MIAMI, FL—For as much as the Miami Marlins overachieved at the major league level in 2025, the main story for the organization this year was their great results in the minors. Some of their top-ranked prospects moved closer to reaching their full potential and under-the-radar players took leaps forward, too. It led to a lot of winning in MiLB competition, and that should trickle up to the majors in the coming years if the Marlins continue to be on the cutting edge of player development innovation.
“Incredible year,” said director of minor league operations Hector Crespo. “Testament to our entire player development staff and our players as well…I think if you look at it from a whole, four of our seven affiliates made the playoffs, we had our best winning percentage as an organization since 2015. Pitching-wise, top five in strikeout percentage, walk percentage, strikeout-to-walk percentage, miss percentage and chase percentage. Offensively, our best season in walk rate and chase rate. Defensively, led all of baseball in metrics that we value as far as movement, range, burst and reaction. So many good things that happened.”
The Marlins recognized the winners of their 2025 Organizational Minor League Awards on the field prior to Saturday’s game against the New York Mets. Several of the winners could not attend because the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp were on the other side of the country preparing to play in the Triple-A National Championship Game. The Shrimp won in walk-off fashion.
The Marlins selected catcher Jeremy Almonte as their Student of the Year and High-A Beloit manager Angel Espada as their Staff Member of the Year. The following nine players earned awards for their on-field performance.
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Hitter of the Year: Kemp Alderman
During Pensacola Blue Wahoos media day, Alderman told a small group of reporters that he wanted to have a 20/20 season. He followed through on that with 22 home runs and 22 stolen bases between Double-A and Triple-A while slashing .285/.338/.482/.819 with a 135 wRC+.
“Tough season last year just from an injury perspective,” Crespo said. “Played half of the year in the Arizona Fall League. So happy with him really taking his training into games and his deficiency—which was fastball velocity in the zone—and seeing him continuously train that, be bullish about it, be willing to fail so that he could set himself up for a really good year.”
After being promoted, the 23-year-old outfielder posted an average exit velocity of 95.0 mph, which was a top-10 mark among all AAA players this season, per Prospect Savant.
Expect Alderman to receive an invite to big league spring training camp and debut with the Marlins during the first half of 2026.
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Pitcher of the Year: Robby Snelling
Acquired from the San Diego Padres last year as the main piece in the Tanner Scott/Bryan Hoeing trade, Snelling has turned his career around with the Marlins organization. After starting the season in AA, Snelling was promoted to AAA where in 63 ⅔ innings pitched, he was even more dominant with a 1.27 ERA, 2.62 FIP, 11.45 K/9 and 2.40 BB/9 in 11 starts. Between both levels, he finished his year with a 2.51 ERA, 2.77 FIP, 10.99 K/9 and 2.58 BB/9 through 136 innings pitched (25 starts).
Snelling’s fastball improved in terms of both velocity and command, leading to more swing-and-miss. He was also able to manage the quality of contact against him, going from a 43.8% ground ball rate in 2024 up to a 50.8% this season.
Snelling is ready to contend for a spot in the Marlins starting rotation.
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Triple-A MVP: Jakob Marsee
Marsee was looking like the obvious choice for Player of the Year, but he played so well that the Marlins called him up two months ago. Underlying numbers indicated that he was running into bad luck in 2024. That luck evened out in 98 games with Jacksonville, where he slashed .246/.379/.438/.817 with 14 home runs, 37 RBI, 47 stolen bases and a 126 wRC+. His production has actually been better than that in the majors—he’s been the most valuable player on the Marlins since the start of August.
Marsee works long at-bats and makes a big impact on the bases while showing the ability to play all three outfield spots. The Marlins may have developed a true long-term everyday player.
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Double-A MVP: Thomas White
Fish On First’s number one prospect put himself in the conversation for MiLB’s best left-handed pitching prospect. White pitched to a 2.83 ERA with the High-A Beloit Sky Carp before earning the promotion to Pensacola. This was by far his best stretch of baseball, posting a 1.59 ERA, 2.24 FIP, 14.89 K/9 and 4.76 BB/9 through 45 â…“ innings pitched. White was promoted to Triple-A Jacksonville and in two starts, he posted a 3.86 ERA.
Crespo described the duo of Snelling and White as “the cream of the crop from a left-handed pitcher perspective as far as the entire organization and system and really league-wide.”
Turning 21 years old on Monday, White has already filled out his 6’5″ frame and touched 100 mph several times in game action.Â
White will likely begin the 2026 season back in Jacksonville.
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High-A MVP: Karson Milbrandt
While with Beloit, Milbrandt posted a 3.26 ERA, 3.20 FIP, 11.75 K/9 and 5.00 BB/9 through 77 â…“ innings pitched. He looked sharp in his two starts versus AA competition as well.
“He probably had his best offseason from a physicality standpoint,” said Crespo about the 2022 draft pick. “You guys have heard us talk about strength and conditioning be our foundation and I think the way he prepared his body coming into the spring this year was really the separating dynamic for him to be able to pitch over the course of the year as well. I think we always knew he had the stuff—it was just more so the consistency of it.”
Milbrandt made a big jump in the strikeout department from a 8.39 K/9 to a career-high 11.75 K/9. The right-hander noted that adding a cutter was “probably the big thing this year—just having a bridge pitch off the fastball and all the other sweeper, curveball and changeup.”
The Marlins are sending Milbrandt to the Arizona Fall League after a minor injury limited his workload early in the season.
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Low-A MVP:Â Eliazar Dishmey
It was a rocky end for Eliazar Dishmey in 2024, forcing him to repeat the level this season. He made the necessary adjustments and finished the 2025 season with a 2.90 ERA, 3.60 FIP, 9.79 K/9 and 4.35 BB/9 through 99 â…“ innings pitched (which includes his five High-A starts). He allowed only three home runs.
Dishmey will begin the 2026 season in High-A and continue to try establishing himself as a long-term starter.
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FCL MVP: Nate Payne
Selected in the 18th round of the 2024 MLB Draft, Payne made 17 total starts between the complex league and Low-A. He finished the season with a 3.20 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 11.66 K/9 and 5.91 BB/9 through 56 â…“ innings pitched. Opponents only hit .176 against him, but consistently throwing strikes was an issue.
Payne will begin next season in Low-A and get an opportunity to work deeper into his starts
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DSL Miami and DSL Marlins MVPs: José Castro and Luis Cova
Castro had the biggest jump in production from 2024 to 2025, going from a 70 wRC+ to a 136 wRC+. In 52 games, he slashed .264/.399/.585/.985 with 16 home runs—that’s a new single-season Dominican Summer League record. Another major improvement for the 18-year-old outfielder was cutting his strikeout rate from 33.3% to 26.1%.
It came as a surprise that Cova, who signed for $1.4 million in 2024, spent a second full season in the DSL. He showed there’s nothing left to prove after stealing 35 bases and slashing .299/.422/.537/.959 with nine home runs, 35 RBI and a 154 wRC+. He was DSL Miami’s regular center fielder.
Expect both players to come stateside in 2026 and begin the season in the FCL.
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!