Nationals? No wait, The Marlins!

I was going to continue with my AL/NL East team previews today with the Washington Nationals. I then realized how bad they could potentially be, and that it would be a waste of my time. I would be surprised if this team did not lose 100 games. Not only that, but they have barely any young talent on that team or in that minor league system. I will root for Manny Acta (manager), as I really like him from his days as a Mets coach. There is just nothing intriguing about their organization at the moment. In any event though, on to a team that actually has a sliver of a chance to compete...

The Marlins surprised a lot of people last season. They came into the season having just unloaded all of their high priced talent. Their roster was filled with almost exclusively young players. In addition they had a rookie manager in Joe Girardi. They won 78 games, but stayed in the Wild Card race into September. Many people picked them to finish not only dead last in the division, but in all of baseball. They had Rookie of the Year candidates all over the place from Scott Olsen to Hanley Ramirez to Josh Johnson to Anibal Sanchez to winner, Dan Uggla. In addition, their rookie manager won Manager of the Year. It was a successful season for the franchise both in terms of team performance and in the tremendous development of their young players.

This season, many of the same questions are back with the Marlins. The number one reason for this is their managerial situation. While Girardi helped the team perform extremely well on the field, he did not get along with the front office, mainly the owner. Shortly after the season ended, Girardi was fired due to this disharmony. The Marlins brought in Fredy Gonzalez, former bench coach of the Cubs. It will be very interesting to see how the players react to this on the field. They played extremely well under Girardi when they were expected to do nothing. Now that the expectations have risen it will be tougher for Gonzalez to match up to Girardis' performance of last season.

After the managerial situation, the biggest question will be the performance of the pitching staff. Last season, they came into the season with just Dontrelle Willis as a reliable starting pitcher. As the season progressed, one could say that he performed possibly fourth best on the staff after Johnson, Olson and Sanchez. Willis though is still recognized as the staff ace. He is a former 20 game winner, and World Series winner. The other starters are coming off seasons in which they pitched the most innings of their respective careers, and chances are they all will not be able to repeat that level of performance. No matter how Willis pitches though his status on the team will be in question if the Marlins get off to a slow start. He is one of the few high paid players on the team and he would bring back a lot of talent in a trade, such as more pitching and a much needed centerfield prospect. The performance of the starting pitching though is extra important for this team though because the bull pen is so weak.

When looking at the names of the likely bullpen members, there is no clear favorites. Names such as Taylor Tankersley and Kevin Gregg have had some success in the past, but not much. An intriguing bullpen option is Henry Owens, who the Marlins acquired from the Mets in the offseason. He throws consistently in the upper 90s and pitched extremely well in Winter Ball. There are many more options than these three though. None can be counted on for consistency when the season starts though.

The Marins line-up is very intriguing. While players such as Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla exceeded expectations last season, more hyped prospects such as Josh Willingham and Jeremy Hermida performed less than expected. In addition, Miguel Cabrera continued to develop into the one of the most feared hitters in all of baseball. Caberera will start the season as still only 23 years old. While I feel that Manny Ramirez is the best right handed hitter since Joe Dimaggio (he has 10 more years of performance than Albert Pujols at this point), I think that when its all set and done Cabrera will eclipse them both. He has an amazing ability to take pitches, hit for a high average and drive the ball to the opposite field. His partner on the left side of the infield, Hanley Ramirez, is also a tremendous talent. Last season he had 74 extra base hits and 51 steals. If the Marlins can somehow secure some stadium funding and have the ability to lock up these two for the long term, they will be right alongside the Mets left side of the infield as the two best in baseball for the next 10 years.

Most predict the Marlins to finish behind the Mets, Phillies and Braves in the NL East. It is definitely going to be a close fought division, and I am not ready to make a prediction. One thing that is sure about the Marlins though is that they have little room for error. Unlike higher payroll teams like the Mets and Phillies, if a major injury hits the Marlins, they will most likely be unable to go out and trade for a high paid replacement. Beyond that though, the biggest difference between the Marlins and the other teams in the division is the bullpen. While the Mets and Braves may have the best bullpens in the National League, the Marlins have no guarantees in theirs. In the end, I think that will be the difference, but they have such amazing young talent that they will be a fun team to watch from beginning to end.