Opening day of the 2013 MLB Season is fast approaching and odds for the Miami Marlins to win the 2013 World Series are at +30000, according to Sportsbook.ag. 2012 was an abject failure in Miami, and 2013 looks like it could be worse. With the Astros now members of the American League, the Marlins stand a chance of being the worst team in the Senior Circuit this year.
The Marlins enter the spring in a totally contrasting situation to where they were last spring. Gone is almost the entire payroll after a franchise-altering trade with the Blue Jays -- that sentJose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Emilio Bonifacio and Mark Buehrle to Toronto. "Ace" of the rotation (in name only, because he's not an ace) Ricky Nolasco is likely next to go, but young stud Giancarlo Stanton remains. Outspoken Ozzie Guillen has been removed as manager and replaced by quietly confident Mike Redmond.
The biggest strength of this team is Stanton. In Stanton, the Marlins have a legitimate franchise centerpiece. He's only 23 and has already amassed 93 homers and 232 RBI in just 1,498 career plate appearances. He led the majors with an absurd .608 slugging percentage last season and appears poised to hit at least 40 homers a season over the course of the next decade-plus. Not only that, Stanton isn't even eligible for arbitration until next offseason and won't hit free agency until 2017.
The depth of current talent at the big-league level is just not attractive at all. The majority of the major-league roster is comprised of players past their prime (Pierre, Figgins, Polanco) or not yet close to their prime (Brantly, Hechavarria, Turner, Eovaldi). And if those guys fail to produce, the Marlins will have to turn to guys from the minors. Even if using highly-touted prospects, the Marlins are mostly counting on a bunch of guys to either overachieve or become productive major leaguers much earlier than expected. Basically, this roster isn't built to win in 2013, which at this point is by design.
We'll get a glimpse into the future on several fronts and while some youngsters impress, some will disappoint. Still, the Marlins are lacking in many departments and their spot-filler veterans are washed up. Nolasco will be traded for one midlevel prospect. New manager Redmond makes far fewer headlines than Guillen did, as his team -- outside Stanton -- stays quietly irrelevant. The new ballpark stays mostly empty for most of the season as the Marlins return to the bottom five in attendance. Gonna be a long year in Fish Town.
Pregame.com Pro Webinar: Steve Fezzik
Little about Steve Fezzik: In 2000, he moved to Las Vegas, and has been betting for a living ever since. During the next 10 years, Fezzik sharpened his focus in several areas including Proposition betting, and Football Contests.