Florida Marlins
 

It's been 5 years since the Marlins won the World Series.  In that time, they've changed owners twice, managers 3 times and remade the entire line-up and rotation.  Despite all the changes, the one constant had been a solid farm system built by Dave Dombrowski.  Dombrowski is off to browner pastures in Detroit, but the farm system is about to pay off big.
 

Hitting

The Marlins may not look like much on offense, finishing 10th in the NL in scoring last year, but these guys can really mash.  Their regular line-up features 6 players who have hit at least 20 homers in a season and 4 who have hit at least 28.  Cliff Floyd is their best hitter, averaging an OPS in excess of .900 over the past 3 seasons.  The impressive thing about Floyd is that he's yet to play a complete season without injury.  Last year he came close, but suffered from Achilles tendonitis in August and played through it for the last 2 months of the season.  Should he get through 2002 without any significant aches or pains, he could finish with 40 homers and 120 RBI and an on base + slugging of 1.000.  He can also steal 20 bases with great effectiveness: the past 2 years he's stolen 42 bases and been caught only 6 times.

Preston Wilson is another guy with above average home run power and speed  In 1999, he hit 31 homers and stole 36 bases.  Last year, was a year he'd rather forget.  His season began on a tragic note personally and it didn't get any better as the injury bug plagued him all season.  This season, there's no reason to believe that he won't return to '99 levels.

Derek Lee has finally established himself as the Marlins' first baseman and is showing signs of becoming a star player.  Traded from the Padres for Kevin Brown before the 1998 season, he struggled at the plate for two years before "getting it" in 2000.  Last year, he consolidated those gains with another solid performance.  This year, his walk rate is improved and he's capitalizing on the pitches he can handle.  Forty homers is not out of the question.

Kevin Millar came into his own last year.  Long viewed as a career minor leaguer, a la Brian Daubach, Millar proved he could play everyday with a .314/.374/.557 2000 campaign, with 20 homers and 85 RBI in just 449 at bats.  Third baseman Mike Lowell is another Marlin coming into his own.  Thumb, wrist and hip injuries slowed his progress last year, but he was still able to maintain the gains he made in 1999.  Lowell is an excellent contact hitter and has the power to eventually jerk 25-30 homers a season.

Catcher Charles Johnson returned to Florida after All-Star stints with the White Sox and Orioles.  His home runs numbers dropped off, but that was largely due to the change in ballpark; his road homers remained nearly the same.  Johnson still hasn't grasped the idea of controlling the strikezone by being selective, and at 30, it may be getting a bit late for him to improve significantly in that regard.  Still, when the second weakest bat in the line-up is capable of hitting 20 homers and 75 RBI, you're doing pretty good.

The weakest link in the Marlin order is shortstop Alex Gonzales.  His performance at the plate has generally been erratic, in large past because he has almost no discipline.  Last year he doubled the number of walks he took, which is good, but it still only gave him 30, versus 107 strikeouts.  He does have some power, but rarely gets to use it because he makes contact so infrequently.
The Marlins have an alternative in Pablo Ozuna, but enthusiasm for his ability was tempered this offseason when it was learned he was actually 27 years old, not his stated 23.

The man who gets it all started is second baseman Luis Castillo.  There's probably not a faster runner in all of baseball than Castillo.  He'd probably be the most highly regarded leadoff man if he hit anything other than singles.  When he's healthy, he gets on base 40% of the time and steals an average of 55 bases a year.  However, his average of 19 doubles, 5 triples and 1 homer a season over the last 3 years is not exactly intimidating.  However, he fits the Marlins' line-up pretty well as they already have a plethora of sluggers that just need someone to get one base ahead of them.  Castillo does that.

While the Marlins haven't yet become an on base and slugging machine, they're still pretty young and they've got the part of the equation you can't teach - slugging.  As they get more experience, guys like Lee, Floyd and Wilson will become more selective and develop into a pretty tough middle of the order.  Right now, depth on the bench - Andy Fox, Eric Owens and the ageless Tim Raines Sr. - and an inconsistent Alex Gonzales look like the only weaknesses in this offense.
Rating: 55
 

Pitching

The Marlins boast a mighty foursome of young power pitchers.  Ryan Dempster, Brad Penny, AJ Burnett and Josh Beckett are all right-handed, under 26 years old and can throw their fastball in the mid 90s.  Penny has the most polish to this point and is probably the best pitcher in baseball that people outside the fantasy community have never heard of.  He or Roy Oswalt.  He has command of 4 pitches, 2 of which are high quality and rarely gives in to hitters.  Dempster has a decent repertoire of offspeed pitches, but is still too reliant on a good, but straight fastball and still struggles with command.  Burnett has electric movement on all his pitches, making his 97 mph fastball and hard breaking knuckle curve especially tough to hit... or to throw over the plate for that matter.  Burnett tinkered with his delivery this spring, making it more compact, and the result was much better control.  He's a good bet for a very big breakout season.  Beckett is the youngest, but probably has the biggest upside.  He has command of 3 above average pitches and his delivery is smooth and mechanically sound.  Probably the only thing that might prevent his from becoming the next Roger Clemens is injury. 

Julian Tavares joined the team after a spring training trade from the Cubs.  He's an extreme groundball pitcher who enjoyed his first success as a starter last year.  If he struggles, control artist Kevin Olsen will step into the 5th spot and give opposing batters a different look from the power foursome.

The bullpen is a real worry for the Marlins.  Not that Antonio Alfonseca was a particularly good closer, but he was the only one in the pen with more than a couple of years of late inning relief experience.  Braden Looper was handed the closing job in spring but failed to demonstrate any competence in the role.  Vladimir Nunez was next in line, but he hasn't exactly been dominating.  Miguel Tejera, Vic Darensbourg and Gary Knotts might all get shots at closing out games.  Prospect Blaine Neal might also get a shot if all else fails.  This bullpen is young and unless the starting rotation suddenly becomes ultra-efficient and begins throwing lots of 100-pitch complete games, will be looking for answers all year.
Rating: 50 (65 for the starting 4, 35 for the rest of the staff)
 

Defense

The Marlins catch the ball about as well as anyone in the NL.  Gonzales, for all his hitting woes, is a solid, if not spectacular playmaker at short.  Castillo has terrific range at second.  Johnson and back-up Ramon Castro both possess strong arms and go a very good job of playing backstop.  Wilson has average to above average range in center and a good arm.  Floyd has good range in left, but not a particularly strong arm.  Millar really doesn't belong in the outfield, but the Marlins really don't have any other place for him to play.  Both Lee and Lowell are very good at the corners, possessing good range and quick reflexes.
Rating: 60
 

Management

When owner Jeffery Loria traded in the Expos for the Marlins, he brought with him just about everyone and everything he could.  He even tried to take several of the Expos best players with him to Florida but was stopped by the other owners.  Larry Beinfest is getting his first shot at being a general manager.  He has almost no track record other than assisting Jim Beattie in both Seattle and Montreal.  Judging from his first transaction - trading Matt Clement and Antonio Alfonseca for Julian Tavares and 3 middling minor leaguers - it's clear he knows how to pare payroll.  However, he really didn't get a lot of talent in return, especially for a guy like Clement.  Unlike Beinfest, manager Jeff Torborg has a long history.  He stresses speed and contact over power which may end up helping the Marlins.  What would help them more is pitch recognition and selectivity, but contact is not a bad thing to emphasize with guys who have power enough to drive the ball out of the ballpark.  And with as many good athletes as the Marlins have, speed is another tool that has been somewhat under-used.  One of the hallmarks of Torborg's style is his love of using the bullpen.  While that may preserve the arms of his young starting staff, it may lead to more blown leads as the Marlins bullpen is not strong.  Or he may eventually find some combination that works.  But there will be an awful lot of trial and error.   
Rating: 50