2008 NL Roto Preview: Florida Marlins

Florida Marlins: 71 wins last year and traded their primary offensive threat. (Sniff, sniff, we will miss you Miguel.) Got their new stadium approved this week, so may actually start keeping players past the age of 25 at some point. Will be changing name to Miami Marlins in 2010.

C: Mike Rabelo - 28 & hasn't really hit at any level. Came over in the Detroit trade. Pass. AVAIL (topper).

1B: Mike Jacobs - Should be hitting his prime. HRs are his only above avg category & is unlikely he'll hit more than 20-25. AVAIL.

2B: Dan Uggla - Very similar to Jacobs. Stats should be pretty predictable. Will hurt you in AVG/OBP, but give you ~ 25 HRs. GOODF keep.

SS: Hanley Ramirez - 2007 Roto MVP. (.332/.390/29/88/51) Wow! Only 25, but expect stats to regress slightly just 'cause they can't get much better. HAZE keep.

3B: Jose Castillo, Dallas McPherson, Jorge Cantu - Likely to be decided during spring training. Not much here. Castillo probably has the edge and had a decent winter league, but he's been a big zero through 4 MLB years. McPherson's got power but K's a ton & missed all last year. Cantu is ok, but his "D" at 3B is suspect. Pass on all 3. AVAIL (Castillo - JUST keeper?).

LF: Josh Willingham - Reasonable roto OF. RBI's dampened by rest of Marlins. AVAIL.

CF: Cameron Maybin, Cody Ross - Maybin is one of the best prospects in the game. A true 5-category stud. But he's only 20 and he did struggle in 50 MLB ABs last year. By 23, he will probably be an all-star, but how much you want to pay for him now is unclear. Cody Ross had a great two months last year, but they look out of place w/ the rest of his career. AVAIL (Ross - BSOX keeper?).

RF: Jeremy Hermida - Still only 24. Seemed to figure it out after the all-star break last year (.230 pre-, .340 -post). Look for breakout year here. BSOX keeper.

SP1: Scott Olsen - Was awful last year on all counts. He especially seemed to give up after the all-star break. Unclear how much of the deterioration was his attitude (which appears to be even worse than his stats). Either way, not much point drafting him or any other Marlin starter. AVAIL.

SP2: Sergio Mitre - Gets by on guile. Shortest Marlin starter at 6'3". (The Marlins probably would have the best basketball team rotation.) Not much to recommend here. AVAIL.

SP3: Andrew Miller - Was pitching for Tar Heels just two years ago. Big time prospect who struggled in 60 IP in Detroit last year. The Marlins can let him learn the ropes for a few years & hope he's ready by 2010 when they're ready to contend. AVAIL.

SP4: Mark Hendrickson - T.J. Simers (funny columnist from L.A. Times) calls him "The Big Stiff" which pretty much describes his 6-year MLB career (career ERA > 5.00) AVAIL.

SP5: Rick VandenHurk, Ricky Nolasco - VandenHurk K's about a guy an inning, but is hit hard otherwise. Only 22 and from the Netherlands, so still could develop. Probably should be coverted to a reliever, though. Nolasco doesn't look draftable. AVAIL (RVH BARF keep?).

CLS: Kevin Gregg - Solid closer. Nice K-rate. Highest paid Marlin (2.5 mil) BSOX keep.

Alt CLS: Justin Miller: Miller came back from Japan w/ a new propensity for K's. His K rate last year was equal to Billy Wagner & Derrick Turnbow. Pitched well for O'Jimmies at end of year. K:BB is around 3. Matt Lindstrom also had a decent year for a 'pen that was surprisingly good (Gardner, Tankersley, etc.). Hard to say which one would step up if Gregg went down or was traded.

Bench: Alfredo Amezaga, Jorge Piedra - Amezaga is cheap speed at best. Piedra probably will only get 150 ABs, mostly as a PH, but they should be decent ABs.

Prospects: Chris Volstad - SP, another tall Marlin SP (6'7"), probably arriving in late 2008. Great control for a young pitcher, but didn't K that many last year and was hittable.

Injured: Anibel Sanchez - SP, - Already had a setback w/ his return from shoulder surgery. Not expected to return until July and maybe later than that.

Dolberry's Musings on the Marlins: APD once got to run out to right field w/ Marlins RF Jeremy Hermida when he played for the Carolina Mudcats (Marlins AA club). That was one of Dolberry's better efforts as a youth leader getting that set up. Carolina Mudcats games are fun to attend. In my mind, they are way better than Durham Bulls games.

To me, D-Bulls games diminish the baseball w/ all the between-inning entertainment and other distractions. I realize how snobbish this sounds by the way. But it just seems especially incongruent at the DBAP. You're in this increasingly cool, revitalized Durham environment, but inside the stadium has a very Cary/Apex feel. I'm all for family-friendly ... it just seems forced somehow w/ the Bulls. Plus, I hate/loath/despise Y-M-C-A. It's probably just me, because their attendance is solid every year.

In contrast, the Mudcats play out in the middle of nowhere (Zebulon NC, actually) & there's generally no more than 3K in attendance, but you can hear the crack of the bat & you can sit in the first row & some people can yell out at the players (We Love You Teddy Bear!) loud enough to irritate everyone in a 20-mile radius. Despite the last item, I just like Mudcat games better.

What it means for the O'Jimmies: Not much given that Ramirez, Gregg, and Hermida likely won't be available. Any team leaving the draft counting on more than 2 Marlins is probably in trouble. Maybin and Miller are attractive as prospects, esp. Maybin. Justin Miller is probably worth a buck as an O'Jimmy keeper, but presumably you could get him for a buck again in the draft, so what's the point?