Alex Carver

Days after announcing their first batch of Spring Training non-roster invitees, the Marlins made another small minor league signing on Thursday night. Lefty Kent Emanuel will come to Marlins camp this coming week, hoping to make the Opening Day bullpen. Craig Mish of SportsGrid was the first to report Emanuel's signing. Emanuel will be 32 this summer and has hade quite an eventful career for all the wrong reasons. He began his pro career as a third-round pick in 2010. Always lauded for his size, the 6’5” Emanuel held down a 2.52 ERA with a 287/78 K/BB at the University of North Carolina which earned him his draft capital. Emanuel had an effective first two seasons against younger competition and made it up to AA to start 2015. However, his season was very short-lived. After just four games, he went down with an elbow injury that ultimately required Tommy John surgery. He didn’t return to the mound until midway through 2016. In his first lengthy look in the upper minors, he had a 5.23 ERA over 82.2 IP. Emanuel’s most successful year in the upper minors came in 2017 when he was almost fully converted to a reliever. In 28 appearances (101.2 IP), Emanuel held down a 3.90 ERA and had an 81/23 K/BB. Also to his credit was his calling card, a 57% groundball rate. It would be a long time until Emanuel would be able to build off that season's success. After the missed COVID season, Emanuel was suspended 80 games for the use of the banned substance Dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (DHCMT). He returned from his second lengthy absence in April 2021 and was immediately called up to make his big league debut. Pitching for the first time in an affiliated game in 606 days, Emanuel impressed the Astros, tossing 8 ⅔ innings in relief allowing just two earned runs while striking out five. After his debut, Emanuel went on to perform well out of the Astros bullpen. In his first 17 ⅔ total innings, he had a 2.55 ERA and 13/4 K/BB with a 50% ground ball rate. But once again in the middle of solid performance, injury struck. After exiting his final appearance of 2021 with another apparent throwing arm injury, Emanuel underwent an internal bracing surgical procedure in early June. That offseason, he was waived by the Astros and claimed by the Phillies. Recovery from the aforementioned injury landed Emanuel on the 60-day IL to start his career with Philadelphia. He rehabbed in June of 2022 and got back to AAA that July before eventually being shut down again for the season with a shoulder issue. After missing more than a full year, he threw in just 13 total games with the Phillies. This past season, Emanuel returned and pitched for the Pirates organization. He remained healthy after his return in April, but he struggled to find results pitching to a 6.12 ERA—mostly as a starter—and was released in August. Since 2021, he’s thrown just 162 innings. At his core, Emanuel is a fairly soft-tossing lefty with three pitches: fastball, slider and changeup. He’s had a very turbulent career especially on the health front, but if he’s able to stay on the mound, he’s capable of recording quick outs mostly via soft contact when he’s commanding. He can serve as a swing man, but is best suited for shorter stints. With the Marlins, he will get another chance to make it back to the big leagues. As of Friday afternoon, the Marlins have a full 40-man roster and 21 NRIs. They could have up to 63 players in big league camp if both Jordan Groshans and Kaleb Ort clear waivers and are outrighted to the minors.

Before closing the book entirely on a slow offseason, the Marlins announced a minor trade on Tuesday night. Miami acquired infielder Jonah Bride from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for cash considerations. Daniel Alvarez of El Extrabase was the first to report. Bride is entering his age-28 season and has spent his entire career this far with Oakland. A 23rd-round pick from the 2018 MLB Draft, Bride enjoyed a .289/.395/.401 collegiate career mostly in the SEC at the University of South Carolina. A four-year collegiate player who also spent the 2020 COVID season idle, Bride was pushed hard by the A’s, playing at three MiLB levels in 2022 before making his big league debut that same season. He began 2023 back at AAA where he hit a loud .305/.432/.544 before being recalled to Oakland. In 40 games with the A’s this past year, Bride slashed an underwhelming .171/.286/.205. Bride’s standout tool has always been exceptional plate discipline. In his minor league career, he racked up 265 walks to just 207 strikeouts. Despite struggles at the big league level so far with contact, Bride has still kept his swings at pitches mostly inside the zone, allowing him a 54/30 K/BB over his 293 plate appearances. The 5’10”, 210-pounder also shows solid athleticism and has shown the ability to take the field wherever he’s been needed. Over the course of his career, he’s played all over the infield, even slotting in as a catcher. His solid righty arm makes him best fit to play third base. As he embarks on his career with Miami, Bride will need to find more barrels (only five of those through his first 201 batted balls vs. major league pitching). He was also hampered by a 50% ground ball rate with the A’s last year, wasting some of his hard-hit balls. Overall, Bride controls the strike zone extremely well. Given his success in the upper minors, there is still the potential for him to become an above-average on-base threat, a fine asset the Marlins could incorporate regularly off the bench at multiple positions. Acquiring him at the cost of just cash considerations is a good bet to make. He will come to Spring Training with a plus chance of making the Opening Day roster; if he doesn’t, he still has an option year remaining. To make room for Bride on the 40 man roster, Jordan Groshans was designated for assignment. Groshans was acquired by Miami at the 2022 trade deadline. He hit .244/.339/.330 with AAA Jacksonville this past season. The rest of the league will have seven days to inquire about Groshans’ services.

Gary Sheffield’s time on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot has come and gone. As the voting results were revealed on Tuesday tonight, it was confirmed that he was again denied election to Cooperstown. Sheffield recevied the most support he ever has, but in heartbreaking fashion, he missed election by a narrow 11.1%, garnering 63.9% of the necessary 75% of the electorate's vote. What was the case for voting against Gary Sheffield over these last 10 straight years? Let's explore one final time. Let’s get it out of the way first: yes, Gary Sheffield used a BALCO product. Famously at the spike of the steroid era in 2002, Sheffield trained with Barry Bonds. After being mentioned in the Mitchell Report, he admitted to applying a topical cream produced by BALCO to his knees during that tenure. This undoubtedly is one of the main reasons why Sheffield was not elected. But let’s talk about something else that Bonds and Sheffield also have in common: they were both on a Hall of Fame track before they started using. Sheffield (14th season) and Bonds (13th season) were at similar points in their career when their first use cases happened. Comparing the two players pre-first use, we see very similar slash lines that made both players two of the best hitters in the game. In Sheffield’s case, he had already racked up over300 home runs, he had been a main contributor to a World Series winning team, and he won a batting title for having one of the best seasons in Marlins’ history. On top of that, he won two Silver Sluggers and six All Star Game selections. During that stretch, he was one of 14 players in baseball to play in over 1000 games and OPS at least .900. Whether Sheffield did it knowingly or not, using this as an excuse to keep him off of your ballot would be acceptable if (big if) steroids helped his performance greatly improve. Did they? Statistics say no. Before 2002, Sheffield slashed .295/.399/.521 and averaged 22 home runs a season. Afterwards, in a smaller sample, he slashed .287/.384/.503 with an average of 24 home runs a season. The proof is on the page: whatever Sheffield used did not greatly help his performance and did not make him a Hall of Famer. He did that on his own. And oh, by the way, he never got caught or suspended for steroid use. This should not be have been treated nearly as simply as it seemingly was by some voters. Let’s talk about the other knock of Sheffield’s candidacy: defense. Yes, it is true that Sheffield was objectively not good with his glove. In fact, he was one of the worst gloves in baseball during his tenure. After not being able to make it work at either shortstop or third base early on in his career, Sheff moved to the outfield where he more often than not struggled. For his career, he posted a -27.7 dWAR. This severely impacted Sheffield’s overall WAR. However, what he did with the bat to become one of the most memorable and recognizable hitters arguably of his generation more than made up for those shortcomings. By posting a career 80.7 oWAR, something only 36 other players have ever done in their careers, Sheff ended his 22-year run with a 60.5 marker for overall WAR. Currently, there are 37 post-dead ball era outfielders in the Hall of Fame with a 60.5 WAR or less. His defense should nearly be a non-factor. The only other question mark around Sheffield during his playing tenure that has been pointed to as a caveat to his great play was his relationship with media members. Some didn’t like Sheffield’s brash and very honest nature and have since used this as fuel to leave his name unchecked. However, the Hall of Fame is about telling the story of baseball, not about telling us who was better in front of a microphone. Let's take a quick look at the National Baseball Hall of Fame's voting guidelines: 5. Voting: Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played. No matter what team you rooted for during Sheffield’s incredible playing career, it didn’t matter. You knew his iconic bat waggle and tried to replicate it in your little league games and games of backyard baseball. You knew his beautifully violent swing. You saw him finish top three in MVP voting three times. You saw his name was all over print media for far more right reasons than for wrong reasons. You still know him today as the only player in MLB history to hit 500+ home runs having never struck out more than 83 times in a season. The story of the history of baseball will remain incomplete without Gary Sheffield in Cooperstown. Although this was a very disappointing day for both Sheffield and the baseball world as a whole, this wrong can still be righted. The 16-person Contemporary Baseball Era Committee will meet again in December 2025. At that time, Sheffield should have the opportunity to join his fellow Tampa, Florida native Fred McGriff as players who were snubbed by the BBWAA, but ultimately got the induction they deserved.

Alex Carver and Kevin Barral guide you through a very busy week of Miami Marlins prospect news that included 2024 International Signing Day, reports of Andrew Salas agreeing to a multi-million dollar deal for 2025 and takeaways from Double-A Pensacola's annual Fish Fest event. Enjoy Episode 58 of Swimming Upstream. Subscribe to the Fish On First YouTube channel to watch video versions of every Swimming Upstream episode. Read up on the 21 international players who signed last Monday and the talented Salas, who's expected to receive a bonus of nearly $4 million to headline next year's class. Follow Alex (@marlinsminors), Kevin (@kevin_barral) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com. Our Fish On First podcast programming includes The Offishial Show, Fish Unfiltered, Swimming Upstream, Big Fish Small Pod and What a Relief. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, Megaphone or wherever you normally get your pods from.

2023 was a year full of education for infielder Jordan McCants. A third-round draft pick by the Marlins out of his northwest Florida high school in 2021, McCants came out of the short-season leagues and embarked upon his first full season in affiliated ball when he was assigned to the Low-A Jupiter Hammerheads. From very early on through the bulk of the season, the first lesson McCants learned was the importance of adjusting to your surroundings. Not only was McCants tasked with learning how to see and contact pitching at a more advanced level and for a longer period of time, he also faced some unique circumstances related to where his team called home. After spending much of the first half of the season at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium, the Hammerheads were required to move to the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches ahead of planed construction in Jupiter. “We just had to make it work,” McCants told Erik Bremer during the Pensacola Blue Wahoos' annual Fish Fest on Thursday. “Our manager said, 'It’s minor league ball. You have to make it work.' We’re still gonna show up every day, we’re still going to play hard. We’re still gonna get our work in. We may not have as many resources as we had, but it all turned out great.” The "great" McCants speaks of is how the season ended for the nomadic Jupiter Hammerheads. Despite the turbulent nature of their ballpark situation and their limited access to resources, the club rode a second-half division title through to a championship. The second lesson McCants learned: the importance of contributing to winning culture. “Our team chemistry was incredible. We all just came together as one to be brothers and really play for each other,” McCants said. “Our manager and faculty engrained that into us early. We all just embraced it.” Leading to the Hammerheads winning it all, McCants was front and center for some standout moments, most notably his walk-off sacrifice bunt in extra innings during the first playoff game against Palm Beach. “It was a day I’ll never forget. My mom passed in 2022 on that day. That same day, I had to wake up and play a playoff game,” McCants recalled. “I went out and got a walk off. It was a blessing and a great feeling.” Strength through adversity this past year allowed McCants to learn another very important lesson: the importance of mental fortuity. “Baseball is a game of failure. You gotta be tough mentally,” McCants said. “Trying to build that over a full affiliated year and actually seeing how a full season works was great.” Tangibly, on the baseball field, McCants learned a new position in 2023. Accustomed to being a shortstop and second baseman until that point in his career, McCants played 55 games at third base. According to McCants, the learning curve was immediate and stark. “It has its moments. That’s the hot corner. I remember Opening Day, Paul DeJong was rehabbing for the Cardinals and he hit one right at me at 105 [miles per hour],” McCants said. “It’s just reaction time. It was fun playing over there. I played a lot more than I thought I was going to play over there.” Off the field, McCants is always cognizant of where he started and where he came from. Last year, he once again won the Marlins’ organizational award as Service Member of the Year. “Being from a small place, we don’t have a lot of resources,” McCants said this past September in Miami after the awards ceremony. “For the youth to see a professional baseball player come back and just to one of their little league games or something, just being there and being that face. It means everything. It’s bigger than baseball; it always has been.” Already this winter, McCants attended his third straight Fish Fest in Pensacola. For the remainder of 2024, McCants hopes to further embrace and continue to instill what he learned and took away from 2023. Asked what his goals are, he had one simple answer: “Another championship. I don’t care what level I’m on.” In the current state, all signs point to McCants beginning the year with the High-A Beloit Sky Carp. In being proactive, McCants stated he’s planning ahead (“I’m going to bring at least five jackets”). McCants, still 21, exhibits 70-grade speed that allowed him to steal 36 bases this past year, solid defensive flexibility, a still-growing frame that he has already added 25+ pounds to since being drafted, and a growing knowledge of who he is as a baseball player. If he can come by more bat speed and put the ball in play more consistently, he is a strong candidate to turn heads this coming season.

Good luck to all of our participants. Let’s have some fun. Follow @marlinsminors and the #MarlinsTwitterMadness hashtag to see every poll.

Good luck to all of our participants. Let’s have some fun. Follow @marlinsminors and the #MarlinsTwitterMadness hashtag to see every poll.

Good luck to all of our participants. Let’s have some fun. Follow @marlinsminors and the #MarlinsTwitterMadness hashtag to see every poll.

Good luck to all of our participants. Let’s have some fun. Follow @marlinsminors and the #MarlinsTwitterMadness hashtag to see every poll.

With the calendar having just turned over and less than two months to go until Marlins’ pitchers and catchers report to Jupiter, the club has had a very quiet offseason. Though Peter Bendix and Co. have made a few small signings that will be expected to contribute to the MLB team in 2024, they have not addressed their biggest needs and have lost more than they have gained in the department of proven MLB talent. Despite having just reached the postseason last year, there is an emphasis being put on partially rebuilding internally, prioritizing the franchise's long-term viability. Per Ken Rosenthal, Jesus Luzardo is reportedly garnering serious trade interest. Luzardo, who joined his hometown team in 2021, was finally healthy over the course of a full season this last year. He also improved his arsenal by shelving his sinker in order to throw more four-seam fastballs and garnered more whiffs on his slider than ever before. Over 178 innings, Luzardo racked up 200+ strikeouts while walking just 55 with by far the most consistent control/command he’s ever shown. Painful as it would be to part with a high-end starter who's only 26 and still three years away from free agency, Luzardo is at peak value. The Marlins would be able to extract a handsome prospect package in return. Bleacher Report recently cooked up some potential trades. You can find countless others on Baseball Trade Values. Here are three plausible trade scenarios of our own. Marlins trade LHP Jesus Luzardo and OF/IF Javier Sanoja to Boston Red Sox for OF Ceddanne Rafaela and C Kyle Teel The Marlins and Red Sox match up well on a need-for-need basis. After a disappointing 2023 season, the Red Sox are desperate for more top-end rotational talent, especially after the trade of Chris Sale. They had the 21st-ranked team ERA in 2023 and currently only have four lefties on their entire 40-man roster (none in their projected Opening Day rotation). For a team that allowed a .799 OPS to lefty batters last season, Luzardo would be the perfect acquisition for their rotation and would likely ace it. Rafaela is a true center fielder who, after a .302/.349/.520 tenure in 108 games between AA and AAA, made his big league debut last season. Already 28 games into his MLB tenure, Rafaela is still just 23 years old. The Curaçao native who is lauded for his bat-to-ball skills and plus speed on the bases, would immediately become the Marlins’ everyday center fielder. His acquisition would also allow Miami to move Jazz Chisholm Jr back onto the infield at second base where he is much more comfortable with Luis Arraez moving to first base and Josh Bell becoming the everyday DH. This acquisition would bolster a fleeting defense and protect the health of multiple assets. Rafaela is under club control through at least 2029. He would be the target piece in a deal with Boston. From the Red Sox’s and Craig Breslow's standpoint, they have Jarren Duran to their credit who has ample ability to step back in as their everyday man at the eight spot. Still with the hope of developing their prep catchers Will Banfield and Joe Mack, the club passed on selecting the collegiate sophomore Teel in the 2023 draft in favor of prep hurler Noble Meyer. Four picks after the Marlins and Meyer, Teel went to the Red Sox at 14 overall. During his first year pro, Teel appeared in just 26 games but hit well at each of three levels, including AA. The addition of Teel would give the Marlins their most advanced backstop system wide. The lefty bat with a simplistic approach, great patience, 45-50 grade game power that is still developing, and fantastic athleticism that allots him a plus-plus arm and movements behind the plate, could contribute to a big league team as early as next season. He’s still just 21 years old and shows every intention of being the a long-term answer behind the plate for whichever organization is lucky enough to have him around. Think of a Brian McCann-esque ceiling. Marlins trade LHP Jesus Luzardo and 2B Yiddi Cappe to Baltimore Orioles for OF Colton Cowser, SS Joey Ortiz and C Creed Willems In their current state, the Orioles have some decent MLB pitchers, but they don’t have a clear bonafide ace. Like the Red Sox, their rotation is righty-heavy. In 2023, the team's 7.27 ERA in the playoffs doomed them. The acquisition of Luzardo would give the Orioles their Opening Day starter and ace. Without any pitching within their top third of the system right now, Luzardo would provide a massive upgrade for a team looking to go from a playoff appearance to playoff success. In Cappe, the Orioles would get a work-in-progress that is best suited for second base long term. He has a ton of athleticism but there are issues with his swing and timing that need to be solved for. Cappe, 21, still very much has time on his side and has already been exposed to A+. There is the potential for a lot more to be unlocked here both in the way of physical and statistical projection. A change of scenery could be exactly what he needs. Cowser is the Orioles’ first-rounder from 2021 who is capable of handling all three outfield spots, including center field. He doesn’t have great speed, but he shows good instincts off the bat which could allow him to stick in CF. He flew through the O’s system in just two short years to make his debut last season. According to his FanGraphs metrics, he was attacked very often with offspeed stuff including changeups and sliders which he struggled against, leading to an unproductive initial cup of coffee (40 wRC+ in 77 PA). That said, his historical MiLB stats pave the way for improvement related to his patience and swing selections. Cowser is still a bit of work in progress, but if acquired, would immediately step in as the everyday center fielder. At 23, he still has two option years to his credit and all his club-controlled years ahead of him, fitting the Marlins’ mold for young, controllable players who are prepared to contribute immediately. Known for standout 60-grade defense at shortstop, Ortiz has also showed a balanced contact-oriented approach at the plate and has incorporated the capability for some plus pop in the recent years of his four year MiLB career. Scouts point to his ability to improve physically over the past two seasons as a catalyst for taking him from a utility player ceiling to that of an everyday player who most definitely can stick at short. At the very least, Ortiz has the capability and athleticism to man multiple positions at the big league level, making him a high-floor player. If acquired, he’d have a great chance to immediately take over shortstop duties, allowing Miami to deploy both Berti and Edwards in utility-based roles. Having just debuted last season, Ortiz is also inexpensive for many years to come. Like the aforementioned Teel, Willems is a lefty-hitting catcher. The Orioles got him out of high school in 2021. After missing time with an elbow injury during his first full season in 2022, he returned in 2023 in better shape and with a modified approach at the plate. That work allowed Willems to improve his receiving skills and pump out 17 home runs between A and A+. https://sporty-clips.mlb.com/def862b7-f0ca-4029-b72b-919e967756a4.mp4The Marlins have had a volatile past when it comes to high school catchers and Willems definitely requires more developing. That said, with his 60-grade raw power starting to translate to game power as well as his strong arm and improvements made as a receiver, he's an attractive prospect. Willems has also spent time at first base. Marlins trade LHP Jesus Luzardo and RHP Juan De La Cruz to Texas Rangers for OF Evan Carter, OF/1B Dustin Harris and SS Cameron Cauley With Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom rehabbing from injuries and several more soon-to-be-expiring contracts, the defending World Series champions are in dire need of controllable starting pitching. Luzardo should be a clear target for them. De La Cruz gets added to this trade as an up-and-coming righty who was very impressive this past season, reaching as high as 98 mph with an advanced three-pitch mix. He spent most of 2023 at Low-A as an 18-year-old, pitching against competition that was more than four years his elder on average. He will require patience, but would be a sneaky acquisition as a second piece in any potential deal with Miami. Carter would undoubtedly be Miami’s main target in a deal with the Rangers. A high school pick from 2020, Carter rose through the minor league ranks in under two full seasons. After an injury to Adolis Garcia, he debuted for the Rangers this past September and made an immediate impact, hitting .306 with a 1.058 OPS through his first 23 games. Despite Garcia’s return for the playoffs, Carter was impossible to keep off the Rangers’ playoff roster. In each of his first six postseason games, Carter recorded at least one hit. He also had standout moments on both sides of the ball in the ALCS. Carter’s success at the plate continued in the World Series where he went 6-for-21 with a walk. All in all, he reached base at least once in all 17 games during the Rangers’ title run (.417 OBP). The seemingly unprecedented run to start Carter’s career corroborated his bombastic scouting grades including 60 grade hit and 60 grade speed. With plus bat and strike zone control, Carter’s approach on top of already solid raw power should manifest in a yearly 20/20 threat, at least. Carter has mostly played the corners with the Rangers, but he more than has the speed, arm strength and route running ability to man center field regularly. So mature at such a young age, he would immediately step in as the Marlins’ everyday center fielder and if his projection continues, would have perennial All-Star potential and the very real capacity for all five tools. Harris is a 6’3”, 185-pound, lefty-hitting/righty-throwing outfielder and first baseman. He was an 11th-round pick out of JuCo by the A’s in 2019. After an injury-hampered 2022 season, Harris made it from AA to AAA this past season where he hit .273/.382/.455. Harris limits swings-and-misses and picks his spots very well. Through his minor league career, his K rate is a very manageable 19.4%. He’s also walked at an impressive 12.2% rate, including 13.9% at the highest level of MiLB last year. When Harris does attack, he shows fairly easy power that he can deploy to all fields. It has allotted him 52 home runs in his first 380 career games. Defensively, Harris shows just average peripherals in the corners which will likely limit him to playing left field. However, his offensive upside would keep him in the lineup. Harris also has eligibility at first base, an important position for the Marlins to address assuming this proves to be Josh Bell's final season with them. At 24 with his MLB clock yet to be started, Harris would slot in nicely as the first baseman of the future for Miami. Cauley was a third-round prep pick by the Rangers in 2021. He broke into pro ball with Texas that season and has since only risen to A+, repeating the Low-A level to start 2023. He also had a subpar showing with the bat in the hitter-friendly Arizona Fall League this year. While the 21-year-old righty isn’t expected to grow into much power and needs to be developed to be more of a bat-to-ball threat, he is already a massive difference-maker in the field and on the bases. With good reads off the bat, range to both sides, and an above-average arm, Cauley has spent time at multiple defensive positions but is more than capable of sticking long term at shortstop. On the bases, he shows 60+ grade speed, giving him the ability to turn anything into extra bases by consistently challenging opposing defenses. He’s currently a righty-hitting-only Nasim Nunez (Nunez was taken from the Marlins last month in the Rule 5 Draft) with room to grow into more if his bat can be further developed. The Marlins don’t have many sure-fire shortstops in their system. Cauley’s fairly high floor would fill that void. Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire

Baseball America editor-in-chief J.J. Cooper helps Alex Carver, Kevin Barral and Ely Sussman make sense of what happened during this week's MLB Rule 5 Draft. We also go through the Marlins' recent track record in the amateur draft, what to expect from player development under the leadership of Peter Bendix and much more. Subscribe to the Fish On First YouTube channel to watch video versions of every Swimming Upstream episode. With the fifth pick in the Rule 5 Draft, Marlins infielder Nasim Nuñez was selected by the Washington Nationals. Interestingly, reigning Marlins Minor League Player of the Year Troy Johnston did not get selected. Here's what Cooper had to say about that: "As good as his season was, he sometimes will chase out of the zone, and I do think that is a concern when you say, 'How well is this gonna translate?' "We're drafting a first baseman in the Rule 5 Draft. You're gonna want a guy who can really control the zone pretty well, who from day one is kinda hitting. Not that Johnston doesn't have a lot of attributes that kinda indicate maybe he can, but you have this one concern here...that might right there have had another list of teams say, 'Nope, we're just not interested because he'll expand a little bit outside the zone sometimes.' "First base is just not a position that always gets taken...You're pretty much only taking that guy if he's going to not only stick, but get regular at-bats." https://fishonfirst.com/news/2023-rule-5-draft-results/Baseball America subscribers can read scouting reports for every pick from the major league phase of the Rule 5 Draft here. Follow J.J. (@jjcoop36), Alex (@marlinsminors), Kevin (@kevin_barral), Ely (@RealEly) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com. Our Fish On First podcast programming includes The Offishial Show, Fish Unfiltered, State of the Fish, Swimming Upstream, Fishology and What a Relief. All new episodes are posted to FishOnFirst.com/podcasts. You can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Podbean, Megaphone or wherever you normally get your pods from. Image courtesy of Washington Nationals

The most recent iteration of the Rule 5 Draft is in the books. On Wednesday afternoon in Nashville, Tennessee, Nasim Nuñez departed the Miami Marlins organization, selected by the Washington Nationals with the fifth overall pick. The Marlins chose the speedy infielder with their second-round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. Nuñez hit .233/.358/.286 with 183 stolen bases in 351 minor league games, establishing himself as Miami's best defensive shortstop. He represented the organization in the 2023 Futures Game and made one final impression on the Nats (and other potentially interested teams) during the Arizona Fall League. The Marlins will play the Nationals six times in Grapefruit League spring training games, starting on February 25 in Jupiter. If Nuñez cracks Washington's regular season roster, he'll face his former organization at LoanDepot Park from April 26-29. To the surprise of many, Marlins Minor League Player of the Year Troy Johnston is still with the Fish. A 2019 draftee out of Gonzaga, Johnston's breakout campaign occurred in 2022 where he hit .292/.360/.450 in his jump to the AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos. That stint earned him the call to AAA at the back end of his age-25 season. In his initial showing with the Jumbo Shrimp, Johnston’s production stumbled as he hit .155/.293/.330. Left unprotected in his first year of Rule 5 eligibility, he went unselected and remained with Miami. This past season, better physical preparation allowed Johnston to become one of the most productive players in the Marlins’ organization. Starting with AA Pensacola then moving back up to AAA Jacksonville, Johnston slashed .307/.399/.549 across both levels. With 26 home runs and 24 stolen bases, he was the first Marlins player to record a 20-20 season of this caliber since 2008. At the final home game of the season during which he was presented with his Player of the Year award, Johnston stayed committed to a future with Miami. https://fishonfirst.com/farm/troy-johnston-2023-player-of-the-year-award/Explaining the reason why Johnston wasn’t protected at the November 14 deadline, new Marlins President of Baseball Operations Peter Bendix stated that 40-man roster decisions weren’t easy to make, but those spots are “finite.” Meanwhile, Bendix felt comfortable claiming marginal relievers Ryan Jensen and Kaleb Ort off waivers in recent weeks and standing pat with prospects who have underwhelmed at the plate. Fortunately, Johnston stays put despite the advancements he's made and performing like a top-30 player in all of Minor League Baseball in 2023 by many metrics. Josh Bell will be the Marlins' 2024 starter at first base. Retaining Johnston gives them a clear-cut option to man the position behind him. At the very latest, Johnston could earn regular playing time in 2025 if Bell changes teams in free agency next winter. The Marlins made five selections during the minor league phase of the Rule 5: OF Yeral Martinez (New York Mets)OF Marty Costes (Houston Astros)IF Sean Roby (San Francisco Giants)LHP Adam Laskey (Chicago Cubs)RHP Julio Dilone (Seattle Mariners) None of their own players were selected in the minor league phase. Photo courtesy of Pensacola Blue Wahoos