We’ve officially reached the portion of the draft where teams should seriously consider trading these picks to organizations that collect first-rounders like baseball cards.
The talent cliff is approaching rapidly.
Only one three-star hitter remains on my board: Alex Cora.
Only one three-star pitcher remains: John Rocker.
And after that? Welcome to the land of preferences, projections, and pretending your scouting department definitely had this guy ranked here all along.
The Florida Marlins are now on the clock.
Historically, this is where I’d start mocking them for taking a relief pitcher. It’s become something of a franchise tradition. Some organizations develop starting pitching. Some develop hitters. Florida occasionally looks at a draft board and asks, “But what if this reliever threw a little harder?”
And honestly, John Rocker is sitting right there.
Personality-wise, he’d fit South Florida like a glove.
That said, Pick #22 feels a little rich for him.
So instead, the Marlins turn their attention to a different pitcher.
John Halama.
And while this may not be the sexiest pick in the draft, it makes an awful lot of sense.
Let’s start with the obvious connection.
Florida just traded Al Leiter to Orlando.
Good left-handed starters don’t exactly grow on trees.
Neither do competent ones.
Halama gives them both.
Among the remaining pitching options, he’s one of the more major-league-ready arms available. The ceiling isn’t overwhelming, and nobody is projecting Cy Young Awards here, but that’s okay. At this stage of the draft, finding a pitcher who can realistically contribute meaningful innings is valuable in its own right.
The Marlins have enough questions throughout the rotation that immediate usefulness matters.
And being left-handed certainly doesn’t hurt.
In fact, that’s probably the tiebreaker.
There are several 2.5-star pitchers available who belong in roughly the same tier. Reasonable people could shuffle them around and make convincing arguments for almost all of them.
Florida chooses the one who fills a specific organizational need.
Not flashy.
Not revolutionary.
Just practical.
Which is admittedly a little disappointing because I had several paragraphs ready about John Rocker.
Maybe next pick.
PICK #22
Florida Marlins select SP John Halama