The Miami Marlins want to move the needle in 2020
The Miami Marlins as an organization want to show this is the year they make more noise in the National League East division.
You can feel this is a different year for the Miami Marlins. There is more energy in the voices of the front office. There is a different tone with each sentence spoken. As Don Mattingly outlined at FanFest, this is a team that is satisfied with landing at the bottom of the National League East. This is a ballclub that wants to make noise everyone in Major League Baseball can hear loud and clear.
“This will be a year, if we don’t make significant improvements from last year, then there’s going to be disappointment within our group,” Mattingly said on Saturday via MLB.com.
Frankly. this is what I have been waiting for. As a fan of this team, hearing something other than the team is working through the growing pains of a rebuilding project is music to my ears. And after reading what Mattingly had to say, all I can do is yell, “HALLELUJAH!”
“I don’t want to come out and say, ‘We’re trying to play .500.’ It’s just not something you want to do,” Mattingly added. “We want to make noise. I think we’re going to take strides forward, and I think the fans will see it. I think our division will see it because we’ll be a lot more competitive.”
Competition is the key here as the Marlins have to feel better about the lineup they will march out on the field in the first series of the year against the Philadelphia Phillies. Addition without a lot of subtraction will prove to be a good thing in South Florida this season.
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It’s the aggressive moves the front office made this offseason that has us a bit giddy. If they pan out, this could be one of those years where the Marlins sneak up on their four division rivals and play a role in deciding the winner of the National League East.
“We made a lot of trades, brought in a lot of talent, and we feel like we’re on very solid foundation, when you look at the layers that we have,” Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said.“That’s how you build something sustainable, it’s to have a solid foundation and continue to add talent through the Draft, through our trades, through our international signings. That’s the blueprint of how we’re building this. It’s exciting to see it’s starting to come to fruition.”
The best part of wheeling and dealing in December and January is the Marlins did not have to part with the core of their farm system or the youth on the roster. Adding veterans who are low risk, high reward players is what may send this team toward the 75-win plateau this coming season.
Now, with pitchers and catchers reporting to Jupiter, Florida this week, it should be more than interesting to see which players make the cut and who the biggest surprises will be.
If the play on the field at the start of the season matches the enthusiasm of the front office right now, fans should like this team’s chances of significantly improving this year.
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