Spring Promises

Another Marlins post for NBCMiami:

Hanley Ramirez arrived at Marlins Spring Training camp this week and told the media that he is finally ready to grow into the clubhouse leader the Marlins' front office has envisioned.

...But Marlins fans should recall that we have seen this song and dance with Ramirez before. Teammate Wes Helms told the Miami Herald in March 2010, "I have told Hanley 100 times, 'You have to lead this team,'" adding, "he looks like a guy that wants to. I'm proud of him."

Ramirez certainly said all the right things last year, too, telling the Herald, "Everything I do, everybody is looking at me. It makes me do everything the right way." That was only a few months before the debacle against Arizona.

As we seem to mention every year, proclamations of renewed vigor, maturity, turning a new page, etc. in Spring Training are effectively worthless. Everyone says all the right things this time of year, that doesn't mean they will pan out.