Kuzul

Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, already a pariah in Major League Baseball circles and with every fan in the state of Florida, is back to his old tricks and undermining everyone and everything within his franchise. 

According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, the latest incident involving Loria took place on Tuesday during a day-night doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. 

Loria insisted (Jose) Fernandez, the team’s prized 20-year-old rookie, pitch in the first half of the doubleheader at frigid Target Field instead of the scheduled (Ricky) Nolasco because the day game was expected to be warmer. The temperature at Fernandez’s first pitch (38 degrees) was actually colder than at the beginning of Nolasco’s start (42 degrees).

While that doesn’t sound all that bad, there is more to the story that Passan notes. Loria actually “mandated” the pitching change, forcing manager Mike Redmond—less than one month into his new job—to break protocol and abandon his planned pitching rotation just a couple hours before the first pitch. 

Loria, not surprisingly, is denying that he had any part in switching the starting pitchers for the doubleheader (h/t FoxSports.com).

I had nothing to do with the decision. I was informed of the decision by the baseball department. I told them it was their call.

I don’t make decisions on who to pitch and when, how to go about it—that’s not my role. Sometimes they call me and tell me what they’re doing. But I don’t call them up and say, ‘This is what is going to happen.’ That’s not true.

Even if you don’t agree with the tradition that Nolasco should have been able to pick which game he wanted to start, the fact that the ruling is coming down from the owner instead of being left up to the manager is just another sign that Loria has no respect for the people who work for him. 

Redmond is the manager of the Miami Marlins. He should be working with the general manager to make on-field decisions. The owner can give his input because it is his team, but ultimately, player decisions should come down to the manager. 

Passan cited sources who told him that Loria even tried to make lineup suggestions for Ozzie Guillen last year, but those went ignored. 

Unlike Guillen, who lives in his own world and will do what he wants when he wants, Redmond is still learning the intricacies both of managing in the big leagues and with this franchise. There is no doubt that he wants to be a company man just to keep his boss happy and retain his job. 

No one had any expectations for the Marlins entering this season. They have shipped basically their entire starting lineup from last year away, save for Giancarlo Stanton, and are doing nothing to earn any goodwill from people in the city. 

That’s not the fault of the players or anyone in the front office. It all falls on the shoulders of Loria, who seems to relish being this shrewd businessman at the expense of building a quality product. 

After spending $409 million in taxpayer money—or more than $2.4 billion after paying off 40 years’ worth of bonds (h/t Miami Sun-Sentinel)—Loria tried to win some good faith from the public by spending $191 million to bring in Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell. 

The team underachieved with a 69-93 record in 2012, but the attendance did rise by nearly 700,000 to 2.2 million—thanks to the new park and star-level talent on the roster.

Yet Loria, seeing that salaries were going to rise and attendance might drop, decided to sell anyone and everyone with a big contract.

Buehrle, Reyes, Josh Johnson and John Buck were dealt to Toronto for a decent package of prospects that included outfielder Jake Marisnick, shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria and left-handed pitcher Justin Nicolino. 

Marisnick and Nicolino are solid prospects, but when you are giving up the kind of talent the Marlins did to the Blue Jays, you would expect to acquire at least one star-level player back in return. 

The backlash from that trade was loud and vociferous. Scott Miller of CBS Sports wrote that Loria destroyed his team and the city that paid to support his new stadium with the deal. 

It was one thing when Loria and his little henchman, David Samson, swaggered into that New York tavern at 12:01 a.m. last November on the first day clubs could negotiate with free agents and made a big show for Jose Reyes.

It is quite another thing when one year later Loria and Co. are shipping Reyes—and everyone else they signed last winter—across international borders in some sort of twisted joke that even the World Trade Organization surely will condemn in coming days.

But the sheer stupidity and idiocy of Loria’s tactics doesn’t end there. In an effort to try and smooth things over with an outraged city, the Marlins owner did a run of media appearances in February to convince everyone the team had a plan. 

Yet even in the midst of a press conference when he was getting grilled about the Marlins being a Triple-A team, Loria couldn’t even remember the names of the players on his team (h/t Palm Beach Post).

It’s not a Triple-A ball club. It’s a ball club with some pretty impressive players. I wouldn’t call (Placido) Polanco a Triple-A player. I wouldn’t call the new shortstop a Triple-A player. I wouldn’t call our second baseman a Triple-A player. I certainly wouldn’t call Rob Brantly that.

Bashing Loria has almost gotten to the point where it is so easy there is no reason to do it. He leaves himself open to criticism and vitriol every step of the way. 

Yet what we see from his latest actions, in which he put Redmond in a bad situation with one of his players and really had no problem doing it, speaks to just how bad things are with the Miami Marlins franchise. 

It is impossible for anyone to feel truly comfortable with their job because Loria will always be hovering over, waiting to do what is in the best interest of himself.

Top free agents are not going to come play for this team because they saw what happened to Reyes and Buehrle after signing deals with them last year. Their best young players, like Stanton, are under no obligation to consider taking a long-term contract because they know that once they approach the end of their arbitration years with the team they will be shipped out of town. 

You can’t even say that the Marlins have still won two championships in 20 years of existence anymore, because the first one came under Wayne Huizenga’s ownership—which Loria actually seems to have modeled his regime after—in 1997 before selling all of his best players. 

Then in 2003, under Loria’s ownership, they were able to catch lightning in a bottle with a roster of young, promising talent that included Josh Beckett, Dontrelle Willis, A.J. Burnett, Derrek Lee, Mike Lowell and Miguel Cabrera. 

All of those players were shipped away from the team within four years of winning that championship when they approached free agency or hit salary arbitration. 

Players and other front office personnel around the league see what the Marlins are doing and have to be laughing. You can’t run any business—sports or otherwise—where there is absolutely no credibility at the top. 

Loria, in trying to help himself make more money, has alienated anyone and everyone who helps put cash in his pocket. Fans have long been wanting to see something change with the franchise, and it appeared as if that would happen last year before the great firesale of 2012. 

Players and coaches, especially based on what Passan’s report says, have grown increasingly annoyed by the actions of Loria. The product he has put on the field is substandard, regardless of how he tries to spin it. 

Hopefully one day the Marlins can get out from under this mess, because Miami really does have the potential to be a great baseball town. It just can’t find an owner worthy of those people. 

If you want to talk more baseball, feel free to hit me up on Twitter. 

Follow @adamwells1985

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There are few slimier figures in professional sports than Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria.

From taxpayer-funded stadiums to broken promises to fire sale after fire sale, the few fans who can call themselves Miami diehards can’t possibly take much more.

On Monday, the team reached a new low by throwing paying customers out of the park for voicing their displeasure with the team, management and direction of the franchise (Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post).

A group of fans calling themselves “Rage Against the Marlins,” spent the early part of Monday evening walking around the stadium, holding signs and wearing t-shirts voicing their displeasure about the state of the team and management.

In what will surely turn into a “he said, she said” incident, the group was thrown out of the stadium.

Per Capozzi, Marlins management claims the group was thrown out for “creating a disturbance.” However, the group claims that didn’t happen—they never had the opportunity to take a sip of alcohol, identification was never asked for inside the stadium and security claimed the action came from above.

The wronged fans runs a website called RageAgainstTheMarlins.com. On it, they described the incident.

We were drawing no more attention to ourselves than anyone else casually walking to our seats, people wanted pictures with us and thought the sign and our shirts were awesome, how was that our fault?

Finally we were so calm with the cops it was unreal, they even said, “Its not us its from above, if it was up to us you guys would go free, because you have done nothing wrong”

So to make it sound like we got kicked out because we would not calm down and not show ID is a lie. David Sampson also implied that we had drank too much but we hadn’t even gotten to our seats. We had no time to drink!!! Not like we would pay for drinks there anyway. I wish we could go to court over this.

If true—there’s little reason to take Loria or team president David Sampson’s word—it represents another black eye for the franchise just months after trading away almost all of last winter’s free-agent signings, and the revelation of a stadium hoodwinking the likes of which professional sports has never seen.

At some point, commissioner Bud Selig has to step in and take control of the fiasco that has become the Miami Marlins franchise.This incident could give him a reason to insert himself into the inner workings of the Miami front office and start asking bigger questions about the future of the franchise.

In all sports, winning is the great equalizer. Despite an outstandingly inconsistent message and approach from all ownership regimes in the Marlins franchise history, the team has won a pair of World Series since 1993. With a knack for developing young talent and a current Double-A team that could be the best across minor league baseball, Miami could win again before too long.

This time, though, the fans may not return. Public relations is at an all-time low in Miami.

The last thing Loria and Sampson should be doing is removing paying customers from the building.

Unless they were truly a disturbance to the other fans—not just an embarrassment for upper management—they should be fully refunded for their time, tickets and transportation/parking to the game.

Bud Selig has taken varying approaches to stepping on individual owners’ toes for the betterment of the game.

Most famously, he drove the removal of Frank McCourt in Los Angeles. Aside from McCourt‘s obvious shortcomings as an owner, he was dishonest and did not take advantage of the potential of the Los Angeles baseball market. The process led the Dodgers to a new ownership group that certainly has.

On the other hand, Selig has allowed the Wilpon family to continue running the Mets in the midst of losing millions in the Bernie Madoff scandal. What has been generously described as a rebuilding effort by Sandy Alderson in New York is more accurately a salary slashing due to a hole in the Wilpon‘s collective wallets.

Loria isn’t quite as removable as McCourt, and far richer than the Wilpon‘s in the current ownership climate.

Yet he remains an uncomfortable member of baseball’s ownership circle. It’s impossible for Selig to drive him out of power over an incident with fans, but righting this wrong can be a precursor to a closer eye and more Selig involvement in Miami.

Loria can claim he makes moves in the interest of competing, the win-curve and long-term viability.

Regardless, he comes off disingenuous at every turn.

Selig knows that as well as the fans who were escorted out of the building in Miami on Monday evening.

At some point, Selig will have to change the status quo or lose a baseball city forever.

Should Bud Selig act against Loria on behalf of the sport?

Comment below, follow me on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports or “Like” my Facebook page to talk all things baseball.

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For a team that’s probably going to finish last in the National League East for the third consecutive year, the Miami Marlins don’t have many issues thus far. 

Ricky Nolasco has already been named the Opening Day starter—shocking. Jacob Turner, Nathan Eovaldi and Henderson Alvarez are still slated to follow Nolasco while Wade LeBlanc continues to make his case to be the team’s No. 5 starter after throwing four shutout innings Sunday against the Atlanta Braves. 

Among position players, second baseman Donovan Solano has hit .480 in 25 at-bats and Casey Kotchman is batting .435 in 23 at-bats. Kotchman is trying to win a spot on the team which, in his case, comes with the designation of starting first baseman if Logan Morrison isn’t ready when the season begins.

According to Morrison’s agent, Fred Wray, Morrison could be playing by April 15 after having surgery to repair a torn patella tendon in his right knee.

Meanwhile, with Team USA at the World Baseball Classic, slugging outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is hitless in seven at-bats, but he’s broken a windshield with a home run during batting practice.

Stanton’s teammate, closer Steve Cishek has two scoreless appearances, which includes the biggest out of Sunday’s 9-4 win against Canada when Cishek induced Tim Smith to ground out to second baseman Brandon Phillips to end the eighth inning with the bases loaded while preserving a one-run lead.

And as far as the kiddies go, they have impressed as well. Future ace Jose Fernandez struck out two in two scoreless innings in his only spring training appearance while the Marlins’ other star prospect, Christian Yelich, has been scorching hot as he’s batted .375 with three home runs and 11 RBI in 32 at-bats. Yelich has been so good, it’s prompted first-year manager Mike Redmond to sing his praises to MLB.com:

I’ll tell you, man, I love putting him in that lineup. Every opportunity I have to put him in there, I get him in there. He gives you a great at-bat. It doesn’t matter who he faces. Believe me, we go around and around [on where he’ll start the season]. That’s something that we’ll have to talk about.

But not everything has been rosy with the Marlins…

Begin Slideshow

The Miami Marlins played an exhibition game against Team Venezuela, set to take part in the World Baseball Classic, and recently deceased Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez was not remembered with a moment of silence before the contest.

As CNN’s Mariano Castillo and Osmary Hernandez reported on Tuesday, Chavez died after a lengthy battle with cancer. The South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Craig Davis reported the following on the exhibition in Miami: 

A Marlins spokesman said all parties involved in the exhibition, including Major League Baseball, agreed to not have the moment of silence for Chavez, which was requested by a representative of the Venezuelan team.

The Venezuelan flag in the stadium was lowered to half staff for a few minutes, then raised again.

Chavez became a polarizing figure after ascending to the presidency in 1999. He attracted negative attention in the United States due to his extreme criticism of George W. Bush, including an incident when he called the former U.S. president “the devil” in front of the United Nations General Assembly.

But his domestic policies were equally as divisive, with CNN’s report noting that his suppression of media and other branches of the Venezuelan government led to accusations that he was running a dictatorial regime. 

CNN’s Catherine E. Shoichet and Dana Ford note that Chavez’s death was met with wildly different reactions in his home country, with some Venezuelans taking to the street to mourn publicly and others actively avoiding these demonstrations, suggesting their disapproval of the late president.

Due to Chavez’s controversial nature as a political figure, Major League Baseball, the Miami Marlins and Team Venezuela were in a predicament over how to deal with his death.

Ultimately, the compromise of a subdued acknowledgment of Chavez’s passing was a wise way to ensure that an exhibition baseball game did not end up in the middle of a contentious political issue.  

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When the Miami Marlins sent Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson, Emilio Bonifacio and over $100 million in salaries to the Toronto Blue Jays in November, that would have been a good time for team owner Jeffrey Loria to speak up.

Loria owed Marlins fans an explanation. After enticing everyone with a brand new ballpark, a new image and a new team with a big payroll, he needed to explain why the organization had chosen to revert back to its old ways from the bad old days.

Instead, Loria has waited until now to speak. It’s been three months since the big trade, and the start of the 2013 season is looming just a couple weeks away.

As for what he’s had to say, well, let’s just say it’s hard to get a grip on. Loria’s words are as slippery as an eel.

If you’re just now catching up, Loria has been active getting his message out there over the last couple days. He started with an open letter to Marlins fans that was published in the Miami Herald and other publications, and he also spoke to reporters on Monday at Marlins Park. Joe Capozzi of The Palm Beach Post was there to collect some key quotes.

Taken as a whole, Loria’s letter to Marlins fans and his comments to reporters send mixed messages. That’s not too surprising, as Loria appears to have warped notions about the very idea of communication.

He said in his letter to fans that communication is going to be a priority for the Marlins from now on. He wants fans to know that he gets it:

An organization is only as good as its connection with the community. We know we can do a better job communicating with our fans. That starts now. From this point forward we can ensure fans and the entire community that we will keep you abreast of our plan, rationale and motivations.

So you see, Loria gets that there’s frustration about the direction the Marlins have chosen to go in, and he wants to make more of an effort to keep everyone on the same page going forward. That should be reassuring to Marlins fans.

But Marlins fans should be ticked off that Loria is just now saying that he wants to make communication a priority, and that he’s just now saying that he wants fans to be aware of the club’s rationale and motivations. Where was this desire to communicate back when Loria actually needed to explain himself after the big trade with the Blue Jays?

When he was asked on Monday why he didn’t speak out back in November after the trade, Loria uttered a vague statement about wanting to wait to get the full lay of the land.

“It’s hard to stop a runaway train. I wanted to decompress, sit back and see what we needed to do,” he said.

As far as the trade itself was concerned, it’s not as if Loria needed to wait for a big picture to unfold. There were reasons the trade was made, and those reasons were the same after the fact as they were before it. He could have come out mere minutes after the trade was finalized and attempted to quell unrest.

The fact that there was unrest seems to have been what kept him from speaking. Maybe he wanted to wait until it was gone. Keep that in mind, Marlins fans, the next time you’re looking for an explanation from Loria. He may only provide one if you’re all calm and orderly.

Even then, the explanation you get probably isn’t going to be entirely honest. That would require an honest perspective on the situation, and Loria has made it clear that he doesn’t have one on the trade with the Blue Jays.

For starters, he wrote in his letter that it’s basically a known fact that the trade with the Blue Jays was a good one for the Marlins:

The controversial trade we made with the Toronto Blue Jays was approved by Commissioner Bud Selig and has been almost universally celebrated by baseball experts outside of Miami for its value.

Sure, the trade had its defenders. Matthew Pouliot of Hardball Talk, for example, wrote that the trade provided the Marlins with “pretty good value” and even suggested that the Marlins may have come out ahead.

Likewise, Richard Justice of MLB.com wrote that it was a “perfectly defensible” trade and praised the Marlins for “following the Billy Beane model.” They looked at their roster and made a decision based on what they actually saw rather than what they wanted to see. Bravo.

But “universally celebrated by baseball experts” for its value? Not quite.

ESPN’s Keith Law, for example, wrote in an ESPN Insider piece that only two of the players the Marlins got in the trade—outfielder Jake Marisnick and left-hander Justin Nicolino—are likely to be missed by the Blue Jays down the line. 

The indication there is that the Marlins did not dump several of their star players for several star prospects, which means that not everyone agrees that it was a win for the Marlins from a strict baseball standpoint. And indeed, Law is an expert among experts. It doesn’t look good for the Marlins that he looked at what they got and shrugged.

But was winning the trade from a baseball perspective even the point, or was the point to make a business decision? Were the Marlins looking to acquire young players, or were they simply looking to dump payroll?

Loria danced around questions such as these in both his letter to fans and his meeting with reporters at Marlins Park. 

Case in point, the following passage in the letter suggested that the trade was a business decision:

Are we fiscally capable and responsible enough to fill the roster with talented players, invest in the daily demands of running a world-class organization and bring a World Series back to Miami? Absolutely! Is it sound business sense to witness an expensive roster with a terrible record and sit idly by doing nothing? No.

Reading between the lines here: We can afford a high-priced ballclub, but we don’t see the point of paying a premium for a lousy product.

That’s fine. But since it’s his money, it’s his decision. If the trade with the Blue Jays was a business decision, then he should be able to admit that it was his desire to dump the money and that he was the one who ultimately OK’d the trade. Like he said: “As the owner of the ballclub, the buck stops with me and I take my share of the blame where it’s due.”

But then he turned around and told reporters on Monday that the decision to blow up the team came after he “spoke to our guys and said what do we do and these are the suggestions that came forward.” It was “the baseball people” who told him a major change was needed.

So it was the baseball people who wanted to blow up the team? 

That’s not far-fetched, but here’s another case of Loria saying two different things out of different sides of his mouth. One second he’s saying that the buck stops with him and that he’s willing to take blame, and the next he’s saying that he was just listening to his people. If fans are looking for someone to blame for the destruction of the Marlins, hey, it was their idea.

That’s not going to satisfy Loria’s critics, and there are plenty of those out there. While he’s not entirely out of line wanting everyone to believe that the trade with the Blue Jays wasn’t a bad baseball trade, he can’t hope to convince everyone to disregard what was said about the general reality of it.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, who is probably Loria’s loudest critic, wrote that the trade was a “baseball tragedy.” Scott Miller of CBSSports.com wrote that, “even by Marlins standards,” it was a “despicable disgrace.” In his write-up about the trade, Keith Law called Loria and his cohorts the “greatest joke of all in this deal.”

What does Loria think of all this negative feedback?

That’s a trick question. In his letter, he cautioned against listening to “naysayers.” But when he was asked on Monday about what he thought of all the negative feedback, he said:

I haven’t seen anything. I got a few silly phone calls. That was in November. It stopped. I’m hoping maybe we can just call a halt to it all and try and get behind the home team this next year.

Here we go again. It was “Don’t listen to the naysayers” one day, and “What naysayers?” the next. He went from taking a stand against his critics to ignoring them in the blink of an eye.

It’s too bad Jeff Passan wasn’t there to ask Loria about what he had to say about Marlins Park in his letter to the fans. Then he would have had to answer for all the things that Passan picked up on as being grossly misleading about the stadium’s financial situation. As much as Loria wants fans to believe that there’s nothing sinister about Marlins Park, there’s a lot about it that’s sinister.

Par for the course. There’s the truth, which is that the Marlins are a downtrodden team that plays in a boondoggle of a ballpark and is run by an owner with suspect motivations. Then there’s Loria’s version of the truth, which is that the Marlins are a team on the right track that plays in a beautiful ballpark and—and this is the really important part—is run by a man who absolutely deserves to be trusted.

It’s up to you, Marlins fans, what you want to believe about Loria and the organization under his control. You’re more than welcome to follow his lead, in which case you’ll be optimistic about the team’s future.

But one thing’s become clear enough after all he’s said in the last couple days, and that’s that following his lead requires a pretty big leap of faith.

If you want to talk baseball, hit me up on Twitter. 

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This series will evaluate one team per day, starting on January 23, 2013 and ending on February 22, 2013 (the first game of spring training). It is based on last season’s performance, offseason changes since and the author’s outlook for the team in 2013. Please keep in mind that rosters can, and will, change before Opening Day. We started in the AL East and now go to the NL side, starting in the East and going in alphabetical order. Next up, the Miami Marlins.

2012 finish: 69-93 (5th place, NL East)

Notable additions

RHP Chad Qualls, RHP Henderson Alvarez, RHP Michael Wuertz, RHP Kevin Slowey, OF Juan Pierre, OF Austin Kearns, OF Pat White, 3B Placido Polanco, 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff, SS Yordy Cabrera, SS Adeiny Hechavarria

Notable losses

LHP Mark Buehrle, RHP Josh Johnson, RHP Heath Bell, RHP Carlos Zambrano, RHP Juan Carlos Oviedo, RHP Chad Gaudin, OF Adam Greenberg, OF Scott Cousins, OF Emilio Bonifacio, 1B Carlos Lee, SS Jose Reyes, C John Buck

Why they will improve this year

Let’s start with the bright side: at least all those heavy expectations are off for 2013? In its place comes fury and confusion, mostly directed at the front office. But the Marlins’ brass has to ignore their mistakes before, during and after the 2012 season and focus on rebuilding this team from scratch.

Even though all the big-name players that the Fish landed before last year are gone, there is still plenty of talent in Miami to be excited about. For example, the Marlins acquired a ton of young talent in the trades with Toronto for Reyes, Johnson and Buehrle, as well as some good pieces from the Diamondbacks for Bell.

Miami also snagged a couple promising pitching prospects from the Dodgers when they traded Randy Choate and Hanley Ramirez to Los Angeles mid-season. And two above average hitting prospects in Gorkys Hernandez (from Pittsburgh) and Zack Cox (from St. Louis) in other in-season trades.

My point is, the Marlins may not be a team we can bear to watch in 2012, but at least they cut their losses and are headed in the right direction. It can’t get worse than last year for Miami, and they need to build around budding superstar Giancarlo Stanton in 2013. My advice? Wipe the slate clean, play for fun, get the young guys some playing time, and see if you can’t surprise a few people.

Why they will regress this year

On paper, the Marlins look like the 2012 Astros. I doubt they will regress that far, given that they still have a couple decent pitchers and a lineup built around Stanton. But outside of him, there are very few notable players left in Miami, and I think the results will show it.

Even when Johnson was battling back from injury, he was at least an intimidating presence on the mound because of his stuff, stature and successful history. Now, the Marlins have downgraded to having former middle-of-the-rotation starter Ricky Nolasco at the top.

And though the young talent they acquired in the trades last year and this winter (Jacob Turner and Nathan Eovaldi, for example) is exciting, they are still very raw pitchers with a long way to go. And even though Alvarez and Wade LeBlanc, my presumed second and third starters, have had their moments in the big leagues, I’m not expecting much more than an average year from each.

What can one expect out of a team that has decent pitching, an okay bullpen, and a punch-less offense? A regression, for sure — but even more likely, a long stretch of time before said team can contend again. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that losing your best overall player and two best pitchers is bad for business, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg in Miami. It’s going to be a long season.

The outlook for 2013

The Marlins screwed up last year. We all know it. But I have to give them a pat on the back for still turning a decent profit out of the guys whose salaries they had to dump. I really do think Turner, Eovaldi, Hechavarria and Alvarez will become good players eventually.

Just not in 2013. And if we’re talking about 2013, it’s going to be ugly. Aside from Stanton, there is not going to be much reason to watch the Fish this season. The pitching staff will get beat up, the bullpen will be overworked, and the offense will struggle mightily.

So a best-case scenario for Miami this year is that they play like the Padres have for the last couple seasons: let the young guys play and develop, and try to build some camaraderie around the one superstar hitter (in San Diego, it’s Chase Headley).

With the right kind of instruction, and a little bit of luck in player development, the Marlins could at least be a fringe Wild Card team by 2015. Again, that’s the best-case scenario for this franchise right now. In a worst-case situation, they lose over 100 games. Easily.

For 2013, it’s the opinion of this writer that the Miami Marlins will almost certainly finished in last place in the division, but will settle around 65 wins. Given the roster that is in place, it’s not as bad as it sounds.

Potential changes before Opening Day

It’s hard to spin the rumor wheel in an organization clinging to a $40 million payroll, let alone for anyone of substance. And right now, it sounds like the Marlins are out on any potential free agents, no matter the significance. I think that’s the right move, as they should be focusing on developing the talent they already have.

One thing to watch is whether former West Virginia quarterback Pat White decides to leave football and test his skills on the diamond. He’s a remarkable athlete, and though it’s ambitious, he could be a diamond in the rough for the Marlins.

Biggest surprise: Juan Pierre

Biggest disappointment: Ricky Nolasco

Bold prediction: Wade LeBlanc ends up in the top 10 in ERA in the National League

Projected lineup:

1. Juan Pierre, LF

2. Placido Polanco, 3B

3. Giancarlo Stanton, RF

4. Logan Morrison, 1B

5. Justin Ruggiano, CF

6. Rob Brantly, C

7. Donovan Solano, 2B

8. Adeiny Hechavarria, SS

Projected rotation:

1. Ricky Nolasco, RHP

2. Henderson Alvarez, RHP

3. Wade LeBlanc, LHP

4. Nathan Eovaldi, RHP

5. Jacob Turner, RHP

Projected finish: 64-98, 5th place

For other preseason evaluations:

AL East

Baltimore Orioles

Boston Red Sox

New York Yankees

Tampa Bay Rays

Toronto Blue Jays

NL East

Atlanta Braves

You can follow Jeremy on Twitter @Jamblinman.

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The Miami Marlins and owner Jeffrey Loria ticked off a lot of people by gutting their roster and trading five of their best players to the Toronto Blue Jays in one of the blockbuster deals of the offseason.

The Marlins sent shortstop Jose Reyes, starting pitchers Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle, catcher John Buck and utilityman Emilio Bonifacio to Toronto, pulling the plug on a team that was expected to contend in the NL East and bringing an abrupt end to what was supposed to be a new era of baseball in South Beach. 

Fans, commentators and fellow baseball executives were outraged at Miami for selling off talent to save money again—especially after their new ballpark was funded largely with taxpayer money. This wasn’t supposed to be how the Marlins did business anymore. No more fire sales.

The outrage and uproar over the Marlins reverting to another salary dump was loud enough that MLB commissioner Bud Selig felt compelled to review the trade and the various factors that contributed to it.  

Perhaps that was just a public relations gesture to placate furious Marlins fans (and baseball fans, in general). But there may also have been some genuine displeasure at the way Loria runs his team or at least general irritation at the Marlins embarrassing MLB. 

If it’s the latter, Selig may be enacting some indirect punishment on the Marlins by depriving them of a very big prize that any MLB team would covet.

As reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer‘s John Fay, the Cincinnati Reds and Great American Ball Park will be awarded the 2015 MLB All-Star Game. The formal announcement is expected to be made on Wednesday (Jan. 23). 

However, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald explains that the Marlins stated their intention to apply for the showcase event last March, shortly before the new Marlins Park opened to begin the 2012 season. 

With Citi Field getting the 2013 All-Star Game and Target Field being awarded the 2014 Midsummer Classic, it seemed like a natural progression to go with another of MLB’s newest ballparks for the 2015 event. 

To be fair, the Reds also have a relatively new ballpark. Great American Ball Park opened in 2003. But Cincinnati hosted the All-Star Game in 1988. Yes, that was 25 years ago, but the Marlins have never hosted the event. 

(Spencer reports that Miami was supposed to get the 2000 All-Star Game, but there was doubt over the long-term future of the franchise after the fire sale of the 1997 World Series championship team.) 

Holding the All-Star Game amidst the glitz, glamour and star power of South Beach is exactly the sort of setting MLB should seek—especially when the popularity of the sport is on shaky ground with a community that feels spurned. 

Perhaps MLB didn’t want to risk holding its showcase event in an area holding a grudge against its local team.

Even if it’s two years from now, holding the All-Star Game in Miami could bring attention to how the Marlins have conducted their business in recent years. Why rip off a scab and focus a spotlight on an embarrassing situation MLB would prefer to ignore? 

But this certainly has the appearance of a statement from Selig and MLB. Building a new ballpark is usually awarded with an All-Star Game. But if a team’s ownership brings shame to the sport, it’s not going to be allowed to profit from an event that’s supposed to be a celebration. 

Ultimately, Selig approved the Marlins trade with the Blue Jays because he didn’t really have any choice. As unseemly as shipping all of their expensive players to Toronto may have been, Miami was hardly the only team to have ever traded high-priced talent for prospects. 

From a baseball standpoint, the Marlins arguably made a good trade. Miami received two of the Blue Jays’ top 10 prospects, as rated by Baseball America, in outfielder Jake Marisnick and pitcher Justin Nicolino. Infielder Adeiny Hechavarria and pitcher Henderson Alvarez were also highly regarded young players. 

Though the trade took the Marlins out of contention for the near-future, Loria and team president David Samson could argue that they were making the best moves for their baseball team. Ownership and the front office just had no benefit of the doubt with fans, reporters and analysts because of their previous salary-dump transactions. 

But if Selig were to veto the Marlins-Blue Jays trade, who’s to say that he shouldn’t have also overturned the deal between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers? Boston unloaded $260 million from its payroll to a team whose payroll appeared to be unlimited under new ownership.

How could the Red Sox be allowed to overhaul their roster and payroll while the Marlins doing something similar was prohibited?

Yet Selig may have found a different way to penalize the Marlins. Depriving Miami of the 2015 All-Star Game doesn’t compromise the competitive integrity of baseball, nor does it dictate how owners should run their respective franchises. 

This decision does, however, stick it to Loria. If there’s any MLB owner who deserves some sort of reprimand, it’s him.

Selig apparently found a way to put Loria in a corner. Maybe when the Marlins owner gives Miami the team it deserves—the team the city was promised—he can yield the benefits of his new ballpark. 

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The Miami Marlins are looking to boost their bullpen with a veteran presence. One pitcher they are looking into signing is former Minnesota Twins reliever Matt Capps, according to Barry Jackson of MiamiHerald.com.

The 29-year-old reliever is currently a free agent after the Twins bought out his $6 million option for 2013, as reported by Joe Christensen of StarTribune.com.

Capps pitched well when healthy in 2012 but missed several months due to shoulder inflammation.

The onetime Pittsburgh Pirates closer was the winning pitcher of the 2010 All-Star Game as a representative of the Washington Nationals. In that same season, he was dealt to the Minnesota Twins in a trade involving catcher Wilson Ramos. He pitched for the Twins in the 2010 Division Series against the New York Yankees.

The Marlins will go into the 2013 season with a revamped bullpen following the disastrous season with Heath Bell as closer.

Steve Cishek, Dan Jennings and Ryan Webb all showed promise and are 27 years old or younger. The addition of a veteran like Capps could be a steadying presence in their young bullpen.

And Capps would be a much more reasonable signing without a lost draft pick as they had with Bell a year ago.

Sometimes a more frugal move can be a smarter move both for the payroll and on the field. Capps could be the right fit in Miami.

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The Miami Marlins‘ talent exodus reached laughable heights this offseason, but even with Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle playing above the border, there’s still one reason to tune on the Marlins every night: Giancarlo Stanton. 

While the 6’5″, 248-pounder can’t replace the 230 career wins left behind by Johnson and Buehrle, the 23-year-old slugger can mash home runs unlike any other young star in the game. 

And if anything causes fans to stay glued to baseball, it’s the long ball. 

Whether it was the epic 1998 chase between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa or the record-breaking season by Barry Bonds in 2001, there’s nothing quite like the allure of the home run. 

After just three seasons in the league, one thing is clear about Stanton—the kid can flat out rake. 

He’s not going to fool anyone into thinking he’s a five-tool player. 

But he doesn’t have to. 

No one’s going to lose sleep over his 16 stolen bases or 432 strikeouts in 373 career games; that’s not why Marlins fans, scouts and general managers around the league lust over the rising superstar. 

It’s his bat. 

The California native is an absolute animal at the dish, mashing homers at an ever-improving rate. 

The scary part is, he’s getting better. 

Since breaking into the lineup as a 20-year-old in 2010, Stanton displayed rare power. In just 100 games he smashed 22 homers to go along with 21 doubles in just 359 at-bats. 

The following year he improved to 34 homers and 30 doubles in 516 at-bats, while drawing 70 walks and posting a wins-above-replacement mark of 3.4. 

However, the All-Star outfielder turned in his best season in 2012. In just 123 games, Stanton hit .290 with 37 home runs, 86 RBI and posted a 5.4 WAR—good for 10th in the National League. 

According to FanGraphs.com, the towering slugger has increased his isolated power (which subtracts a player’s batting average from his slugging percentage) every year he’s been in the big leagues. As a rookie he posted an ISO of .248, but that number jumped .275 in 2011 and topped out at a league-best .318 last season. 

Only Josh Hamilton (.292) was even remotely close to the developing slugger, who is also an adept outfielder, finishing 13th among all outfielders in Ultimate Zone Rating, according to FanGraphs.

As Stanton continues to refine his approach at the plate and cut down on his strikeouts, he’s only going to ascend. He’s on the cusp of superstardom, and at just 23, he’s already one of the premier outfielders in the game. 

Stanton’s opportunities may be limited with a weak lineup around him, but the slugger is capable of putting on a show any night of the week. 

You don’t want to miss this one. 

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The Marlins, whether they be Florida or Miami, are not known for keeping their quality players for long periods of time. Every four or five years, the team has a total purging of their well known and well paid players and young unknown talents are ushered in.

Along the way, the team has stumbled into two World Series titles, as many as the Indians, Phillies, Cubs and Mets have won in their longer histories.

But few players have stuck around in South Florida long enough to be associated with the Marlins. In fact I was able to compile a 25 man roster of players who played one season or less as a member of the Marlins.

Several All Stars, a few future Hall of Famers, some batting champions and many bright stars have just one season of Marlins baseball on the backs of their baseball cards.

The list does not include Bobby Bonilla, who spent 1997 and part of 1998 as a Marlin. Several relievers such as Dennis Cook, Graeme Lloyd and Ed Vosberg were left out.

And I also omitted Ozzie Guillen as the team’s manager as another one and done skipper passed through town and picked up the Manager of the Year award along the way.

So don’t blink Marlins fans. You might miss a star on your team in the The All Time “One Year and Gone” Team!

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