The Marlins officially announced that first-round pick Aiva Arquette has signed a pro contract. Craig Mish reported yesterday that an agreement had been reached between the club and the seventh overall pick. Arquette signed for a $7,149,900 bonus, as per MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis, which exactly matches the slot price attached to the seventh overall pick.
The Oregon State shortstop was a consensus top-10 prospect, with Fangraphs and The Athletic’s Keith Law each highest on Arquette as the fourth-highest player on their boards. Baseball America ranked Arquette fifth in the 2025 draft class, MLB Pipeline had him sixth, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel was the relative lowest in putting Arquette ninth.
Despite this high profile and ceiling, evaluators acknowledge some risk in Arquette. While he is seen as a solid fielder, his size (6’5″, 220 pounds) lead some scouts to believe he’ll inevitably have to move over to third base in the future. Law also raised some issue about the quality of competition Arquette faced in college ball this season, and wondered if his hitting approach can hold up as he rises the ranks in pro ball. Despite these questions, Arquette is seen as a very solid bat with plus power and very good contact skills. A move to third base might not be a problem since Arquette could very well profile as a plus fielder at the hot corner, and he has a strong throwing arm. Overall, Arquette was generally viewed as the best position player available from the college ranks.
This ties into a somewhat unique draft for Miami, as the team took college players with all 21 of its picks. When talking with the Miami Herald’s Steve Gorten and other reporters, Marlins scouting director Frankie Piliere described this collegiate trend as “the coincidences of a draft board” rather than a specific tactic from the organization. Still, it does perhaps set the Marlins up to get some help from the 2025 draft class sooner rather than later at the big league level.