Mack – The 2016 Miami Marlins

Current monies under contract - $ 31,450,000

2016 Free agents – P Casey McGehee, C Jeff Mathis, OF Don Kelly

Top prospects – RHP Kendry Flores, C Tomas Telis, RP Nick Wittgren

1B – Justin Bour – pre-ARB - $500K

2B – Dee Gordon – ARB-2 –  $500K -

SS – Adeiny Hechavarria – ARB-2 - $500K

3B – Martin Prado - $11mil -

OF – Giancarlo Stanton - $9mil – contract through 2027 -

OF – Ichiro Suzuki - $2mil

OF – Christian Yelich - $1mil – contract through 2021 – 2015 injury (knee)

OF – Marcell Ozuna – pre-ARB - $500K

C – J.T. Realmuto – pre-ARB - $500K

SP – Henderson Alvarez – ABR-2 - $500K – shoulder surgery in 2015 -

SP – David Phelps – ARB-2 - $500K

SP – Jose Fernandez – ARB-1 - $500K – 2014/2015 TJS

SP - Tom Koehler – ARB-1 - $500K

SP – Jarred Cosart – pre-ARB - $500K

RP – Michael Dunn - $3.45mil

RP – Aaron Crow – ARB-3 - $500K – missed 2015 season (elbow)

RP – Carter Capps – ARB-1 - $500K

RP – A.J. Ramos – ARB-1 - $500K

RP – Kyle Barraclough – pre-ARB - $500K

RP – Brian Ellington – pre-ARB - $500K

BP – Bryan Morris – ARB-1 - $500K

The is a young team with some seriously talented players (Stanton, Hernandez); however, there is nowhere near as many players needed to first compete with divisional teams like the Mets and Nationals, but also National League rivals like the Cubs, the Cards, and the Pirates.

The craziness continues in the front office. Once General Manager, then GM/ Skipper, then GM again Dan Jennings has been fired. One of the many layers of VP-Suits between the field general and the owner then hired Don Mattingly for their next manager.

Hiring Matti ngly was a good first step. The team needs someone in the dugout/clubhouse that can work with young players and deal with a large city press crew. They also need someone that can bridge the players and the crazy owner. Good luck with that one.

After that, they could use serious upgrades on shortstop, catching, and additional front end starters.

The 2015 version of the Marlins was actually given an outside chance to compete against the Nationals, but then injuries set in to the depthless team. In actuality, I give them a lot of credit this past season, especially with their young relief staff.

A lot is needed here, but you’re not going to get much help from the agents of ballplayers eligible for free agency. No guaranteed contracts mean no deals.

I’ve got these guys finishing ahead of the Phillies, which isn’t saying much.