With the Marlins finally mathematically eliminated from the playoffs last night, we’re going to have a retrospective week here on the main-ship and take a look at what went right, and later in the week, where it went wrong for the Marlins. But first, a quick peak at 10 positives this season:
10) Attendance Spike:
While fairly miniscule, there was an attendance improvement this year for the franchise perpetually on the end of every attendance list. According to a friend of the blog, Sarah Taralay of the Sun-Sentinel, the attendance rose 12.5 % this year, and the Marlins averaged 18,783 fans per game compared with 16,688 last year. Another important note: The Marlins surpassed Oakland and are now the second lowest team in attendance this season. Woo-hoo!
9) The Almighty Nick Johnson
It’s a shame Johnson got injured and was out for 2 weeks right in the thick of the playoff race, because he was beyond exceptional, putting up a .457 OBP in 32 games for the Marlins in the number 2 spot of the lineup. We are told that the Marlins brass likes Johnson and is considering re-signing him, an even likelier possibility given all the rumors that Dan Uggla and Jorge Cantu will both be traded, freeing up a modicum of cap space.
8 ) Talks to Sign Josh Johnson
This organization is notorious for drafting well, developing well, keeping players right up until they get too expensive, and then flipping them to another team and starting the process all over. It’s a strategy that is much maligned by this fan base, but a problem that needs only two points to explain. A) it works. That can be said with very little equivocation and considering that every year since 2003 the Marlins have been in the playoff race until the last week, there can’t be a lot to argue with. B) they don’t have a lot of choice. Without a stadium, and the subsequent revenue, signing players to long term contracts isn’t really feasible. However, with the new Marlins stadium officially being built, there seems to be a shift in the thinking of Larry Beinfest and Co. While they will never be a team that goes out and pays Barry Zito hundreds of millions of dollars, they did sign Hanley Ramirez to a 6 year 70 million dollar deal and we broke the story that the Marlins were going to offer Josh Johnson some form of a long term contract, which is certainly different than the previous way of doing business.
7) The Catching Platoon
Before the season there were talks around the organization of possibly signing Ivan Rodriguez to a one year deal. The deal ended up falling apart because the Marlins weren’t so sure that there was a lot of difference between Pudge and John Baker. And, by the way, they were right. Pudge’s slash stats (avg/obp/slug): .251/.280/.382…Baker’s? .272/.352/.414. Oh, and Baker cost $400,000….Pudge cost 1.5 million.
6) Perhaps We Found a Closer?
Last off-season the Marlins traded Mike Jacobs to the Royals for Leo Nunez. Obviously, ridding themselves of a perpetual .280 OBP hole in the lineup for a young hard throwing reliever was a success; we’re not here to re-hash that point. Instead, we’re here to talk about the development of Nunez, and the positives we saw. Let’s start here: 59/25. That would be Nunez’s strikeout to walk ratio, almost 2.5: 1, an above average clip to be sure. Nunez also recorded 25 saves (for whatever that’s worth..we’ve said before that getting 3 outs in the ninth with a 3 run lead doesn’t take some innate ability like Rob Dibble and Joe Morgan will have you believe). It appears like Nunez is set to be the closer and 2010, and given his age and positive developments this year, it looks like an intriguing decision at worst, and a fantastic one at best.
5) The Bullpen? Yeah, Pretty Good This Year…
Another staple of the Florida Marlins is their ability to consistently patch together cheap arms and put together an above average bullpen while doing so. Last off-season they let Joe Nelson go, a move that was ridiculed by Baseball Prospectus as the Marlins just being cheap, as usual. Nelson put up a 4.00+ ERA, pitched 40 innings, and blew out his arm in July. Meanwhile, the Marlins added pieces like Kiko Calero (1.86 ERA), Dan Meyer (3.02), Burke Badenhop (3.86), Brian Sanches (2.45), and Brendan Donnelly (1.80).
4) Cody Ross? Not That Bad After All…
A few years ago the Marlins spent a season platooning Reggie Abercrombie and Cody Ross in center field. Our buddy Boog Sciambi (and us, by the way) defended the move. In retrospect, it looks silly, but the building block of the argument was that the Marlins weren’t going to compete, and you didn’t know what you had in Abercrombie, while you did with Ross–a 4th outfielder. This year, Ross showed he’s not quite a 4th outfielder, and instead, is someone you can start in any of the three outfield spots and be pretty comfortable he will produce. (ed. note: Ross hit .270 with 24 home runs)
3) Chris Coghlan, Rookie of the Year (well, should be, anyway…)
Prior to May 8th (which includes over a month of baseball), the Marlins employed Emilio Bonifacio at the top of the lineup (and we’ll get to him later in the week), and played a combination of Jeremy Hermida and others in left field. After Coghlan’s call-up, the dynamic of the team changed irrevocably. Coghlan hit .319/.389/.457, was excellent in left field, and became the 4th rookie ever to have 100 hits in the second of the season.
2) Josh Johnson: El Cool JJ
Johnson was terrific this season, and it was a pleasure to watch, given the questions that surrounded him after Joe Girardi attempted to blow out his arm forevermore. Following Tommy John surgery, Johnson pitched 204 innings with a 3.08 ERA and 186 strikeouts with 57 walks (over 3:1). Johnson will go down as the best pitcher to ever don the teal and black, and it’s imperative he get locked up to a deal–soon.
1) Hanley Ramirez (’nuff said)..
The best player in the MLB this season not named Mauer or Pujols? Hanley. No argument, thanks. Ramirez was exceptional this year, the best player on this team by far, and the important distinctions to note were his overcoming of perceived weaknesses. Defense? Hanley was much improved this year, putting up a +12 this year according to Baseball Prospectus, compared with a -6 last year, a remarkable improvement. Hitting in the 3 spot? Hanley led the league in batting average with runners in scoring position .371 with 76 RBI’s and stole 26 bases.
Later this week, we’ll tackle what went wrong with this team..stay tuned…
God, did we really just tease that?
