Without a question, the most improved team in the NL East are the Miami Marlins. Their lineup is improved, their rotation is improved and their bullpen is improved. They have a new stadium, a new manager and a new superstar SS. Things are pretty sweet in South Beach.Lineup:
1. Jose Reyes, SS
2. Omar Infante, 2B
3. Hanley Ramirez, 3B
4. Mike Stanton, RF
5. Logan Morisson, LF
6. Gaby Sanchez, 1B
7. John Buck, C
8. Chris Coghlan, CF
Rotation:
1. Josh Johnson
2. Mark Buehrle
3. Anibal Sanchez
4. Ricky Nolasco
5. Wade LeBlanc / Carlos Zambrano
Bullpen:
CL: Heath Bell
SU: Juan Oviedo
SU: Randy Choate
Awesome...
Not to be contrary... but...
Ozzie Guillen:
- Why It's Good For Them - Ozzie Guillen is one of the most controversial managers in baseball on the plus side his fiery nature can invigorate a team and get them motivated.
- Why It's Bad For Them - I would say that 50% of Ozzie Guillen's fiery attitudt schtick comes across as immature. Add this to a few other immature players (Hanley Ramirez + Carlos Zambrano) and I can see the Miami clubhouse to be pretty unpleasant to be in.
- Why It's Good For Them - Hanley had a bad 2011 but I don't think anyone is discounting his ability to put up 30/30 seasons while hitting .300 just yet. Moving to a new position will also probably help his transition to more power as well.
- Why It's Bad For Them - What Hanley wants... Hanley gets... well... that USED to be the case. Remember when a manager was fired for an argument with Ramirez? (Good times...) Hanley is publicly unhappy with his being FORCED off of short stop. He doesn't WANT to play 3rd... frankly, with Matt Dominguez coming up, perhaps the Marlins shouldn't want him there EITHER.
- Why It's Good For Them - Jose Reyes is one of the most fun players to watch. He can spark a team into scoring completely on his own and he's a definite defensive upgrade over Hanley Ramirez at short.
- Why It's Bad For Them - The obvious thing is that the Marlins just tied up a boat-load of money into a guy whose biggest asset is his legs. The thing he injures almost twice a season... his hamstrings, may make them regret that.
- Why It's Good For Them - When healthy... I'm not sure there is a better pitcher in all of baseball. I include Roy Halladay, Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander and King Felix into that equation.
- Why It's Bad For Them - When is the last time Johnson went through a full season healthy? Anyone? The kiss of death here? He's a keeper on my fantasy team.
- Why It's Good For Them - Bell is one of the TOP closers in baseball and was likely the best reliever on the market since Mariano pretended to be a few years back.
- Why It's Bad For Them - Bell got a LOT of money. While I don't think that they bid themselves into oblivion (like the Mets with Oliver Perez) I do think that they'll regret the money tied into him before the end.
- Why It's Good For Them - Mark has been one of the most steady starters in the American League for YEARS. He's also a pretty good human being.
- Why It's Bad For Them - They paid WAY too much for a guy who I don't think deserves to be a top team's #2 starter anymore. While they needed to bring in a big pitcher they would have been better off spending the extra cash on Darvish or Wilson.
- Why It's Good For Them - New stadiums are nice and AC is DOUBLY nice in the hot swampy mess of Summer in Miami. PLUS: They have GIANT aquariums behind home plate... AWESOME!!!
- Why It's Bad For Them - It's not... but color me skeptical that Miami will become a baseball town like Philadelphia. (Their fans are jerks but they show up) I'll be impressed if the NEW Miami stadium with their NEW players and UGLY uniforms have packed houses through the middle months of the season.
