Marlins Trade No. 6 2022 Draft Pick to Royals For Cash

There are very few things in baseball worse than a wasted first round draft pick. 

According to Fish on First, the Miami Marlins traded Jacob Berry to the Kansas City Royals for cash considerations on Wednesday. The Marlins pulled the plug on what has been proven as a mistake by the previous front office. 

The Marlins selected Berry with the No. 6 pick in the 2022 MLB Draft after a collegiate career highlighted by leading the University of Arizona to the College World Series the year before. Berry transferred to Louisiana State along with his college coach and finished his final season with a .370 batting average and was a semifinalist for the 2022 Golden Spikes Award. 

Berry produced a slash line of .245/.325/.377 and 35 home runs in 1,933 plate appearances across multiple levels. He batted .251 with a .734 OPS with four home runs and 34 RBI in 243 at-bats with Triple-A Jacksonville this season before the trade. The only season in which he had double-digit home runs was in 2024, in which he homered 11 times between Jacksonville and Double-A Pensacola. 

The highlight of Berry’s time with Jacksonville was hitting the walk-off home run against Las Vegas to win the Jumbo Shrimp the Triple-A National Championship last year.

Berry was essentially a future designated hitter, which is a position productive big leaguers fall into. However, in the minor leagues, progress trumps production, and Berry needed to find a position where he could call his own. The expectation was for Berry to be their third baseman of the future. However, he committed 49 errors in 195 career games in the minor leagues. Commonly in the minor leagues, Berry also tried 126 games in left field, 64 at second base, 49 at first base, 10 in left field, and a game in center field for good measure.

The Jumbo Shrimp placed Berry on the Development List on July 25. The DL works similarly to the injured list, but without the excuse of injury. Berry was removed from the roster so he could focus more on training and developing a defense that wasn’t there. 

The Marlins chose Berry over potentially going the local route, as they have done this season. Zach Neto, a Miami native who went on to become the Los Angeles Angels’ everyday shortstop in 2023. Neto went to Doral Academy Prep and Campbell College before the Angels picked him up with the 13th overall pick in 2022. 

Other current big leaguers who were picked shortly after Berry were Jace Jung (Tigers, No. 12), Chase DeLauter (Guardians, No. 16), Justin Crawford (Phillies, No. 17), Cole Young (Mariners, No. 21) and Spencer Jones (Yankees, No. 25).