Miami Marlins Top 50 Preseason Prospects: Maniac Edition

With less than a month until Spring Training officially gets underway, it’s time for another prospect ranking list.

We here at Marlin Maniac have stood by and watched as other publications get it….almost right. We’re here to bring you the definitive Marlins prospect list. The three authors here at MM, namely, myself, David Levin and David Fernandez, have submitted our individual rankings. What follows is the aggregate average.

As a general rule of thumb, I like to place limits on the players ages as relative to their current level of the organization. To wit, a player should be no older than 24 in Wichita, 23 in Jacksonville, 22 in Jupiter, 21 in Clinton, 20 in Batavia, and 19 at either of the rookie affiliates. There are hard exceptions to this rule. For example, I believe that players chosen in the 2019 draft should be exempted, as they haven’t had time to rise beyond the lowest levels yet, with notable exceptions. I also personally exempted Matt Givin, due to his Tommy John Surgery.

Despite my personal exemption, Givin didn’t receive the requisite aggregate rating to rank in the Marlin Maniac top 50. Others to receive votes and end up ranked 51 or lower were Junior Sanchez, Arquimedes Cumana, Stone Garrett, Leudy Martinez, Bryson Brigman, Jake Walters, George Soriano, Tanner Andrews, Sean Guenther, Riley Mahan, Alvaro Montero, Colton Hock, Henry Valencio, Tevin Mitchell, Javeon Cody, and Luis Lopez.

The talent represented by just those 16 players listed above should tell you something about the current state of the Marlins farm system. Two years ago it was a train wreck, whereas today it’s held up as one of the top five systems in all of baseball. We’ll start today with prospects ranked 46 through 50.

50) RHP C.J. Carter

How we voted: 

KK: 36
DL: 50
DF: Unranked
Expected in Miami: 2021

Charvez Jordan Wesley Carter is a six-foot, 165 lb. right-handed reliever out of Troy University in Alabama. Now 22-years-old, the Atlanta, GA native joined the Marlins organization as the 29th round selection in the 2018 MLB Amateur Entry Draft, with the 867th overall choice.

In Carter’s only season of Division 1 ball with the Trojans, he struck out 90 in 69 2/3 innings for a frightening 11.63 K/9 rate. He was 8-6 overall with eight saves and a 3.75 ERA in 32 appearances, 29 in relief.

Soon after the draft, and after three appearances at the rookie-level with the GCL Marlins in the Gulf Coast League, Carter joined the Short-season-A Batavia Muckdogs in the New York-Penn League. He surrendered just 18 hits in 27 1/3 innings, striking out 35 batters and going 3-2 with four saves and a 3.95 ERA.

In 2019, Carter reported to the Single-A Clinton LumberKings in the Midwest League, and pitched in 18 games for them, all in relief. he whiffed 39 batters in 31 2/3 innings, going 2-2 with three saves, a 1.17 WHIP, and a 2.27 ERA. Good enough for a midseason promotion.

On the last day of June, Carter was promoted to the High-A Jupiter Hammerheads in the Florida State League, where he put up a 0.41 ERA in 22 innings of work. He collected 20 strikeouts with a 1.14 WHIP, a 1-0 record, and another pair of saves.

Emboldened by Carter’s success, the Marlins issued a rare second in-season promotion, to the Double-A Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp in the Southern League. In his lone appearances, he was racked for five runs in an inning of work, but will garner a much longer look at the level in 2020.

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49) SS Joe Dunand

How we voted:

KK: Unranked
DL: 49
DF: 36
Expected in Miami: 2021

Joe Dunand is a six-foot-two, 205 lb. shortstop/third baseman out of North Carolina State. In three seasons of Division 1 baseball with the Wolfpack, he hit .268/.334/.476 with 29 home runs and 132 RBI. The Marlins chose him in the second round of the 2017 MLB Amateur Entry Draft, with the 51st selection off the board.

When he spoke to the media for the first time at the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp media day back in April of last year, the first thing people wanted to know had to do with Joe Dunand’s cousin, Alex Rodriguez.

Dunand may be a work in progress still as he has spent the last two years in Jacksonville becoming a better hitter. You could say that his defensive ability is a few steps ahead of his current offensive prowess. Still, he has a power rating of 55, considered above average and a possible future 20-25 home run big leaguer.

The 24-year-old south Florida native What’s the second round pick of the Marlins in 2017 and has slowly climbed the ladder. Hopefully this is the year that he takes another large leap towards the majors. Last year in the Southern League, he batted .242.

In 265 minor league contests, including 191 with the Jumbo Shrimp, Dunand has slashed out a .244/.314/.366 line, with 20 round-trippers and 116 RBI. It may be a couple seasons before the shortstop sees the Majors, but expect him to be better at the plate, with improved swing selection and better hitting in 2020.

48) RHP Remey Reed

How we voted:

KK: Unranked
DL: 48
DF: 33
Expected in Miami: 2022

Formerly ranked as high as the number 23 Marlins organizational prospect, six-foot-five, 215 lb. right-hander Remey Reed was Miami’s sixth round pick in 2016, 173rd off the board. An Oklahoma State University alum, Reed was 7-3 with a 2.34 ERA in 47 relief appearances for the Cowboys, with 81 strikeouts in 85 1/3 innings of Big 12 baseball.

Reed got his first extensive look at the professional level with the Muckdogs in 2017, for whom he posted a 3-4 record and a 4.44 ERA. In 50 2/3 innings, he racked up 47 strikeouts with a 1.28 WHIP, starting in 11 of his 15 appearances. 2018 would see him miss the majority of the season due to injury. According to Fish on the Farm:

Rather than using his long limbs to generate plus velo, he is a slow and deliberate worker with an arsenal that matches. Rarely touching 90, he releases late from a high over the top slot without much deception in his delivery. He commands his fastball well and it has a flash of late life to it but each of his secondaries, an 83-86 mph changeup, an 86-88 mph slider and a slow 71-74 12-6 curve are very unpolished.

Last season, Reed showed the Marlins a little more between Batavia and the Clinton Lumberkings. In 14 appearances, all starts, he went 7-3 with a 2.75 ERA and 76 whiffs in 75 1/3 innings and a 1.102 WHIP. He should be a cinch to begin the 2020 campaign with the Jupiter Hammerheads.

47) SS Demetrius Sims

How we voted:

KK: Unranked
DL: 47
DF: 32
Expected in Miami: 2021

Six-foot-two shortstop Demetrius Sims came to the Marlins in the 14th round of the 2017 MLB Amateur Entry Draft with the 419th pick off the board. An Ann Arbor, MI native, the now-24-year-old right-handed hitter and fielder slashed .299/.375/.390 in three seasons of Division 1 baseball.

Sims languished in 2017 and 2018, stuck between the rookie-level and Batavia. A solid 2019 has reenergized his prospect of someday making it to the top level of Marlins baseball. In 107 games between Clinton, Jupiter, (and four at GCL), he put up a decent .268/.365/.412 line.

Although listed as a shortstop, Sims has made 48 professional starts in the Marlins system at second base. His fielding percentage of .965 is marginally better than his .954 mark at shortstop, so its possible he makes a mark at either middle-infield spot. As quoted from a Joe Frisaro article on MLB.COM:

The fact that he was drafted in the 14th round won’t keep Sims from becoming a top prospect. James Nelson has proven that in one year. Nelson was Miami’s 15th round choice in the 2016 Draft. Now at Class A Greensboro, the third baseman is batting .342 and he is rated by MLBPipeline.com as the Marlins’ ninth overall prospect. As for Sims, his head coach at Bethune-Cookman, Jason Beverlin, believes his multi-sport background makes him a dynamic player. “There’s no doubt, I think his brother (Miami Dolphins draft pick Dion Sims) was a great role model for him,” said Beverlin, who has had about 10 kids drafted in his six-year tenure. “Really, showing him the way, and what it will take to get to the next level. Playing other sports, I think, was huge too. He could have played Division I football as well, at a number of schools.”

Sims should begin the 2020 season either in Jacksonville with the Jumbo Shrimp or in Jupiter with the Hammerheads.