Miami, Fl
Chris, here.
Alright, this is the first real post on FishGuts on our new host, so I figured I'd wait until Spring Training begins to make it. I recently got married, hence the empty pages before this, but this will be a nice new beginning for the blog, so we're gonna start it up here with what to look for in spring training, by position (with the stats by the position from last year):
CatcherStarter
This one is definitely set, with John Baker as the lefty and Ronnie Paulino as the lefty-masher in this platoon. Last season they were an above average offensive duo, and there's no reason to think they shouldn't do at least as good, considering that it could be argued both Baker and Paulino underperformed their platoon splits from what could have been expected. Barring injury, these two are locked in.
What to look out for
He's got a less than 0% chance of cracking the team in Spring Training, and I'm not even sure he's going to be with the team, but Kyle Skipworth, the club's 2008 first round pick who has done absolutely nothing in two seasons, is starting to get to make or break point this season. It's time for him to start showing at least something, or the team is going to have to start looking for ways to build real depth, because it's been a notoriously weak position for them. It would be nice to see him get in and dedicate himself early to get the season going on a good note.
First BaseStarter
This is the battle to watch, as it's the lone true battle in camp. The main contenders are 26 year old Gaby Sanchez, who has lit up the minors in his time there but has yet to endear himself to the Marlins brass, and Logan Morrison, the 22 year old top prospect who has considerably higher ceiling. The thought amongst most is that it is, for all intents and purposes, Gaby's job to lose. Of course, last season the third base job was supposed to be, for all intents and purposes, Gaby's job to lose, and he managed to do just that, losing it to the punch-less (and just about anything else positive-less) Emilio Bonifacio. One positive note is that, despite the front office's seeming unwillingness to give Gaby a fair shake at the major league level (Just 31 PAs over two seasons during call ups), they seem to be willing to give him at least one more shot, and he appears by all accounts to be making the most of it. According to The Miami Herald, Gaby has lost 20 pounds in an effort to increase his dexterity and limit the possibility for injury during the season.The biggest thing Gaby has going for him, besides the fact that the team knows this is his last realistic chance to see what they have in him, is that keeping Logan Morrison down in AAA until June decreases his chances of becoming a Super 2 arbitration candidate, delaying his big payday years until year 2 of the new stadium, when luxury box money should be making things much more bearable for those tired of the Marlins' thrifty ways.Look for Logan to be given every chance, but ultimately, given their somewhat similar skill sets and Gaby's relative "readiness", Gaby should win out. Toss in the fact that Morrison didn't show much power last year after his wrist injury, and it'd be nice to see him put it all together in AAA.
Logan is an interesting case as a minor leaguer, because during three seperate seasons he has shown every skill you'd want to see out of a top prospect: Power, average, phenomenal on base skills and a great eye. The catch is that he has never put it all together at once. He became a sleeper prospect in 2007 with his 24 home run campaign in Greensboro, then became a top prospect with his .332 average in Jupiter in 2008, despite a big drop in power. In 2009, his power and average both dropped off, but he showed elite on base skills, setting a career high in walks despite just 355 PAs, while also considerably dropping his K rate. If he is able to bring those three skills together at once in AAA for a few months, he is going to force his way onto the roster some how, so don't worry too much about him. All he has to do to get a shot is hit.
Next up, Part II: rounding out the infield!
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