Miami Marlins president Peter Bendix reveals the exciting prospects acquired in the Ryan Weathers trade, highlighting speed, power, and outfield talent.
The Miami Marlins knew they had to get a worthwhile return for Ryan Weathers.
Although Miami's pitching depth and Weathers' injury history (just 24 starts combined over the past two seasons) made Weathers expendable, any time a team gets rid of a 26-year-old lefty who has a 3.74 ERA over that sample size, it has the potential to blow up in an organization's face.
Marlins' president Peter Bendix knows this, but he feels good about what he got back.
The headliner of this trade on Miami's end is Dillon Lewis, who had been New York Yankees' No. 8 prospect per Baseball America and is now Miami's No. 14 prospect per MLB.com.
Lewis slashed .237/.321/.445 across A and High-A ball last year and was a 20-20 player (22 homers, 26 stolen bases).
The Marlins thought so highly of Lewis that The Athletic reported that the team wanted him from the Yankees even in return for Edward Cabrera, a more sought-after starter who Miami ended up trading to the Chicago Cubs.
Bendix raved about Lewis on a Zoom call with reporters Wednesday.
“His tools are really fantastic,” Bendix said. “He hits the ball incredibly hard. He’s incredibly fast. He’s an excellent, excellent center fielder, and he’s just beginning to tap into what he could do. He has a tremendous athletic gift. His performance in High-A was better than his performance in Low-A. That doesn’t happen, especially for a player drafted so recently [2024]. There’s a tremendous ceiling for Dillon.”
Another outfielder the Marlins got from the Yankees, Brendan Jones, was New York's No. 13 prospect, per Baseball America, and now ranks just behind Lewis at No. 15 in the Marlins' system, per MLB.com.
Playing in both High-A and AA last season, Jones slashed .245/.359/.395.
Most impressively, Jones stole 51 bases and was caught only nine times.
Bendix is impressed by Jones' baseball IQ, speed and defense.
"There’s not much he’s not good at," Bendix said. "Those players in a lot of different ways can impact a major league team.”
The Marlins also got Dylan Jasso from the Yankees. Jasso didn't crack Miami's top-30 prospects, but did drive in 76 runs and hit 13 homers in AA last season.
Bendix feels that Jasso's offense is good enough that he can find himself on the big-league roster.
Finally, Miami acquired Juan Matheus, who stole 40 bases in Class A last season.
Bendix said he's impressed with Mateus' speed and that he has some power that hasn't been unleashed yet. (Matheus has 12 total homers across 956 pro at-bats so far, but is still only 21 years old.)
None of these four is expected to be up in the 2026 season, but all are worth keeping an eye on.
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