Miami Marlins Add Former A's Prospect

The Miami Marlins made some additions to their roster this week, selecting catcher Liam Hicks from the Detroit Tigers in the MLB portion of the Rule 5 Draft, and then selecting three players in the minor-league portion as well. One of those picks was shortstop Jack Winkler of the Athletics, whom they took in the second round of the minor-league phase of the draft.

Winkler, 26, was originally selected by the A's in the tenth round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of the University of San Francisco. He spent the rest of the '21 season and all of the 2022 campaign in the lower minors, and has been in Double-A Midland for the past season and a half.

In 2024, Winkler ended the year hitting .223 with a .310 OBP, eight homers, a triple, 57 RBI, 66 runs scored, and 28 steals in 33 chances. His wRC+ over at FanGraphs ended up at an 88 (100 is league average) in each of the past two seasons with Midland.

The Littleton, Colorado native spent the majority of his time at shortstop with the RockHounds last season, though he did also start 37 games at third base, and 24 at second, giving him some added versatility headed to the Marlins' system. He also started 28 games at first base in High-A Lansing in 2023, along with 23 games in Midland.

With a slew of talented shortstops coming through the A's system in recent years, it's been tricky to get him consistent playing time there, even though that was his primary position in college. The Athletics have had first round picks Max Muncy and Jacob Wilson rolling through the system as well, which likely cut into some of Winkler's playing time at short.

With Wilson making it to the big leagues in 2024 just a year after he was drafted, Muncy is still going to be getting time in Triple-A after injuries slowed his development in 2024. That said, he's also a likely candidate to take over some reps at third base, with that being a position of need for the organization moving forward and shortstop presumably being in Wilson's possession. In theory, there could have been a little more playing time for Winkler in Las Vegas, if he had hit a little bit better.

Alas, we'll never know what the plan would have been with Winkler now headed to the Marlins farm.