Marlins: Is Florida Ready to Compete in the NL East?

Tomorrow is Opening Day, although, technically, it already happened last Tuesday.

In two games in the Far East, we saw the Oakland Athletics and the defending World Champion Boston Red Sox each pitch and hit themselves to one victory apiece.

Here, in America, the rest of Major League Baseball gets ready to trot out new and updated rosters for each and every team (and in the case of the Tampa Bay Rays, a shortened name, new uniforms and a brand new confidence).

But I'm concerned about the Florida Marlins. Not since the fire-sale of 2003 (or worse yet, the fire-sale of 1997) have the Marlins been this low on the totem pole.

Granted, they're not yet at the point of being the Pirates or the Royals, but if Jeffrey Loria, David Samson, and Larry Beinfest keep going the way they are, well...let's just say we'll know what it's like to be fans of the Pirates or the Royals (although the Pirates already have their shiny, new stadium, at least).

Let's breakdown the team, shall we?

The starting pitching is already stricken with injuries, which is what plagued the group last year. Josh Johnson, Sergio Mitre and Anibal "No-Hitter" Sanchez are already/still on the shelf to start the season and Scott Olsen is battling an injury from Spring Training (although he's not on the 15 Day-DL).

Because of all that, journeyman Mark Hendrickson gets the nod against Johan and the Mets on Opening Day. Not that I don't have confidence in Mark, but he did go 4-8 last year with a 5.21 ERA and that was with the offensively-heavier Dodgers. Granted, however, he was shuffled between the starting rotation and the bullpen.

Nevertheless, I hope Fredi Gonzalez knows what he's doing giving him the Opening Day start. Behind him, for the time being, is Rick VandenHurk, ex-Detroit prized prospect Andrew Miller, Scott Olsen, and Ricky Nolasco, who is still coming back from his injuries of last year.

I will say, however, that behind these guys, the Fish have a great pool of pitching to pull from in youngsters like Daniel Barone, Ross Wolf, Chris Volstad, Gaby Hernandez, and others.

The bullpen, I must admit, I do quite like and could turn out to be the strength of this team.

Kevin Gregg is still a good year away from establishing himself as a dominant closer, but he'll get there this year, I think. Renyel Pinto, Justin Miller, Matt Lindstrom, and "The Tank," Taylor Tankersley have shown themselves to be quite good at getting the outs they need to. Oh, sure, they each had their bad games (what pitcher doesn't?), but they all each showed an ability to rebound from those bad performances and throw the heat.

Now, to the lineup and the offense.

Third baseman beast Miguel Cabrera is gone and so is his 30-plus HRs and 100-plus RBI. So who replaces those numbers?

Dan Uggla, once again manning 2B? "The Hammer" Josh Willingham in left field? How about the new face of the franchise, SS Hanley Ramirez or new third baseman Jorge Cantu? It could be C Matt Treanor, for all we know.

Realistically, nobody on this team can put up the INDIVIDUAL numbers that Miggy has put up the last several years. That being said, if Uggla continues to hit his 28-plus HRs, Hanley continues to mature as a hitter and adds a little more power instead of speed, and "Hammer" stays away from that pesky injury bug, the team COULD actually be pretty good.

Defensively, well...Cantu isn't that great of a third baseman, to be honest, but the rest of the infield has had the time to gel together, and I think they'll be fine.

The outfield is still in flux, with scheduled CF Alejandro De Aza going down with his second ankle injury in two years.

Finally, we get to the bench. Aside from veteran OF Luis Gonzalez and super-sub Alfredo Amezaga, there really isn't much of a bench.

Mike Rabelo will share catching duties with Treanor once he gets off the DL. Robert Andino and Brett Carroll will see time in the infield and outfield, respectively, when Hammer and Uggla need a rest.

Overall, though, there really is no bench. But of all the problems the Fish have right now, the lack of a deep bench is not that high on the list.

The ultimate question that I just have to ask: Are the 2008 Florida Marlins ready?

I certainly hope so.