Not surprisingly, the Marlins are doing it again

 

By Richard Justice - SportingNews Apr 9, 9:35 am EDT

 

The Florida Marlins are back. Right on schedule. Rebuilt and reloaded. Just like clockwork. If that's a surprise, you need to pay more attention. Let's just say the Marlins operate on their own schedule.

 

They won a World Series in 1997. Then that team was dismantled. Six years later, they won again. Then that team was taken apart as the payroll began to grow larger.

 

The Marlins have a new stadium on the horizon and hope they'll keep this group together for a few years. That's a story for another day. At the moment, the story is that it's 2009, and the Marlins are poised to win again.

 

You might have noticed that the experts predicted the Marlins would finish behind the Phillies, Mets and Braves in the National League East. Those experts might not have seen enough of Ricky Nolasco, Josh Johnson, Chris Volstad, Anibal Sanchez and Andrew Miller.

 

The Marlins might have the N.L.'s best rotation. They throw hard. They throw strikes. They think they belong. A few people have noticed. Those are the people who say the Marlins can be this year's Rays because of a rotation that averages 24 years per man. (For the record, it is unlikely that another team ever will do what the Rays did in 2008. That is, go from averaging 97 losses over a 10-year period to the World Series.)

 

Of course, Florida's five young starters have won a total of 80 games in the major leagues, and it is impossible to know how they will hold up during a six-month season.

 

The point is the Marlins have a chance. They have a great player, shortstop Hanley Ramirez, in the middle of their lineup and depth in their minor league system.

 

Maybe sweeping the Washington Nationals in the season-opening series won't win them anything, but scouts who saw the Marlins throw were impressed. "They pound the strike zone," Marlins pitching coach Mark Wiley recently told reporters.

 

Nolasco, 26, is the oldest pitcher in the rotation and was given the opening day start against the Nationals. He and his brother, David, both were selected in the 2001 draft—David out of community college, Ricky out of high school in Southern California. They grew up imitating Nolan Ryan, Pedro Martinez and other stars of the time. David didn't get higher than Class AA for the Brewers. Ricky was drafted by the Cubs and traded to the Marlins in the Juan Pierre deal. That deal might not have worked out for the Cubs, but it did for both the Marlins and Nolasco.

 

Ricky was in the big leagues in 2006, and after missing most of the 2007 season with an elbow injury, he established himself as a top-of-the-rotation pitcher last season when he went 15-8 with a 3.52 ERA. He has great stuff and terrific control (42 walks and 186 strikeouts in 212 1/3 innings last season).

 

As for Johnson, he was taken in the fourth round of the 2002 draft and reached the big leagues in 2005. Volstad was a first-round pick in 2005 and made his major league debut midway through last year. Sanchez and Miller were acquired in salary-dump deals with Boston and Detroit, respectively.

 

The refreshing thing about the Marlins' organization is this bunch understands who they are. They don't make significant financial mistakes because they don't have the payroll. Their $36,814,000 payroll is baseball's lowest.

 

When players—Dontrelle Willis, Miguel Cabrera, Josh Beckett—become eligible for salary arbitration, the Marlins start shopping them. The thing Florida does better than almost any other organization is evaluate other teams' best young players.

 

To operate this way requires patience, and not every franchise has patience. The Marlins don't have a choice. Every few years, though, they're good enough. "We can compete with anyone," Ramirez told reporters in Florida this week.

 

The Marlins won 84 games last season, so winning isn't completely foreign to them. "I believe we can win our division," Marlins catcher John Baker said. "But are we the type of people who are going to make claims? I don't think so."

 

Marlins president of baseball operations Admin Beinfest tweaked his roster in the offseason to improve the defense and add speed. The Marlins have a great defensive center fielder in Cameron Maybin and a potentially great defensive third baseman in Emilio Bonifacio, who also is hitting a ton in the young season.

 

If closer Matt Lindstrom holds up, if the kids stay healthy, if the Marlins can hang around into August … they will have a chance. That's all they had in 1997 and 2003, too.

Nice article, and I like Baker's quote.

Hanley's as well.

 

Good to see our young stars aren't cocky but confident.

This is the first article I've read in a long time that takes a fair position on our franchises' "dump and grow" mentality. Instead of criticizing our front office for not locking in young talent long-term or signing big free-agents, he recognizes it's a function of the revenue that determines the payroll. Heck, he doesn't even attack the fan-base for the low attendance like most writers are wanton to do. He just accepts it as a matter of fact the franchise has to operate with.

I liked this article. Two complaints, though. I believe that $36,814,000 figure is wrong (maybe he's including Gload's full salary?). Also, the way he says we got Sanchez and Miller in "salary dumps" has a negative conotation, but I suppose far from completely unfair in reality.

I still hate when people compare us to the rays. We have not been as bad as them over the years. Other than that I liked the article.

But isn't this what happens every year? The off-season is filled with disrespect and projections of last, or nearly last place finishes from experts and internet bloggers looking down from their high horses on the Fish and their business model - that is until the season starts and they come to the realization that gee, those guys really can play baseball.

 

I don't know how many times this winter I read some-know-it-all opine that the team was just too young and/or raw to be able to compete, ignoring the core has been together three going on four seasons. Or that the team just went through their annual "firesale". Writers can be very, very lazy that's why we see glaring factual errors all the time, their facts not much more than the last thing they read by someone else. And there is herd mentality at work here as well. But it happens in other 2nd tier towns as well we just don't either know it or see it because we don't have the same intimate relationship with those teams as we do with the Fish.

 

But "if the kids stay healthy..." is just an indicator we're moving to phase two. You'll know we're in phase three when the talk shifts to why can't _______ get their act together like the Marlins. I like that phase a lot.

I found this article really enjoyable.

 

The refreshing thing about the Marlins' organization is this bunch understands who they are. They don't make significant financial mistakes because they don't have the payroll. Their $36,814,000 payroll is baseball's lowest.

 

When players?Dontrelle Willis, Miguel Cabrera, Josh Beckett?become eligible for salary arbitration, the Marlins start shopping them. The thing Florida does better than almost any other organization is evaluate other teams' best young players.

 

To operate this way requires patience, and not every franchise has patience. The Marlins don't have a choice. Every few years, though, they're good enough. "We can compete with anyone," Ramirez told reporters in Florida this week.

 

It's nice to see a positive spin put on this and to have it recognized that the marlins aren't all about the money right now. =)

 

great article.

I still hate when people compare us to the rays. We have not been as bad as them over the years. Other than that I liked the article.

 

I tihnk what he meant to say was we are the surprising team fo this year, like the rays were last year

I still hate when people compare us to the rays. We have not been as bad as them over the years. Other than that I liked the article.

 

I tihnk what he meant to say was we are the surprising team fo this year, like the rays were last year

 

I hate the comparison only because people were falling all over themselves to love on the Rays last year. Even when we won in '97 and '03 we got very little respect.

Very good read. I really enjoyed this.

we are due for another championship. hopefully we could win one more before we leave to our new stadium.

wild blue, I don't think I've ever seen your SN before, but I love your sig. pic hun :lol

wild blue, I don't think I've ever seen your SN before, but I love your sig. pic hun :lol

 

aw! Thank you! :notworthy

I still hate when people compare us to the rays. We have not been as bad as them over the years. Other than that I liked the article.

 

I tihnk what he meant to say was we are the surprising team fo this year, like the rays were last year

 

I hate the comparison only because people were falling all over themselves to love on the Rays last year. Even when we won in '97 and '03 we got very little respect.

 

I think that the fact that they play in the AL East has a lot to do with that hype. If we played there instead of the Rays, the Marlins would certainly get waaay more attention.

Don't want to rain on the parade, but its' still way too early to make these observations.

 

Our bullpen should be something of very deep concern right now.

i agree with the bullpen statement and i think that hayden penn is a wasted spot but well see with him. Renyel and Dan can do a very good job they just need to get their heads out of their asses. Calero will be good and so will nunez. The guy im worried about is kensing...i dont trust him for a second and he still relies on the same two pitches every game. this is where having de la cruz as an option would have helped but i suspect if someone falters (hopefully not) we will be seeing carlos martinez soon and i think he can do very good things.

i agree with the bullpen statement and i think that hayden penn is a wasted spot but well see with him. Renyel and Dan can do a very good job they just need to get their heads out of their asses. Calero will be good and so will nunez. The guy im worried about is kensing...i dont trust him for a second and he still relies on the same two pitches every game. this is where having de la cruz as an option would have helped but i suspect if someone falters (hopefully not) we will be seeing carlos martinez soon and i think he can do very good things.

 

 

Most BP guys usualyl have two great pitches they use alot and maybe one other they use a little

i agree with the bullpen statement and i think that hayden penn is a wasted spot but well see with him. Renyel and Dan can do a very good job they just need to get their heads out of their asses. Calero will be good and so will nunez. The guy im worried about is kensing...i dont trust him for a second and he still relies on the same two pitches every game. this is where having de la cruz as an option would have helped but i suspect if someone falters (hopefully not) we will be seeing carlos martinez soon and i think he can do very good things.

 

I expect Martinez will get a look if he doesn't get fat(ter) eating po'boys and benets in New Orleans. Koronka may be next up if Meyers falters. I was really impressed with Nunez's poise and intensity. I hope he stays healthy.