Big Moves: Miami Marlins Roster Shuffle Protects Seven

The Miami Marlins protected seven players from the rule 5 draft by placing them on the 40-man roster earlier today.

As late as yesterday, the Miami Marlins had 35 men on the roster, then picked up San Francisco Giants pitcher Julian Fernandez off waivers to leave it at 36.

The Miami Marlins protected Monte Harrison, Isan Diaz, Jordan Yamamoto, Jorge Guzman, Jordan Holloway, Kyle Keller, and Jose Quijada.

To make room, the Marlins removed three from the 40-man roster by designating them for assignment. Braxton Lee, Dillon Peters, and Ben Meyer.

Diaz, Harrison, and Yamamoto, you may remember, were three-quarters of the Marlins’ return for Christian Yelich. They join Lewis Brinson at the top level of affiliated baseball.

The Claimed

Fernandez spent the 2018 campaign on the Giants 40-man roster recovering from offseason surgery to his pitching arm. Despite his current placement, he will probably wind up at the double-A level for the Marlins.

The Protected

Harrison, Miami’s number two prospect, led the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp with 19 homers this year.

Diaz, a second baseman at Miami’s top two levels of minor league ball in 2018, totaled 13 homers and 56 RBI in 119 combined games. He’s currently the Marlins’ ninth ranked prospect.

17th ranked Marlins prospect Yamamoto posted a 1.83 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP while splitting time between three minor league levels for the Marlins this season. He also ranked third in the Arizona Fall League with a 2.08 ERA.

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Guzman, Miami’s sixth ranked prospect, has been known to touch 102 MPH on the radar gun, suffered to an 0-9 record with the Jupiter Hammerheads this year. He still has the ceiling and the makeup of a shutdown closer.

Holloway just completed his fifth season in the Marlins system. He only appeared in five games this year as he rehabilitated an injury.

After spending 2017 with the low-A Grasshoppers, Kyle Keller earned three (now four) promotions in 2018. He totaled a 3.08 ERA in 44 games, with a 1.10 WHIP between the Hammerheads, the Jumbo Shrimp, and the New Orleans Baby Cakes.

Quijada has impressed at every level of minor league ball in the Miami Marlins system, capping that off with a solid 2018 between Jacksonville and New Orleans. He had a 3.00 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP in 62 1/3 combined innings.

The Designated

Lee won the 2017 Southern League batting title with a .309 average between the Montgomery Biscuits and the Jumbo Shrimp. In 2018, he was three-for-17 in the early going for the Marlins. He’s the Marlins number 29 prospect.

Peters, who was rated the number five prospect in the Marlins system entering the season, split the year between the Cakes and Miami. He had a 7.16 ERA and a 1.77 WHIP for the Marlins.

Meyer had a 10.42 ERA in 19 innings for the big-league Marlins, with a 2.11 WHIP.

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