Who Cut the Cheese?: The Florida Marlins: Will They Go Belly Up?

The Florida Marlins have had some of the worst luck in baseball this season. From freak injuries, staff firings, and horrible trades, there is much buzz surrounding the future of the Marlins.

It is my own opinion, that as of today, the Marlins are a triple-A team in the big leagues. After the trades of veteran Jorge Cantu and fan favorite Cody Ross, many injuries of other players soon followed. Sean West, starting pitcher for the Marlins, hurt his knee doing prep exercises. Chris Coghlan, 2009 Rookie of the Year, got injured trying to throw a pie in his teammate’s face, after a walk off win. Dan Uggla is out day-to-day for a right groin injury. Ricky Nolasco also missed a start, due to a freak knee injury, when he reached down to tie his own shoe. On a similar note, star catcher Ronny Paulino was suspended for 50 games, due to taking a banned over-the-counter substance.

Thus, management brought up countless players from the minors, creating a lineup full of rookies. Although outfielders Logan Morrison, Mike Stanton, and Cameron Maybin are holding their own, they still struggle to play positions that they are not adept at. Similarly, the Marlins hold the No. 1 spot in the National League for the most blown saves, particularly at the hands of their ace, Josh Johnson. In the meantime, seasoned players such as Brett Hayes and Emilio Bonifacio will now get their chance to shine, as the fight for the playoffs is nearing 30 games.

At the end of June, Marlins Manager Fredi Gonzalez was fired. Bench coach Carlos Tosca and hitting coach Jim Presley were also let go. This was a hurdle that the Marlins had to deal with, and the change seemed to be a good one. Native Puerto Rican Edwin Rodriguez became the new manager of the Marlins (the first Puerto Rican to ever manage in the big leagues), and soon kicked off a temporary winning streak. However, this news was outshined by the news of the new Marlins ballpark.

As of now, the Marlins games are held at Sun Life Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins. The new ballpark, now scheduled to open in 2012 after a lawsuit with South Florida Auto Dealer Norman Braman, is equipped with many positives. However, the bad seems to outweigh the good. Yes. The ballpark will have a retractable roof and seat capacity of 37,000. Yes. The ballpark will have numerous and large aquatic setups that people of all ages are sure to enjoy. HOWEVER... The price of the ballpark is high. It will cost over a half a billion dollars, not to mention that the location will be at the Orange Bowl grounds. Are you serious? If the goal is to make money, why would anyone choose that location? Season ticket holders will not want to trek all the way to the heart of Miami for a game. Nearing Kendall, the ballpark is within no major interstates, and is further away for their fans in Broward and Palm Beach counties. As a Fish fan, I hope that this $515 million park will hold its worth, and they don’t go “belly up”, so to speak. More details and comments from fans can be seen here.

I call out The Marlins as the “Big Stink”! The Fish need to come together as a team and improve their bullpen, before next season. The blown saves must stop; the weird injuries must stop; the management should stay steady. All in all, the Florida Marlins and their management need to get their acts together, before they move to their new ballpark; no one likes a losing team.

Syleste