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Miami Marlins

2012 – Finished last in NL East

Record: 69-93

The first season of the rebranded Miami Marlins will not be one to remember fondly. Manager Ozzie Guillen seemed hell bent on personal self-destruction whilst the team struggled to come to terms with a new name and a new ballpark.

Never in the hunt in 2012, the Marlins finished bottom of their division and were 29 games back from title winning Washington Nationals. A 38-43 home record in the newly created Marlins Park did nothing to back up a poor road record.

A team clearly in transition on the ballpark as well as off, Miami will have to wait a little while before seeing success in their investment. A policy of giving young talent a chance will hopefully pay off in time as prospects come through but 2013 may well be as desperate as last season.

INCOMINGS

C Jeff Mathis – Trade (TOR)
1B Joe Mahoney – Waivers (BAL)
3B Placido Polanco – Free Agent (PHI)
SS/2B Derek Dietrich – Trade (TB)
SS/3B Yunel Escobar – Trade (TOR)
IF Yordy Cabrera – Trade (ARI), Adeiny Hechavarria – Trade (TOR)
OF Jake Marisnick – Trade (TOR), Juan Pierre – Free Agent (PHI), Alfredo Silverio – Rule 5 (LAD)
RHP Henderson Alvarez – Trade (TOR), Anthony DeScalfani – Trade (TOR), Sam Dyson – Waivers (TOR), Jon Rauch – Free Agent (NYM)
LHP Braulio Lara – Rule 5 (TB), Scott Maine – Waivers (TOR), Justin Nicolino – Trade (TOR)

OUTGOINGS

C John Buck – Trade (TOR), Brett Hayes – Waivers (KC)
SS Yunel Escobar – Trade (TB), Jose Reyes – Trade (TOR)
IF/OF Emilio Bonifacio – Trade (TOR)
OF Scott Cousins – Waivers (TOR)
RHP Heath Bell – Trade (ARI), Chad Gaudin – Free Agent (SF), Josh Johnson – Trade (TOR), Juan Carlos Oviedo – Free Agent (MIA), Sandy Rosario – Waivers (BOS)
LHP Mark Buehrle – Trade (TOR)

Outfielders

Veteran, and ex-Florida Marlin, Juan Pierre returns to the franchise to bring some much needed experience and a .297 career batting average. Along with a .307 average last season for the Phillies, he produced a .994 fielding percentage.

A glowing beacon in an otherwise dark first season in Miami, Right Fielder Giancarlo Stanton lit up the Marlins with some fantastic hitting. An All Star appearance was justified: .608 slugging and 37 home runs to add to the 34 from 2011.

Justin Ruggiano holds the Centre Field position, with a .313 batting average in 2012, at present. Whether the 30 year old, who did literally bat way above his career average last season, can hold the position down is conjecture.

Infielders

First Base looks to be where Logan Morrison prefers to be. He played in several positions, before knee surgery ended his season, and his fielding percentage of .994 suggests he is at home on first. Greg Dobbs will be waiting in the wings to see if Morrison’s knee is going to keep him out.

It will be Donovan Solano’s second season and he will be hoping that he performs as well at Second Base. A healthy .294 batting average justified his promotion to starter.

Third Base will have experience and quality in abundance with acquisition Placido Polanco: Three Golden Gloves, 2 All Star and a Silver Slugger. He also brings an increasing age and a decreasing batting average to Marlins Park.

Adeiny Hechavarria will assume the shortstop position for the start of 2013.

Having to fill the shoes of Jose Reyes, who has gone north to the Blue Jays as Hechavarria came the other direction, will be no easy task. Having just 41 games in the majors, it will be a steep learning curve.

Catchers

Rob Brantly will assume the starting catcher position in 2013 as part of the rebuild in Miami. In his 31 games in the majors, Brantly’s .290 BA will be encouraging. At 22, he’s one for the future and will be backed up by Jeff Mathis. Mathis was another of the massive trade with the Blue Jays. A career batting average of .198 suggests that he’s purely back in his native Florida as backup.

Starters

Ricky Nolasco gets the nod as starting pitcher despite his last two seasons ending up at less than .500 in the win-loss column. Along with an ERA of 4.48, Nolasco could find 2013 yet another difficult season.

Yet another acquisition via the Blue Jays, Henderson Alvarez will make the starting rotation. Alvarez suffered 29 home runs last season with a 4.85 ERA. He will be hoping that Marlins Park is more accommodating.

Wade LeBlanc’s first season at the Marlins delivered a 2-5 win-loss record but a 3.67 ERA was way below his career average. However, his batting was abysmal.

A trade with the Dodgers last season, Nathan Eovaldi suffered like all other pitchers for the Marlins. However, signs were good enough to secure a starting rotation spot in 2013.

Final spot goes to Jacob Turner who has flourished somewhat since his move from the Tigers. A 3.38 ERA was a significant improvement and the Marlins will hope this continues.

Relievers

Steven Cishek will once again be looked upon to save games for the Marlins. A 5-2 record will be encouraging as will the 2.69 ERA. The bullpen will consist of Jon Rauch, Ryan Webb, Mike Dunn, Chris Hatcher, Daniel Jennings and Tom Koehler.