Miami Marlins might have new No. 1 prospect in 2021

The Miami Marlins have an electric young arm that ranks first among the organization’s Top 100 MLB prospects heading into the 2021 MLB season.

It’s just not necessarily the prospect you think it is.

Miami Marlins: Has Edward Cabrera passed Sixto Sanchez?

The time has come again for the inimitable Keith Law’s annual prospect rankings (subscription required) and according to The Athletic analyst’s breakdown of the top upcoming talent in MLB, the pride of the Miami Marlins right now is not Sixto Sanchez, but rather one Edward Cabrera.

Now, as popular as Law’s rankings are, that is just one set of rankings. MLB.com very nearly turns the list upside down exactly, viewing Cabrera as not just worse than Sanchez, but worst of Miami’s five top-100 talents.

However, the upside evaluation on Cabrera presented by Law is really exciting stuff for the Miami Marlins organization.

Theoretically, the Marlins already have their starting rotation set heading into the 2021. Without question, the rotation is the strength of the team. Sanchez will likely find himself behind Sandy Alcantara and Pablo Lopez, the upside play of a formidable Big Three. Elieser Hernandez and Trevor Rogers fill out the back end of the rotation, fresh off of promising 2020 seasons.

The thing is, aside from staff ace Alcantara, everyone in this rotation comes with serious question marks. And even Alcantara might just be pretty good — better suited as a No. 2 than a No. 1 for a contending team. His position as ace rests heavily on track record — the only member of the staff who can even come close to claiming a similarly effective season as 2020 in their career.

In fact, everyone — Alcantara included — just produced a career year. While it would be foolish to dismiss all 2020 numbers because of the shortened season, it would also be foolish to assume there wasn’t some fool’s gold on every team’s roster.

Cabrera’s development, and outright ascendance if Law’s projections are correct, gives Miami a lot more flexibility. Arguably, it’s the best reason to believe the Marlins can manage to stay competitive in 2021.

With all the talent added to the already stacked NL East this offseason, Cabrera being good enough to even just push Lopez or Sanchez for playing time would be game changing for the Miami Marlins chances.

Alternatively, one of those top four arms could be moved to shore up the offense. Miami was looking almost thin at pitcher after the Jazz Chisholm and Starling Marte trades. Cabrera emerging to Law’s extent somewhat changes that narrative. Especially with another Top 100 talent in the system in Max Meyer, the third overall pick in last year’s draft.

For my money, Cabrera just became the most exciting player to follow when Spring Training gets under way. Whether he becomes a cornerstone or bargaining chip remains to be seen, it looks like it will be a lot of fun to watch.