The Miami Marlins have been able to build a pretty impressive roster over the past few seasons, and much of that talent has come from either their own farm system or has been developed by their coaches after being acquired.
With how young the core of the team is, there is certainly room to add via some offseason signings, while multiple roster spots remain for prospects to make debuts as well.
While the farm system has been very promising for a few years now, not every pickup works, whether it be via international signing or through the draft. A recent example would be Danny Gonzalez, an international signing from the 2022 offseason, who received a $150,000 signing bonus at the time.
Unfortunately, after four seasons, he has been released from the franchise, according to his MLB.com transactions page.
Gonzalez had shown flashes of being a productive fielder and was starting to improve at the plate, but ultimately, he had not made the jump to Single-A in four seasons, and the team likely wanted to open up some roster spots on its Florida Complex League roster.
How Did Gonzalez Produce in Miami’s Farm System?
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After joining the Marlins back in January of 2022, Gonzalez spent three seasons in the Florida Complex League and one in the Dominican Summer League. Each season, his hitting gradually improved to the point where last season, he actually looked to be right around what would be league-average in terms of efficiency.
In 33 games this past year, he slashed .257/.328/.352 with 13 runs, eight RBI, two home runs, three stolen bases, eight walks and 27 strikeouts. The strikeouts had been the most notable issue, and were at the worst point of his career in 2024, where he had 41 in 35 games compared to only 14 walks.
What was impressive was his defense, as he only picked up four errors in those four seasons, where he played four different positions, including all of the outfield spots as well as first base. He had a career .972 fielding rate and 129 putouts, which is quite impressive given the sample size of the Florida Complex League is only around 30 to 40 games a year.
After injuries held him back early on in his stint with the Miami farm system, he was just unable to find the offensive consistency he needed to be promoted, so he will now look for another team to try and continue his development.
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