Which Miami Marlins draft class has become the best ever?

Will the Miami Marlins have the kind of success with recent draft classes as it did with the 2010 class that produced J.T. Realmuto and Christian Yelich?

How will this year’s Miami Marlins draft class rate in regard to others of the past?

With only five rounds for the front office to “get right” and bring in new talent to an already blossoming minor league system, will there be enough success to rank amongst the best classes in the franchise’s history?

By the way, we will have a few stories over the weekend about the MLB Draft and how this could be a good and bad year for the Marlins and the rest of MLB because of the decision to keep it short and simple.

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For now, let’s talk about the success of drafts in the past and how the Miami Marlins had one of the best classes in place that got away following the 2017 season, thanks to the decisions by new owner Derek Jeter, who traded away key stars to rebuild what had become a sinking ship of an organization.

For this, we enlist Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com to help with the assessment.

"“The Marlins were able to grab the best player in the 2010 Draft with the 23rd overall selection because Christian Yelich was a California high schooler playing out of position at first base and there were questions about his power,” Mayo writes.“They also stole baseball’s current top catcher in J.T. Realmuto in the third round, correctly projecting that the Oklahoma prep shortstop’s athleticism would ease his transition behind the plate. California outfielder Mark Canha was another good value in the seventh round.”"

Those players – Yelich and Realmuto – have helped to shape Miami’s current roster of players and will be responsible for determining how good the organization will be over the next five seasons when it is expected that the Marlins will be playoff contenders and potential World Series champions.

Most of us are still holding our breaths on that prophecy.

Yelich brought back a bundle in the trade with the Milwaukee Brewers in Lewis Brinson, Isan Diaz, Monte Harrison, and Jordan Yamamoto and then promptly won the 2019 National League MVP award after narrowly missing out on sending Milwaukee to the World Series.

Realmuto was sent to Philadelphia in exchange for Jorge Alfaro, Sixto Sanchez, Will Stewart. Sanchez figures to be on the MLB roster by the end of this season. Alfaro could be an All-Star this season.

The Miami Marlins front office did a solid job in Jeter’s second season as co-owner and CEO by drafting talent last season with experience at the plate and in the outfield. It started with JJ Bleday of Vanderbilt and Missouri’s Kam Misner and then trickled down to include high school shortstop Nasim Nunez and Wright State outfielder Peyton Burdick.

This season, the Marlins will hold the third overall pick in the Draft.

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Which Miami Marlins draft class is the best ever?

By David Levin | May 23, 2020

Will the Miami Marlins have the kind of success with recent draft classes as it did with the 2010 class that produced J.T. Realmuto and Christian Yelich?

More from Marlins Draft