Miami Marlins Updates: Sean West, No National Media Love, and Jersey Numbers

Today is the day for Miami Marlins pitchers and catchers to report to Spring Training. Baseball Tonight will be at the Marlins facility today, be sure to check that out at 3:30 PM ET. Here are some quick Marlins updates.

Sean West out of options

Sean West will head into Spring Training this year in hopes for a Major League job. Of the five pitchers selected in the first round of the 2005 draft, West is the last one standing. West is however out of options this Spring, and could be final first round causality if he does not make the team.

“I would really like to stay with the this team and make an impact with these guys,” he said. “My goal is to start with this team and finish with this team.”

West has a tall task in front of him. The Marlins rotation, barring any injuries, appears to be set. Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle will be one and two. The rest of the rotation is set as well though. Anibal Sanchez, Ricky Nolasco, and Carlos Zambrano will battle it out for the three, four, and five spots. You can never rule out an injury, or an early retirement, with Zambrano on the team.

West will be vying for the long relief role in 2012. Although he has no Major League experience as a reliever, he feels he is up for the job.

West has said his arm hasn’t felt this good since he was in high school, following an elbow cleanup by Dr. James Andrews.

"“I was in (the hospital) bed, just regaining consciousness, and he comes up and says, ‘I’ve done a lot of these, but I’ve never seen one that’s going to impact a player’s career like yours,'” West recalled. “That felt good to hear that, coming from him.  I can’t even explain how good my arm feels right now,” West said. “I have that a zip on the ball again. It’s coming out like it did in high school. It’s an amazing feeling, expecially going into a camp like this.”"

This could be great news for the Marlins. West has shown flashes of the potential he has in the past. He even out-dueled his idol growing up, Randy Johnson.

Working against West is the fact that the Marlins already have two lefties that will make the bullpen out of Spring Training. Randy Choate did an excellent job last season and should be back as a L.O.G.G.Y (or Lefty One-Out GuY). The other lefty is likely going to be Mike Dunn. Dunn struggled a lot in 2011, but is expected to be a big part of their team in 2012.

A third lefty would be beneficial to the Marlins as they do play in a division with a ton of tough left handed hitters. Either way, West has five weeks to prove to the Marlins that he is apart of the future, otherwise, he will be gone.

Here are the other players that are out of options going into camp this season: Heath Bell, Emilio Bonifacio, John Buck, Randy Choate, Gregg Dobbs, Edward Mujica, and Donnie Murphy. Of those players, Murphy is the only one competing for a job. All the other players will be on the Marlins roster.

Jersey Number Updates:

Scott Cousins gave up his number 33 to Aaron Rowand and will wear number 6. Cousins choose number 6 because of his favorite baseball player, J.T. Snow. Rowand has been wearing the number 33 for the majority of his career. A classy move by Cousins for sure.

The other notable number changes include:Logan Morrison from 20 to 5; Steve Cishek from 66 to 31, the number Burke Badenhop vacated; Randy Choate from 35 to 36; Omar Infante from 13 to 12 (Ozzie Guillen will wear 13); and Bryan Petersen from 16 to 11.

The number with the most controversy, of course belongs to Morrison. Number 5 used to belong to the first Marlins President, who passed away at the teams first Winter Meetings, Carl Barger. Morrison will wear the number to honor his father and the player he wants to model his game after, George Brett.

No National Media Love for the Fish! (SURPRISE, SURPRISE)

If you thought that the Marlins getting their first two games broadcasted on ESPN was a sign that the national media would finally recognize the Marlins and give them more games on national tv, you thought wrong!

Tuesday, TBS announced its “Sunday MLB on TBS” slate for April and May. The Marlins, of course, have no games scheduled. The Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and New York Yankees did get 3 games a piece.

TBS though only has one National League game in the first 8 weeks. That being the Atlanta Braves at St. Louis Cardinals on May 13.

There are also no Marlins game  on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball schedule from April 8-July 15. Ten games featuring thirteen teams have been locked in though.

Fox’s Saturday Baseball Game of the Week schedule is not going to be helping the Marlins out either. The three dates the Marlins are on the schedule: May 12 against the Mets, June 9 against the Rays and June 16 at the Rays. Meanwhile, here are the teams with the most appearances on Fox.

"The Red Sox, Cubs, Yankees and Giants each will make the maximum nine appearances on FOX. The Rangers, Angels, Braves, and Mets and are scheduled to appear eight times, and the Cardinals and Phillies have seven Fox games apiece."

The Miami Marlins went through several changes this off-season. One thing that still has not changed is that the Marlins will continue to be disrespected by the national media.

At least the Marlins will have their own television show!

If the Marlins have a strong first half, ESPN and Fox will have no choice but to air Marlins games!