| Welcome to Miami? |
| By Vinny Hardy hardyboysportsblog.com December 7, 2011 The Florida Marlins defied the odds by winning two World Series titles in their first ten years in existence as a franchise. The new Miami Marlins are putting odds in front of their odds. They have a lot of good things going on right now, let’s not overlook that. They move into a new stadium this year so they don’t have to share Dolphins Stadium with the Dolphins anymore. They hope this in itself will help attendance in south Florida. They are also trying to make a splash in free agency, spending money that no one really knew they had. Mark Buehrle comes over from the White Sox, a solid addition for the rotation. Former Padres closer Heath Bell will be the man to anchor the bullpen, just wonder how often the Marlins will lead after 8 1/2 for him to have an opportunity to do his thing. They also set their sites on Albert Pujols, offering him a 10 year $200 million deal. That offer appears to be off the table now. No doubt that would have made a huge splash, but the last thing they, or any other team needs is a 39 or 40 year old Pujols making $20 million. Even without Pujols, the Marlins are still trying to rival their crosstown Heat brethren in the star studded lineup department. Their big get to this point is Jose Reyes. He will be an appealing draw in that market and they got him from the division rival Mets. But he has missed 191 games in the last three seasons. Hanley Ramirez is still around and as talented as ever, but there are rumblings that he doesn’t want to move to third base so Reyes can play short. All of this and it’s a long way until Spring Training. Add in Ozzie Guillen’s combustible personality and this Marlins team could blow up before they ever get started. It could also blend perfectly and lead to the Marlins defying the odds again, but the N.L. East is tough and they are going to have to make a believer out of me on the field |
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