Nick & Hayden's 2014 MLB Preview: 28. Miami Marlins

Jeffrey Loria. The Face of Evil.

The Marlins have a villain, and it's one their own. 

28. Miami Marlins
by Hayden Hughes







“Hey…do you smell that? What is that smell?”
“Yeah…Urg! He’s here. Damn it, %@*&in’ Jeff is here…” – 2 of Jeffrey Loria’s interns

      The Marlins team stinks. Their owner sucks too. On Wikipedia, his page says “Jeffrey Loria is an American art dealer, and the owner of the Miami Marlins. There’s a joke in there somewhere: “For a baseball owner, he’s a helluva art dealer.” There’s a stigma around the Marlins that circulates around the team’s franchise and I think I have figured it out; it’s never a good thing if the casual fan knows your owner’s name and not your GM’s name.

  But there are players to be talked about after all. Signing Jarrod Saltalamacchia to a 3-year, $21 M deal, in an offseason where he was the second-best catcher to only Brian McCann, makes Marlins fans scratch their heads, then shrug their shoulders as they ask “Who do the Heat play? No, not 6! That’s when I’m getting spray tanned. Bro, have you been using my hair gel again?” But seriously, Salty should fire his agent. Surely, most other teams would have given the 28-year old more than $7M per. Maybe I’m wrong.

     The lineup the Marlins have, outside of Giancarlo Stanton, will most certainly give Marlins fans some minor form of PTSD following 2014. Seriously, they signed Casey McGehee – who lost his job in Japan to Kevin Youkilis this offseason – and Rafael Furcal and gave both of them the starting jobs at third and second base, respectively—Wait!

     Is it 2009?!
     Oh, it's not?
     Then why the hell would a professional baseball team sign a defunct third baseman, who last had a slashline of .217/.284/.358 in 2012 where he was traded for Chad Qualls (who got the worse end of that deal?!), and a shortstop recovering from Tommy John surgery who last played second base in 2004 (for a whole 2 innings)?

The answer: Winning is not a priority in Miami.

     The only priority is money for the owner, who knows the cash isn’t coming in Florida. It’s a race between Miami and Tampa Bay to see which team moves from Florida first. Never mind your team has potentially the best young Ace in the Majors. And never mind your 24-year old right fielder could lead any team in home runs. Never mind that right fielder could get you a pot of gold in return, if you dealt him anywhere. Never mind all the talent.

     After all, Loria is a primary reason Montreal has no baseball team. He’s in it for money. All this and yet, somehow, the Marlins – in the NL East – could be a contender in a couple years. Marlins fans should think of this as a Batman movie, with Loria as the Riddler, Jose Fernandez as Robin, and Giancarlo Stanton as Batman. After all, "it's always darkest before the dawn."

Ha. Just kidding. Batman gets traded.

1.      Last Season & offseason

a.       62-100

b.      Signed Jarrod Saltalamacchia (3 yr/$21M), Rafael Furcal, Garret Jones, Casey McGehee

c.       Traded Ruggiano for Brian Bogusevic with Cubs, Logan Morrison for Carter Capps

d.      Let Ryan Webb and Chris Coghlan walk

2.      Projected Line up /Rotation
      Lineup:

1.       Rafael Furcal 2B

2.      Christian Yelich LF

3.       Giancarlo Stanton RF

4.      Jarrod Saltalamacchia C

5.       Marcell Ozuna CF

6.       Garret Jones 1B

7.      Casey McGehee 3B

8.      Adeiny Hechavarria SS

1.        Jose Fernandez

2.        Nathan Eovaldi

3.      Henderson Alvarez

4.        Jacob Turner

5.    Brian Flynn

3.      Favorite/Least Fav

a.       N fav - Rotation

b.      H fav – got rid of Morrison; for Capps

c.       N least – Loria still owns team

d.      H least – Salty batting 4^th

4.      High Heat Impact Player

a.       Jose Fernandez

                                                              i.      Demigod and part-time pitcher

                                                            ii.      NL ROY 2013

b.      

c.       He was alright…

d.      Can he replicate? Get better?

                                                              i.      Mathematically, physically, emotionally cannot do any better.

5.      Prospect to make impact

a.       Brian Flynn (#5 rotation)

                                                              i.      6’7” – 240 lbs

                                                            ii.      Mid-90s fastball, secondary guy in Anibal Sanchez trade

                                                          iii.      Fifth guy in solid rotation

                                                          iv.      Walks way too many guys

b.      Andrew Heaney

                                                              i.      Not a matter of if, but when

                                                            ii.      Potential #2 with Fernandez

6.      Midseason Status

a.       Free tickets to games; Relocation rumors to Cuba; Constant denial of Stanton trades throughout season.

7.      Bold Predictions

a.       65-97

b.      Big year from Stanton

c.       Trade with Detroit: Steve Cishek for Devon Travis (2B prospect – Furcal up at end of 2014).

d.      Should trade for Brandon Phillips (because why not) but don’t have assets.

Playlist:
"Waiting" by Green Day
"Shake It Out" by Florence + the Machine