One Regend

I was honestly expecting one of the bullpen arms to be shipped out, particularly Faucher or Bender. Surprised none of them were traded. I'm also surprised they didn't trade Edward Cabrera. His value isn't going to get any higher, and I sincerely doubt he can repeat this performance year to year. The fact they didn't trade him is purely because they deluded themselves into believing they can be a playoff team sooner than they realistically are. I'll spare you the details. We have literally ZERO depth in AAA that can plug the holes in 1B, 3B, and our COF spots, and our team is playing way above their talent level. Jakob Marsee is being hyped, as usual, because thats what the Marlins social media does, but I don't view him as a superstar. Literally no one in our MiLB system has superstar potential. The Marlins 21-10 stretch fooled everyone else into believing this team can compete with the two-headed Mets/Phillies monster, the two-headed Brewers/Cubs monster, the Reds, and the Padres. But not me. Did y'all suddenly forget this team got SWEPT by THE ROCKIES? This team is nowhere close to ready, and them balking at the deadline might've done more damage than helped. Do you want to see more 76-86 seasons from the Marlins? Because that's what stretches like this and deadlines like this and MiLB system outlooks like this do to a franchise.

Why are the Marlins targeting Spencer Jones? We've had Lewis Brinson, Monte Harrison, Isan Diaz, Lewin Diaz, JJ Bleday... many "top" prospects who strike out way too much to have a realistic ceiling. We have only (briefly) gotten lucky with Griffin Conine. Have we not learned our lesson?

Of the four other players who received at least $6m+ as their signing bonus: -Max Meyer and JJ Bleday are replacement level players that are held back by their own mental problems. -Jacob Berry is literally unable to develop and may soon be finding himself going down the Tyler Kolek path. -Tyler Kolek is among the worst draft busts in Major League history, with not a whole lot of competition. If the Marlins want to emulate the Tampa Bay Rays that they so desperately want to copy, they should be doing a much better job allocating their resources. If they're spending 7.15m on a player that went 7th overall, they better be damn sure that player is a sure thing. Considering the agent they're working with, I'm not surprised it's Scott Boras. This is what he does. Even if everything works out well and Aiva doesn't embarrass himself at the MLB level (or, heaven forbid, embarrasses himself at the MiLB level before then), he's still a Scott Boras client. That means that after 4 MLB years of service passes, and he does ball out, he's either going to be in Pinstripes, or is going to be wearing Dodger blue, while we receive an overrated project that'll the Marlins brass will hype to us as the holy grail (remember Lewis Brinson, anyone?), and a FRk player with a low floor. That is the unfortunate circumstance when dealing with a Scott Boras client. I like the selection, but I have my skepticism that we'll actually be able to develop him. And even more skepticism that he'll be with us long-term.

1. Charles Johnson was a lowkey great find. Hard to find catchers who have spectacular defense and can hit HRs. Look at Cal Raleigh for example. 2. Mark Kotsay had a lowkey good career. He was a solid player who had steady defense wherever he went. Not a guy that can carry a team, but you can do much worse. 3. Josh Willingham was a lowkey great find that had a career OPS of .823. His WAR took a hit because of his defense, though. He definitely would have been the beneficiary of the Universal DH had it been implemented sooner, since his defense was really what held him back. 4. I still think it was a crime against humanity that the Marlins didn't add Mark Canha to their 40 man roster. They really just let him get yoinked in Rule 5. That was almost as costly as trading Johan Santana immediately after getting him from Rule 5. 5. Brian Anderson was overrated AF. He was a guy that had awful swing decisions early into his career, midway through his career, and late into his career. He was fortunate to have been blessed by the BABIP gods from 2018-2020. Those awful swing decisions and his injuries are what led to his rapid decline. That said, when Brian Anderson is your best college bat since being drafted in 2014, you know your analytics are messed up. Here's hoping Bendix doesn't continue this mediocrity trail.

Agreed. Outside of maybe Thomas White, there's absolutely zero players in our system that I can confidently say have legitimate future superstar talent. Jakob Marsee leads our minor league system with 12 HRs. The next closest is 10, from a 27-year-old "too-old-to-be-a-prospect" player Troy Johnston. No one else is even close to sniffing double digits. Bob Seymour has almost double Marsee's total with 22. And if we choose to not include journeyman Jorge Alfaro, there are 17 players in MiLB who have more HRs than Marsee. This is a pathetic showing of our minor league system and this needs a full reset.

If the Marlins trade Nick Fortes, then that means Joe Mack is getting called up, with Liam Hicks backing him up. Worst case scenario, both Mack and Hicks get injured in the same game, Agustin could be the emergency catcher, but let's hope it doesn't get to that point.

2006.

PJ Morlando was a headscratcher the moment he was selected. Even if you give him the benefit of the doubt and say "at least he gets on base", that can't fly for a guy known only for his bat slugging under .400. And that especially won't fly when he's batting against advanced pitching. (IE: AAA, MLB) You'd have to pray he somehow develops a power stroke, and I don't trust the Marlins development team to be able do that. I would've rather drafted a pitcher instead if the pitcher was the best player available.

I'm going to guess that Peter Bendix looked at the top 100 prospect list, saw Starlyn Caba on it, and was like "Yeah, that's our guy" without even looking at what Caba was doing at Low A, and/or without looking at his frame and projecting what he could be. That is the only reason I can think of for Starlyn Caba being the headliner for Jesus Luzardo. What an embarrassment. Just another painful reminder not to rely entirely on Top 100 Prospects Lists. They're an OK barometer of prospect value, but should never be taken as an end-all be-all gospel. You would think we'd learn this lesson after the Christian Yelich fiasco, but nope, we made the same mistake again.

1. My opinion on this team hasn't changed, and no, a random 7-game winning streak where our batted balls magically fell into gaps and our historically awful pitching was blessed by the Sandy Koufax gods for 27 meatball outs per game won't convince me. This is a 2024 Marlins team that just got lucky. Don't get your hopes up. 2. June 26th. I don't like when a team that's supposed to be tanking is winning meaningless games, but this is one game that feels good to watch them win. An opposing team making a retaliation attempt (on Otto Lopez, no less. Why they picked him and not Agustin Ramirez or Kyle Stowers is beyond me, but I am not complaining) that led into the opposing team giving up 12 unanswered runs is just sweet to watch regardless of the circumstance. 3. Kyle Stowers is the easy answer for the ASG. Edward Cabrera surprised me, but I'm still not convinced that he will carry a rotation, given his track record. He's a prime "sell high" candidate if I've ever seen one. If he can go the entire season doing what he has been, I'll change my tune, but until then, he will have to continue to prove me wrong. BTW, honorable mention goes to Agustin Ramirez. 4. Edward Cabrera. As I said above, given his track record, he is the premier "sell high" candidate. This is looking to be a career year, and I don't see him ever stringing together this type of consistency again. If there's a time to trade him, it's now. He is due a raise in arbitration and you're not going to have a better time to get this type of value out of him. Anthony Bender is also a great candidate to get considerable value from. We need a 3B and Starting Pitcher prospects (primarily RHP), and these two might be able to help us with those needs. 5. Miami Marlins. Selling Sandy Alcantara now while he's at his lowest point in his career is a franchise-altering blunder. Trading him at the Trade Deadline is the worst move the team can possibly make. He's coming off TJS and he's had historically the worst season a Marlin has ever had. You're not going to get much from him. I also doubt you're getting much from him in the offseason, either, as teams will be skeptical on what he'll bring to their team. He needs a good 2026 first half, pitching competantly (maybe not Cy Young form but at least good enough) to convince teams he's still got the juice, and maybe we might get value from him in the 2026 Deadline. But 2025? Forget about it.

This shouldn't even be a question. I'll debunk the 2024 Tigers argument point by point. 1. We don't have Tarik Skubal. We don't have anyone on the pitching staff even in the same stratosphere as Tarik Skubal. 2. Since we don't have Tarik Skubal, the next question to answer is MVP Candidates. We don't have any MVP candidates. The best we've got is Kyle Stowers, and with respect to him and how he plays this game, he isn't anywhere close to sniffing MVP consideration. 3. The Tigers have a much better farm system. For them to get as good as they were in 2024, it took them 7 consecutive losing seasons and 4 seasons of 95+ losses. They had to suck, and suck horrifically, for a very long time, for them to have gotten where they have now. We are literally in YEAR ONE of a deep rebuild. Don't get too excited over a random 7 game win streak that happened because our batted balls magically fell into gaps and our horrific pitching was graced by the Sandy Koufax gods and blessed our noncompetitive meatballs 27 outs a game. 4. NEGATIVE 52 RUNS OF DIFFERENTIAL BETWEEN THIS TEAM AND THE 2024 TIGERS. No matter how you try to spin it, this is the true bottleneck. Every game we've lost was ugly, and even our wins have been ugly. We don't have anywhere close to the same team quality. If anything, we've gotten far too lucky. No random 7 game winning streak is going to convince me otherwise. So, no, we are not the 2024 Tigers. And we will never be the 2024 Tigers. So, perish the thought.

When the Rockies team is staring down the barrel of challenging the 2024 White Sox as the worst team in MLB history, and might perhaps actually break the 1916 Philidelphia Athletics record for worst Win Percentage, going the nepotism route isn't going to help the team, but rather make it worse. Also, old Mets fans know all too well about how this will turn out.

I'm one of those people that think Sandy should be traded, because I don't see the Marlins being competitive in 2026. Hell, I don't see them competitive in 2027, either. But now is a horrible time to trade him. If he gets traded now, the Marlins are selling awfully low and they won't get much back in return. If the Marlins want to trade him, it makes sense to hold onto him and see what he does in 2026. If he's back to pitching competant baseball in 2026 (maybe not Cy Young level but at least respectable enough), then maybe entertain a trade near the 2026 deadline. Otherwise, trading him now while he's at his lowest point would be a franchise-altering blunder.

Nobody is more headcase than a guy who got ejected and then proceeding to make a gunshot gesture. Sadly, he has more of a chance to earn a cup of coffee in the majors than Jacob Berry at this rate. Granted, I don't see him making a meaningful impact, anyways.

I'm honestly surprised we even got something out of DFAing Robinson Pina. I was fully expecting him to be claimed off waivers. Max Meyer is next in the line of failed top prospects from the D.J. Svihlik/Michael Hill Era. We conclude that era of drafts with a guy who hasn't made it past AA (Connor Scott), a headcase who will be a backup corner outfielder at best (J.J. Bleday), and a headcase who can't stay healthy if his life depended on it. (Max Meyer) Truly brilliant work there.

No.

Max Meyer: Drafted in 2020. Players who were drafted after Max Meyer: Garrett Crochet, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Jordan Westburg, Masyn Wynn. I've already gone over the 2019 draft on my Twitter/X profile. Jeez, just how awful was D.J. Svihlik and Michael Hill?

Bryce Eldridge doesn't seem like a fit for the Marlins. Even though he might be a more complete hitter than De Los Santos, that doesn't change the fact that 1B is a logjam waiting to happen. Agustin is almost a sure lock for 1B if he isn't DHing, because simply put, he does not have the chops to be a backstop. De Los Santos can only play 1B/DH (his play at 3B was abysmal, to say the least), and Liam Hicks has played well enough to earn the Catcher spot. If anything, we should be looking for prospects who can play 3B, because as far as I know, we don't have anyone in the pipeline who can play there. No, I'm not counting Graham Pauley, and I'm not counting Jay Beshears. They aren't coveted prospects, and neither are producing enough to consider a serious look at 3B. As well, I've been having serious doubts about Connor Norby as of late. Look at this Baseball Savant spread. That's not the hitting profile you want to see as a future 3B. It's better for the Marlins to look for prospects at the hot corner, with a major emphasis that they can STAY at the hot corner. We don't need more 1B/DH types.

I couldn't agree more. On this team, maybe Eury Perez and Agustin Ramirez could be star talents, but right now, they're nowhere close to being one. Their farm system isn't much better on that front, either. I could maybe see Thomas White being an All-Star in the very distant future, but honestly, nobody else in their farm system screams superstar to me. There's not a single player, both on this roster, and in their farm system, that I would handily give a 7+ year contract extension to. Maybe you could make an argument for Eury Perez, but all they'd accomplish would be wasting his efforts on the mound, because they have no awaiting superstars in their farm system. That's how dire the situation is right now.

I'm not a supersub, but since I've already posted, I'll predict anyways. Nationals win 2 out of 3. Josh Bell MVP.

I'm a bit worried that most of our prospect pool are guys who I don't see as future superstars. Thomas White is honestly the closest we can get to one. Even our best position player to date, Kemp Alderman, hasn't been lighting it up. For a guy known for his tape-measure shots, he only has 6 HRs on the season. If you exclude Heriberto, who is currently in the majors, he leads all of the Marlins minor league system with 6 HRs. There are 4 players in the minor league leaderboards who have more than double that amount. That's a pretty sad fact, honestly.

That should honestly tell you everything you need to know about how the season has gone for John Cruz. He is having a miserable time with Miami. Would not surprise me if he gets cut among the usual minor league releases the Marlins do from time to time. It's a shame. He had a .907 OPS in 2023 before the Marlins dealt for him, and he hasn't produced since. It just goes to show hard the transiton is from RkBall to Low A. And John Cruz is the unfortunate reminder of this.

I wasn't expecting an instant return to form from Eury Perez in his first start in MLB in over a year, so I am willing to handwave this performance. I do expect better on his next few starts, though. But you did bring up a good point. I really miss Mel Stottlemyre Jr. I had problems with our pitchers giving up big hits with RISP and 2 outs when he was coaching for us, but I'd rather take that over... whatever the new guy is doing with our pitching. Dear goodness what a downgrade.

I honestly do not buy into Edward Cabrera's success. He's had stretches like this before, only to regress to career norms. If he can keep up pace up until the Trade Deadline, we could definitely sell high on him and sucker a team into trading futures for him. I don't see his trade value getting any better at this point, and if the team he's traded to ends up transforming him into the star pitcher he was always hyped up to be, so be it. But I just do not buy into his success, knowing his extensive track record.

I don't think Eury Perez isn't going to save the season. At most, he'll make this team watchable once every 5 days. I do see a faint semblance of the new core, but they're still a long ways away from emerging.