NEWSLETTER
The Miami Marlins are set to make their first-round selection in the 2024 MLB Draft with the 16th overall pick.
Exploring Potential Fits for the Miami Marlins in the 1st Round of the 2024 MLB Draft
Miami owns the 16th overall selection in next month’s MLB Draft, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel believes that the Marlins are looking to take the best available talent in the middle of the first round. Here’s what McDaniel is hearing on the Marlins:
“I think the Marlins are looking at taking what the board gives them at this point, which is college position players. For this pick, that’s Christian Moore, Waldschmidt and King, who is the only one left in this scenario. They are also eyeing high school position players as backup/underslot options if things don’t go to plan here, which would also give them the potential to spend their savings/overage at their next two picks.”
McDaniel name-checks Tennessee second baseman Christian Moore as a fit for Miami in this spot, and The Athletic’s Keith Law agrees in his latest mock draft that dropped today.
“I’m not a big Christian Moore believer, but he definitely has his fans, and his high exit velocities are going to push him up for teams that draft heavily off a model, which is the expectation for the Marlins in their first draft under a new team president of baseball operations Peter Bendix. That could also mean Waldschmidt, Malcolm Moore, or White.”
In Law’s previous mock-up in May, he also had Miami going with a college bat, but it was Kansas State shortstop Kaelen Culpepper that time.
“Culpepper’s sliding a bit with some model-heavy teams because of his high chase rate (around 31 percent) and lack of a two-strike approach, so this may end up being high for him. He looks like he’ll stay at shortstop, and he’s got a great swing with incipient power that may improve with a little swing adjustment. I’ve heard the Marlins connected with King and would assume they’re on some of the other college bats in this group like Smith, Jordan, and Benge.”
We’ve got three college bats between McDaniel and Law for the Marlins, and MLB.com’s Jim Callis agrees with the direction but has a different name for Miami. Callis has Miami taking Wake Forest third baseman/outfielder Seaver King at No. 16.
“If a run of college bats doesn’t start with the Mariners, it will with the Marlins. Their targets include Smith, King, Tibbs, and Moore, though it’s possible none of them last this long.”
Jonathan Mayo’s pick for the Marlins matches up with Kiley McDaniel, with Miami taking Tennessee second baseman Christian Moore.
“This continues to sound like another likely landing spot for a college hitter. It’s possible Moore, with his 32 homers, could go higher than this, leaving the Marlins to consider names like Kentucky’s Ryan Waldschmidt — who has a ton of helium and is still playing — or Sam Houston catcher Walker Janek. They would also consider any of the trio of names I have going off the board 13-15.”
