2007 Record 71 Wins 91 Losses - 5th National League East
2007 Money -$1,135 moneyline -2,334 Runline 90-62 Over/Under
2007 Review
The Marlins finished with a worse record for the 5th straight season so they did the typical Marlins solution and got rid of their two top veterans Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. Back in 2006, many predicted well over 100 losses but they surprised and finished at 78-84. Then in an injury-plagued 2007, the club finished at 71-91 and changes were imminent. It was a down year for the pocketbook last season as well and an even worse year for runline players as 67 of their losses were by two or more runs.
2008 Offense
The loss
of Cabrera is a huge blow to the offense
that was actually very good last season.
The Marlins finished 4th in home runs
and 5th in slugging percentage but
now it must try and replace 34 home
runs and 119 RBI's. Jose Castillo hopes
to win the third base job but will
be hard-pressed to come close to those
numbers as his career highs were 14
and 65 back in 2006 with the Pirates.
Hanley Ramirez, who led the team with
a .332 average, was leadoff last season
but will be moved to the three spot.
After
Ramirez, the middle of the order will
be Mike Jacobs, Josh Willingham and
Dan Uggla and all three will be expected
to replace Cabrera’s production.
The gem of the trade with the Tigers
was outfielder Cameron Maybin. He is
just 20 years old and still wears braces
but he is a five-tool player and he
will be the leadoff hitter if he can
win the job in center. Florida does
not want to rush him but the team wants
nothing more than for him to win the
job.
2008
Starting Pitching
Last year,
Marlins pitchers led the National League
in walks with 661 and hit batters with
76. Most of that damage came from the
rotation as 11 Florida starters combined
to go 42-63 with a 5.58 ERA, worst
in the majors. Willis is gone and so
are his 200+ innings but he did have
a very disappointing 2007 with a 5.17
ERA and 1.60 WHIP. Injuries also hurt
as Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez and
Ricky Nolasco all were done by May.
The top four starters are Scott Olsen,
Mark Hendrickson, Andrew Miller and
Sergio Mitre.
Olsen
is the front-runner to claim the top
spot even though he was a disappointing
10-15 last year with a 5.81 ERA, the
highest of any pitcher in the National
League with at least 162 innings. Hendrickson
is back after a stint in Los Angeles
and he should be better after offseason
laser-eye surgery. Miller came over
in the Detroit deal and he has the
tools to be big time player while Mitre
needs to overcome a dreadful second
half. Front-runners for the fifth spot
are Nolasco and Rick VandenHurk.
2008
Bullpen
The bullpen
was the lone bright spot last year,
and it basically remains intact. Despite
this, the Marlins brought 38 pitchers
into camp so there will be a lot of
competition for the few remaining bullpen
spots. Florida finished with a 4.05
ERA but did have 24 blown saves, 6th
worst in baseball. Kevin Gregg, who
had 32 saves and only four blown saves,
emerged as the closer by midseason
and now that he starts the season with
that job, he should settle comfortably
into the role and improve.
Also in
the bullpen are Justin Miller, Taylor
Tankersley and Matt Lindstrom, with
Lee Gardner, Logan Kensing and Renyel
Pinto figuring prominently to retain
the spots they held last season. The
remarkable trait of this group is that
all of them posted sub-4.00 ERA’s
last season so the fact that all are
back is a huge asset. Hard-throwing
Eulogio De La Cruz also could contend
for a relief spot. Florida’s
bullpen tossed 586.2 innings last season,
third most in baseball, and they don’t
want a repeat of that.
2008
Overall Outlook
When a
team that finishes in last place gets
rid of its best offensive player and
star pitcher, you know things are not
going to be good. This is a young team
that got even younger so another last
place finish is likely going to occur.
However, that was said to be the case
in 2006 and the Marlins finished well
above expectations. This is another
team that we will see some excellent
value with because of the lack of star
power. There will be some big underdog
numbers early in the year that we will
certainly take advantage of.
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