Miami Marlins: Diving Deep into Prospect Jun-Seok Shim and the Bryan De La Cruz Trade

The Miami Marlins' signaled a full rebuild at the 2024 MLB Trade Deadline. The club made six total trades, all of which involved moving MLB talent for a slew of minor-league assets.

One of these deals sent career Marlins Bryan De La Cruz to the Pittsburg Pirates in exchange for two prospects: right-handed pitcher Jun-Seok Shim and first baseman Garret Forrester. How did Miami fair? Let's discuss!

The Slugger

Bryan De La Cruz remains a fascinating profile. The slugger's 18 homers place him just outside the top 40 in MLB. However, De La Cruz provides a massive boost to a Pittsburg team that has largely been void of power.

Former All-Star Bryan Reynolds paces the club with 19 homers while emerging star O'Neil Cruz has 17 blasts on the season. DLC's strength will undoubtedly help the Pirates as they seek to ride their trio of young pitchers to a potential Wild Card berth.

While De La Cruz is undoubtedly a useful source of home runs, he is also a flawed hitter. Most notably, he lacks the plate disciple to truly capitalize on his raw skills.

So far this season, DLC has fallen victim to 118 strikeouts. While this mark places him in the top 25 in baseball, it is not particularly concerning in a modern game where Ks are commonplace. However, it is distressing that the 27-year-old only has 25 walks on the season.

Unfortunately, This extreme K/BB ratio has been commonplace throughout DLC's four-year MLB career. Miami loses an exciting slugger in this trade. But they also unload quite a lot of plate disciple issues.

The Young Righty

In terms of the return, Miami's package is headlined by Shim. The 6'4" South Korean star is "said to excellent stuff." His fastball is his most dangerous weapon. It typically sits between 92-96mph, though he can dial it up to nearly triple digits when needed. He also features a plus slider (which typically sits between 80-85mph), as well as a curveball and a changeup.

The righty currently ranks as Miami's 20th-best prospect. However, depending on his development, he has a window to become one of the biggest risers or fallers.

Shim has almost no professional experience, making him an ideal candidate to enter Miami's pitching development program early. The Fish have long been skilled at identifying and developing above-average starting pitching. Shim's deep arsenal should have Marlins fans excited about his long-term potential.

The Sweetener

Forrester represents little more than a sweetener, as the 22-year-old ranks outside the list of top-30 Miami prospects. The first baseman is a solid athlete. He has experience at 3B and even worked as a catcher during his draft combine.

The former third-round draft pick (2023) finished his tenure at Oregon State with a .360 batting average, 26 homers, and 144 RBI. Most notably, he had the opposite profile of De La Cruz, finishing his collegiate career with more walks than strikeouts.

The son of former minor leaguer Gary Forrester, Garret has plenty of time to work his way through Miami's system with hopes of one day cracking the major league roster.

Marlins' Trade Grade: B