Future Champs? More like Current Chumps

It was just yesterday that the Marlins’ season started with great expectations thrown upon them. The newly signed players Joes Reyes, Health Bell and Mark Buehrle ready to make their debut in orange, and blue; Ozzie Guillen, the new face of the Marlins… is he going to be able to control Carlos Zambrano?,  and the return of a healthy Josh Johnson and Hanley Ramirez. This team was set to have new beginnings in its new home, new name, and new uniforms. They are going to be winners…

Fast forward now 9 days into the season, seven games later, the Miami Marlins have a record of 2-5, two road trips dropped to the Reds and Phillies, and of course cannot forget that brutal opening night loss to the Cardinals. The Fish are at the bottom of the NL East. Lets look at why: Start out by looking at the numbers of the newly acquired players, Jose Reyes the reigning NL batting champion batting a whopping .233 average with no home runs or RBI’s in his first week. Heath Bell in his first week has not been given many save opportunities, but the one chance he was given he blew giving a homerun up against the Cincinnati Reds which ended in a loss. Mark Buehrle is now 0-2 in his two starts as a Marlin, although only having a 3.65 Era in 12.1 innings. The Fish bats have not produced a win for this guy. So far, the Marlins signings look like the Yankees signings of 2001 and 2002 seasons, where a bunch of money is spent for a lackluster performance in return.

Lets now look at the new face of the Marlins. Ozzie Guillen, in just his first week with the fish  has managed to enrage the city of Miami, the city which the team the team is now named for, the city of which tickets must be sold to the new stadium in order for the Marlins to reach their goals as a profiting franchise. In his first week, the “Time Magazine” article in which he states he “loves Fidel Castro” sent the Cuban-Americans in Miami into a frenzy calling for Ozzie’s job and head. The Marlins ended up suspending the new face of the franchise for 5 games, and after the first two games they have not tallied a win without him.

As for the calling for his head and job, I believe, as a non Cuban-American that his remarks are forgivable.  I must say that this should not be taken as an insult to the community; it was a dumb thing to say, but how many times does a child say “I hate you” to his/her mom and dad and not know what that really means. That is what happened here, Ozzie doesn’t love Fidel Castro; he does not even know what Fidel Castro really is; he didn’t look into details of the brutalities that Castro did to his people of Cuba.  And those who have made it to Miami, be happy you’re here and enjoy what this country allows.  Remarks like Guillen’s should be dealt with, apologized for and then we need to move on.  Lets move forward, let him manage the Marlins and do not make this a political issue.

The trade involving Carlos Zambrano for Chris Volstad has no effect on this team yet, because Carlos was to be the winning pitcher on Sunday 4/8/12 vs. the Reds.  But Heath Bell gave the game up in the ninth inning and blew the save while receiving the loss. As for the return of JJ: well Josh has had the two worst outings of his career. In his first two starts he has an 8.38 Era, given up 21 hits and has only 3 strikeouts to 5 walks in only 9.2 innings of game. He is the ace of this team and the tide of the season will run through him. The experts say if he comes back and stays healthy, this team is a playoff contender.  He is back and healthy and if he keeps pitching like this, he will be in Triple-A working on his mechanics.

Hanley Ramirez should get a little break as he has been asked to move positions from shortstop to third base, and with this move comes time and errors will come. In 59 innings he has no errors, although there have been some plays that make the fans like myself question his dedication and ability to do his best.  His problem is his bat. He is batting .160 with one homerun and three RBI’s. That is a cold bat.

Speaking of cold bats, one that seems to be frozen belongs to  Giancarlo (Mike) Stanton. Stanton is batting .260 with ZERO homeruns, 5 strikeouts and zero walks, and only 3 RBI’s. This guy is supposed to be the homerun king for the fish and has not jacked even one in the first seven games. Are you joking? The only real Marlins producing right now are Omar Infante who is batting .360 with three home runs, and Emilio Bonifacio who has batted .360 and has scored 4 runs.

The Marlins as a whole are struggling. The season is new and there are 155 games left but already we are in the bottom of the standings in our division and three games out of first to the Nationals. We are starting a six game home stand against the Astros and Cubs.  We need to focus. Ozzie must stop talking, and the pitchers must improve. Even with all this being said, baseball is back. Lets just be champs and not overpaid chumps!

Written By: Chase Blake

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