The Marlins have claimed right-hander Garrett Acton off waivers from the Marlins, according to announcements from both clubs. Mami designated outfielder Víctor Mesa Jr. for assignment as a corresponding move. Colorado designated Acton for assignment back on January 22nd when they signed Willi Castro. DFA limbo is normally capped at one week. MLBTR has learned that Acton was placed on release waivers and claimed last week. A player claimed off release waivers has the right to reject the assignment while electing free agency and can take five days to make that decision.
Mesa, 24, and his older brother Víctor Víctor Mesa were once notable defectors from Cuba. Their father Víctor Mesa had played in the Cuban National Series for 19 years and coached the Cuban team in the World Baseball Classic. The two sons left the island in 2018 in the hopes of pursuing deals with MLB clubs. Both brothers signed with the Marlins in October of 2018.
At that time, the elder brother was considered the stronger prospect, but things didn’t pan out for him. He never really put up good numbers in the minors. He has been off the radar since June of 2023, when he walked away from the team and hasn’t played anywhere since.
The younger Mesa stuck with the Marlins. The club added him to the 40-man roster in November of 2023 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He got to make his major league debut in 2025, taking 38 plate appearances in 16 games. He put up a .188/.297/.344 line in that small sample.
His numbers in the minors have been a bit better than that but he’s been on the injured list a decent amount. Over the past two years combined, he has taken 579 plate appearances on the farm with 20 home runs, a .266/.330/.437 line and 106 wRC+. He stole nine bases and played all three outfield spots. Prospect evaluators generally see Mesa as a depth outfielder at this point. He still has an option remaining, so perhaps he would be of interest to some other clubs. The Marlins will likely place him on waivers in the coming days.
Acton, 28 in June, also has a very limited major league track record. Between the 2023 Athletics and the 2025 Rays, he has seven big league appearances, having allowed eight earned runs in 6 2/3 innings. He missed the 2024 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Tampa put him on waivers at the beginning of November 2025, which is when Colorado claimed him.
He’s coming off an encouraging season in the minors. He logged 58 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level, allowing 3.68 earned runs per nine. His 11.4% walk rate was high but he struck out 30.1% of batters faced. He averaged around 94 miles per hour with his four-seamer while also featuring a mid-80s slider and changeup.
Acton still has a couple of options, so it seems the Marlins would rather have him as optionable bullpen depth than have Mesa as optionable outfield depth. If Acton sticks on the roster, he can be shuttled between Jacksonville and Miami fairly freely.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
“The Marlins have claimed right-hander Garrett Acton off waivers from the Marlins.” Marlins are playing in a whole other dimension! (I know it’s supposed to say “from the Rockies”.)
These must not be proofread
Miami Marlins present.ly have an outfielders “logjam” (Marsee, Caissie, Conine, Ruiz, Stowers, plus newly acquired prospect Dillon Lewis pushing upward) – which makes Víctor Mesa Jr. to be an expendable trade piece in Peter Bendix’s roster calculus.
“Mami designated outfielder Victor Mesa Jr.”
Who’s Mami?
Mami is Papi’s wife.
You’re obviously not from Miami.
Mesa Jr was the 25th rated prospect for MIA in 2025. 4th rated prospect for MIA in 2024 and 14th rated prospect for MIA in 2023. Now he has been DFAed. Wow.
Cut the guy some slack.
When important hot stove news like this breaks, there’s no time for pedantic nonsense like proofreading.
Not to be confused with his brother, Victor Victor Mesa.
I will type Victor Victor Mesa at any possible opportunity.
Another Cuban bust!
I wouldn’t say he’s a bust… could be a solid no 4/5 type outfielder with solid defense. Marlins just ran out of space in the outfield to keep him. They already have Stowers, Marsee, Cassie, Conine and Hernandez there with more OF prospects waiting in the upper minors.
mp9,
Every country has players who are busts. Are you trying to make a specific point about Cuban players?
I thought Victor Victor Mesa was a can’t miss prospect. What happened?
They missed.
The number of can’t-miss prospects who miss is quite large. Baseball is difficult, and predicting the future is much more difficult.
Some guys have the talent, but no work ethic or humility. It’s also just a brutally hard sport and injuries are also a factor too.
He should have picked a career flying commercial airplanes
This isn’t Victor Victor Mesa. This is his brother Victor Mesa Jr. Victor Victor packed up and quit on his minor league team a few years ago and has been out of baseball since
The hype surrounding those brothers was wild at the time.