JUPITER, Fla. -- A year ago, there was an overhaul of the front office to adjust to in the Marlins' world of player development, with Peter Bendix coming in as the president of baseball operations following the 2023 season, followed quickly by Gabe Kapler as assistant general manager, Vinesh Kanthan as director of baseball operations and Rachel Balkovec as the new farm director.
Then came a slew of on-field personnel changes that began with the Luis Arraez trade last May and kept going. The Marlins¡¯ new Top 30 prospects list features 19 players who weren¡¯t in the organization a year ago, 13 via trades and others coming in via the Draft and international market. It¡¯s added a new buzz to Spring Training on the Minor League side.
¡°I think the dynamic of bringing in so many new staff members, mixed with the trades and the Draft, a wave of new players mixed with a wave of new staff members, it¡¯s been exciting,¡± said Hector Crespo, the Marlins director of Minor League operations who has now been with the organization for 10 years. "Laying the foundation of what the expectations are moving forward has been really fun. The early camp went really well, getting guys to understand there are new initiatives, philosophies, core values, new practice environments. It¡¯s been fun to watch.¡±
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The Marlins have had more success on the pitching end of things in recent years, with top prospect Thomas White leading the way currently, so it¡¯s been particularly encouraging to see the volumes of bats Bendix and Co. have brought in. And some play premium positions, with catcher Agustin Ram¨ªrez acquired from the Yankees in the Jazz Chisholm Jr. deal last July and shortstop Starlyn Caba coming via the Jes¨²s Luzardo trade last December. Both are now in the Marlins¡¯ top five.
¡°If you see any great teams, their up-the-middle position players are really what carries their team,¡± Crespo said. ¡°So to think of Ramirez at the catching position, Caba at shortstop, having two middle-of-the-field pieces that could be impactful for us moving forward. It would be a joy to have them continue to develop and be cornerstone players here.¡±
Each of those players have things to work on to become that kind of big league fixture. Few question Ramirez¡¯s bat, and he registered an exit velocity over 115 mph in early Grapefruit League play to give a taste of what he¡¯s capable at the plate. There are more questions about his ability to stick behind it, with improvements needed across the board for him to be considered a viable option defensively. So far, the Marlins are bullish about him being on his way to getting there.
¡°Our catching group has put in substantial time to get him in a place where he can catch at the big league level,¡± Crespo said. ¡°We see what the exit velocity numbers are. I think the impact off the bat is pretty special, but his aptitude and his willingness to continue to learn and develop at the catching position is hopefully what's going to separate him and make him a big league catcher.¡±
Caba is the other side of that coin. He¡¯s a no-doubt shortstop with the glove, one who can make the routine and sensational plays. So far his offensive profile has been all about contact and getting on base. There hasn¡¯t been a ton of impact from either side of the plate, though at age 19 for all of 2025, thre¡¯s time for that to come.
¡°We¡¯ve seen the defensive capabilities, it¡¯s special,¡± Crespo said. ¡°Now offensively, we¡¯ve had the conversation where the weight room is going to be his best friend, diving into our strength program and making sure he¡¯s in there and getting his work in. The growth in the weight room is going to help out his offensive capabilities. There¡¯s bat-to-ball now, and with some strength components, hopefully he can see the actual trajectory of what that looks like.¡±
Camp standout: Karson Milbrandt
Ever since Milbrandt joined the Marlins as a projectable high school right-hander in 2022, he¡¯s shown glimpses of what was possible, especially with a high-spin fastball with tremendous carry and armside run that¡¯s a plus pitch when he commands it up in the zone. Everything else had been inconsistent, at best, with poor feel for any secondary pitches he could rely on to keep opponents off his heater.
¡°Hitters would eliminate anything that¡¯s offspeed and just sit on fastballs,¡± Crespo said. ¡°Now he has the ability to throw those [secondary pitches] more for strikes and with better shapes and actions. Guys having to play for all three has been tough on them. It¡¯s been cool to see him obtain as much knowledge as he has with this new group and being able to play with different grips. He¡¯s in a really good spot.¡±
It was just a two-inning stint, but Milbrandt showed the ability to use the work he¡¯s put in to be successful in game action when he came in after White in the Marlins¡¯ Spring Breakout game. The 20-year-old right-hander tossed two hitless frames, walking one and striking out a pair.
¡°We¡¯re really excited with where he¡¯s at right now,¡± Crespo said. ¡°He¡¯s always had the fastball capabilities and the shape has always been extremely exciting. His aptitude of now adding in a kick change and a sweeper has been really exciting.
¡°His biggest thing as far as areas of improvement was finding those secondaries he can get strikeouts with. Metrically, they¡¯re starting to grade out really excitingly. It¡¯s been cool to see the hitter feedback come back and say it¡¯s a different Karson.¡±
Breakout candidate: Andrew Pintar
He might not measure on the same scale in terms of impact prospects brought in via trade, but Pintar does have the chance to give the Marlins another acquisition who could help out up the middle. A fifth-round pick of the D-backs in 2022, he came to the Marlins from Arizona in the A.J. Puk deal at last year¡¯s Trade Deadline. After missing much of his Draft year with a right shoulder injury that required two surgeries, he played in just 58 games during his first full season because of a broken ankle.
Staying relatively healthy in 2024, Pintar played his way to Double-A before the trade. He was named the Arizona Fall League¡¯s best defensive player, impressive because he became a full-time center fielder just last year after playing the middle infield in college. He could be ready to take off another year removed from injuries and the Marlins think there might be more offense in there than anticipated.
¡°Our guys love the the defense, but his offensive capabilities have been ¡ not surprising, but it¡¯s very intriguing when you have a center-field profile who can play defense and also put together a competitive at-bat,¡± said Crespo about Pintar, who made a strong impression in big league camp by going 3-for-10 with a homer in Grapefruit League games this spring. ¡°He¡¯s really impressed our guys in the big leagues and we¡¯re excited to see what it looks like from here."
Something to prove: Jakob Marsee
Marsee jumped on the prospect map with a big 2023 season after the Padres took him in the sixth round of the 2022 Draft out of Central Michigan, reaching Double-A while ranking among the leaders in runs scored and walks before going on to winning Arizona Fall League MVP honors. The Marlins got him in the Arraez deal last May, and while he finished stronger at the end of the year at Triple-A, his season line of .200/.345/.316, albeit with 51 steals, was not exactly what he or the Marlins were hoping for. He¡¯ll have to show he can be more like the 2023 Marsee to make the jump to the big leagues, but there are reasons to be optimistic.
¡°Surface-level scoreboard numbers appeared down for Marsee last season after a long 2023 season and AFL,¡± Crespo said ¡°But underlying numbers (swing decisions, K/BB ratio) paint a more positive and insightful picture.¡±
What¡¯s new: Janero Miller
When the Marlins signed Miller out of the Bahamas for $950,000 in January 2023, he was an exciting two-way player who looked like he had the chance to either play the outfield or pitch, or perhaps both. The Marlins let him try both on for size in the early stages of his career. In 2023, he collected 28 uneven innings as a left-handed pitcher and 130 plate appearances. Last year, he only played the outfield, but the bat didn¡¯t really take a step forward, giving Miller a career .228/.341/.333 line across 86 Dominican Summer League games.
The experiment is now over. The 6-foot-2 southpaw will be a pitcher only going forward. That likely means a return to the DSL for the 19-year-old hurler, who has been 92-94 mph off the bump with his fastball but needs to work on his feel for secondary offerings.