Verdict On The Miami Marlins?
So what’s the final verdict? For their part, the Miami Marlins never really went into the season intending to truly compete. They believe they’re being smart. Saving money, suppressing prospects that are ready and keeping their service time clocks from starting to tick until they feel they have the best shot of hitting their target. It actually makes a fair bit of sense, in a cold blooded, Machiavellian kind of way.
The only problem is that the Marlins have three players that are looking like locks to make the All-Star team, and could end up with a fourth.
Chisholm answered the budding superstar bell. Lopez has been a rock. And Alcantara…has become one of the five best pitchers in the majors. He’s not just making it to the All-Star Game, but beating down the door to start it. The pieces were there to make a playoff run in 2022 after all, if only more had been invested in to it in the offseason. Tanner Scott might be providing some stability now, but what if the Marlins had gone out and acquired one of those top relievers to start the season with? That alone makes this a .500 ballclub right now, maybe even a winner. And if they had pulled the trigger on one of those rumored CF trades? Teams are chasing them for one of those last two Wild Card spots.
Bottom-line, it was the smart play at the time. Fast forward to right now though, and the Miami Marlins are once again looking cheap and dumb. Hopefully they can change that perception at the deadline.
There’s still time for Miami’s front office to change the story on 2022. Until that happens though, expect most of this fanbase to keep thinking to themselves that this season is another case of “same old Marlins.”