Marlins prospects to pay attention to in 2027

This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola’s Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Around this time last year, I accurately predicted a pair of Top 100 prospects who would debut for the Marlins during the 2026 season.

Catcher Joe Mack became a mainstay by early May and could win the National League Gold Glove. That same week in May, left-hander Robby Snelling got called up, then wound up undergoing season-ending elbow surgery. The only guess I got wrong was No. 1 prospect Thomas White, who dealt with injuries of his own and didn’t pitch after May 14.

Let’s switch up the prospect report this time around.

3 players who forced their way onto the radar this year
OF Cam Cannarella (Marlins' No. 5 prospect)
The Marlins named Cannarella their 2026 Player of the Year as part of their development awards for his performance across three Minor League levels.

In 98 games, the left-handed-hitting Cannarella slashed .324/.422/.512 with 22 doubles, one triple, 15 homers, 21 steals and 57 RBIs. He walked (60) nearly as many times as he struck out (79) in his first full professional season, which concluded at Triple-A Jacksonville.

The 23-year-old Cannarella, who was the Marlins’ Competitive Balance Round A pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, can play all three outfield positions. With Jakob Marsee due to miss some time in 2027 due to left elbow surgery, Cannarella could make a case to be on the Opening Day roster and stick around.

OF/1B Brandon Compton (Marlins' No. 13 prospect)
Like Cannarella, Compton was a member of the Marlins’ 2025 Draft class (second round) and went from High-A Beloit to Triple-A Jacksonville in ‘26.

Compton, who turns 23 on Oct. 27, earned Double-A Pensacola MVP for his otherworldly production over a 50-game stretch this summer: a .332/.421/.759 slash line with 15 doubles, one triple, 21 homers and 54 RBIs. His 12 home runs in July were the most by a Marlins Double-A player in a single month as far back as 2005, and he went on to lead the organization with 36 combined home runs, 103 RBIs, 104 walks, 65 extra-base hits, 262 total bases and 93 runs.

Getting work in at first base will be a focus for Compton over the offseason since the organization is stacked with left-handed-hitting outfielders in both the upper levels of the Minors and on the big league club.

RHP Eliazar Dishmey (Marlins' No. 30 prospect)
In a system with headliners like White, Snelling, Karson Milbrandt and Kevin Defrank, it was Dishmey who garnered Pitcher of the Year honors.

After dominating High-A batters (2.14 ERA, 0.98 WHIP) over seven starts to open his season, the Dominican-born Dishmey carried that over to Double-A Pensacola, where he posted a 3.30 ERA and a 1.056 WHIP in 16 starts to become the Southern League Pitcher of the Year. 

Dishmey, who turns 22 on Oct. 25, finished among the Minor League leaders in expected weighted on-base average (.239, first), strikeout rate (33.3%, third), called strike plus whiff rate (33.5, fifth) and fielding independent pitching (2.68, eighth). He was also one of only three pitchers across all of the Minors to record a strikeout rate above 30% and an opponents’ average below .200 (.167), while pitching at least 100 innings.

2 possible breakout players to watch in 2027
INF Juan Matheus (Marlins' No. 23 prospect)
Cannarella and Compton weren’t the only ones to go from Beloit to Jacksonville this season. The 22-year-old Matheus, who was part of the Ryan Weathers trade, slashed .266/.342/.421 with 27 doubles, two triples, 16 homers and 85 RBIs in 135 games between the three levels. Known more for his bat-to-ball skills, the switch-hitting Venezuelan showed more pop with the Marlins’ organization despite being undersized (5-foot-9).

OF Wessley Roberson
The left-handed-hitting teenager got a six-game sample of professional baseball after being selected in the fourth round of this year’s Draft out of Glynn Academy in Brunswick, Ga. At 18, Roberson was nearly three years younger than the rest of the Florida State League, and he went 5-for-18 with eight runs, two doubles, four steals, seven walks and nine strikeouts.

1 big question for next season
With a heavy dose of prospects in the upper levels of the Minors, how many will debut for the Marlins in 2027? And since there is only so much space to go around on a 40-man roster, how many could be traded from areas of depth?

If he stays healthy, White should debut at some point next season. The aforementioned Cannarella and Compton are trending to do so sooner rather than later. Others who finished 2026 at Triple-A include Milbrandt (Marlins' No. 6 prospect), outfielders Kemp Alderman (No. 8) and Brendan Jones (No. 28) as well as infielders Brayden Taylor (No. 10), Jonathon Long (No. 19) and Matheus.

Only Milbrandt and Alderman are homegrown; the others came to the Marlins via trades that president of baseball operations Peter Bendix executed.