NL East Farm System Analysis: Miami Marlins

We’ve reached Part 2 of 4 of our breakdown of the other farm systems in the National League East. After heading down south to Georgia for Part No. 1, we’re going a bit farther south to Vice City for this installment.

LEAGUE RANKINGS

Baseball America: 18
MLB Pipeline: 15
FanGraphs: 20

All three outlets generally agree that the Marlins have a middle-of-the-road farm system. Not great, not awful. But for a team that lost 100 games in 2024 and traded away some of its best talent in the process, a middle-of-the-road farm system doesn’t inspire much confidence that things will be getting better for the Fish soon.

TOP PLAYERS TO KNOW

Miami’s farm system is headlined by Thomas White and Noble Meyer, a pair of 6-foot-5 2023 first-round prep arms, and Starlyn Caba, a teenage infielder acquired via trade just over one month ago.

White, ranked No. 41 by Pipeline and No. 33 by Baseball America in each publication’s recently released top 100 prospects lists for 2025, is Maimi’s consensus top prospect. The No. 35 pick in 2023 who signed for well above slot value is an exciting left-handed arm who features a power fastball that sits in the mid-90s and tops out in the 97-to-98 range, a slider that Pipeline has as a 65-grade pitch, and a changeup that both Pipeline and Baseball America have as a third above-average pitch. He spent last season split between Single-A and High-A and had success at both levels, putting up a 2.81 ERA with 120 strikeouts in 21 starts and 98 innings pitched. His command is still a work in progress, but his stuff is evident. He’s 20, and won’t turn 21 until late September, so he’s likely a few years out at the earliest, but White is firmly entrenched as one of the best pitching prospects in baseball.

Meyer, picked 25 spots before White and signed for $400,000 more than his southpaw counterpart in a below-slot deal, is another 20-year-old arm with plus stuff and questionable command. His fastball, curveball, slider and changeup all have average or above-average grades on Pipeline, with the slider being his highest-graded pitch. Like White, he spent his 2024 season split between Single-A and High-A, and while he handled the lower level well he struggled a bit once he was promoted. Across both levels, Meyer finished the year with a 4.01 ERA with 85 strikeouts in 19 games and 74 innings pitched. He’s another arm who’s not in play for 2025, but he could be part of a formidable young top-of-the-rotation with White and 21-year-old Eury Pérez in a few years.

The Marlins traded future Met Starling Marte to the Oakland Athletics for Jesús Luzardo in 2021, and then traded Luzardo to the Philadelphia Phillies this offseason for a package headlined by 19-year-old infielder Starlyn Caba. A 5-foot-9 switch hitter, Caba is a premier defender, with Pipeline, writing that “some evaluators believe that Caba is the top defender in the Minors and give him top-of-the-scale 80 grades for his shortstop defense.” Pipeline doesn’t quite give him the elusive 80 grade for his defense—they give him a still elite 70—but Baseball America and FanGraphs do.

As for his bat, he’s never going to be a slugger, but his bat-to-ball skills and plate discipline are believed to be above average. He made it as high as Single-A last season, and while he struggled at the plate once he got there, he’s still young. He’ll be 19 for the 2025 season and is likely very far from the bigs, but Caba could be the future at shortstop in Miami if his bat allows it.

Those three are Miami’s best prospects, but thanks to the sell-off they conducted in 2024 they’re far from the only notable ones.

Digging Into the System

In May, the Marlins traded Luis Arráez to the San Diego Padres for OF Dillon Head, RHP Woo-Suk Go, OF Jakob Marsee and 1B/OF Nathan Martorella. Head, San Diego’s first-round pick in 2023, was the headliner package sent to Miami. He has elite speed, but injured his hip shortly after the trade and missed the rest of the year. If he can play a full season in 2025, it’ll be the first opportunity to see Head on the field for an extended period of time since he was drafted.

The full sell-off came about two months later at the trade deadline. A week before the deadline, the Marlins dealt A.J. Puk to the Arizona Diamondbacks for 1B /3B Deyvison De Los Santos and OF Andrew Pintar. De Los Santos is probably a top-10 organizational prospect and his 40 home runs (albeit with 144 strikeouts to just 34 walks) in 137 games between Double-A and Triple-A show why. Pintar could be interesting too after he tore up High-A as a 22-year-old in 2024 but struggled when moved up to Double-A.

Then came deadline day. The Marlins and Padres paired up again, this time with Miami sending Tanner Scott and Bryan Hoeing to San Diego for RHP Adam Mazur, 2B Jay Beshears, LHP Robby Snelling and 3B Graham Pauley. This was a monster return for Scott, who ended up being a Padre for all of two months before heading a few hours north to join the Dodgers in free agency.

Snelling was one of the breakout pitching prospects from the 2023 season when he had a sub-2 ERA in over 100 innings, but struggled in 2024 and had an ERA of 6.01 in Double-A with the Padres before the trade. He was much better after the trade, with his ERA after he got to the Marlins ending up at just under four. He even finished the year out with one start at Triple-A, going six strong innings with just one run allowed.

That wasn’t even all for Miami, also sending Jazz Chisholm Jr., who at that time was probably their face of the franchise, to the New York Yankees for C Agustín Ramírez, INFs Jared Serna and Abrahan Ramirez. The catcher Ramírez is the real prize in this deal, and he was one of the Yankees’ highest-regarded prospects at the time of the deal. His bat is legit, and while he might end up at first base instead of behind the dish, he has a chance to find himself right in the middle of Miami’s lineup. He’s hit at every level in the minor leagues and had 25 home runs and 26 doubles with a .845 OPS between Double-A and Triple-A in 2024. Serna is a good prospect in his own right, and Ramirez hit almost .350 in 49 games in rookie ball last season.

They also made a couple of small moves on deadline day, like dealing Huascar Brazobán to the Mets for INF Wilfredo Lara and dealing Bryan De La Cruz to the Pittsburgh Pirates for RHP Jun-Seok Shim and 3B Garret Forrester, but none of those three are very highly regarded prospects. They also sent Trevor Rogers to the Baltimore Orioles for OF Connor Norby and 3B Kyle Stowers, but both players have graduated from prospect status.

There are a handful of other prospects who were not acquired via trade last season who are notable, including 2024 first-round pick PJ Morlando. A high-school outfielder, Morlando has a good hit tool and solid power. 2021 first-round pick Joe Mack is a good catching prospect whose bat started to come around in 2024, and 2024 second-round pick shortstop Carter Johnson signed for a well above-average slot deal out of high school.

ANY 2025 IMPACTS?

We’ve already covered most of Miami’s farm system, but most of it is young and unlikely to make an impact in 2025. The two biggest prospects who are on the radar for this season are Snelling and Agustín Ramírez.

Snelling will likely begin the season in Triple-A, but with a shortage of talent on the MLB roster, the door will be open for him to pitch his way into the big league rotation. Sandy Alcantara will anchor the rotation, but even he is coming off Tommy John surgery so who knows how much they’ll be able to count on from him. Also, at the rate Miami’s been trading away MLB talent, Alcantara could very well not survive the trade deadline. After that, it’s Ryan Weathers, Edward Cabrera, Max Meyer and Valente Bellozo. Weathers, Cabrera and Meyer all have upside but also all have major question marks, and Bellozo is far from a lock to even win the final rotation spot out of camp, that could go to Mazur. There should be plenty of opportunities for pitchers to earn MLB opportunities, and Snelling will be at the top of the list.

Dax Fulton is another arm who could be in the mix, and he’s currently on the 40-man roster, unlike Snelling. A former high second-round pick, Fulton was a much higher-ranked prospect a few years year ago. However, missing most of 2023 and all of 2024 after undergoing his second Tommy John Surgery, he’s since tumbled down prospect lists.

As for Ramírez, there’s a chance he could make the team out of spring training. It’s probably not likely, but he played over 60 games at Triple-A last season. If he looks good in spring, there’s no reason not include him on the Opening Day roster other than service time manipulation. On FanGraphs, the projected starting catcher is Nick Fortes and the projected starting first baseman is Jonah Bride, so there’s plenty of opportunity there for Ramírez. That doesn’t even take into account the designated hitter where the current projected starter is the aforementioned De Los Santos. With 40 long balls and a near .300 batting average in 2024 he should absolutely be in the conversation for the Opening Day roster, and if he sticks he could be a sneaky pick to lead this depleted Marlins roster in home runs.

Other possible offensive contributors include Javier Sanoja, who made a big-league cameo in 2024. He is projected to make the MLB roster on the bench, and he could end up being a utility player. In just 15 games, Sanoja started games at second base, shortstop, left field and center field. Victor Mesa Jr. could also threaten for an MLB roster spot with the lack of depth the Marlins have in the outfield.