Marlin Maniac RTD 2/22: Marlins Spring Training Kickoff

Morning Marlin Maniacs. Just a few short days until actual games get underway this vernal season for the Miami Marlins against the mighty Redbirds of St. Louis.

We might not be in the same class as the Cardinals, but we can certainly play them many, many times while taking turns being the home team at Roger Dean Stadium.

More from Marlin Maniac

• Miami Marlins need to spend to win
• Miami Marlins One-Year Wonder 1B
• Miami Marlins can’t afford to botch this trade
• Miami Marlins news: the New York Mets are a risky threat
• Miami Marlins keep missing out on stars

Plenty to get through though now that more than just your pitchers and catchers have reported. Early roster buzz and some other scattered baseball chatter will get the ball rolling on this final installment before we get the chance to overanalyze early season showings.

Once a week, the staff here at Marlin Maniac sits down to pull some questions out of a hat that concern everyone’s favorite baseball team.  The answers?  While those get pulled from somewhere else, we list them below for your enjoyment

Avid readers are fully encouraged to submit questions they’d like to see the staff discuss via Twitter, Facebook, or in the comments.  They are also encouraged to come up with a better title than Miami Marlins RTD.  But until that day of deliverance, let’s get to the Round Table Discussion.

How Do You Feel About The Decision To Go With A Four Man Bench? 

Sean Millerick: It’s certainly interesting, and a borderline video game move. It could be brilliant though, if the club stays healthy. The fourth outfielder is a future first ballot Hall of Famer, and three of the four are essentially interchangeable in terms of positioning. Derek Dietrich and Miguel Rojas can play multiple positions, and if J.T. Realmuto was able to play shortstop once upon a time, he can play first now. But…this team never stays healthy. And as such, I’d of felt a lot better paying Chris Carter, Mark Reynolds, or even Chase Utley to hang around.

David Marcillo: With Don Mattingly running/ruining the bullpen, having an extra arm out there seems more important than having an extra bat on the bench. Derek Dietrich and Miguel Rojas can play all over the infield and Ichiro can play all over the outfield. While it may make for some starting pitchers pinch hitting or pinch running in extra inning games, I like the decision, especially in the beginning of the season. It’s not something that is likely to last, as guys will get just-hurt-enough-to-miss-a-few-games-but-not-go-on-the-DL sooner or later, and that will create a three-man bench for a few days, perhaps prompting a position player to be called up in exchange for an expendable bullpen arm.

Seth Moed: Overall, this move does seem to make sense at the moment considering the versatility of those four bench players. With this strategy, the Marlins are able to maintain the depth of their bullpen which needs to continue to be a strength for this team deep into this season in order to obtain a playoff berth. The strong potential of injury will of course make this strategy a risk, but the Marlins will have an easier time finding an extra bat rather than a quality reliever if they need one on the fly down the road.

Eric Quinones: Ideally I’d like to see at least five guys on the bench in case there’s an extra inning game or in the event of double switches throughout the game.  I’d like to see a solid right handed bat come off the bench as well and right now the Fish don’t have that option because Ichiro and Dietrich are both very good left handed hitters. A.J. Ellis and Miguel Rojas are right handed hitters but are known more for their defensive play. Entering Spring Training the Marlins are lacking a solid right handed bat who can pinch hit late in games against the opposing team’s best left handed pitcher. This is an issue that Donnie Baseball needs to find a solution to. 

Are There Any Available Free Agents You’d Like To See The Marlins Add? 

Sean Millerick: Justin Morneau springs most readily to mind. Cheap, veteran guy, with a high ceiling and a floor that would blow the doors off of what Chris Johnson gave us last year opposite Justin Bour. No reason not to try him out, and part of me suspects the Marlins will be joining many other teams in following Team Canada very closely in the WBC.

David Marcillo: Not really, there are a few names that are intriguing, such as Billy Butler, Justin Morneau, Luke Hochevar, and Doug Fister, but none of them would really fit with the current roster without demoting someone else that deserves to be on it as well. I think the Marlins are fine as they are in terms of free agent signings, apart from maybe a depth move or two for players that will start the season in Triple-A (as Baby Cakes). 

Seth Moed: I wouldn’t expect the Marlins to add a sixth starting pitcher, but I’m keeping my eye on a few veteran starters that remain available that hopefully the team is also monitoring as insurance. There’s a highly unlikely chance all five guys in the rotation stay healthy/don’t become a disaster at some point this season – that could come sooner rather than later. Starters like Tim Lincecum and Jared Weaver remain available, looking for another chance with a team willing to take one on them.

Eric Quinones: The player I wanted the team to add is no longer available because he signed with the Yankees. Chris Carter would’ve been a nice fit with the Marlins. He could’ve started at first base against left handed pitchers and would’ve also given the team a powerful right handed bat off of the bench. He was tied for the National League lead in homeruns last season with 41. Other than that I think the Marlins are entering Spring Training with a very solid team, and a team that has playoff potential. 

Favorite Spring Training Memory That You Have? 

Sean Millerick: Well, easy answer would be catching a ball from a player as the Marlins ran off the field after the inning. Still hasn’t happened for me, foul ball or otherwise, across well over a hundred regular and postseason chances. But getting Miguel Cabrera’s autograph in 2004, albeit faintly and on a program, ranks pretty high for me on the Spring memory scale.

David Marcillo: I went to a Spring Training game on a weekday a looooong time ago when I still lived in Miami. Took a day off work and drove up to Jupiter to watch the Marlins and the Cardinals. Brian Moehler was starting and pitched incredibly well. I had no idea who Brian Moehler was, but I was far enough away to not be able to see facial details, so I thought, “hey, this kid is going to be great” Got home and looked up this “Brian Moehler kid” only to realize he was a veteran 33-year-old journeyman pitcher. He made the team though, and pitched decently that season.

Seth Moed: I went to a ton of Marlins regular season games growing up in South Florida as a kid, but only went to one Spring Training game when I was older – nothing too memorable happened. I’ve always loved the feel of Spring Training though, when your expectations are at their highest point. You never know in baseball, when truly any team has a chance to start the season hot.

Eric Quinones:  My favorite Spring Training moments are going to Roger Dean stadium with my dad, my brother, and a friend to eat some hotdogs and drink adult beverages while watching some baseball. I would love to eventually get an autograph from Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich, but just being able to watch some baseball with some of my family members is always a great time for me. 

Reactions To All The After The Fact Buzz About That Cashner Trade Last Summer?

Sean Millerick: Livid, if true. The current bullpen, with Carter Capps jumping in as a late season addition? Or the fact that Jeremy Hellickson probably gets the Marlins a winning season last year, as he would have easily outperformed Andrew “Don’t Shave Me Bro” Cashner? Take your pick of those or any other number of scenarios, because I’d be stunned if you found one where either last year’s team, this year’s team, or both weren’t better off if that whole trade hadn’t taken place. The league owes the Marlins something on the level of a compensatory second round draft pick.

David Marcillo: That trade was awful when it was announced and has only gotten worse with age, like a fine glass of milk left under the hot Florida sun. The Marlins gave up their top position player prospect, their top pitching prospect, and their top bullpen arm, all for a bad starter with a bad attitude on an expiring contract and a bad starter with a bad elbow (along with, of course, cash coming from the Padres). The worst part though, which is only a rumor but a very believable one, is that the Marlins only included Capps so that the Padres would send back money in the deal. It could have been completed without one of  the best relievers in baseball, but the Marlins decided they absolutely needed the (relatively) small amount of money San Diego sent back.

Seth Moed: Thinking of that trade just reminds me of the demise of the current Marlins farm system. The trade made no sense at the time and nothing has really changed that feeling sense.

Eric Quinones: I’m just upset at that trade in general. Andrew Cashner was irrelevant last season. He was worried about his beard not being shaved more than anything. We gave up Carter Capps and a couple of top prospects for two mediocre starters. It was an awful trade that didn’t help us one bit.