The Marlins do not believe in Lewin Díaz and this is perhaps his final chance to prove them wrong. How did we arrive at this fork in the road?
In July 2019, they acquired Díaz from the Twins to address a need. No MLB team was getting less power production at first base than the Marlins, where they had been rotating Neil Walker, Martín Prado and a not-yet-established Garrett Cooper. In the upper minors, they didn’t have anybody who projected to be a long-term answer there. So they packaged surplus pitching—pending free agent Sergio Romo and prospect Chris Vallimont—for Díaz, who had taken significant strides forward as a slugger and fielder in his age-22 season.