Marlins Place Three on Seedlings’ Top 100

Prospect-focused FanSided blog, Seedlings to Stars is listing their top 100 prospects going into the 2013 season. So far, the Marlins have landed three players on the list.

Most of the Marlins recent trades have been met with well-deserved scrutiny. Rumors of corrupt management are enforced by owner Jeffery Loria’s past fire sales and his recent decision to forbid President David Sampson from doing interviews.

In spite of shady ownership and money-saving fire sales, one can’t deny the quality of the Marlins prospect crop this season, as highlighted by earning three spots between numbers 115 and 51.

Coming in at #106 was outfielder Marcell Ozuna. Ozuna’s best asset is his plus power, slugging .479 in his past two seasons in High-A Jupiter and Class A Greensboro. Marcell’s athleticism also allows him to hold his own in center field, despite being projected as a right fielder. Ozuna will have to refine his offensive approach this year in AA or be destined for a career of hundreds of big swinging strike outs.

#89 on Seedlings’ list was LHP Justin Nicolino. Nicolino looks  to start 2013 in Class A Greensboro, but his advanced polish makes him a prime candidate for a September call up. It’s interesting to see Nicolino so much higher than Ozuna at S2S, as Baseball America placed him a spot lower on their Marlins top-10 list. I suspect the reasoning is how much more likely Nicolino looks to impact the majors. Scouts can rave about tools and potential for days, but the ultimate goal should be to help the major league team.

Outfielder Jake Marisnick took #56 on Seedling’s list, and is the most developed prospect of the three names mentioned, having played in AA before 2013. Marisnick looks to be the safest of the three prospects, with the phrase “high floor” tossed around on Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus reports. As noted by Aaron Somers on Seedlings’ report, while he has the tools to make it to the majors, the question of where he’ll play remains. With Giancarlo Stanton holding down right field, and the better hitting Christian Yelich also projected for center field, Marisnick would have to improve his bat to avoid being blocked by more talented athletes.

As of Saturday, Seedlings to Stars has published their list up to #40. It should be interesting to see where a seemingly safe-bet like Christian Yelich winds up, and how aggressive Jose Fernandez’s placement is, or if another prospect makes a surprise appearance on the list. Make sure to keep up with updates this week at SeedlingstoStars.com.