5 Reasons for Miami Marlins Fans to Be Thankful Heading into 2014
5 Reasons for Miami Marlins Fans to Be Thankful Heading into 2014
The Miami Marlins had another down season and the fans certainly have a lot of reasons to be upset about that. They were promised a competing team if they allowed the new stadium and such and yet they are stuck in a rebuilding phase that appears to be one of the long-term rebuilds we see around Major League Baseball. In spite of the people and situations that are not going well for the Marlins, there are a lot of great things as well.
If you don’t pay attention to the gentleman that signs the checks, there is a good team of people in the office that are trying to build a contending team with the funds they are given. That is not an easy thing to do but it can be done as evidenced by the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays. The people in place now are capable of that if they stick to their guns and get a tad more help from the man at the top.
One positive thing for sure that didn’t make the top five is the healthy and improving minor league system of the Marlins. It becomes clearer every time we see a new face arrive on the scene that these guys are slammed to the seams with talent in the minor leagues.
That could be a good thing as far as trades go heading into the 2014 season and it is remotely possible that a few free agents could find their way to the Miami area as well. Here are five more things fans can be thankful for.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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5 – Mike Redmond
Here is a guy that knows the game of baseball and how to manage it. Redmond doesn’t get the credit that Mike Matheny gets but then Matheny was given a better team and a franchise that has been built well from the foundations for a long time now. Redmond has an imperfect situation at best and yet finds a way to show his young players the right way to play the game of baseball. If their first winning season in years doesn’t get credited to Redmond, I for one will be upset. For all going against the Fish in 2014, Redmond will be a huge plus again.
4 – Frank Menechino
Menechino might be the biggest new figure in the Marlins little world. They already know that they are not going to get a lot of big dollar free agents now or ever. Menechino’s job will be to craft a hitting approach that is unique to the Marlins as well as successful. The A’s call it “Green-Collar Baseball”. I don’t know what the Fish will call it but it is Menechino’s job to start it beginning in Spring Training 2014.
3 – Nathan Eovaldi
Name the pitcher you see as the best in the game of baseball. No matter who you picked, they don’t have much on Nathan Eovaldi. There are two pitchers at the very least that are current and future Cy-Young dark horses and Eovaldi is the other one. He just knows how to get guys out and the Marlins fans would do well to put every bit as much support behind him as they do their favorite rookie.
2 – Giancarlo Stanton
Guess what Marlins fans? Stanton isn’t on the trading block. We hear it all the time that Stanton is a huge trade chip but the Marlins are not going to trade him. I see both sides but going into 2014 I think all Marlins fans should be thankful that Stanton is a Marlins player through and through. As an added bonus it is possible that he could convince the powers that be to bring in a couple of the ridiculous fences at Marlins Park. If they do that, look for Stanton to have a statistical breakout in 2014.
1 – Jose Fernandez
If there was a list of the top five MLB players that all baseball fans should be thankful for, I think Fernandez might still find his name at the top of the list. He is not only the Rookie of the Year but is also one of the most electrifying and exciting players in baseball. He is the pitching version of Yasiel Puig only better. Sure he has some quirks but this is a solid young man who has the entire baseball world at the fingertips of his pitching hand. It will be an absolute honor to watch him grow more in 2014.
