Miami Marlins: Power Ranking the Biggest Baseball Superstars in South Beach

The city of Miami is home to some of the greatest sports teams in the land, chief among them being the star-studded Miami Heat. How can anyone hope to beat LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh?

I've got a better question: Who cares?

Today, it's all about South Beach's baseball team, the Miami Marlins. They have the honor of hosting the first stateside regular season baseball game of the season, and they get to do it in their brand new ballpark against the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals.

There's a lot to like about this Marlins team. They have talent up and down their roster, and they boast as much pure star power as any team in the league. There's a reason Showtime decided to feature them in the second season of "The Franchise."

So who are Miami's biggest stars? Good question. Here's how I rank them.

5. Josh Johnson, Starting Pitcher

I won't go so far as to call Josh Johnson a star in the sense that he has nationwide appeal. Relatively few starting pitchers in baseball have that kind of appeal.

But Johnson is definitely a star among hardcore baseball fans, who recognize him as one of the nastiest pitchers the major league has to offer. When Johnson is on, there are few pitchers better than him.

Johnson's 2010 season speaks for itself. He only won 11 games, but he had a National League-best 2.30 ERA, and he struck out 186 hitters in 183.2 innings. He was dominant from start to finish, and he was selected to the All-Star game for the second year in a row.

The Marlins will gladly take another season like that one. For them to get it, Johnson will have to stay healthy, which is no sure thing.

If he does, he's going to be among the contenders for the NL Cy Young award. Believe it.

4. Logan Morrison, Left Field

Logan Morrison doesn't have nearly the same kind of major league experience that Johnson has. Morrison has only played in 185 games since breaking into the league in 2010.

So why does Morrison rank ahead of Johnson?

Because this is a list of players with star power. In situations like this, Twitter counts for a lot. And let's face it, everyone knows @LoMoMarlins.

We all know LoMoMarlins because he's freaking hilarious, and I for one tip my cap to Morrison for being as bold as he is, as a lot of his tweets are borderline R-rated.

Morrison is already closing in on 100,000 followers, which isn't bad for a guy who only has 25 big league home runs.

However, a lot of experts think Morrison is a candidate to hit upwards of 30 bombs this year. If he does, he'll become as big a star on the field as he is on Twitter. And that's saying something.

3. Giancarlo Stanton, Right Field

Giancarlo Stanton (formerly Mike Stanton) has fewer than half as many followers on Twitter as LoMo does, so it suffices to say he has some catching up to do in that arena.

The reason Stanton ranks ahead of LoMo, of course, is because Morrison can't hope to match Stanton's prowess on the field.

Stanton has only been in the majors for two seasons, and he's already established himself as one of the best pure power hitters in baseball. He has 56 home runs in 875 at-bats, and he's coming off a year in which he hit 34. That's not bad for a second season.

Stanton's power potential is through the roof. He has it in him to hit upwards of 40 home runs every year, perhaps as many as 50. All he has to do is cut down on his strikeouts, which have plagued him to this point in his career.

When (not if) Stanton fully realizes his potential, he's going to be a superstar.

2. Hanley Ramirez, Third Base

Hanley Ramirez is coming off the toughest season of his career. He only played in 92 games in 2011, and he hit just .243. Injuries did him in, and he was clearly unhappy for much of the year.

It's a new year now, and Ramirez finds himself at a new position. Despite that, many are expecting to see the old Hanley Ramirez make a comeback this year.

The "old" Ramirez was one of the top hitters in the National League from 2006 to 2010. He hit .313 over those five seasons, with 124 home runs. He also stole 196 bases. He had a 30-30 season in 2008, and he won the batting title in 2009 with an average of .342.

Ramirez's production didn't translate into success for the Marlins in those five seasons, but millions of fantasy baseball players took note. To them, Ramirez was a Brad Pitt-like superstar. 

He still is.

1. Jose Reyes, Shortstop

What makes Jose Reyes a bigger superstar than Hanley Ramirez?

A couple things, really.

Above all, let's give Reyes credit for being one of the game's most dangerous players when he's healthy. He's one of the best switch hitters in the league, and he's fast enough to turn routine line drives into doubles and triples. He's also a terror stealing bases. He'll hover around 40 stolen bases now, but one year he stole 78 of them.

We also can't ignore the fact that Reyes is coming to the Marlins straight from the largest media market in America. Whether we like to admit it or not, star power is worth more in New York than it is anywhere else.

And this, of course, at least partially, explains Reyes' monster contract. Despite his injury history, the Marlins gave him a six-year contract worth over $100 million this offseason.

I'll say this about Reyes' contract: if he performs like he did in 2011, the Marlins won't be wasting their money. They will have bought a true superstar.