MLB.com mocks starting pitcher to the Miami Marlins

JUPITER, FLORIDA - MARCH 12: A general view of the field after the spring training game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Miami Marlins at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on March 12, 2020 in Jupiter, Florida. Major League Baseball is suspending Spring Training and delaying the start of the regular season by at least two weeks due to the ongoing threat of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
JUPITER, FLORIDA - MARCH 12: A general view of the field after the spring training game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Miami Marlins at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on March 12, 2020 in Jupiter, Florida. Major League Baseball is suspending Spring Training and delaying the start of the regular season by at least two weeks due to the ongoing threat of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)

In the third year under Derek Jeter, the Miami Marlins are mocked starting pitcher Asa Lacy in MLB.com’s latest mock draft.

Evidently, our own Kevin Kraczkowski isn’t he only one who believes the Miami Marlins will select Asa Lacy with their first pick in the MLB Draft in June. According to Jim Callis of MLB.com, he has mocked the left-handed pitcher to the Marlins as well.

The Miami Marlins hold the third overall pick in the Draft, one that was cut to five rounds and will be conducted virtually like the NFL Draft was held in April. Due to the spread of the Coronavirus and MLB being locked down from all baseball activities since the middle of March, the Draft has been scaled down with the opportunity for undrafted players to sign as free agents with baseball organizations.

This should make for an interesting time for all 30 teams, not just the Marlins organization. This is the third year the MLB Draft will be conducted with Derek Jeter serving as the team’s CEO. Jeter in his first draft process focused on young pitching arms to cultivate through the minor league system.

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Last season, he and the front office took a different approach by leaning toward college players who had more experience and locating outfielders who could hit with power.

The Marlins now have one of the best minor league systems in all of baseball after years of trading away prospects under the watchful eye of former owner Jeffrey Loria and former team president Dave Samson.

In Lacy, the Marlins would get a player who could be a cornerstone star for the future. The Marlins have painstakingly spent the past two seasons building a franchise and organization from the ground up to be competitive for years, not a short-lived run.

Spencer Torkelson of Arizona State and Austin Martin of Vanderbilt are expected to go 1-2 in the Draft. That could change between now and the Draft.

“The Marlins likely will take whichever of the consensus top three prospects (Torkelson, Martin, Lacy) remains, Callis writes. “If Baltimore leaves both Martin and Lacy on the table, the belief is that Miami scouting director (and former Vanderbilt assistant coach) D.J. Svihlik will choose a Vanderbilt position player with a top-five pick for the second straight year, following J.J. Bleday at No. 4 last June.”

The Miami Marlins made a big splash last year by not only talking Bleday in Round 1 but following it up with outfielder Kam Misner out of Missouri and then high school shortstop Nassim Nunez.