Dec 5, 2011; Dallas, TX, USA; Miami Marlins president of baseball operstions Larry Beinfest (left) announces the signing of closer Heath Bell (not pictured) during the MLB winter meetings at Hilton Anatole. Bell was signed for 3 years and $27 million. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Marlins 2013 season has been an epic disaster. Due to the struggles the team has gone through, fans are growing frustrated and don’t want to wait for the big prospects in the minor leagues to get ready so they can start winning. We want to win now!

With the frustration growing, we are going to try a fun new game on Marlin Maniac that puts you in the Marlins General Manager’s chair.

There are some interesting decisions that need to be made about the Miami Marlins in the next month or so.  With so many players coming back from injury, there is going to be a roster crunch and some big personal decisions will be needed to be made.

Hitters like Logan Morrison and Giancarlo Stanton are on their way back from injury. Where do they fit into the Marlins lineup upon return? With the emergence of the Marlins top infield prospect, Derek Dietrich, what happens to incumbent second baseman Donovan Solano returns from the DL. When do you promote top hitting prospect Christian Yelich?

On the pitching side, Nathan Eovaldi and Henderson Alvarez will return to the Marlins soon, how will they be slotted into the rotation?

Do the Marlins consider trading Stanton at the trade deadline for a huge prospect haul? Will closer Steve Cishek hit the trade market?

Email us at marlinmaniacFS@gmail.com what you would do in the scenario if you were the Miami Marlins GM. Our staff will pick the top 3 GM moves and post them sometime in the next two weeks. We will then put the top 3 to a vote for you guys to decide who did the best job as the mock Marlins GM.

The winner with the readers will collect a prize that we have not determined yet.

There is one catch though, to be eligible for the prize, you have to “like” our Facebook Page as well as follow us on Twitter @MarlinManiac.

Get your General Manager cap on and see if you can do a better job than the Marlins front office has done in 2013.

Mar 23, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins catcher Kyle Skipworth (53) in the first inning during a spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Austin Kearns had to suddenly leave the Miami Marlins yesterday to attend to a personal matter. As was expected, the Marlins placed Kearns on the bereavement list today and recalled catcher Kyle Skipworth.

#Marlins call up c Kyle skipworth to replace Austin Kearns

— Joe Capozzi (@joecapMARLINS) May 5, 2013

Kearns can be away from the team no less than three games, but no more than seven. The Marlins don’t expect him to join the team in San Diego, as they take on the Padres from Monday to Wednesday. Hopefully everything is alright for Kearns and his family. Austin has not had the easiest 2013, as he has already dealt with an irregular heartbeat and has not fared well at the plate. He owns a .185/.290/.185 slash line early on.

With Kearns hitting the bereavement list, the Marlins had to select someone from their 40-man roster to take his spot. The only options for the Marlins on their 40-man roster were Skipworth and outfielder Kyle Jensen. The team felt Skip was the better option to callup.

Skipworth had just three plate appearance in his earlier stint with the Marlins. He drew a walk, but went hit less. The former first round pick did not receive much playing time and will likely not get much this go-around either. Skipworth posted a .143/.250/.143 slash line in 16 plate appearances in Triple-A.

Injury Updates:

Donovan Solano was a late scratch last night due to soreness on his left-side. Solano was out of the lineup again today and hopes to return sometime next week against the San Diego Padres. A stint on the disabled list has not been yet ruled out for Solano.

Miguel Olivo will be catching for the second straight game as Rob Brantly is still bothered by his cut finger. The injury does not seem to concern the Marlins, but the move to callup Skipworth seems to be a precautionary move.

Feb 22, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins first baseman Logan Morrison (5) poses for a picture during photo day at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Logan Morrison is eligible to come off the 60-day disabled list on June 1st, but the Marlins will hold him out till mid-June. LoMo did not participate in spring training at all, so the Marlins figure to give him an extended rehab stint to work his way back.

Jeff Mathis has gone 4-f0r-13 with two doubles in his rehab stint with the Greensboro Grasshoppers. Mathis is still working his way back from his broken collarbone and could return to the Marlins very soon.

Pitcher Henderson Alvarez has been shutdown by the Marlins after suffering a setback in his recovery from shoulder inflammation. Alvarez felt soreness after throwing to hitters a few days ago and the Marlins decide to shut him down. The Marlins plan to give Alvarez a couple of days of rest and see how he feels.

Feb 18, 2013; Dunedin, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays infielder Jose Reyes (7) during photo day at Florida Auto Exchange Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

We are a month into the 2013 season, so I thought it might be interesting to check into the results of the Blue Jays – Marlins trade from this past offseason.  The Blue Jays expected this trade, along with a few other moves they made, to put them in the driver’s seat to win the division.  The Marlins contend that, from a pure baseball standpoint, this was an excellent move on their part.  (And, oh yeah, the Rays and Mets sort of got in on the action a bit later as well by acquiring Yunel Escobar and John Buck, but I will leave them out to avoid cluttering things up too much). 

Let’s take a look at how the players have fared for their new teams so far:

Blue Jays

Marlins

The Blue Jays have received a combined 0.2 WAR from the 4 players they received in the deal.  Jose Reyes was actually playing well with a .395/.465/.526 slash line and .434 wOBA before injuring his ankle after 10 games played.  The injury was supposed to keep him out for a month and he has yet to return.  Bonifacio has been bad both at the plate and in the field and has been relegated to a bench role.  Both Johnson and Buehrle are sporting 6+ ERAs and have won only 1 game between them.  Johnson missed his last start due to triceps soreness, but is expected to return for his next scheduled start.  The Blue Jays as a team are currently in last place in the AL East with a record of 10-17 on the season, just 2 more wins than the Marlins.

The Marlins at the major league level have gotten only 52 fruitless plate appearances from Adeiny Hechavarria before he succumbed to an elbow injury 14 games into the season.  Pitcher Henderson Alvarez and catcher Jeff Mathis were both injured in spring training and have yet to return.  Surprisingly, of the 12 players involved in the trade the best season so far has come from the least heralded participant, minor league pitcher Anthony Desclafani who is 4-1 with a 0.44 ERA. 

As much as I hate to say it, so far Loria and the Marlins look justified in having made this trade performance wise.  All of the players they traded away have been terrible or injured or both (except Buck!).  Even though the Marlins have received next to nothing on the field at the major league level from the players they received, off the field the savings in salary clearly makes them the winners so far (if only they had reinvested those savings in obtaining better players!).  That being said, neither side could have imagined the performances would be this bad.  I’ll continue to check in on the players involved throughout the season to see if things improve as some of the injured players get healthy and report back.

Apr 15, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Wade LeBlanc throws in the first inning during a game against the Washington Nationals at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

In a season that has already featured many tough losses for the Miami Marlins, the team suffered probably it’s worse loss of the season last night. Starter Wade LeBlanc labored through his 3 1/3 innings of work, allowing 9 hits and 7 earned runs.

This came as a disappointment to many, as Marlins fans had seen the Marlins starting pitching as the early silver lining for the team. Earlier today, Michael Jong on Fishtripes pointed out this morning that in actuality, the Marlins starters have not been a silver lining for the Fish early on.

As Michael pointed out:

When you set aside Fernandez’s spectacular early season performance (0.82 ERA, 1.48 FIP, 31.7 percent strikeout rate!), the rest of the staff looks pretty mediocre despite the relatively shiny 4.00 ERA. Only LeBlanc remains a positive sign thanks to his strikeout rate, as this evaluation caught him right after a terrible game. He still appears to be on track to have a nice season and just needs to erase the stink off of the nine-hit outing in 3 2/3 innings that he just had.

Michael pointed out that with the impending returns of Henderson Alvarez and Nathan Eovaldi, the Marlins won’t likely have to see their pitchers regress to the mean as the season goes on.

Alex Sanabia has been the Marlins worst pitcher so far and is going to be the first pitcher shown the door, as his strikeout rates and walk rates and lack of ability to induce grounders make him a weak major league starter. Sanabia is a nice option for the Marlins to have as organizational depth and make a few spot starts, but he should not be in any rotation full-time.

One of Kevin Slowey or Wade LeBlanc will also be taken out of the rotation and likely moved to the bullpen. Michael believes that Slowey should be the one moved to the pen, as his peripherals indicate a huge regression should be on the way for him.

The Marlins then have to choose between LeBlanc, who has good peripherals but one bad start thus far, versus Slowey, who has gotten away with mediocre performances by stranding runners at an extreme rate. The bet is still on LeBlanc to hold his rotation spot, but do not underestimate the Marlins’ ability to make mistakes in evaluating early-season statistics.

While I am in complete agreement with Michael that based on the numbers, the Marlins would be making the right decision by keeping LeBlanc in the rotation. But the issue that rears its head is the Marlins personnel.

The Marlins already have a number of soft throwing right handers in the pen and lack a second left handed pitching option behind Mike Dunn. Dunn, as Marlins fans know, is not exactly a shutdown option out of the pen, as he too often struggles with his command.

With the Marlins playing in a division with an appendage,of tough left handed hitters, the Marlins best option would be to send LeBlanc back to the pen, where he actually pitched well last season.

With no other great options in the minor leagues to use as the lefty out of the pen, the Marlins need to give serious consideration to moving LeBlanc to the bullpen upon the returns of Henderson Alvarez and Nathan Eovaldi. Kevin Slowey may not be an ideal option for the rotation, but until Jacob Turner (8.53 ERA turns things around in Triple-A, the Marlins don’t have many other options.

Brad Hand could be a name to watch, as he has pitched well in his Triple-A stint so far this season. Hand has struck out 12 hitters in 11 1/3 innings of work, but walked 6 hitters and allowed 7 hits. He has not fared well in the majors and is not one of the Marlins better options.

Feb 28, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; Miami Marlins top pitching prospect Jose Fernandez (78) throws to Marlins manager Mike Redmond (11) in a B game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Marlins 8-2. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

Wow. Woke up to some extremely interesting news today. The Miami Marlins have placed Henderson Alvarez and Nathan Eovaldi on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder issues.

#marlins, put Henderson Alvarez & Nathan Eovaldi on dl both shoulder

— Joe Capozzi (@joecapMARLINS) March 31, 2013

The Marlins don’t expect either to miss more than a month, but their injuries are something to monitor, as both are young pitchers and shoulder issues are rarely isolated.

In their place, the Marlins made a move that is sure to shock everyone around baseball. The Marlins have selected the contract of top overall prospect, Jose Fernandez. He will make his Major League debut next Sunday against the New York Mets:

#marlins call up Jose Fernandez

— Joe Capozzi (@joecapMARLINS) March 31, 2013

#Marlins updated rotation in DC: Nolasco, Slowey, LeBlanc; in NY: Sanabia, Nolasco, Fernandez

— Joe Capozzi (@joecapMARLINS) March 31, 2013

Jose Fernandez will start next Sunday in New York vs #mets#marlins

— Joe Capozzi (@joecapMARLINS) March 31, 2013

The move from the team is nothing sort of crazy in my view. The team had a better option in Jacob Turner to go with, as he has had major league success and has pitched above Single-A, none of which Fernandez can say he has.

The team also selected the contract of starting pitcher Alex Sanabia. The Marlins projected rotation just went from really bad to what could be one of the worst ever.

To make room on the 40-man roster for all the moves the team has made so far and Fernandez, the team designated Zack Cox, Gorkys Hernandez, Evan Reed, and Scott Maine and placed Joe Mahoney and Jeff Mathis, along with Alvarez and Eovaldi on the 15-day DL.

The move to DFA Cox is boneheaded in my view as well. The team acquired Cox in the Edward Mujica trade last July from the St. Louis Cardinals. While he has faced struggles in the minors the past two seasons with his bat, he still had a decent shot to turn things around and become the Marlins third baseman of the future.

Now the team risks losing him to another team, which I am sure someone will pounce on. If the Marlins lose Cox, they will have no one in the minor leagues to play 3B in the near future.

We will have more news on all these moves and any other move as they happen.