Future Former Marlins 3

Mike Stanton, OF

Acquired: Selected by Florida in the second round of the 2007 amateur draft.
Will he live up to the hype? Last year in High-A Greensboro, Stanton OPSed .993 and hit 39 home runs as an 18-year-old, establishing himself as a man among boys. In his annual Spring-Training survey of "baseball people," Peter Gammons said Stanton was the most mentioned player when asked which young players have made major impressions. Certainly there are few prospects in Major League Baseball with more potential. His success may be determined by how well he hones his batting eye, as he struck out 153 times in 468 at-bats last year (he did walk 68 times, which is a bit reassuring).
How long do we have him? Considering the Marlins were unwilling to give him up for Manny Ramirez last year, Mike will probably be sticking around for awhile.
Future Reason for Leaving the Marlins: Since Stanton's Marlins debut is still far off (he has yet to turn 20 years old), it is concievable that he will join the big club around the time the new stadium opens. With that in mind, if Stanton performs as well as the front office hopes, he could get a Hanley-sized long-term contract when the team increases payroll. This would keep him with the Marlins until around 2020, whereupon he will sign a free-agent deal with the Dodgers. That's what I'm hoping for, anyway...


Image via News-Record.com