The newest batch of top 100 prospect lists are out, and the Marlins are well represented.
Baseball America’s list, which is widely respected, features five Marlins in the top 55:
Left-handed pitcher Thomas White at No. 13; left-handed pitcher Robby Snelling at 41; shortstop Aiva Arquette at 42; outfielder Owen Caissie at 43 and catcher Joe Mack at 55.
Meanwhile, The Athletic’s Keith Law has Arquette as Miami’s top prospect, 32nd overall, and says the seventh overall pick of the 2025 draft is “legitimately 6-5 and already 230ish, which will make him one of the biggest shortstops in MLB history if he stays at the position. It’s much more likely he ends up at third base, even though he has good hands and a plus arm.”
Law said Arquette “has 25-30 homer upside with a good feel for the strike zone. If you think he can stick at shortstop, he’s a potential All-Star who could be the best player on the Marlins when he arrives.”
Law slot White at 33 in his top 100, right behind Arquette. White appears likely to make his big-league debut this season and has a chance to win a rotation spot this spring.
“He has No. 2 starter upside, with a wide range of outcomes depending on how the command and control develop,” Law said. “He’s one of the top left-handed pitching prospects in baseball, and with more and better strikes he could be the best one in a year.”
Law notes that White struck out an impressive 39 percent of batters he faced in Double A while walking 12.6 percent.
Law slots Mack 52nd; he’s expected to begin the season at Triple A, but figures to make his big-league debut at some point this season.
Law said Mack “might be the rare high school catcher drafted up top (pick No. 31, the Marlins’ second pick in 2021) who pans out as a catcher in the big leagues, as he’s a plus defender with the pull power to get to 20 homers a year, more than enough to be a regular in the big leagues right now.”
Snelling, who throws a mid-90s fastball as well as a slider and change-up, is 63rd on Law’s list. He has an outside chance to win a rotation job in spring training.
Law said Snelling is “could be someone’s No. 5 starter right now, with a realistic ceiling of a No. 3 and a chance he becomes even more if his command continues to improve, and he develops the change-up more.”
Here’s Law’s piece with more Marlins comments and his full top 100.
Overall, Law ranks the Marlins’ farm system just 22nd, adding: “They haven’t had a lot of development success stories and their 2024 draft has been a disaster so far. … They changed course in the 2025 draft and took college players with all 21 picks, with their first two selections being particularly exciting — I think they got the best college position player in the draft with… Arquette.”
This and that
▪ ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel lists the Marlins’ top 10 prospects in this order:
White; Arquette; Snelling; Jakob Marsee; Mack; shortstop Starlyn Caba; outfielder Cam Cannarella; shortstop Max Acosta, center fielder Andrew Salas and right-hander Kevin DeFranc.
Marsee’s inclusion is odd, because he is already entrenched as Miami’s center fielder.
McDaniel noted that “White continued his ascent up the top 100 while Snelling’s stuff came back to life after being acquired at [the 2024 trade] deadline and he’s now back in the top 100. Arquette and Cannarella were the top two picks from the draft while Defrank emerged as a power arm in the low minors.”
▪ MLB Network rated Xavier Edwards as the eighth-best second baseman in baseball, behind Arizona’s Ketel Marte; the Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr.; the Cubs’ Nico Hoerner; the Cardinals’ Brendan Donovan; the Mets’ Marcus Semien; Houston’s Jose Altuve; and Detroit’s Gleyber Torres.
Edwards, who began the season at shortstop before flipping positions with Otto Lopez on May 30 in a move that proved fruitful for both players, hit .283 (.343 on base) with 20 doubles, three homers, 43 RBI, 27 steals in 34 attempts in 139 games and 619 plate appearances.
“He’s going to play really good defense; he’s going to steal you bags,” MLB Network analyst and former Marlins outfielder Cliff Floyd said. “And when you’re looking for a leadoff guy, he is it.”
After committing six errors in 41 games at shortstop early in the season, Edwards committed just four in 96 games at second base.
▪ At this point, one Marlins player on the 40-man roster is expected to miss the season: reliever Ronny Henriquez, who underwent elbow reconstruction in December.
GARCIA RETIRES
Outfielder Avisail Garcia, whose immensely disappointing Marlins career seemed to deter the franchise from offering players pricey multi-year contracts in free agency over the past four years, announced his retirement on Monday afternoon.
In a deal advocated by then-Marlins CEO Derek Jeter, the Marlins signed Garcia to a four-year, $53 million contract in December 2021, months after a season in which he hit 29 homers and drove in 86 runs for the Milwaukee Brewers.
But Garcia was a bust in Miami, hitting .217 (.260 on base) with 13 homers and 49 RBI in 153 games over two-plus seasons before being released in June 2024, early in the third year of the deal.
He underwent back surgery months after his release and never played again. But the Marlins had to keep paying him — $12 million in 2025 and $5 million in recent months, as part of a buyout of his 2026 club option.
“Today I formally announce the end of my career in Major League Baseball after 12 seasons of dedication and hard work,” Garcia – who was an All Star in 2017 – said in a statement released by his agency on Monday. “Thank you to God for the blessing of fulfilling my childhood dream—of playing baseball at its highest level.”
Garcia hit 140 home runs over his 11 seasons while earning more than $84 million.
ROSTER MOVE
The Marlins claimed right-handed pitcher Garrett Acton off waivers from Colorado and designated outfielder Victor Mesa Jr. for assignment.
Action has a 10.80 ERA in 6 2/3 innings in seven big-league appearances — including six games for the A’s in 2023 and one appearance for Tampa Bay last season.
The Naperville, Ill. native, spent the majority of last season with Triple-A Durham, appearing in 45 games (four starts) and producing a 5-1 record, 5.59 ERA (18 ER/58.2 IP), and three saves with 39 hits, 27 walks, and 71 strikeouts.
Acton missed the 2024 season after Tommy John surgery.
Mesa had six hits, five walks and five strikeouts in 38 plate appearances for the Marlins last season, his first big league action after hitting .257 in six minor league seasons.
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This story was originally published February 3, 2026 at 12:24 PM.
Miami Herald
Barry Jackson has written for the Miami Herald since 1986 and has written the Florida Sports Buzz column since 2002.