The deadline for big league clubs to protect players from the Rule 5 draft was 8 PM ET Wednesday night, and the Marlins waited until the last possible moment to finalize their 40-man roster. As projected, the team protected six of their top prospects—Sixto Sánchez, Jazz Chisholm, Edward Cabrera, Nick Neidert, Lewin Díaz and Humberto Mejía, all of whom would have been surefire selections in the upcoming draft.
Sanchez, the top prospect in the organization, cruised through 114 innings over the course of the 2019 campaign.