Playoffs make Miami Marlins need to rebuild obvious

The regular season is such a slog that players can’t reasonably play at full capacity all season. That changes in the playoffs. The gulf between the Miami Marlins and the top teams in the league is as evident as ever.

The Miami Marlins have an offense capable of scoring on anybody. Time and time again, we saw the Marlins slug their way to victory. It wasn’t enough to get into the playoffs. After watching the NL and ALDS, there is no doubt that at least a partial overhaul is in order.

Miami desperately needs a legitimate pitching staff to think about being playoff relevant. If you need any further proof, look at the Arizona Diamondbacks. After the DBacks pulled away from the pack in the wildcard, the Los Angeles Dodgers swept them in three games.

A chance at a serious playoff run is better than 59-home runs.

There is an unfortunate catch-22 for the Miami Marlins. In order to make real progress in legitimizing their starting rotation, they’ll have to part with a lot of offensive production. Notably, Giancarlo Stanton is expected to do his baseballing elsewhere in 2018.

The Marlins are several years away with or without Giancarlo Stanton. Watching a team like the Diamondbacks suffer a sweep, or the high caliber of play in the Chicago Cubs vs. Washington Nationals series should make that abundantly clear.

Miami Marlins fans are spoiled in the sense of expecting surprise World Series titles. The 1997 and 2003 teams were talented in retrospect, but they were off the radar at the time. In the case of the 2003 team, they were way off the radar.

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Despite the fact that Miami hasn’t hosted any playoff baseball aside from those two years, there are now lofty expectations. The years of catching lighting in a bottle are over for the Fish.

Smart is the new lucky

The data-driven nature of baseball doesn’t need to be babbled for the billionth time, but that doesn’t make it any less true. The Miami Marlins can thank luck to a large degree in their previous two playoff runs.

Now with everyone having so much information, the chances of that happening again are low.

Think objectively about the team that you saw take the field every night; the pitchers that toed the starting rubber. The Miami Marlins gave Odrisamer Despaigne and Vance Worley 16 combined starts. Not only should change come, but fans should want it to come.

Next: Marlins park could be due for a name change

The Fish have a long way to go. New owner Derek Jeter alluding to “unpopular decisions” in his introductory press conference is a good thing.