The Marlin who ‘may be the most asked-about in the organization.’ And a pending signing
A six-pack of Miami Marlins notes on a Thursday:
▪ Most of the Marlins’ top hitting prospects had a chance to hone their skills in Jupiter last summer as part of the team’s 60-player pool, MLB’s solution for dealing with rosters depleted by COVID-19. Many of them had an opportunity to play in the majors.
But there was one glaring absence on the Marlins’ 60-player pool list: outfielder Peyton Burdick.
Before his departure as president/baseball operations, Michael Hill said nobody should read anything into Burdick’s lack of inclusion on that list and shared this interesting nugget:
Other teams inquire more about trading for Burdick than most any other Marlins prospect.
The Marlins weren’t looking to trade him with Hill around, and that is believed to remain the case with new general manager Kim Ng having replaced Hill.
“Burdick was very impressive; we haven’t forgot about him,” Hill said in my final conversation with him before his departure. “The rest of the league hasn’t either. He may be the most asked about player in the organization. We’re going to keep him. It’s about production. And for Burdick in his first full year to do as well as he did was impressive. He’s a very good athlete.”
The right-handed-hitting Burdick, the Marlins’ 2019 third-round draft pick out of Wright State, hit .308 with 11 homers, 64 RBI, 20 doubles, four triples and a .407 on-base average in 69 minor-league games in low-level A ball.
As a bonus, Hill pointed out that the Marlins don’t yet need to protect him on their 40-man roster.
What’s appealing about Burdick and the more ballyhooed 2019 first-round pick, J.J. Bleday, is they were polished college hitters, giving them a decent chance of big-league success.
Bleday hit .257 with three homers and 19 RBI in 38 games in high-A Jupiter last season. He was in the Marlins’ 60-player pool last season but didn’t appear in a game for the Marlins and worked all summer in Jupiter. Marlins people believe he could be ready sooner than later.
▪ Look for the Marlins, in the coming days, to sign Yiddi Cappe, an 18-year-old Cuban shortstop who has been playing in the Dominican Republic and projects to have above average power. He’s rated the No. 5 international prospect in baseball.
“He’s going to hit,” a scout from another team predicted.
The Marlins are expected to give him $3.5 million, the second-biggest contract given by this ownership to an international player, behind only outfielder Victor Victor Mesa.
Here is MLB.com’s scouting report on him: “Tall and lean, Cappe has an athletic and projectable body. He has a body frame similar to a young Carlos Correa or Derek Jeter at a similar age with the potential to fill out as he develops.
“He projects to have average to plus tools across the board. At the plate, he shows advanced bat to ball skills and his bat tool projects to be above average. He makes hard contact to all fields and has an advanced understanding of the strike zone. He shows good footwork and solid hands on defense with plus arm potential. He could eventually outgrow the position, but for now, he’ll stay at shortstop until he is forced to make a change. He began playing baseball at age 4 in the youth leagues of Havana and in the national competition with the team from the Artemisa province at 16.”
▪ One AL scout who has watched both Mesa brothers — Victor Victor and Victor Jr. — says “I like the younger Mesa better [Victor Jr.] now, and I didn’t feel that way two years ago. He has a higher ceiling. He was a weak 16-year-old when I looked at him.” Both will begin this season in the Marlins’ minor league system.
▪ The Marlins are looking for another bat, a source reiterated. And among others, they have shown interest in free agent Braves outfielder Adam Duvall and Cubs catcher Wilson Contreras (who’s under contract), both according to MLB Network’s Craig Mish.
The right-handed hitting Duvall, 31, hit .237 with 16 homers and 33 RBI in 57 games last season. He hit .267 with 10 homers and 19 RBI in 41 games for Atlanta in 2019 after hitting .195 with 15 homers and 61 RBI in 138 games for the Braves and Reds in 2018.
The Marlins have had discussions with the Cubs about a trade for Contreras, who hit .243 with seven homers and 26 RBI in 57 games last season and .272, 24 homers, 64 RBI in 105 games in 2019. The Marlins are open to upgrading over Jorge Alfaro and Chad Wallach.
▪ Here’s one thing the Marlins feel strongly that all their young pitchers improve on: their preparation in the days between starts.
One Marlins person conveyed that Sixto Sanchez, in particular, has room to grow in that area.
“It’s their training, everything you have to do as a starting pitcher,” manager Don Mattingly said. “It’s not you show up on the fifth day and pitch. These guys need to continue to develop their pitches, do all the work in between so they stay strong. This will be good for them [Sanchez, Rogers, Garrett, etc.] but it shows they’re quite not at the [same level] as Sandy and Pablo.”
I have no issue with the Marlins not pursuing a veteran starter - at this point - to replace Jose Urena, who was non-tendered and signed with Detroit. It’s time to allocate all of the rotation spots to the young pitchers.
▪ Though some of the young hitters struggled, Mattingly seems convinced there’s going to be improvement.
Offensive coordinator “James Rowsom was huge coming in and overseeing the offensive side of things,” Mattingly said. “I thought he did a great job. There have been things that have been going on with guys daily that haven’t shown up the way you think you’re going to. Jazz Chisholm, Lewis Brinson… there’s work that’s going to show up that’s going to keep showing.
“Some of them struggled. Some of them looked OK. We’ll see in spring training how much this has helped them. Our position players got some exposure. Lewis Brinson made some big strides this year, has a chance to come into spring as a little bit of a different guy. Jazz, Lewin Diaz show you flashes of what they can do. All these guys have to get better.
“We’ve got a number of guys who have to take steps forward. You talk about the J.J. Bledays and Jerar Encarnacions of the world [two of the Marlins’ outfield prospects]. There are a lot of cats coming. You’re going to have to continue to improve.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2021 at 2:23 PM.
