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2007 Florida Marlins Year in Review

The Florida Marlins finished up a very disappointing year last in the National League East with a record of 71-91 record. They did finish the year on a high note, sweeping the Cubs in a three game series in Miami and taking 2 of 3 from the New York Mets, knocking them out of the playoffs. If there is anything to build on, the end of the 2007 season may be it. The combination of injuries, defensive lapses and inexperience spelled doom from the beginning for the young Marlins and their rookie manager. I think there might have been too high of expectations for this team thus resulting in the huge letdown.

Below you will find my opinions and breakdowns of each position and what I feel will happen next season at that position.

Team Leaders (Complete Stats Here)

Average: Hanley Ramirez, .332
Doubles: Dan Uggla, 49
Triples: Alfredo Amezaga, 9
Home runs: Miguel Cabrera, 34
Runs: Ramirez, 125
RBIs: Cabrera, 119
Stolen bases: Ramirez, 51
Wins: Dontrelle Willis, Scott Olsen, 10
Losses: Willis, Olsen, 15
ERA (starter): Sergio Mitre, 4.65
ERA (reliever, min. 10 appearances): Lee Gardner, 1.94
Saves: Kevin Gregg, 32

Top Plays of the Year (Complete Plays Here)

• Ross’ catch clears the fence

• Willingham’s monster night

1st half of the season photo galley. 2nd half of the season photo gallery.

Position Breakdown

Catcher: Miguel Olivo, Matt Treanor – The combination of Miguel Olivo and Matt Treanor turned out to be a reliable duo who could rotate between the variety of starters the Marlins put out on the mound in 2007. Treanor wound up being BK’s personal catcher and got more starts towards the end of the season when Olivo was hurting and performing poorly. Miguel Olivo’s big bat was to be expected but there was hope was he would cut down on his strikeouts and draw a few more walks. That didn’t happen. Olivo became a huge liability at the plate in key situations, specifically when needing a ball to be put in play. His defense also took a step backwards when Tuck left with Joe Girardi. It seemed at times Olivo had problems catching a simple fastball down the middle. 2008 OUTLOOK – Expect Miguel Olivo to not be with the Marlins and Matt Treanor to stick around as a backup to someone like Gerald Laird or perhaps a minor league option like John Baker or Paul Hoover.

First Base: Mike Jacobs – I came into the season with high expectations for Big Jake after his previous season was full of injuries. Well the same happened in 2007. Mike played less games than in 2006 as he suffered from ankle problems all year. When Jake actually got onto the field his play was inconsistent. He went through a pretty rough stretch (while his wife and twins were in the hospital) offensively going 0-32 at one point. Jake began to pick things up towards the end of the year and finished with a respectable line for the number of games he played. 2008 OUTLOOK – I am kind of torn on Big Jake. I would like the Marlins to explore options of grabbing some starting pitching for Jake. While we gave up Carlos Delgado for Jacobs, perhaps the idea of sliding Miguel Cabrera over to first base should be looked at and a cheap defensive upgrade from outside the organization explored in the offseason.

Second Base: Dan Uggla – I really expected a huge drop off from Uggla this season as I thought last season was a huge fluke. While Uggla’s strikeout’s increased by 44, his power numbers also increased aswell as his doubles and all around production. Uggla is turning into one of the top 3 second basemen in the league on offense while also improving his defense greatly. 2008 OUTLOOK – I’ve been hearing alot of rumors of Dan Uggla being shopped. I just don’t buy this. The Marlins have Uggla under control for a while and they just don’t give away cheap parts. Remember, this is the Marlins. Expect Dan Uggla to be back at second base next season, probably batting in the 6th or 7th slot.

Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez – I mean what really do I have to say about Hanley. Team MVP by far and simply carried this team on his back at points in the season. The one knock Hanley had on him all season was his defense. This will obviously get better. He is very young and will get better and better over time. It seemed Hanley’s defensive miscue’s were not his lack of skill but his mental lapses. Sometimes he just didn’t seem interested in being on the field. This comes with losing and maturity. He will mature and the Marlins will get better. 2008 OUTLOOK – Expect Hanley back at SS fully healthy after undergoing shoulder surgery this offseason. Talks about Hanley shifting to CF will only become a reality if they get a blockbuster deal for a new SS.

Third Base: Miguel Cabrera – Miguel Cabrera was the subject of many fat jokes like a kid on a playground. The whole season he shrugged them off and put up spectacular numbers as he always does. The area that Cabrera was most criticized all season for, his defense, turned out to be a nice surprise after the all star break. If Cabrera can get himself back in shape next season, I only see his defense and more specifically his range, improving at third base. 2008 OUTLOOK – Look for Cabrera to take the Marlins to the bank in arbitration and stay over at third base unless Mike Jacobs is moved.

Left Field: Josh Willingham – Josh Willingham is the silent assassin. He goes about his business year in and year out and puts up quality numbers without all the glitz and glamour. Despite battling nagging back pains all season long, The Hammah came up just shy of reaching 100 RBI’s for the first time in his career. He quietly played a spectacular left field and improved greatly from last season. The one thing Hammah struggled with all season long was hitting left handed pitching. If Josh can stay healthy next season and work on hitting lefties, he will reach that 100 RBI mark. 2008 OUTLOOK – Look for Hammah to be back in left field shagging fly balls and batting somewhere in the 5th or 6th spot in the lineup.

Centerfield: Alejandro De Aza, Cody Ross, Alfredo Amezaga – Alejandro De Aza started off the season with a bang and was an eye opener for all fans coming out of spring training. De Aza, like most of the Fish this year quickly suffered an ankle injury and was shelved for a good portion of the season. Upon returning De Aza picked up right where he left off until opposing pitchers found out his weakness, hitting the curve ball. Alfredo Amezaga and Cody Ross came in to fill the spot left by De Aza. Both filled in nicely. Cody Ross was a lefty killer this year and if not for his nagging hamstring all season long, he might have locked down the CF starting job. Amezaga is Amezaga. Put him in anywhere and he does the job well. At one point this season he was being looked at as a potential starter. Once De Aza returned, Amezaga’s numbers struggled due to lack of playing time. 2008 OUTLOOK – Look for an open competition for the CF spot unless Larry Beinfest makes some moves and brings in a legit CF.

Right Field: Jeremy Hermida – What a crazy season for this kid. Hermida started the season on the DL as he was injured in spring training. Already the hopes for a big season were put on hold. Once Hermida returned it was the same as last year. Inconsistent plate discipline with poor defense. Once the all star break it seems like Hermida turned a switch on and finally arrived in the bigs. Hermida finally looked like the number one prospect he was being touted as for years. Hermida was moved up to the 3 hole in the lineup late in the season and started to see much better pitches to hit in front of Cabrera. Over the last month of the season, Hermida was the Marlins MVP. 2008 OUTLOOK – Look for Hermida to start in the 3 hole next season and get off to a fast start. He is going to want to prove to people that the second half of the season wasn’t a fluke.

Starting Pitching: Dontrelle Willis, Scott Olsen, Sergio Mitre, Josh Johnson, BK, Anibal Sanchez, Rick VandenHurk – I’m not going to break this down player by player as the whole starting pitching staff struggled all season long. Their may have been a stretch where Sergio Mitre was dominating teams but it was mixed somewhere in the middle and so long ago I really can’t remember. BK was a really nice surprised and gave us a quality start more times than not. The key to our pitching woes were injuries and the inability to throw strikes. Dontrelle Willis must get back to form for this team to succeed. Dontrelle’s outings were hard to watch as he struggled every night to throw strikes and make it out of the 5th inning. 2008 OUTLOOK – Look for the FO to bolster the starting pitching staff as this is the teams strength. I expect one of our position players to be moved to bring in a starter or two.

Bullpen: Renyel Pinto, Justin Miller, Lee Gardner, Kevin Gregg, Taylor Tankersley, Matt Lindstrom, Armando Benitez – Entering this season this was the part of our pitching staff I expected to worry about, not the starting staff. The bullpen was a very pleasant surprise starting with Kevin Gregg claiming the closers role after Jorge Julio was a failure. Matt Lindstrom proved with his nasty breaking ball and flaming fastball that he has the stuff for a closer. All in all this was the brightest spot of the Florida Marlins in 2007. 2008 OUTLOOK – Look for the Fish to retain a good portion of their bullpen. I expect the Marlins to shop Kevin Gregg for some key pieces on offense and starting pitching.

Bench: Jason Wood, Aaron Boone, etc… – The bench overall was weak. Once Aaron Boone went down with a knee injury ending his season, the Marlins bench was very thin and lacking any pop. Jason Wood came through with some quality at bats here and there but overall the depth was lacking compared to last season (Helms, etc). 2008 OUTLOOK – Look for the Fish to bolster the bench either from within or with some cheap castoffs from other teams.

Manager/Coaches: Fredi Gonzalez, Rich Kranitz, Andy Fox, Jim Presley – Considering this was Fredi Gonzalez’s first year as manager and all the injuries he had to deal with, I will give him a pass. While I never agreed with everything he did during this season, I felt he did an ok job managing the games and may not have cost this team too many wins. What I find startling is the report from this weekend that he wasn’t a great disciplinarian, like Joe Girardi. That could be a key factor to our crappy defense. Regardless, I expect Fredi to learn from his mistakes for next season. Andy Fox seems like a nice guy, but he is no Perry Hill. Perry, please come back. Rick Kranitz, no matter what you read, was the fall guy for the pitching problems this season. There has to be a reason, other than Joe Girardi, for so many pitchers getting injured this season. Hopefully a return of Mark Wiley can bring Dontrelle back to form. 2008 OUTLOOK – Expect someone like Mark Wiley or Rosenthal to return as pitching coach. Someone internally like Jim Beattie could be looked at as well.

For those checking out the year in review, do you have anything to add to the season that was?