The Marlins hope to make a splash in the 2020 MLB Draft. Here’s what you need to know
The Major League Baseball Draft is back, even though it’s shorter and socially distanced this year. It’s a two-day event this year instead of three and a five-round process instead of 40 rounds.
Day 1 of the draft, which includes the first 37 picks, starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday with televised coverage on the MLB Network and ESPN. Day 2, which covers rounds 2-5, starts at 5 p.m. Thursday and will be televised on MLB Network and ESPN2.
The Miami Marlins have six of the 160 picks — Nos. 3, 40, 61, 75, 104 and 134 — and a $12,016,900 bonus pool to work with if all six players sign to contracts. The club is going in with the mind-set that it can still fortify their organizational depth despite a drastically shortened draft.
“The 2020 class is really strong,” said Marlins director of amateur scouting DJ Svihlik, who will be the Marlins’ baseball operations executive represented on the draft broadcasts. “I’m excited about what’s going to come in, even though we won’t be able to introduce the volume that we did in previous years.”
The logistics
The draft was condensed by 35 rounds due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which caused MLB to come to a halt on March 13, two weeks before what was supposed to be Opening Day. The league and MLB Players Association are still negotiating a deal to start a consolidated 2020 season, but both sides are still far apart.
The pandemic has also impacted the logistics of how front offices will handle the draft. Under normal circumstances, baseball operations executives and scouts would be in a room together as the draft unfolds. This year, everyone is working remotely, which adds another layer of challenges to deal with.
“There’s a lot of moving pieces in the major-league draft,” Svihlik said, “and unless you’ve been in a draft room and you’ve watched how dynamic it is and how quickly things change as picks come off the board, it’s hard to even comprehend how difficult and challenging this might be.”
Svihlik, president of baseball operations Michael Hill, vice president of player development and scouting Gary Denbo and director of player personnel Daniel Greenlee in addition to scouts and crosscheckers held a virtual mock draft Sunday to make sure everyone has a feel for the technology — primarily Zoom and Microsoft Teams — they will be using on draft day.
This is especially important Thursday, given that teams have two minutes to make picks for the final four rounds and teams usually firm up draft decisions about 15 picks before they are on the clock. Svihlik said he and the rest of the front office need scouts ready “at a moment’s notice” to provide clarity on prospects.
“Things change rapidly as players are coming off the board,” Svihlik said. “... We’re talking to different people to try to get a handle around what different players are going to be available.
“Everybody will be involved. So we’re going to just utilize the technology like all the other teams and do it virtual, which was mandated by Major League Baseball.”
History of the No. 3 pick
The Marlins hope to land a high-impact player with the No. 3 overall pick. Most likely, they will be selecting one of Arizona State first baseman Spencer Torkelson, Vanderbilt outfielder/third baseman Austin Martin and Texas A&M pitcher Asa Lacy depending on how the Detroit Tigers and Baltimore Orioles pick before them.
One thing the Marlins have in their favor: The third overall pick in the draft has produced some of the league’s bigger names as of late.
Some notables: Cleveland Indians pitcher Trevor Bauer (drafted by the Diamondbacks in 2011), San Diego Padres shortstop and Miami native Manny Machado (drafted by the Orioles in 2010), San Francisco Giants third baseman Evan Longoria (drafted by the Rays in 2006), Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer (drafted by the Royals in 2008) and Colorado Rickies pitcher Jon Gray (drafted in 2013).
All five have career Wins Above Replacement marks of at least 10, with Longoria (56) and Machado (36.7) well above that mark. The quintet has also combined for nine All-Star Appearances and nine Gold Glove Awards.
And more talent from that draft spot is on its way to the MLB level.
Each of the past four players to be selected third overall is among the league’s top 37 prospects: White Sox first baseman Andrew Vaughn (No. 16 overall prospect), Phillies third baseman Alec Baum (No. 30 overall prospect), San Diego Padres left-handed pitcher Mackenzie Gore (No. 5 overall prospect) and Atlanta Braves right-handed pitcher Ian Anderson (No. 37 overall prospect). All but Vaughn, last year’s No. 3 overall pick, were projected to make their MLB debut this season.
The Marlins’ needs
While the Marlins now have what is generally considered a top-five minor-league system, they still have areas where they need to improve their depth.
Most of it revolves around the infield.
Of the Marlins’ top 30 prospects heading into the draft, there is just one first baseman (Lewin Diaz, No. 7), one catcher (Will Banfield, No. 25) and no third basemen or second basemen. They have five shortstops on the list, headlined by Jazz Chisholm at No. 3 with Jose Devers (No. 11), Jose Salas (No. 16) and Nasim Nunez (No. 17) all in the top 20.
The remaining 23 — including eight of the top 10 — are pitchers and outfielders, although Michael Hill will be the first to admit that a team can never have enough quality pitching in the organization.
What about undrafted prospects?
With more than 1,000 fewer picks than a normal draft year, hundreds of high-end players who under normal circumstances would be selected in the middle and late rounds will not hear their names called. That leaves players and teams alike preparing for an undrafted free agent process will unfold similar to the NFL Draft, where teams will be making a sales pitch to the same set of players in a short amount of time.
The caveat: Teams are only allowed to offer undrafted prospects a maximum signing bonus of $20,000, down considerably from the $125,000 maximum offer from previous years.
Teams will be challenged with figuring out which players will be most likely to sign, part of what Svihlik called “this unknown that faces every single team.”
Marlins draft preview show
The Marlins will be hosting a virtual predraft show on their YouTube page to give fans a better idea of their thought process for the 2020 draft.
The show, which begins at 6:30 p.m. on the Marlins’ YouTube page, will feature Hill, Denbo, Svihlik and former Marlins first-round picks JJ Bleday (2019), Connor Scott (2018) and Trevor Rogers (2017) among others.
This story was originally published June 9, 2020 at 10:48 AM.
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