5 Marlins who have best chance to represent Miami in Baseball Hall of Fame
Miami Marlins Hall of Famer No. 2- Eury Perez
This next player on the list of prospective Miami Marlins Hall of Famers is all about potential.
That's really all fans know of Eury Perez at this point, Miami's flame throwing prospect that only ascended to the majors last season because of a massive rash of starting pitching injuries. He only threw 91.1 IP last season before being shutdown on account of SI-joint inflammation. That was enough to graduate him the list of the game's top prospects, but is still a very small sample size to draw any Hall of Fame conclusions from.
On the other hand, it was a brilliant sample size for a rookie. Perez posted a 3.15 ERA in his debut season. Impressive on its own, that number is inflated by a rough second half that saw him demoted for a time to manage his innings, and likely includes a couple appearances where he was pitching through the injury that ultimately ended his season. In the first half, he was looking like one of the better pitchers in baseball. For the season, he had a sub 2.00 ERA in his home ballpark. If you want a simpler demonstration of his powers, I could tell you about the time he struck out Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani in the fourth game of his big league career. If you want more advanced numbers, check out the Stuff+ projections on Eno Sarris' latest fantasy rankings. That list sees Perez sitting at No. 22 overall, with better Stuff+ numbers than reigning NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell and Zac Gallen, among many other splashier names. Not bad for a pitcher who won't turn 21 until the third week of the 2024 season.
The sky could well be the limit for Perez- a possibility that is the entire basis for his being placed so highly on this list.
Well that, and just how much longer the Miami Marlins have him under contract. Perez won't be a free agent until 2030, and won't even be eligible for arbitration until 2027. What if he really is the next great MLB pitcher? What if he spends at least three to four more seasons pitching like an All-Star for Miami, maybe even pulling down his own Cy Young award? If he spent all six of those remaining seasons in South Florida, he's probably the Marlins franchise leader in every major pitching category.
It's not impossible. Honestly, it's more likely than you've read so far in this article. The biggest obstacle to it happening has nothing to do with talent but, just as was the case with Alcantara, it has everything to do with Miami's probable payroll constraints. Unfortunately, the financial realities of the team probably have Perez gone by his second year of arbitration. However, if he were to be extended to the type of long-term deal that would allow the Marlins to potentially enjoy elite pitching production without having to pay market value for it...
That ship probably sailed the moment he struck out Ohtani last May. If it does still happen though, he's the best chance the Marlins have at getting someone in their organization into the Hall of Fame. Again, that's in the organization...