There won’t be room for everybody, and that’s the way Major League Baseball likes it. The purpose of the annual MLB Rule 5 Draft is to prevent organizations from hoarding talent in the minors. Players who are at least four seasons removed from being drafted out of college and five seasons removed from being drafted out of high school or signed internationally are eligible to be whisked away by other teams unless they are protected on the 40-man roster.
At first glance, you may think that there are plenty of expendable pieces on the Miami Marlins’ 40-man, removing the drama from this year’s roster crunch. Keep in mind, however, that six injured players will have to be reinstated from the 60-day IL following the season. The “easy” decisions will get made then. The deadline to protect eligible prospects is in mid-November.
Catcher Joe Mack (a 2021 amateur draft pick) is in a tier of his own—he is certain to receive a 40-man spot, with the only question being whether or not he’ll make his Marlins debut before season’s end.
Let’s update the progress of seven lesser-hyped prospects who could be considered for Rule 5 protection depending on how the rest of their 2025 campaign goes. Their current MiLB level is in parentheses.
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OF Andrew Pintar (AAA)
Andrew Pintar slipped off of our Fish On First Top 30 list over the weekend. He’s still an intriguing prospect who leads all Triple-A Jacksonville players this season in Sprint Speed and has been successful on 15 consecutive stolen base attempts. The former Arizona Diamondbacks farmhand—he was acquired in the 2024 A.J. Puk trade—plays a smooth center field.
Since coming off the injured list at the start of August, Pintar has slashed .265/.375/.471.
The main concern with Pintar is that he might not be able to hit right-handed pitching. He has posted a 32% strikeout rate against Triple-A righties this season. Significant improvement in that area moving forward may persuade the Marlins to select him.Â
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RHP Josh White (AAA)
I could definitely see Josh White being a Marlins September call-up. All of the relievers covered below have practically the same earned run average, but White has been the most impressive of the bunch, with a 1.61 FIP that’s even better than his ERA. In fact, it’s the lowest FIP across all of Minor League Baseball among pitchers who have thrown at least 50 innings.
It doesn’t get much redder than this (courtesy of Prospect Savant):
White’s fastball velocity (93.6 mph) is actually a tick below the average for MLB righty relievers, but his over-the-top delivery is tough to adjust to and his slider dominates batters on either side of the plate.
If White is somehow left unprotected by the Marlins, he is the likeliest player here to depart in the Rule 5.
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RHP William Kempner (AA)
Oh look, another under-the-radar Peter Bendix transaction that’s paying dividends. Earlier this year, the Marlins traded $250,000 in international bonus pool money to acquire William Kempner from the San Francisco Giants. He had been injured for practically the entire 2024 season with the exception of a couple weeks in the Arizona Fall League.
Kempner has stayed healthy throughout his age-24 campaign, throwing the ball better than ever as we enter the home stretch. As of this writing, he’s in the midst of 12 straight scoreless appearances with only three earned runs allowed over his last 35 ⅔ innings pitched. Nobody has homered off of him since joining the Marlins org.
Unlike White, Kempner releases the ball from a very low arm slot, generating a ton of horizontal break on his sweeper running away from right-handers. He uses his mid-90s sinker to get ahead in counts against lefties by stealing inside strikes.
There are some similarities to the Marlins’ own Anthony Bender, though Kempner’s control is well below average for the time being.
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LHP Dale Stanavich (AAA)
After overpowering lefties a season ago, Dale Stanavich actually has reverse platoon splits in 2025. He’s throwing only 52% of his pitches for strikes with Jacksonville, otherwise he might have reached the majors already given the Marlins’ lack of reliable southpaws.
Although a 15% walk rate is obviously a red flag, Stanavich mitigates the damage by controlling the running game. No base-stealers have been successful against him all year (and only two of them were last year).
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RHP Jesse Bergin (AA)
Jesse Bergin was Rule 5-eligible in 2024, but there were no takers. That was understandable for a relief-only prospect with a mere three innings of experience at the High-A level.
Spending the vast majority of this season in Pensacola, Bergin is reliably inducing soft contact while striking out a quarter of opposing batters. Here’s a good example of how his fastball/curveball/slider arsenal works:
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1B Nathan Martorella (AAA)
Nathan Martorella possesses a promising combination of pull-side power and contact. It just has not been translating to much overall production since he was acquired in early 2024. In the San Diego Padres system, he had a 129 wRC+; in a near-identical sample size with the Marlins, he’s down to a 95 wRC+. Additionally, it’s rare for any player who is limited to first base defensively to get plucked in the major league phase of the Rule 5.
For what it’s worth, Martorella caught fire around this time last year with 11 homers over his final 30 games.
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DH Jacob Berry (AAA)
Former Marlins first-rounder Jacob Berry has never come close to justifying his 2022 draft position.
To his credit, this is shaping up to be his best professional season yet. If you were to generously give Berry a mulligan for the months of April and May (he is a notoriously slow starter), his slash line would be .292/.395/.458 with a 135 wRC+ and nearly as many walks as strikeouts. If he keeps that up, maybe another team rolls the dice?Â
Berry has a willingness to play various positions. However, his glove isn’t major league-caliber at any of them.
Interested in learning more about the Miami Marlins’ top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!