National League East Preview

Florida Marlins

Year older, another year better

By Jim Salisbury

Inquirer Staff Writer

Lefthander Dontrelle Willis leads a pitching staff that includes Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez, Scott Olsen and Ricky Nolasco. Each won at least 10 games as rookies last season, helping the Marlins to hang in the wild-card race.

Lefthander Dontrelle Willis leads a pitching staff that includes Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez, Scott Olsen and Ricky Nolasco. Each won at least 10 games as rookies last season, helping the Marlins to hang in the wild-card race.

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VIERA, Fla. - Florida Marlins first baseman Mike Jacobs agrees with Jimmy Rollins.

 

"The Phillies are the team to beat," he said, sizing up the National League East one recent day. "They've got a nice starting rotation, and they can slug it. The Mets will swing the bats, but I don't think they have the pitching depth. The Braves are solid as usual. But the Phillies have the pitching and the lineup."

 

Despite his praise for the Phillies, Jacobs wouldn't count out his own team.

 

And he shouldn't.

 

The Marlins were supposed to be seen and not heard from in 2006. They had sharply reduced their payroll before the season and suited up 22 rookies. Prognosticators called for a 100-loss season.

 

Instead, the Marlins went 78-84 and remained in the wild-card picture until the final weeks of the season. All those youngsters are a year more experienced now.

 

"If our pitching holds up, I don't see any reason why we can't contend," Jacobs said.

 

Pitching was the most impressive aspect of the Marlins last season. Rookies Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez, Scott Olsen and Ricky Nolasco all emerged to win double-digit games behind ace Dontrelle Willis.

 

All five are back this season, though Johnson will miss at least the first month with a nerve problem in his elbow.

 

Pitching wasn't the only reason for the Marlins' success last season.

 

Emerging superstar third baseman Miguel Cabrera hit .339 with 26 homers and 114 RBIs, and shortstop Hanley Ramirez was the NL rookie of the year.

 

But there was more to the Marlins' surprise season.

 

Despite a rookie-laden roster and a rebuilding theme, rookie manager Joe Girardi stressed that results mattered.

 

"From the beginning, he said we were here to win, not just to develop," Jacobs said. "Once we got over the initial shock of all being young and in the big leagues, we just tried to win games."

 

With the benefit of Girardi's prodding, the Marlins rebounded from an 11-31 start and got to two games over .500 with a win over the Mets on Sept. 11. The Marlins were the first team ever to reach .500 after falling 20 games under.

 

For all this, Girardi was voted NL manager of the year - and fired.

 

Seems Girardi did not get along well with his bosses. He'll manage again someday; it just won't be this year with the Marlins.

 

The job now belongs to 43-year-old Fredi Gonzalez, who seemed to have been destined to one day hold the position. A former catcher in the Yankees system, Gonzalez and his family moved to Miami from Cuba when he was a child. He was the first manager ever hired in the Marlins system, having led their 1991 New York-Penn League team, two years before the franchise played its first big-league game. He was the popular choice for the job when it went to Girardi before the 2006 season.

 

"Any time you get an opportunity to manage in the big leagues, it's special," Gonzalez said. "But this is really nice. It's my hometown, and this team has a great group of talented young players."

 

Gonzalez had been Atlanta's third base coach for four seasons before going home to Miami. That position allowed him to learn from one of the best in Braves manager Bobby Cox and get an up-close look at the division. He loved the young talent he saw on the Marlins.

 

Cabrera exemplifies that young talent. He won't turn 24 until next month, but already he has 104 career homers and three-straight 100-RBI seasons. Willis, who is just 25, likes to call Cabrera "our Manny Ramirez." Cabrera made $475,000 last season. This year, he will make $7.4 million after a huge score at the arbitrator's table in February.

 

If Cabrera is the Marlins' Manny Ramirez, Hanley Ramirez is their, well, Hanley Ramirez. The 23-year-old Dominican hit .292 with 46 doubles, 17 homers and 59 RBIs in 2006. He also swiped 51 bases in beating out Washington's Ryan Zimmerman and teammate Dan Uggla (27 homers, most ever by a rookie second baseman) for the rookie-of-the-year award. Mets shortstop Jose Reyes is often called the most exciting young talent in the NL East, but Ramirez is right there with him.

 

"The only thing Reyes has over Hanley is experience and throwing arm," said Jacobs, who came up through the Mets system with Reyes. "Hanley is right there and probably a couple ticks ahead in power, the ability to hit for average, and range. He's fun to watch. It's exciting having a guy like that. When he goes, we go."

 

Ultimately, pitching will make the Marlins go. They firmed up the closer's spot with the acquisition of Jorge Julio earlier this week, and have hard-throwing rookie Matt Lindstrom in a setup role.

 

If he's as good as all the team's rookies were a year ago, the Marlins will once again be a team to watch.

 

Very nice assessment.....

good article...its nice to see an article that doesnt believe everyone will regress this year

One of the few positive assessments of the team so far. Sportsline has the Marlins ranked 16th; they think the Marlins have the best shot to be a sleeper this season.

BP has us ranked 29th in front of the Nats which is just stupid

BP has us ranked 29th in front of the Nats which is just stupid

 

:lol :lol

 

I thought BP has us winning about 78 games?

Nice to see this coming out of Philly. The Phillies have been popping off at the mouth all offseason how they are the team to beat. I hope it comes back to bite them on the ass.

eh.. i saw random magazine with uggla and hanley on the cover and it has cabrera ranked at top 3rd basemen in the league and hanley as 3rd top shortstop in the league and uggla at 17th top 2nd basemen... a bit random.... and it had a article on the marlins too but i didnt get to read much of it...

I honestly believe the Phillies are the only team in the division that have the potential, as is, for over 90 wins...so yeah, I'd say they're the team to beat.

 

However, their evaluation of us is spot on, we can't have the pitching slack off, and Hanley's definitely our second most important player.

eh.. i saw random magazine with uggla and hanley on the cover and it has cabrera ranked at top 3rd basemen in the league and hanley as 3rd top shortstop in the league and uggla at 17th top 2nd basemen... a bit random.... and it had a article on the marlins too but i didnt get to read much of it...

 

Whoa, those are some rockin' shoes you got in your profile! I need to get me a pair of them bad boys!

I honestly believe the Phillies are the only team in the division that have the potential, as is, for over 90 wins...so yeah, I'd say they're the team to beat.

 

However, their evaluation of us is spot on, we can't have the pitching slack off, and Hanley's definitely our second most important player.

atlanta is the most balanced tam in the division great back of bullpen nice top of rotation top 5 in runs scored last year

only thing we need to score more run we not doing that good this spring we good one game and bad after

I honestly believe the Phillies are the only team in the division that have the potential, as is, for over 90 wins...so yeah, I'd say they're the team to beat.

 

However, their evaluation of us is spot on, we can't have the pitching slack off, and Hanley's definitely our second most important player.

atlanta is the most balanced tam in the division great back of bullpen nice top of rotation top 5 in runs scored last year

i think atlanta is going to have a hell of a time trying to score runs this year and that will be their downfall

I honestly believe the Phillies are the only team in the division that have the potential, as is, for over 90 wins...so yeah, I'd say they're the team to beat.

The Mets won 95+ games last year and now everyone pouints to their rotation as the weak link but I don't think their rotation is much worse than what it was last year. Last year they had real bums starting a lot of games. It would be no surprise if they go over 90 wins.

 

i think atlanta is going to have a hell of a time trying to score runs this year and that will be their downfall

Why? They were 2nd in runs scored last year and it's pretty much the same team except 1B and 2B. They'll probably lose something at 1B but I think Kelly Johnson should be an improvement over Giles. They'll score plenty of runs.

I honestly believe the Phillies are the only team in the division that have the potential, as is, for over 90 wins...so yeah, I'd say they're the team to beat.

The Mets won 95+ games last year and now everyone pouints to their rotation as the weak link but I don't think their rotation is much worse than what it was last year. Last year they had real bums starting a lot of games. It would be no surprise if they go over 90 wins.

 

You can't have a smoke and mirrors rotation two years in a row. Nor can you expect what were "career years" in '06 to turn out to be the standard in '07.

 

Reyes, Wright...they'll be on par with last season, but Beltran, Delgado, LoDuca, Glavine and the bullpen should all regress.

 

Plus, it also depends on how much you believe a 50 year old Moises Alou can carry that offense.

Plus, it also depends on how much you believe a 50 year old Moises Alou can carry that offense.

 

The funny thing about this joke is that their backup first baseman almost IS 50-years-old... hahaha

I don't expect Beltran's numbers to regress. He's just 30. In fact I would be surprised if they didn't improve.

I don't expect Beltran's numbers to regress. He's just 30. In fact I would be surprised if they didn't improve.

 

Hey, that's fine, but when a player sets or ties career highs in 6 offensive categories and has 8 years of service time, I'm just going to treat it like a career year and not the new standard.

 

Just my .02 cents.