Fish Bites: Miami Marlins Prospects Fill the Headlines

The Miami Marlins may be bereft of present talent outside of Giancarlo Stanton, but they may have plenty of future talent if things bounce their way in the next few seasons. The plan behind the mega-trade with the Toronto Blue Jays was to start fresh around a brand new club and top prospects who could help the team in a few years' time. Unfortunately, that leaves the current Miami Marlins with some serious holes and no real way to fill them adequately. Right now, the best fans can do is dream about a nice potential future for the team.

- As mentioned, prospect talk is catching fire this time of year, and the Marlins seem to be catching some interest. John Sickels of SB Nation's Minor League Ball released his top 20 Marlins prospects over the weekend, and Baseball America just released their top 10 list as well.

- One thing about Baseball America's list is the conspicuous absence of Rob Brantly, the Marlins' slated starting catcher. He performed well last year, but James Bailey of Baseball America thinks J.T. Realmuto is better.

"I think he may be a safer bet than Realmuto, but I like Realmuto's ceiling better."

I may be willing to agree with that, as Realmuto is a much better defensive catcher and has a shot at developing a game similar to Brantly's at the plate, but Brantly is as of right now ahead of him in development.

- Speaking of the lineups the Marlins are running out there next year, Bryan Grosnick of SB Nation Tampa Bay says the Fish are looking ugly offensively in 2013.

What I'd like to do now, is give you the 2012 wOBAs for each of those eight players. Check this out:

• Juan Pierre - .320
• Donovan Solano - .314
• Logan Morrison - .308
• Giancarlo Stanton - .405
• Justin Ruggiano - .390
• Greg Dobbs - .297
• Rob Brantly - .358
• Adeiny Hechavarria - .281

This is not ideal, under any circumstance, folks. League-average wOBA for non-pitchers in the N.L. last season was, drumroll please, .327. If you could expect that each player would replicate their 2012 performance (which you probably shouldn't), that means that the team has three hitters that are expected to be above league-average.

And that is if you consider Brantly and Justin Ruggiano true-talent above-average hitters, which I do not and nor does Bryan.

- Strip Club With Stanton has foreseen this and many other problems and, I fear, he may very well be losing his mind. The good news is that he finally got Giancarlo Stanton's attention!

- Linda Robertson of the Miami Herald has also taken all of this in and finds it odd that the Tampa Bay Rays can be in a similar boat and be doing so much better. I have also made that argument before.

Around the League

- The big transaction news from yesterday is that the Los Angeles Angels signed Josh Hamilton to a five-year, $125 million contract. Jeff Sullivan has the reaction over at FanGraphs, while Glenn DuPaul of SB Nation's Beyond the Box Score asks whether the Angels are even better than last year's team?

- In a few smaller moves, a couple of former Marlins may be on the move to new teams. Ryan Dempster has signed with the Boston Red Sox for two years and $26 million. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs and Detroit Tigers are the major suitors remaining for Anibal Sanchez's services.

At Fish Stripes

- On Wednesday, I asked just how the Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins were diverging as organizations despite their similar salary restrictions. Smart baseball management and some excellent breaks on the draft have yielded major results for the Rays.

- Yesterday, I pointed out how the situations surrounding Miguel Cabrera after 2005 and Giancarlo Stanton after this latest fire sale are eerily similar. How will they play out?

- Prospect maven Sam Evans profiled Marlins Rule 5 draft pick Braulio Lara and his blazing fastball, among other things.

- Finally, I touched upon how plausible Baseball America's projected 2016 lineup for the Marlins was.