2009 Marlins: Hoping For an Injury-Free Season

Since the end of the 2003 season, the Marlins have dismantled half of the team, let go of players about to enter free agency, and traded some others. However as it has come to be expected, the Marlins will stay competitive in the 2009 season.

In the beginning of the 2008 season, all the experts in the country could not predict that the Marlins, the perennial lowest payroll in baseball, would sit at the top of the NL East for a significant amount of time, not due to a fluke, but good baseball.

They finished well above Atlanta and Washington, and just 4.5 games back of the Mets, a team with the second highest payroll in baseball, $137 million plus, where it’s top two paid stars (Beltran and Santana) make more than the entire Marlins' clubhouse.

The Marlins have proved that MLB Baseball is not just about money, but good scouting and quality management both on and off the field. But can they actually go all the way again? Here are some points to keep in mind for this upcoming season.

Defense – The Marlins had a lot of problems in defense in 2008. They finished the season with 117 errors, behind the entire league except two teams.  This is mainly due to two factors.

The team is young and lacks chemistry together, especially in the infield where most of those errors occurred.

Mike Jacobs was a big part of the problem. He was not a first baseman by trade and did not play the position very well. Look for a huge improvement in this aspect of their game this season as the core of the infield acquires chemistry together, however first base is still a big question mark.

Pitching – Starting pitching was a disappointment because of constant injury. The Marlins started 2008 with a solid top 10 starting pitching rotation, however at one point in the season three of them (the top three) were out due to injury.

Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez, and Andrew Miller were all out most of the season. They will come back now healthy, and as long as the Marlins know how to manage their young arms, this should be a very strong asset for them.

Bullpen – This was a very weak point in the 2008 season. Except for a few bright spots, closing was shameful, middle relief was not up to standard, and if the starting pitcher went down in the second or third inning, you might as well bring tomorrow’s starter in.

The Marlins made some moves to shore up their bullpen, but I do not think they have done enough. Hopefully, they can acquire a closer in the wee hours before spring training, or they have something in mind that we do not know about yet.

Catching – The Marlins catching core is weak. Mat Treanor is a decent backup catcher, but fails to perform at the everyday starting level. Lo Duca was picked up late in the season for cheap, but will certainly demand more money than the Marlins are willing to pay for a full season contract.

The options are slim however. Pudge Rodriguez is still available and the rumors are plenty, but he also just came off a $40 million dollar contract and I doubt he would accept whatever the Marlins are able to pay him, unless he really has no other offers.

Management – The on field management will certainly improve with experience and less player injuries providing many more in-game options.

I still believe the Marlins have the best off-field management in baseball. Larry Beinfest and David Samson are geniuses. They know how to stretch their dollar. They do with $20 million what some teams can’t do with $60 million.

Their scouting is amazing. This is the team that discovered or developed players such as Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, Josh Beckett, Carl Pavano, Brad Penny and lately Hanley Ramirez, among many others. Look forward for some of those players picked up in the Nationals' trade to come up and do some damage.

New Stadium – This could become a distraction if any other disagreement with the local governments involved in the deal occurs. It should be a motivation for everyone to do better.

The Marlins should prove that the City of Miami and the State of Florida made the right moves in providing the club with the millions in tax breaks and incentive money it received. The stadium's location is amazing and fans should come back, provided that the team doesn’t screw them with ticket prices and keeps a good core of the team.

They should also push for a Metrorail line to the stadium since parking in that region is awful.

Fans – This has always been a weak point in the franchise ever since the team fire sale after the ’97 WS. I’ve been to Sunday games where there could not have been more than 500 people in the stadium even though the “official” announcement was some ridiculous 8,000 something.

The franchise should take the opportunity to start building the fan base again since they are moving to a new, centrally located, stadium. Other cities offer $1 hot dog days, discounted pricing, and other promotions the Marlins mostly lack. I say bring back two for Tuesdays with the Miami Herald.

It’s enough we have to drive on anywhere from 15 to 30 miles each way, pay $10 for parking and get robbed at the concession stand. Dolphins Stadium really was not designed for a middle class baseball season ticket holder. It’s great for football because you only go there eight times in the whole season.

Look for the Marlins to pick up a late veteran addition to help out in the clubhouse and leadership on the field.

My prediction: 87-75, second place in the NL East behind the Phillies, in front of the Mets and maybe winning the NL Wild Card.