Marlins' Owen Caissie Leads Team Canada to Historic Moment at the WBC
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The Miami Marlins made one of the better trades of the offseason to acquire Top 100 prospect Owen Caissie from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Edward Cabrera. Caissie has yet to make his professional Marlins debut, but he's surely building credibility beforehand.
Caissie is one of the outfielders who represents Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic, and he's been playing out of his mind thus far. His .500 average, three doubles, one home run, and scoring three runs played a huge part in Team Canada making history.
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After beating Team Cuba by the final score of 7-2, Team Canada will move on to the quarterfinals for the first time in the country's history. Miami can now say that one of its top prospects stood out significantly in making that happen, and they only hope he carries that success into the regular season.
Caissie's Stock Continues to Rise
Originally, trading away Cabrera looked to be a move that Miami was banking on panning out down the line, but from what Caissie has done this spring and in the World Baseball Classic, the future could be now.
Projected to be in the starting outfield configuration for the Marlins, Caissie has more than just the organization excited to see what he's going to do in 2026. He may not be a top 10 prospect, but his value will surely pan out for the Marlins as time continues.
Before he left for the WBC, Caissie was ice cold at the plate donning the Marlins uniform, having hit just .111 at the plate with two walks and six strikeouts. Perhaps he was just saving it for the classic, but the Marlins are going to need that type of production come opening day.
Caissie is still not an end all be all player in the MLB. He made his debut last season with the Cubs but struggled at the plate. Some would believe the transition to Miami could help, given it's a low-pressure environment, but fans shouldn't bank on the World Baseball Classic to be the only coming-out party for the rookie.
Team Canada will still ned Caissie to be hot at the plate if it has any hope of moving further in the WBC. This marks a great time to be a fan of baseball, especially if you root for Canadian teams, but there is still work to be done, and Caissie should only set his sights on more history in the future.
Dominic Minchella is a 2024 Eastern Michigan University graduate with a BA in Communications, Media, and Theatre Arts and a Journalism minor. He covers Major League Baseball for On SI and spends his free time watching games and sharing his insights.