Marlins still weighing all options as they try to find the ‘face’ of their 2019 MLB Draft
It’s no secret what the Miami Marlins’ strategy will be heading into the 2019 MLB Draft on Monday. Take one look at the minor-league system, one that has made a marked improvement under the Derek Jeter/Bruce Sherman ownership group, and there is still one gaping hole that needs to be fixed.
They need hitters.
Luckily for the Marlins, there are a bounty of options at the top of the draft this year.
But what direction will the Marlins go when they are on the clock with the No. 4 overall pick?
“There’s a lot of discussion and a lot of opinions,” Jeter said Wednesday. “Our scouts have done a great job throughout the entire year keeping a close eye on all the guys at the top. Obviously, everyone’s in town now, so we’re going over each player now. There’s a lot of great players to choose from.”
Jeter, president of baseball operations Michael Hill and other top Marlins executives were in both Seattle and Birmingham, Alabama, last week to scout California first baseman Andrew Vaughn and Vanderbilt outfielder JJ Bleday, respectively. Both are pure power hitters, something the Marlins’ farm system desperately lacks.
Heading into the regional round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, Vaughn is hitting .387 with 15 home runs, 49 RBI and 49 runs scored in 50 games. He is the reigning Golden Spikes Award winner, given annually to college baseball’s top player.
Bleday leads college baseball with 26 home runs while also posting a .357 batting average, 67 RBI and 72 runs scored for one of the top teams in the Southeastern Conference this year.
If the Marlins were to take either of the college standouts, they would be breaking away from precedent. The Marlins haven’t taken a college player in the first round since 2013, when they took third baseman Colin Moran with the No. 6 overall pick out of North Carolina. He’s the only college position player the Marlins have drafted in the first round this century and just the third since 1992, joining catcher Charles Johnson from the University of Miami in 1992 and outfielder Mark Kotsay from Cal State Fullerton in 1996.
But the Marlins’ brass also said it won’t shy away from a top prep player if he fits what they need.
Other options at the top of the draft, depending on how the first three picks unfold, include Texas-based shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., the son of the former Texas Rangers and Marlins pitcher; Seattle prep outfielder Corbin Carroll; Arizona State outfielder Hunter Bishop; Georgia prep shortstop C.J. Abrams; and Oviedo outfielder Riley Greene.
“I view it as who’s going to be the face of your draft,” Marlins director of amateur scouting D.J. Svihlik said. “Who’s going to step up and be the guy? It doesn’t matter if it’s at four, at five, at six, at 10, at 20, that’s your first pick. You do everything you can to exhaust which player is going to come in and add to your organization immediately and in the future. That’s really all it is.”
Between trades, international signings and the 2018 draft, the Marlins have loaded up their farm system with starting pitching and outfield depth with eight of their top-10 prospects and 22 of their top 30 falling into one of those two positions. They lack a first baseman among their top 30 prospects, while James Nelson (No. 20 prospect) is the only corner outfielder.
But as the draft progresses, the Marlins are stressing that they will go with the best player available.
“There’s moving parts,” Svihlik said. “Because of the system that’s in place, the way money moves, you don’t know until the very, very end. You want to feel like we’ve got five, six, seven guys, but you don’t know until you sit down at the very end and strategize a couple of different options what’s going to happen.”
This story was originally published May 29, 2019 at 5:25 PM.
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