Florida Marlins' Frugal Front Office Should Be Blamed for June Collapse

Distress and discomfort. 

Those are two simple words used to describe what is quite simply like falling off the top of a skyscraper without a parachute. 

The Florida Marlins who a mere three weeks ago had playoff aspirations by being 10 games over .500 are now sitting seven games under as of June 18. The skid has now included  eight- and nine-game losing streaks, which have happened in less than a month. 

Who's to blame? Well, on the outside, it's easy to say that Hanley Ramirez's struggles and the absence of Josh Johnson are the key pieces to the losing skid but the whole team has contributed to this horrific freefall. 

Vazquez (6.85 ERA) and Volstad (6.07 ERA) are the two worst starters in the National League based on ERA and have guaranteed at least two losses in every five games. Couple that with a missing ace and now a regressing Ricky Nolasco and you have a recipe for a losing disaster.

Fire the pitching coach? At this rate, Randy St. Clair will not make past this month because the pitching has been at the core of this skid. 

Fire the manager? Not if you hire a permanent replacement. Jeffrey Loria can't give this young team a third manager in less than a year and potentially a fourth manager entering 2012.

This is absurd, Loria has to make a hire that the team can get used to and the manager has to be someone who can change the mood. 

Edwin Rodriguez can't be held accountable for the losing, not when you have a panic attack closer in Leo Nunez, two of the worst starters in baseball, an injured all-star pitcher, extremely ice-cold shortstop, and lack of depth. 

The front office is as much to blame for this than Edwin and they know it. These are the geniuses who recently designated Dustin Richardson for assignment, a reliever they acquired from the Red Sox in the offseason for Andrew Miller, the main piece acquired in the Miguel Cabrera deal.

Before you point out how horrible Miller was with the Marlins, he is due to turn it around with the Red Sox when he joins the rotation in the coming days. In the minors, Miller is 3-3 with a 2.47 ERA, 1.17 WHIP in 65 2/3 innings. 

Obviously, their move was made to save money and its just another example of the front office's frugal operations. 

And when they did spend this offseason, (John Buck: three years, $18 million and Javier Vazquez: one year, $7 million) they spent it awfully. They were just lucky that Dan Uggla wanted more years in his contract or else they'd be paying the price for his poor numbers this season. 

Remember, they could have gone after former Marlins Brad Penny ($3 million) or Jon Garland ($5 million) who have been much better than Vazquez this season. 

I was never a fan of the Buck signing to be honest, since most of his numbers came from a hitter-friendly Rogers Centre in Toronto.

The franchise should have gone with a younger catcher in Russell Martin, who despite a .238 batting average, has nine home runs, 28 RBI with six stolen bases for the Yankees.

What Can be Done?

Now that the team is in the cellar of the NL East, what can be done to salvage the season? Not much to be honest, a skid like this one even if the team gets back in the saddle will put a dent in any playoff aspirations, and don't compare this to the 2003 squad, who was aiming upwards at this point not downwards in the standings. 

In terms of tradable assets, only Omar Infante, Greg Dobbs, Wes Helms and Leo Nunez are legitimate trade pieces. No team would want to take Javier Vazquez, even the Yankees who already tried that last season and his likely route is to be released. 

The Marlins ought to spend this 10 months leading into the new ballpark fixing their team and getting a head start on the offseason. 

So if you fire the manager, you better hire a man who will stick to the fish like super glue, if you are going to trade guys like Nunez, Dobbs, Helms and Infante, get back assets which will help for 2012.

One move the Marlins should attempt is to take a gamble by signing recently released Scott Kazmir and trying to trade for former Marlin Dontrelle Willis from the Reds who is in the minor leagues.

Adding the pair along with a new pitching coach could turn these guys around and the Marlins could end up being on the bright side of things. 

But if they don't achieve either of those tasks, the Marlins better make sure they spend this offseason with pitchers like Mark Buehrle, Chris Carpenter, Edwin Jackson and C.J. Wilson hitting the market. 

The front office needs to wake up because Joe Girardi has proven that having talent can win a championship, and Fredi Gonzalez is proving he can manage his Braves team without the offensive presence of Dan Uggla. 

Channel your inner Donald Trump all you want, Loria, but you've scammed yourself and the fans long enough. Spend so that others may spend on you and your shiny new ballpark, and relax as others would relax in a similar situation. 

The misery still continues, but we all know why its happening.