Miami Marlins Intense Race for Draft Seeding Coming to a Close

June 11, 2013; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina third basemen Colin Moran (18) gets ready to make a throw during the 5th inning against the South Carolina Gamecocks at the Chapel Hill Super Regional of the NCAA baseball tournament at Boshamer Stadium. The Tar Heels defeated the Gamecocks 5-4. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

It has been a difficult season for the Miami Marlins. They were a young team that had drastically cut payroll. They were not expected by analysts to contend for the playoffs and they did not disappoint. They were eliminated from the playoffs seemingly months ago even though mathematically it may have only been weeks. Once eliminated from playoff contention the Marlins earn a seat in what I like to call the “Race for a Face”. I have dubbed this title as it provides the winner of this race with the first opportunity to draft the next face of the franchise. Sometimes you win this race multiple times and get to select multiple faces, much like the Washington Nationals did with Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper. Other times you swing and miss on your pick. Nevertheless, you get the best opportunity out of all of the teams to select someone who can change the course of your franchise.

With only a few games remaining on the schedule, the race for number one has already concluded, and barring some bizarre winning streaks the top of the draft order is pretty set.

With little surprise the Houston Astros were the big winners in the Race for a Face. This has earned them the number 1 seed and truthfully if anyone needs a face of their franchise it is the Astros. Even the Marlins have Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Fernandez. At this point, Jose Altuve is probably the Astros most easily recognized player and as someone who had Altuve on my fantasy team all year, that is not a good thing.

Unfortunately for Miami, they were not able to win this race either. It seems to be a trend these days. They did however take second which will still afford them with the opportunity to pick a player that should be an above average starter in the Major Leagues if not an all-star one day.

It looks like the Chicago White Sox will be selecting third in the draft followed by the Chicago Cubs and Minnesota Twins which still could flip-flop.

Stay tuned here at Marlin Maniac as we break down some of the possible selections the Marlins may make in the upcoming 2014 MLB draft.