The Florida Marlins recently unveiled their new uniforms, their name change (to the Miami Marlins), and hope to host the reigning world champion St. Louis Cardinals in their new stadium near downtown Miami. They've also acquired a new manager, the never-subtle Ozzie Guillen from the Chicago White Sox. Since the season ended and all these grand changes have occurred, Marlins ownership has been quickly and heavily aggressive, giving most of the marquee free agents a tour of the new stadium and a nice, if not pedantic, offer before they have a chance to say, "Wait, you mean I'd have to wear THAT when I play?" While the chances of many of these players being fool enough to take what have reported to be less than flattering offers is slim, Miami brass is at least sending a good message, that they're willing to explore literally every option to turn this team into a true contender.
Still, something doesn't feel right. The Marlins have rarely been in the mix for any big players since their creation in 1993, and even though they won titles in 1997 and 2003 and most of the players for those teams went on to have very good careers elsewhere (it was almost an unspoken team policy that when the Marlins won the World Series, they immediately had to dismantle the team to prevent it from happening again, no matter how much the talented tried), they were never seen as the hotspot for impact infielders and power pitchers. But, all of a sudden, the new stadium and those Godawful uniforms have given them the swagger necessary to make a push for Albert Pujols AND Prince Fielder? CJ Wilson AND Mark Buehrle? Jose Reyes AND just about every other player who doesn't already have a guaranteed contract for 2012? They managed to sign dominant Padres closer Heath Bell to a 3-year deal, which already eats up the majority of the expected increase in payroll (they're projecting $80 million, up from $55 million last year, and Bell is supposedly taking $9 million home a year), but the chances of them getting any of the other big names they've lusted after seems somewhat slim.
In all actuality, the Marlins don't really need to rely heavily on the free agents. They have an incredibly powerful, young lineup consisting of Hanley Ramirez, Mike Stanton and Logan Morrison among others. Their rotation also has Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco, two of the best young starters when they're healthy. This is a team that has an amazing future ahead of them...if the homegrown talent can get their act together. Ramirez's season was one we'd all like to forget, Morrison is having surgery soon, and Johnson is still recovering from his own surgery. If they can get the whole band grooving at the same time instead of a few solo projects, they can make some beautiful music. Now, if they do manage to get any of the free agents, the one they're most likely to reel in (and the one that makes the most sense) would be Reyes. He's still moderately young, a true demon on the basepaths (led MLB in triples last year, no small feat), and a defensive maven at shortstop. However, the liability of his health make it difficult to have a lot of faith in him, but it's a move that would really help the Marlins out. It would mean moving Ramirez to 3rd base, a move that Hanley himself said he was more than willing to make should Reyes want to take his talents to South Beach. A lineup of Reyes-Ramirez-Stanton-Morrison would be enough to instill fear in the grizzliest of veterans (watch out, Halladay), but might be a little difficult to bring to fruition, if reports of the Marlins' offer to Reyes (6 years at $90 million, seen as vastly underpaying for someone with Reyes' abilities) is true.
The Marlins are trying their hardest to make a splash with free agents. But if they manage to get the production out of their guppies, they can make a formidable team of big home-cooked fish without any necessary, expensive side dishes.
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