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.

Apr 16, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria (3) connects for a three run home run in the fourth inning against the Washington Nationals at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Starting in the spring, and continuing through today, the Marlins have lost some key pieces of what was already being called one of the least competitive tams in the 2013 MLB field. Long lines at the team sick bay are merely rubbing salt in the fan’s wounds.

Today, the Marlins announced that starting shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, one of only a couple of Marlins to have hit a home run this year, would be making a trip to the 15-day DL to nurse an elbow contusion back to health. The trip is dated April 17^th, for those fans looking for when we can expect the elite defensive skills of Hech back to the lineup. Outfielder  Nick Green’s contract was selected to replace him on the 40-man for the time being.  Nick was one of the last guys booted out of camp, and he had a terrific spring.  Now is his chance to prove himself to Red.

The other player at the medic’s office is Nathan Eovaldi, whose shoulder inflammation seems to be persistent enough that his 15-day DL trip has expired, so he’s been moved to the 60-day.  Right now, he’s tentatively projected to return sometime in June.  Given three rough starts by LeBlanc and a doozy by Sanabia, the former Dodger can’t get healthy soon enough.

There is a silver lining to the cloudy news of the day.  SuperSlugger Giancarlo Stanton took a few hacks in BP yesterday, with no discomfort in the shoulder he bruised during a diving, rolling, highlight reel catch.  The bruise had him scratched for a few days, as he had difficulty raising his arm far enough to even pull on a shirt.

The successful BP means that he is on track to return to the lineup for tonight’s tilt against the Reds in Cincinnati. Let’s hope that the shoulder roll knocked the yips out of his bat at the same time.

Injuries have reached down to the minor leagues this year, and reports are filtering in that top prospect Marcell Ozuna is back in business, and that Christian Yelich and Jake Marisnick are not far behind.  The sooner they get healthy, the sooner they complete their apprenticeships.  Their skills, like those of tonight’s starter Jose Fernandez, are needed.

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.

Eovaldi delivered his best performance of the spring and has now allowed just one run in consecutive starts, the previous outing coming against the Yankees.  This time around Eovaldi hurled strong 5 innings in which he struck out four Braves hitters and did not issue a base on balls.  He allowed just three hits with one of those being a home run off the bat of Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman accounting for the lone run allowed.  Eovaldi’s ERA improved to 3.29 and he is limiting opposing hitters to a .191 batting average on the spring.  The Marlins are counting on Eovaldi developing into a top of the rotation starter and performances like this one show that the potential is definitely there.

Mar 3, 2013; Jupiter, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Nate Eovaldi (24) throws in the second inning during a spring training game against the New York Mets at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Marlins used three relievers to finish off the game after Eovaldi with Jonathon Albaladejo taking the loss.  The Braves second and eventual winning run was scored in the top of the ninth inning thanks to a two out RBI single by Braves third baseman Chris Johnson.

As for the Marlins offense…well they did take six walks including four in a row in the sixth inning which provided their only run on the night.  Unfortunately, they were only able to muster two hits off of Medlen and none off of the rest of the Braves staff.  The two hits coming one each from the bats of Casey Kotchman and Rob Brantly.  Kotchman is now sporting an impressive slash line of .407/.429/.593 on the spring as he battles to win a spot as the opening day first basemen.

Up Next: The Marlins have the day off on Thursday before heading up to Tampa to face the New York Yankees on Friday.