Marlins Trade Acquisition Jared Serna Is Full Of Surprises
He signed for a bonus of just $10,000.
He’s 5-foot-7.
He’s the son of a musician—not a baseball player.
Plus, he’s from Mexico, known more for soccer players and boxers than baseball stars.
Just about everything about 22-year-old shortstop Jared Serna is a surprise.
He’s one of the three prospects the Marlins acquired in July when they traded Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the Yankees.
The Yankees had signed Serna in 2019, but it took him only one day to get over the deal.
“Once I put on the uniform of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, I just thought, ‘I’m here to help the team,’ ” Serna said in Spanish. “I’m part of the Miami Marlins now.”
Serna is indeed a significant part of the organization. In 2023, he played 122 games at a pair of Yankees Class A affiliates and hit 19 home runs with an .813 OPS.
This year, he spent most of his time at High-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Pensacola. In 133 games he hit .251/.337/.414 with 15 homers and 15 stolen bases. He plays shortstop primarily but said he is most comfortable at second base.
“People have doubted me, but I just use that as motivation,” Serna said. “All I wanted was the opportunity. I wasn’t concerned with the size of the signing bonus.”
Serna learned baseball primarily from his grandfather Manuel Arturo Serna, who was an amateur first baseman and pitcher in Mexico. Serna’s father Edgardo is a pianist and singer who has also encouraged his son to play baseball.
That helps explains how Serna has evolved. It also helps that he’s from the baseball loving state of Sonora in Mexico, the birthplace of Fernando Valenzuela.
Serna is actually ahead of schedule. His goal at the start of 2024 was to reach Double-A, but he blew past that level and played six games at Triple-A.
Serna said he is focusing on a weight-training program this winter in the hopes of getting even stronger.
“When I was a kid, I used to swing a pole at a tire,” Serna said. “That strengthened my wrists, and the rest came natural.”
