Breaking Down the Non-Roster Invitees: Florida Marlins

With their perpetually small budget, one can always count on the Florida Marlins to do some offseason dumpster-diving and come up with a few unheralded sleepers who go on to have solid seasons for the Fish.

Let’s take a look at the more notable NRIs of this year’s Marlins camp and see who may surprise this season.

3B Greg Dobbs—The former Phillies super-reserve has finally moved onto another NL East organization. He’s had the sort of up-and-down career one would expect from a pinch-hit specialist, and 2010 was a definite down year, which explains why he’s not on anyone’s 40-man roster. He does have experience at all four corner positions, but isn’t much of a defender at any of them, so the 32-year-old will need to show he’s in fine offensive form to earn a spot.

LHP Darin Downs—Downs put up some good numbers in the Rays system last year, and is exactly the sort of relief sleeper Florida seems to collect. Already 26, he’s not young, and Downs didn’t even make it to Triple-A until the second half of last year. Still, he’s a lefty who struck out over ten batters per nine innings in both Double-A and Triple-A and has solid command. He even has some starting experience, making four starts last season after being predominantly a starter earlier in his career. He could make Florida’s bullpen out of spring training, and even if he doesn’t, Downs could be up later in 2011.

3B Matt Dominguez—Often cited as Florida’s best prospect, Dominguez is likely slated for Triple-A at age 21. He hit .252/.333/.411 in Double-A last season, but it’s his defense that sets him apart. He’s got a lot to prove offensively, but should evolve into a solid starting third baseman thanks to his glove. We’ll see just how ready he is to handle big league pitching with his spring training performance.

INF Ruben Gotay—Now, this is the best example of these sleeper types the Marlins always seem to collect. This former Royal and Met starter and Brave reserve has spent the last two seasons tearing up Triple-A, with a .272/.429/.450 line in 2009 and a .285/.410/.436 line in 2010. He’s predominantly a third baseman at this point, but the 28-year-old can handle second base as well, and his fantastic plate patience allows him to be a stellar offensive contributor. He really deserves an MLB job.

LHP Brad Hand—The Marlins’ top pitching prospect, Hand will turn 21 at the end of spring training, and while he won’t make the team in April, he should start 2011 in Double-A with a late-season callup a distinct possibility–this is the Marlins, after all. More of a future mid-rotation rock than a potential ace, he’s a lefty with a solid three-pitch mix, including a plus curveball.

RHP Shawn Hill—Continuing to attempt to revive his career from a myriad of injuries, Hill is trying to make his fourth major league team. He actually made four solid starts for Toronto last year, but few noticed, and he promptly got hurt again. He operates almost exclusively with a high-80’s sinker and low-80’s changeup, which could work better in relief. A bullpen role could keep him healthier, as well.

LHP Chad James—Just a tick behind Hand on my list of Marlins pitching prospects (and a tick ahead of him on many others), James is slightly less polished but has a slightly higher upside than his fellow southpaw. A year younger than Hand, he walked over five batters per nine innings in Low-A last year, which needs to come down, but he excels at keeping the ball down in the zone with his sinker and slider.

OF Chris Lubanski—This erstwhile fifth overall pick (2003) never made it with the Royals, but a move to the Toronto organization in 2010 paid off, as he hit .293/.361/.538 with 17 homers in 100 Triple-A games. Two caveats: 1.) He was playing in a ridiculous hitter’s environment in Las Vegas (not to mention the entire PCL), and 2.) Many consider him one of the worst defensive outfielders in the minors. 26 in March, he’s got to break into the majors soon and make a strong impression if he wants to have a career.

INF Donnie Murphy—Marlins fans love Murphy, since their first exposure to him was a .318/.348/.705 line in 47 late-season plate appearances in 2010. That would seem to cast Murphy as a high-power middle infielder, which he isn’t–he hit .184/.274/.301 in his previous (and bigger-sample) big league turn, in 2008 with the A’s. Yes, he’s got some pop, but he also has a career 33.1% strikeout rate, which requires legitimate over-the-fence power and good plate discipline to overcome, not just the occasional walk and homer. Murphy could be an adequate 25th man, playing acceptable if below-average defense all over the diamond while hitting the odd home run, but don’t bet on any sort of 2010 repeat.

RHP Elih Villanueva—Villanueva’s been overlooked for quite some time, and it’ll be very interesting to see how far his throw-strikes-and-hope-for-the-best approach carries him. He’s walked only 55 batters in 347 innings in the past two seasons, proving both his control and durability are impressive. The 24-year-old posted a 2.31 ERA in Double-A last year, but he doesn’t strike out many hitters and his 3.71 FIP is a better indicator of how valuable his season was. The finesse righty is knocking on the big league door at this point, and could be a valuable back-of-the-rotation innings-eater, but he’s still got many doubters to win over.

OF DeWayne Wise—Wise is an outfield version of Murphy–a little guy with surprising pop and no other offensive ability. Now with 775 career plate appearances, he’s a .222/.260/.382 hitter, and there’s no reason to expect he’ll improve at 33. He hit .250/.282/.393 for Toronto last year. The big difference between Wise and Murphy, other than position and age, is that Wise brings plus defense to the table, which is how he’s been above replacement level the past two seasons despite putrid OBPs. He is what he is–a perfectly fine fifth outfielder/defensive replacement who’s wildly ill-suited for a larger role.