan Hoeing—San Diego Padres Austin Kitchen—Seattle Mariners Jesús Luzardo—Philadelphia Phillies Anthony Maldonado—Athletics Darren McCaughan—Minnesota Twins John McMillon—Philadelphia Phillies Roddery Muñoz—St. Louis Cardinals Adam Oller—KIA Tigers (KBO) Cristian Pache—Arizona Diamondbacks Jhonny Pereda—Athletics Michael Petersen—Los Angeles Angels A.J. Puk—Arizona Diamondbacks Emmanuel Ramírez—Seibu Lions (NPB) Emmanuel Rivera—Baltimore Orioles Trevor Rogers—Baltimore Orioles Ali Sánchez—Toronto Blue Jays Sixto Sánchez—Rieleros de Aguascalientes (MEX) Tanner Scott—Los Angeles Dodgers Burch Smith—Pittsburgh Pirates Kyle Tyler—Philadelphia Phillies Forrest Wall—San Diego Padres Still searching That leaves five other players with unresolved job searches: Matt Andriese, Kent Emanuel, Avisaíl García, Vladimir Gutierrez and Eli Villalobos. View full article

The Miami Marlins added a bit of pitching depth on Tuesday by claiming right-hander Connor Gillispie off waivers from the Atlanta Braves. Catcher Jhonny Pereda was designated for assignment in a corresponding move. Gillispie, 27, was developed by the Baltimore Orioles from 2019 through 2023 before being selected by the Cleveland Guardians in last winter's Rule 5 Draft. He spent most of the 2024 campaign in Triple-A (4.05 ERA, 5.42 FIP and .218 BAA in 113.1 IP), but got to make three MLB relief appearances in August. Odd decision by the Braves to sign him to a non-guaranteed deal in November—which included a 40-man roster spot—only to DFA him before spring training even arrived. Gillispie's fastball averages about 92 mph. He posted one of the highest pop-up rates in the International League last season and has maintained a very low batting average on balls in play throughout his professional career (lifetime .253 BABIP in the minors). I doubt that Pereda is going anywhere. He hit very well with Triple-A Jacksonville during his age-28 season (.297/.405/.424 slash line and 125 wRC+ in 195 PA), but that did not translate at all to the majors (.231/.250/.241 and 33 wRC+ in 40 PA). He frankly was one of the weakest links on Miami's 40-man roster. Upon clearing waivers, expect the Marlins to bring him to spring training as a non-roster invitee. He could wind up in Jacksonville again this season, receiving sporadic playing time behind catching prospects Agustín Ramírez and Joe Mack. View full rumor

I would give Robinson Piña the best chance of making the roster. He could contribute in any role. Threw the most innings of them all last season, so there won't be any caution about managing his workload. Also had extremely good numbers against righty batters and could specialize as a reliever who mainly matches up with them.

Even more so than usual, this Marlins camp will be filled with young faces and roster battles. We'll keep you updated here. Things are really coming into focus now. Following several rounds of cuts, the Miami Marlins are just a few days away from setting their 26-man active roster for Opening Day. Fish On First has been covering every step of that process. The club's Grapefruit League schedule runs from February 22 through March 23, plus there will be an exhibition against the New York Yankees at loanDepot park on March 25. This page will be updated throughout spring training as players are acquired, optioned, reassigned, released or suffer injuries. February 10: C Rob Brantly and RHP Janson Junk signed to minor league deals February 11: RHP Ronny Henriquez claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Twins; RHP Xzavion Curry designated for assignment February 12: RHP Cal Quantrill signed; LHP Braxton Garrett placed on the 60-day IL (left elbow UCL surgery) February 14: RHP Xzavion Curry cleared waivers, outrighted to Triple-A Jacksonville and invited to big league camp February 20: RHP Seth Martinez claimed off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks; RHP Eury Pérez placed on the 60-day IL (Tommy John surgery) February 27: RHP Brett de Geus claimed off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates; RHP Seth Martinez designated for assignment March 2: RHP Seth Martinez claimed off waivers by the Seattle Mariners March 3: OF Victor Mesa Jr. optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville; RHP Woo-Suk Go, C Ryan Ignoffo, LHP Justin King, OF Jakob Marsee and RHP Freddy Tarnok reassigned to minor league camp March 8: INF Max Acosta, RHP Luarbert Arias, 1B Deyvison De Los Santos and RHP Adam Mazur optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville; LHP Dax Fulton and INF Jared Serna optioned to Double-A Pensacola; OF/INF Jacob Berry, 1B Nathan Martorella, OF Andrew Pintar, RHP Matt Pushard, RHP Christian Roa, LHP Robby Snelling and LHP Dale Stanavich reassigned to minor league camp March 9: RHP Robinson Piña reassigned to minor league camp March 10: RHP Xzavion Curry reassigned to minor league camp March 11: 1B/OF Troy Johnston, C Bennett Hostetler, C Joe Mack and LHP Patrick Monteverde reassigned to minor league camp March 14: RHP Valente Bellozo and RHP Brett de Geus optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville; RHP Josh Ekness reassigned to minor league camp March 15: RHP Seth Martinez claimed off waivers from the Seattle Mariners; LHP Andrew Nardi placed on the 60-day IL (low back inflammation) March 16: C Agustín Ramírez and INF Graham Pauley optioned to Triple-A Jacksonville; LHP John Rooney and RHP Austin Roberts reassigned to minor league camp March 18: OF Heriberto Hernández and UTIL Ronny Simon reassigned to minor league camp March 22: RHP Janson Junk reassigned to minor league camp View full article

Today's news roundup also includes lengthy interviews with Dane Myers and PJ Morlando. Happy NRI Day. In a matter of hours, the Marlins are expected to announce the full list of non-roster invitees participating in major league spring training, but we know a lot of the names already as detailed by Alex Carver here, including Fish On Fist Top 30 prospects LHP Robby Snelling and C Joe Mack as well as RHP Josh Ekness (FOF Top 30 honorable mention). I used 1B Troy Johnston as the subject of the article photo because this will be his third consecutive year as an NRI. Marlins Opening Day is 59 days away. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 Speaking of Johnston, he was part of a 13-inning Tigres del Licey victory on Sunday which forced a winner-take-all Game 7 against Leones del Escogido tonight to decide the Dominican Winter League championship. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET on MLB.TV. 🔷 Baseball America, MLB Pipeline and The Athletic released their initial Top 100 prospects lists for the 2025 season. All three lists featured LHP Thomas White (#33 on BA, #41 on Pipeline, #57 on The Athletic) and SS Starlyn Caba (#71 on BA, #72 on The Athletic, #81 on Pipeline). RHP Noble Meyer was ranked 85th by Pipeline and 93rd by The Athletic. Joe Mack was ranked 99th by The Athletic. Also, Robby Snelling, C Agustín Ramírez, OF Andrés Valor and OF PJ Morlando each received consideration from individual BA staffers, though none of them were particularly close to cracking the Top 100. 🔷 Morlando told the Diamond Prospects podcast (interview embedded below) that he bulked up to 220 pounds this offseason. He was listed at 198 pounds when signed by the Marlins only six months ago. In the immediate aftermath of drafting him, amateur scouting director Frankie Piliere raved about Morlando's surprising speed and even left the door open for him to play center field in the pros. I'll be curious to see whether that's still applicable at 220 pounds, or if Morlando is consciously sacrificing in that area to maximize his power-hitting potential. 🔷 I created a Fish On First Sporcle account! Planning on adding a new Marlins-related quiz each week and embedding it within Offishial News. This week's quiz covers the free agents signed during Kim Ng's tenure as general manager. 🔷 Elsewhere around baseball, the Astros reached an agreement to send Ryan Pressly and cash to the Cubs. Pressly has agreed to waive his no-trade clause. Marlins podcast episodes View full article

Today's news roundup also includes a preview of the Marlins' final preseason exhibition game. The vast majority of Miami Marlins fans would've handled him differently, but struggling outfielder Kyle Stowers will be part of the club's Opening Day roster, Isaac Azout has learned. Stowers recorded zero extra-base hits in 49 spring training plate appearances and frankly looked lost at the plate. He drew 12 walks, but struck out 17 times despite frequently having the platoon advantage. This, of course, comes on the heels of Stowers flopping in his first 50 regular season games with the Fish (.186/.262/.295 slash line and -0.8 fWAR). He has one minor league option remaining. The Fish On First staff is trying to confirm who'll be taking the place of Connor Norby (left oblique) on the roster, but it won't be Albert Almora Jr. or Rob Brantly, the last two position player NRIs who had still been hanging around big league camp. Fish on the Farm's Alex Carver reported numerous prospect assignments on Monday night. Most notably, the Marlins are concentrating a lot of their top pitching talent in Double-A Pensacola. The Blue Wahoos rotation will include Thomas White, Robby Snelling, Adam Mazur and Dax Fulton, all of whom rank among the top 15 FOF prospects. Josh Ekness will be in Pensacola's bullpen. Outfielders Victor Mesa Jr., Jakob Marsee and Andrew Pintar are going to Triple-A Jacksonville, though Mesa is starting the season on the injured list. High-A Beloit will have Noble Meyer, Karson Milbrandt, Ryan Ignoffo and Emmett Olson. Coming off hip surgery, Dillon Head is repeating Low-A. Marlins Opening Day is two days away. More Marlins news and content below: 🔷 I must've missed it in the transactions log a couple weeks ago, but the Marlins signed RHP Lane Ramsey to a minor league deal. Ramsey made 21 appearances (all in relief) for the 2023 Chicago White Sox, posting a 5.85 ERA, 3.46 FIP and .313 BAA in 20 innings pitched. He began the 2024 season at Triple-A and underwent season-ending surgery in June. Ramsey is mainly a two-pitch guy with a mid-90s fastball and high-80s slider. The 28-year-old has been assigned to Pensacola. 3jnovg.mp4 🔷 Alex Carver makes the case for Hanley Ramírez, Josh Johnson, José Fernández, Gary Sheffield and Wayne Huizenga to be inducted into the Marlins Legends Hall of Fame in 2026. 🔷 Baseball Savant now has public batter positioning data, tracking where MLB players set up in the batter's box and how they move during their swings. Here is a leaderboard of last season's Marlins batters. Among all Marlins, Xavier Edwards stood closest to the pitcher, while Luis Arraez stood as far away from the pitcher as possible. 🔷 In an effort to become more impactful as a baserunner, Kemp Alderman tells Baseball America's Walter Villa that he has slimmed down to 235 pounds (he was previously listed at 250). 🔷 Daniel De Vivo made his own ranking of top Marlins prospects, including Alderman in the 24th spot. 🔷 Today's exhibition game: the Marlins (probable starter RHP Max Meyer) host the New York Yankees (RHP Will Warren) at loanDepot park. It's the 30th and final preseason exhibition game for the Marlins this spring (and the only one taking place in Miami). Yankees big leaguers participating include Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt and Anthony Volpe. First pitch at 1:10 p.m. Coverage on the Marlins Radio Network. View full article

There will be dozens of new faces in Jupiter who weren't even with the Marlins organization at this time a year ago. This week, select Miami Marlins minor leaguers received invitations to participate in major league spring training, which officially begins for pitchers and catchers on February 12 in Jupiter, Florida. Fish On First's Alex Carver has confirmed most of those names in advance of the team's announcement. As a refresher, the Marlins made minor league free agent signings earlier this offseason to bolster the organization's depth. OF Heriberto Hernández (previously with the Tampa Bay Rays), RHP Robinson Piña (Phillies), LHP John Rooney (Dodgers), UTIL Ronny Simon (Rays) and RHP Freddy Tarnok (Phillies) will all be in camp. That still leaves ample room for prospects who were already in Miami's farm system. Per sources, catchers Joe Mack and Ryan Ignoffo are NRIs for the first time in their professional careers. Both are coming off excellent statistical seasons in 2024, garnering team MVP honors for Double-A Pensacola and Low-A Jupiter, respectively. Mack, who slashed .252/.338/.468 and led Marlins minor leaguers with 24 home runs and 33 runners caught stealing, is ranked 11th on our Fish On First Top 30 list. Although Ignoffo doesn't have any pro experience above the High-A level yet, he's already 24 years old and has raked everywhere he's been—his 133 wRC+ since 2023 is second-best among Marlins minor leaguers (min. 500 PA). LHP Dale Stanavich is another first-time NRI, Kyle Adams of The Daily Gazette reports. Stanavich was quietly one of MiLB's most dominant relievers during the second half of last season, allowing only two earned runs (0.64 ERA) from July onward. He struck out 40.7% of the left-handed batters he faced overall. His fastball tops out at 98 mph. Released by the Milwaukee Brewers last summer, LHP Justin King also posted gaudy strikeout numbers after signing with the Fish. His Arizona Fall League stint was shortened due to injury. The 27-year-old reliever has a 4.74 ERA across 76 career minor league innings. Just drafted by the Marlins in 2023, RHP Josh Ekness is being invited to camp as well, per sources. He ascended from Low-A to Double-A last season, posting a 1.91 ERA, 3.12 FIP and .164 BAA along the way. Like Stanavich and King, Ekness is being developed exclusively for a bullpen role. LHP Robby Snelling was in big league camp with the San Diego Padres in 2024. This time around, he's much closer to becoming a big leaguer himself. Considered a consensus Top 100 MLB prospect a year ago, Snelling was slumping prior to the trade deadline, but steadied himself upon joining the Marlins org (3.64 ERA, 2.92 FIP, .224 BAA in 42.0 IP). The 21-year-old is No. 6 on our FOF Top 30. Three unranked prospects with previous NRI experience, OF Jacob Berry, 1B Troy Johnston and LHP Patrick Monteverde, have been invited again, per sources. A former first-round draft pick, Berry has transitioned to right field and showed promising bat-to-ball skills during a late-season opportunity at Triple-A. Johnston and Monteverde were the Marlins' 2023 Minor League Player of the Year and Minor League Pitcher of the Year, respectively. These NRIs will compete against Miami's 40-man roster members for Opening Day jobs. Keep in mind that Eury Pérez (Tommy John surgery) and Braxton Garrett (UCL revision surgery) are still recovering from surgeries. They can be placed on the 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man for deserving NRIs. The Marlins are expected to announce their full list of NRIs on Monday. View full article

Woo-Suk Go flunked his first season in the United States, but with the Marlins on the hook for his 2025 salary, they've invited him to spring training hoping to extract some kind of value out of him. Just four months after inking South Korean right-hander Woo-Suk Go to a two-year, $4.5 million deal, the San Diego Padres were ready to cut their losses. Go was part of the package that the Miami Marlins received in exchange for Luis Arraez last May, but he wasn't an asset in the trade—the Marlins took on the remainder of his contract as a favor, enticing the Padres to part with better prospects than they would have otherwise (Dillon Head, Jakob Marsee and Nathan Martorella). Following the trade, Go continued to underwhelm in the upper minors. After only seven relief appearances as a member of the Marlins organization, he was designated for assignment to create space on their 40-man roster. The Marlins would shatter their single-season franchise record by using 45 different pitchers in 2024, but he wasn't one of them. Even so, the Marlins haven't entirely given up on Go yet. They owe him a $2.25 million salary in 2025 regardless, which is more than any reliever who's actually on Miami's roster. Before flushing that money down the drain, he's been given the opportunity to make another impression during spring training as a non-roster invitee to big league camp. Go had seven seasons of professional experience in the Korea Baseball Organization before signing with the Padres, peaking as one of the league's best closers. And yet, he's still just 26 years old, younger than many of his fellow Marlins NRIs. Perhaps the team wouldn't be as patient with a comparable player who was already in his 30s. Coming over from the KBO, Go's fastball velocity was believed to be "sitting 93-95 mph, up to 98," according to a scouting report from Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs. We didn't see that in stateside competition. His four-seam fastball only averaged 92.8 mph during Triple-A appearances, peaking at 95.7. It also had a relatively low spin rate of 2,120 rpm, which would have ranked around the 13th percentile of qualified MLB four-seamers last season, per Baseball Savant. With that pitch as his primary weapon, he struggled to induce swings-and-misses. The table below is courtesy of Thomas Nestico's pitching summary app. Go was victimized by ineffective defense in 2024. He posted a 6.54 ERA, but a substantially lower 4.87 FIP. It's reasonable to expect his .370 batting average on balls in play to improve even if he pitched in front of the same group of fielders moving forward. That being said, a turnaround in luck would only take Go so far. The quality of the swings taken against him may also be an indication that he was too predictable. Opponents loved ambushing Go on the first pitch of a plate appearance. When putting those pitches in play, they slashed .480/.500/1.040 with eight extra-base hits. Here's new teammate Eric Wagaman clobbering a belt-high fastball for a 422-foot home run. bG4xa1ZfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X1VnbFpCbEJRVUFJQURGdFdVd0FBQVFaUUFGa0hBZ0lBQlFGUlZsWU5WUW9IQWdFRA==.mp4 Runners went 12-for-14 when attempting to steal bases against Go (an incredible throw by Will Banfield prevented them from going 13-for-14). It's not uncommon for relievers to be neglectful of men on base, but unless the quality of Go's stuff ticks up, he has little margin for error. He'll be allowing a lot of balls in play if ever summoned to the majors and those become more damaging when you're nonchalant about letting guys advance into scoring position. Inviting Woo-Suk Go to big league camp is understandable when the Marlins truly have nothing to lose. However, after closely reviewing his previous campaign, I didn't come away with much reason to be optimistic. He doesn't have any sort of background as a starter and only topped out at two innings in his longest outings, making him an awkward fit even for mop-up duty. The 2024 Marlins received solid bullpen production from some unexpected sources. Let's see if that trend continues into 2025 with Go. View full article

Unfortunately, I feel like he is the least likely player who'd be willing to consider an extension. The injury did not impact his timeline to reach free agency because he continues to accrue service time. He's on track to get there as a 26-year-old! That is extremely rare. Teams prioritize youth and pure stuff more than track record. Got a hard time envisioning him pushing back his free agent eligibility by more than a year, but those conversations should be happening just in case, I agree with that.