Marlins: Braxton Garrett Climbs the Minor League Ladder

Braxton Garrett is one of the few Marlins prospects who were chosen from the old ownership group who is thriving in the minor league system.

Judging by what MLB.com’s trio of writers – Jim Callis, Jonathan Mayo, and Mike Rosenbaum – have to say, this is going to be the year Marlins fans talk about Braxton Garrett.

The starting pitcher who was the seventh pick in the 2016 MLB Draft, long before Derek Jeter started running the show, had an impressive 2019 campaign and could be the player we are all waiting for in the Majors by the end of the 2020 season.

“Every organization takes pride in its ability to identify and develop talent,” they write. “We’re the same way at MLB Pipeline, especially when it comes to predicting future breakout prospects.”

Garrett is part of the next wave of Marlins pitching prospects who will hopefully help this team reach the playoffs in the near future. How soon he makes his Major League appearance depends on his performance in the minors and how the other pitchers ahead of him progress and either make the parent roster or are traded for other prospects/players.

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“The Alabama high school product required Tommy John surgery after just four pro starts, costing him all of 2018,” they write. “Garrett looked like his old self last season, pairing a low-90s fastball with a plus curveball in high Class A, and could move quickly in 2020 as he puts elbow reconstruction further behind him.”

He should be part of the group of pitchers knocking on the door at Double-A Jacksonville at some point this coming season.

Right now, Garrett is No. 7 in the Marlins minor league system with Edward Cabrera right in front of him and Sixto Sanchez the top prospect in the Miami feeder system. Trevor Rogers, who is pegged to be the ace in Jacksonville, is eighth on the lost. Nick Neidert, Miami’s 11th ranked prospect, could be in the rotation following Spring Training.

The Marlins spent the first year under new ownership rebuilding the minors with trades that brought in pitching prospects for the future. Many have blossomed and Miami is now one of the best systems in the Majors, depending on what publication you read.

Garrett, Cabrera, and Rogers are three prospects that were signed by the ownership group before Jeter took over the day-to-day operations of the franchise. They have moved up the chain and should be included in the new blueprint the front office has worked to maintain.

Now that this is Year 3 of the plan, the Marlins may use some of their prospects to deal for more Major League hitters, especially if the players the front office brought in through free agency this offseason do not produce as expected.