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MIAMI (AP) - Summoned from the minors midway through the 2003 season, Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera quickly helped spark the Florida Marlins' meteoric ascent from woebegone chumps to world champs.

 

Alas, here comes an almost-certain, equally rapid downturn. Willis and Cabrera are the only mainstays left from that 2003 World Series club and the two playoff contenders that followed, as Florida's roster was gutted this past off-season in a payroll-purging fire sale.

 

The Marlins are starting over, and while they're aware of being widely picked to finish as baseball's worst club, they're also clinging to the belief that good things are possible.

 

"I've been reading press clippings about what I can do and what I couldn't do for a long time," rookie manager Joe Girardi said. "That's just the nature of the business. ... Forecasts are forecasts. It's forecast to rain today, probably, but that doesn't mean it's going to. What matters is what we think about ourselves."

 

Take away Cabrera's 1,530 career at-bats, and the other seven position players in the Marlins' expected opening day lineup have a combined 314. How inexperienced does that make this team? Fifteen major leaguers had more than twice that many at-bats last season.

 

Shortstop Hanley Ramirez has only two at-bats at a level higher than double-A. Right-fielder Jeremy Hermida, the only outfielder assured of an everyday spot, has 41 at-bats at the big league level. Outfielder Reggie Abercrombie has never attended a major league game, not even as a fan. Closer candidate Josh Johnson has 12 1-3 innings of experience in the big leagues.

 

"Part of the beginning of this year will be patience with some of these players, allowing them to fail at times," general manager Admin Beinfest said. "It's a fine line. We're going to have to pick and choose and see how they respond to the challenge."

 

The entire infield is new. Cabrera is moving from left to third base to replace the departed Mike Lowell. The entire outfield is new, and most of the pitching staff wasn't with the Marlins last season.

 

"We think we really can sneak up on some teams," said Mike Jacobs, a first baseman who hit 11 home runs in 100 at-bats with the New York Mets last year - making him one of the most experienced Marlins in the lineup. "There's people in here that nobody knows, so how can anyone say we can't surprise some people?"

 

Cabrera and Willis won't surprise anybody.

 

Willis is coming off the finest season by a starter in Marlins history, going 22-10 with a 2.63 ERA and finishing second to St. Louis' Chris Carpenter in balloting for the National League Cy Young Award.

 

At 24, he has already shown he can be an ace. Now, he'll need to serve as a clubhouse leader.

 

"Some of the quote-unquote young guys in here, hey, they're older than I am," Willis said. "I might have more experience in terms of time up here, but there are a lot of guys with this team who've waited a long time for their chance."

 

Cabrera continued his rise to stardom last season, hitting .323 with 33 home runs and 116 RBIs. And the Marlins' biggest hitter - who doesn't turn 23 until the season's third week - says the unproven lineup will be better than people think.

 

"We will play hard every day," Cabrera said. "No one knows what's really going to happen this season. These guys we've got here, they can hit. Believe me. They can swing. People don't know what those guys are going to do, what they're capable of. They want to show they can play."

 

The Marlins acquired a bunch of young talent with the future in mind. It's still unknown if all this youth will mature under the Miami sun or in some other locale.

 

Owner Jeffrey Loria has invited several officials from San Antonio to join him in Houston for Monday's opener. San Antonio has expressed interest in luring the Marlins, who have been unable to secure a deal for a baseball-only park in South Florida.

 

Team management has vowed that its payroll will remain commensurate with revenue until the ballpark situation is resolved. But the players say none of the potential distractions - their youth, the stadium issue, the low expectations - is worrying them whatsoever.

 

"Everybody here is pulling for each other," Abercrombie said. "Everybody here knows everybody else is going to go out and play hard. Let people say what they say. We're going to try to use it for fuel. We think we can surprise a lot of teams and we're going to do what we can do."

 

 

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/MLB/200...1514604-ap.html

 

The only good article about the 2006 Marlins is from Canada.

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