2011 MLB Draft: The 5 Prospects on Florida Marlins Radar with 14th Pick

The 2011 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft is a couple of weeks away and for the Marlins its come time to—perhaps—restock their farm system. 

The farm system for the Marlins ranks as one of the worst in the majors due to their recent surge in their talent on the major league roster (i.e. Mike Stanton, Logan Morrison, Gaby Sanchez, Chris Coghlan). 

Oddly enough, the Marlins have spent the better part of the past decade doing two things in the draft.

First, they've picked high-schoolers—usually from California—with the early pick.

Second, the Marlins pick pitchers which used to be the case until they changed course with their recent picks of Matt Dominguez, Kyle Skipworth, and Christian Yelich. 

Do they continue the trend with position players in 2011? No, and here's why—the Marlins have only two picks in the first 100 picks, not an issue in the MLB draft because most of the talent on rosters league-wide can come from later rounds. 

Furthermore, looking at their rotation, other than Josh Johnson who was picked in the fourth round of the 2002 draft, the Marlins have only picked Chris Volstad—who was picked in the 2005 draft. The others have been either signed (Javier Vazquez) or traded for (Anibal Sanchez: Jose Beckett trade and Ricky Nolasco: Juan Pierre trade). 

The Marlins do have potential starters in the minor leagues with Alex Sanabia, Sean West, Tom Koehler, Brad Hand and Chad James but the front office mentality has been pitching first. 

While the five prospects mentioned on this list only has three pitchers, the other two position players are worth taking considering the explanations that will follow. 

Blake Swihart, C

From: Cleveland HS, Rio Rancho, N.M. 

Description: Swihart has already committed to the University of Texas, but he is one of the rare catchers who is a switch hitter. Swihart has good athleticism and is not too tall for the catching position at 6'1'', so it's likely thats the position he'll remain at if drafted and signed.

Reports are he has a great arm behind the plate and some potential power down the road. Yet his main attribute is his switch-hitting ability for a back-stop. 

Why Marlins Should/Will Pick Him: Kyle Skipworth has perhaps hit his ceiling at AA Jacksonville and is hitting below the Mendoza Line. If anything, the Marlins could trade Skipworth as a trade chip in a deal to improve the team in other areas. 

Picking Swihart would make sense, since John Buck and Brett Hayes are seemingly holding the fort for the Marlins and might be for the next five seasons. This should give enough time for Swihart to be up for the Marlins if thats the route they decide to head. 

But they'll have to pry him from his commitment to Texas and the only way that happens is with a hefty signing bonus, but money talks and Swihart might take it. 

Henry Owens, LHP

From: Edison HS, Huntington Beach, C.A. 

Description: Owens notches 92 MPH with good command of his pitches.  Standing at 6’7", a pitch on a downward plane makes his fastball even harder for batters to hit.  He also throws a 12-6 curve with an occasional changeup which gives him the makings of a Randy Johnson-lite, without the heater. 

Owens recently hurled a no-hitter to defeat Corono Santiago in a playoff game, which shows his potential.

Why Marlins Should/Will Pick Him: Various attributes stand out from Owens to make the Marlins pick him at No. 14—he hails from California, more specifically a high school based in California and he is a left handed pitcher. 

Out of all the prospects mentioned on this rankings, Owens is the likiest one to be picked by the Marlins because of the reasons mentioned above but also his size, standing a 6'7''. 

The other bit of good news is that Owens, like last year's pick Yelich, committed to the University of Miami and could potentially follow in Yelich's footsteps and join the Marlins instead. 

Daniel Norris, LHP

From: Science Hill HS, Johnson City, T.N.

Description: Prep southpaw Norris stands at 6'3'', is 190 pounds and he hurls a four-seam fastball which ranges primarily from 91-95 MPH with occasional notches at 96-97 MPH. He adds a circle change which gets in the zone at 80-85 MPH and a 12-to-6 curve in the high 70s. In addition to those three pitches, he is adding a slider in the future. 

Why Marlins Should/Will Pick Him: If the Marlins prefer a bit more of a power arm, than Norris could potentially become that pick at No. 14. Norris is yet another potential high school pick for the Marlins who again are involved with the prep prospects whom they can groom through the minor leagues rather than go the college route and have to expect them to contribute sooner which could rush them too early. 

Norris can also hit, which can come as a bonus for the Marlins who are in the National League. He can sort be reminiscent of another Marlins lefty, Dontrelle Willis, before his control troubles started. 

Mikie Mahtook, Outfielder

From: Louisiana State University 

Description: Mahtook stands a 6'1'' and hails from Lafayette, Louisiana. The LSU outfielder bats right handed and has the potential to be a five-tool talent. 

Through 46 games at LSU, Mahtook was hitting .361-12-44 with a .697 slugging average and 25 stolen bases. 

Why Marlins Should/Will Pick Him: The Marlins already picked Mahtook once, back in the 2008 draft, albeit it was the 39th round and Mahtook decided to live the college life and improve his draft stock. 

If the Marlins don't find the pitchers they want, they might go this route and draft a position player instead. One of the things that makes Mahtook stand out from any position player the Marlins might or might have not on their radar is his athletic ability. 

Like another player on the Marlins roster, Mike Stanton, Mahtook could have played football but instead he chose baseball, despite the fact he ran a 4.44 in a 40-yard dash. Unlike Stanton, he displays superior speed, great arm strength and raw power potential.

The bottom line is the Marlins will have to be sure since this draft class is deep in top pitchers, but a future five-tool player might be too hard to pass up. 

Archie Bradley, RHP

From:  Broken Arrow HS, O.K. 

Description: Like Mahtook, Bradley is another two-sport player but the 6'5'', 230 pounder is a pitcher who has a cannon arm both as a quarterback and pitcher. 

Bradley throws both a two-seam fastball (at 94 MPH) and four-seam fastball (at 98 MPH) to go along with his offspeed pitches. He hurls a changeup (at 82 MPH) and knuckle curve (between 82-85 MPH). 

Why Marlins Should/Will Pick Him: He is perhaps the best available right-handed option for the Marlins to consider drafting at this spot. Bradley would fall in line with the Marlins obsessive high school picks and he has a live power arm and tall athletic frame. 

The Marlins can't go wrong with Bradley who can be groomed to be a future frontline starter, and maybe be brought up as a closer ala Neftali Feliz of the Rangers.