According to many people, the Miami Marlins had the worst off season in the history of MLB. It is certainly a stark contrast from last off season where many thought the Marlins bought themselves a pennant. One thing the Marlins have been known for is having a good fire sale, which started last season when they traded Hanley Ramirez, Omar Infante, Anibal Sanchez, Edwin Mujica, and Gaby Sanchez. It continued into this off season when they moved Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Heath Bell, Josh Johnson, John Buck and Emilio Bonifacio. Just that alone is enough to give the Marlins one of the worst forecasts of this preseason.
The Marlins will start out by leaving a lot to be desired offensively. If I wanted to compare them to, lets say the Astros, I think the Astros lineup is deeper. However, the Astros do not have any single player as good right now as Giancarlo Stanton or Logan Morrison. The Marlins are counting on a couple Phillies castoffs, Juan Pierre and Placido Polanco to come in and provide leadership. Pierre, who is the active leader in stolen bases with 591, is coming off a solid season where he hit .307 for Philadelphia. However, he did in a lessened role, playing 130 games last year where he had been a 158-160 game player each season. I would expect to see Pierre play closer to 160 than 130 this season. Justin Ruggiano was a bright spot and gets the CF job, with newcomers Rob Brantly (from Detroit in the Sanchez/Infante trade) and Adeiny Hechavarria (from Toronto in the Reyes/ Johnson trade) filling up the lineup. Donovan Solano will be the second baseman. I'd order it like this: Pierre LF, Polanco 3B, Stanton RF, Morrison 1B, Ruggiano CF, Brantly C, Hechavarria SS, Solano 2B.
The bench is not much to brag about, but Greg Dobbs is a very good role player. Backup catcher Jeff Mathis is solid for that role and former NL Rookie of the Year Chris Coghlan is still around. Brian Petersen and Gorkys Hernandez will fill in as extra OFs.
In my opinion, the starting pitching of this team may be better than people think. Ricky Nolasco (if he is not traded) will be the opening day starter. They have traded for the rest of their rotation, all of whom are young. Jacob Turner (from Detroit), Henderson Alvarez (Toronto), Nathan Eovaldi (from LA) and Wade LeBlanc (from San Diego) round out the rotation. All of whom have gotten their feet wet, but may have to work out some growing pains. They have a decent closer in Steve Cishek, with Ryan Webb and Mike Dunn expected to be the primary set up men.
New manager Mike Redmond is going to have it difficult in this first season. The problem I have is most of the players the Marlins traded for are expected to be on the opening day roster. That does not improve the farm system. Zack Cox is worth watching this season. I expect him to become the team's 3B of the future. In my opinion, I think Christian Yelich has a very good chance of making the team out of spring training. Jake Marisnick, the OF prospect obtained in the deal with Toronto, has a chance to be the real deal. Those two, as well as LHP Justin Nicolino (also obtained in the Toronto trade), should be the players to keep an eyes on as Miami builds for the future. I would expect to see Marisnick unseat Ruggiano as the team's starting CF at some point this season. However, I expect to see the Marlins lose a lot of games this season. I think Las Vegas was generous to them putting their over/under at 64 1/2. They should win much less than that; I see them finishing 55-107, last place in the NL and NL East.
The Marlins will start out by leaving a lot to be desired offensively. If I wanted to compare them to, lets say the Astros, I think the Astros lineup is deeper. However, the Astros do not have any single player as good right now as Giancarlo Stanton or Logan Morrison. The Marlins are counting on a couple Phillies castoffs, Juan Pierre and Placido Polanco to come in and provide leadership. Pierre, who is the active leader in stolen bases with 591, is coming off a solid season where he hit .307 for Philadelphia. However, he did in a lessened role, playing 130 games last year where he had been a 158-160 game player each season. I would expect to see Pierre play closer to 160 than 130 this season. Justin Ruggiano was a bright spot and gets the CF job, with newcomers Rob Brantly (from Detroit in the Sanchez/Infante trade) and Adeiny Hechavarria (from Toronto in the Reyes/ Johnson trade) filling up the lineup. Donovan Solano will be the second baseman. I'd order it like this: Pierre LF, Polanco 3B, Stanton RF, Morrison 1B, Ruggiano CF, Brantly C, Hechavarria SS, Solano 2B.
The bench is not much to brag about, but Greg Dobbs is a very good role player. Backup catcher Jeff Mathis is solid for that role and former NL Rookie of the Year Chris Coghlan is still around. Brian Petersen and Gorkys Hernandez will fill in as extra OFs.
In my opinion, the starting pitching of this team may be better than people think. Ricky Nolasco (if he is not traded) will be the opening day starter. They have traded for the rest of their rotation, all of whom are young. Jacob Turner (from Detroit), Henderson Alvarez (Toronto), Nathan Eovaldi (from LA) and Wade LeBlanc (from San Diego) round out the rotation. All of whom have gotten their feet wet, but may have to work out some growing pains. They have a decent closer in Steve Cishek, with Ryan Webb and Mike Dunn expected to be the primary set up men.
New manager Mike Redmond is going to have it difficult in this first season. The problem I have is most of the players the Marlins traded for are expected to be on the opening day roster. That does not improve the farm system. Zack Cox is worth watching this season. I expect him to become the team's 3B of the future. In my opinion, I think Christian Yelich has a very good chance of making the team out of spring training. Jake Marisnick, the OF prospect obtained in the deal with Toronto, has a chance to be the real deal. Those two, as well as LHP Justin Nicolino (also obtained in the Toronto trade), should be the players to keep an eyes on as Miami builds for the future. I would expect to see Marisnick unseat Ruggiano as the team's starting CF at some point this season. However, I expect to see the Marlins lose a lot of games this season. I think Las Vegas was generous to them putting their over/under at 64 1/2. They should win much less than that; I see them finishing 55-107, last place in the NL and NL East.
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