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2015 Miami Marlins Season Review: Background and Takeaways

By Daniel Zylberkan |
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Oct 4, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Miami Marlins manager Dan Jennings (26) walks off the field after making a pitching change during the seventh inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies defeated the Marlins, 7-2. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The Marlins last winning season was 2009 when Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla and Josh Johnson dragged a mediocre roster to 87 wins and within 5 games of the NL Wild Card.  They won 80 games the next year, the most games they’ve won in season since the 2010 season was 77 in 2014. 

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The Marlins are bad and have been bad for a really long time, and it’s getting hard to find an excuse for ownership and management at this point.  The 2015 season much like 2012 was supposed to be one of the years that the Marlins went “all in” and legitimately tried to make a run at the playoffs and even a deep drive into October.

The moves that the team made last winter got some adherents in the national media, with so-called baseball experts, picking the Marlins to win the World Series this year.  That obviously didn’t happen and the team limped to a 71-91 record and the organization’s sixth straight losing season.

The question that must be asked is: what went wrong?

Next: Background

Oct 4, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Miami Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon (9) stands on second base after hitting a double during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. He would score a run on an error. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The last time Jeffrey Loria and management decided to go all in and make a drive at the playoffs in 2012 the team also chugged to an incredibly disappointing 69 win season.  The Miami Marlins, playing in their shiny new stadium, were forced to correct their track and trade many contributors from that team including Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle Anibal Sanchez and the much maligned Heath Bell.  

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The Marlins gave up and traded Reyes and Buehrle to the Toronto Blue Jays for what was an intriguing haul of players, which included Adeiny Hechavarria, Jake Marisnick, Henderson Alvarez, Anthony DeSclafani, Justin Nicolino and Jeff Mathis.

The Marlins, for better or worse, restocked their farm system with what could be termed “talent” in the wake of the 2012 season.

The decision was made. The Marlins weren’t going to compete at all in 2013 as made plain by such amazing free agent signings, as Casey Kotchman, Juan Pierre and Placido Polanco. The idea was to find and develop that they had acquired in the past year.  This included Hechavarria, Alvarez, Jacob Turner, Rob Brantly, Nathan Eovaldi, as well as players that were already in the organization, such as Jose Fernandez, Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna.

The Marlins in 2013 also drafted the highly touted third baseman from the University of North Carolina Colin Moran with the sixth overall pick.  For Marlins fans 2013 was terrible but at least there was some hope, with much of it that was realized in 2014.

2014 was interesting because it showed us what kind of team they could have with Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna playing alongside Giancarlo Stanton, aided by what was an intriguing bunch of veterans that went from extremely random, like Casey McGehee to what seemed like a genius at the time signing of a power hitting catcher, in Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

The Marlins completely outplayed expectations in 2014, but at the same time they started to unravel what was a sustainable plan for future success.

On July 31st of 2014, Marlins management namely, Michael Hill and Dan Jennings, made the first move that would lead to the Marlins being in the situation they are in right now. When they traded Jake Marisnick and Colin Moran to the Houston Astros for Jarred Cosart and Kike Hernandez.  The Marlins had come to conclusion that Marisnick was blocked from ever playing the Major Leagues and deemed him expendable. They also chose to sacrifice long-term depth by also trading Moran.

That was just the beginning.

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In the winter, the Marlins systematically dismantled all their top Major League ready prospects, in trade after trade, that had the purpose of winning now.

Anthony DeSclafani became an obviously declining Mat Latos, Nathan Eovaldi netted the Marlins Martin Prado and David Phelps, and worst of all the Marlins traded their top prospect Andrew Heaney, along with the recently acquired Kiké Hernandez, Austin Barnes and Chris Hatcher for Dee Gordon and Dan Haren.

The Marlins also signed the right-handed slugger Michael Morse to play first base and to bat behind Giancarlo Stanton, in the cleanup spot.

The Miami Marlins somehow turned what was a fine stable of Major League ready players into Mat Latos, Martin Prado, David Phelps Dee Gordon and Dan Haren. They mortgaged the farm, and even if it had worked it was inadvisable. More often than not the most important thing a team can have is depth and the Marlins came into 2015 with no viable options, in case of injuries or whatever other situation arose.

My criticism stems from what was an obviously negligent way of running a baseball team.

Regardless of how the team played or if the players the Marlins acquired last winter had been successful or not.  Not one trade was the problem, but it was the accumulation of giving up so much value and depth for so little that ultimately sank the Marlins.

Regardless of what the Marlins did, there is still major upside that can be taken from these moves and what they can mean for the team going forward.

Next: What Does the Future Hold?

Sep 19, 2015; Washington, DC, USA; Miami Marlins left fielder Christian Yelich (21) is congratulated by Miami Marlins center fielder Marcell Ozuna (13) after scoring a run against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

The Marlins in 2014 had the worst infield defense in the entire Major Leagues, with a score of -47.1 according to StatCorner, as would be expected from having an infield that was mainly composed of  Garrett “Clank” Jones, Donovan Solano, Adeiny Hechavarria, and Casey McGehee, for the majority of the season. In stark contrast the Marlins infield scored at 13.6 RAA for 2015, which made them the tenth best infield defense in the Major Leagues. 

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Three of the four Marlins infielders had UZRs above 6 this season; Gordon with 6.3, Prado with 8.8 and Adeiny Hechavarria with 16.

Hechavarria’s mark alone had him third in all of baseball in UZR, behind only Kevin Keiermaier and Andrelton Simmons.  Giving credit where credit is due, the Miami Marlins went out and fixed a major flaw in their team by trading for Dee Gordon and Martin Prado, even if cost them long-term depth.

Another move that could positively impact the Marlins in the long-term was the decision to move to J.T. Realmuto as the full-time catcher in 2015. In his rookie season Realmuto slashed .259/.290/.406 with 10 HR, 38 XBH and finished the year with a 86 wRC+ and 6 DRS f which added up to 1.6 fWAR. 

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Realmuto, in less than 500 plate appearances, was the eleventh best catcher in baseball, according to fWAR and the sixteenth best, according to wRC+.  Realmuto could try to walk more and he was hurt by a .285 BABIP, but he is a good enough hitter that he compares favorably to other premium offensive catchers going forward.

The Miami Marlins also acquired a very interesting player in the winter of 2012 that has been sidelined thanks to the Marlins method of operation, in Derek Dietrich. Dietrich was given his first opportunity to get significant plate appearances this year and he looked quite impressive. In 289 plate appearances, he slashed .256/.346/.45 with 10 HR and a 119 wRC+.  A 119 wRC+ puts Dietrich as the thirteenth best hitting third baseman and the seventeenth best left fielder in baseball (the same as Nolan Arenado and Starling Marte).  Dietrich’s 8% walk rate was the third best on the team, behind Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich.  Dietrich has even more upside as a platoon option, as his 134 wRC+ against right-handed pitching was the seventh best among all third basemen in 2015.

A large part of the Miami Marlins’ struggles early in 2015 stemmed from lack of production from key pieces, with Marcell Ozuna among them. Ozuna struggled in the first half and was even sent down to AAA to work out his problems (although there may have been other reasons). Ozuna in his first 322 plate appearances of 2015 only had 18 XBH and slugged .337, which  resulted in a 75 wRC+, well below league average.

Since getting called up back from New Orleans in the middle of August, Ozuna has had 172 plate appearances and has hit 19 XBH, with a .469 slugging percentage, and a 115 wRC+. In short, since getting called back up, Ozuna was a 40% better hitter than he was before getting sent down.

Just looking at his spray charts are illustrative of what he was doing wrong and why he’s been so much better since getting called back up.

Since getting called up he has been able to pull the ball and hit it harder, with authority.

There is much more to why the Marlins failed this year, but ultimately I think these are the things that stood out to me, and are the reasons that the Miami Marlins were hurt, and why there is at least some hope for the future.

Follow Marlin Maniac on Twitter @MarlinManiac for all your Miami Marlins news, opinion and analysis!

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