Florida Marlins

Last year Florida had a 83-79 record and finished third in the NL East. Owing to a salary purge much has changed.

Pitching

We all know about the almighty salary purge the Marlins undertook this off-season but with the apparent reliance on youth, the spacious Pro Player Stadium should make things easier and more forgiving for their pitchers.

Jason Vargas and Brian Moehler return after posting solid seasons and Vargas in particular will be expected to step up and become the no. 2 behind staff ace Dontrelle Willis and he has the stuff to do it. As for Willis he is as exciting a player to watch as there is in baseball. Few have the same enthusiasm and obvious effervescence and the only thing that might hold him back from contending once again for the Cy is the fact his team is obviously rebuilding and wins might be hard to come by.

The pen could be a problem. Joe Borowski will likely get first dibs at closing but his inability to step back into that role is the main reason he’s no longer a Cub. Nate Bump will be the principle lefty and is a solid performer in middle relief and the club will be hoping Travis Bowyer can step in and shake off the health concerns long enough to harness the potential in his arm.

Defence

Miguel Cabrera and Jeremy Hermida are both guys who are working hard to improve their defence but neither are likely to win Gold Gloves any time soon. If Chris Aguila can prove himself worthy of more playing time Cabrera could play third base where he appeared more comfortable but unless he can commit to one position Florida won’t get the most out of his glove.

Another option in left would be Josh Willingham but he is the very definition of an offensive minded player and no matter where he carries his glove onto the field you shouldn’t expect more than a Canseco out there.

Eric Reed will likely step into the vacated centre field position and he has similar speed to Juan Pierre but unlike Pierre, Reed takes good jumps and doesn’t need to endlessly run down his mistakes.

Pokey Reese is as good as it gets at second and playing every day should see him get another Gold Glove for his mantel. Across the keystone will be former Red Sox no.1 prospect Hanley Ramirez who can be lethargic at times but has as much raw talent as you could hope to find. If he’s motivated he could give Florida a dynamic double play partnership…if he’s motivated.

The worst case scenario for Florida would be if Willingham plays catcher. Lets just say he’s not very good there. Miguel Olivo is a solid performer and Matt Treanor is an excellent back up.

Offence

Eric Reed will likely be asked to bat lead-off but while he undoubtedly has the speed, many wonder if he has the plate discipline as he has developed a reputation for striking out more than is ideal.

Much is expected of Hermida who has an uncanny eye at the plate with good power (he did hit a grand slam in his first big league at bat) and with him batting lefty ahead of right handed hitter Miguel Cabrera the Marlins will have a good one-two punch. Cabrera continues to amaze as he develops into becoming almost a mini-Pujols.

Potential is the key word here with Willingham looking like he could become an outstanding DH if he moved to the AL, Aguila often looks over matched but has good raw power and Wes Helms and Mike Jacobs both have shown they can go long at the big league level.

Much will be expected of Hanley Ramirez who can hit the ball hard consistently but the questions with him are more in his mentality and approach than with his skills.

Rookie Watch

Scott Olsen and Yusmeiro Petit have long been cited as two of the top pitching prospects in baseball and will be given every opportunity to show what they can do. The Fish are confident that Olsen can shake off the elbow problems that shortened last year but Petit had a very rough time when the Mets moved him to AAA. Not overpowering, Petit relies on location and changing speeds and as a result his margin of error isn’t very high but he didn’t let that stop him absolutely dominating at every level he has ever played in before that.

This whole team is stacked with rookies who could be contributors and maybe even compete for Rookie of the Year honours. Josh Willingham, Hanley Ramirez, Jeremy Hermida and Eric Reed all have plenty of potential but to expect them all to come through at the same time is a bit too much of an ask.

Management

Joe Girardi has been given a lot of work to do but throughout his playing days people had earmarked him as a potential big league manager and you cannot downplay his role as part of those great Yankee teams of the late 90’s. If he’s given the time he could do a good job but then that’s the story with the whole of the Marlins team really.

Larry Beinfest has proven that he can put together a winner and while he was asked to dump a lot of talent in the off-season, he managed to get a lot of blue chip prospects in return and he seems to have a clear idea of how he wants to go about getting Florida back to the top.

Florida have drafted well in recent years and few teams have the track record they do at developing talent through their farm from Edgar Renteria and Mark Kotsay all the way through to Dontrelle Willis, Josh Beckett, Miguel Cabrera and Jeremy Hermida.

Outlook

As I said before it would be a lot to expect so many young players to realise their full potential all at the same time. While there is undoubted talent in the roster, it is mostly very raw and in need of fine tuning and experience.

Don’t be surprised to see flashes of brilliance from time to time but also don’t be surprised to see over 90 losses this year. I just hope the fans in Florida can stand by their team long enough to see them through this rebuilding process.