"People will look back in two years from now and say, 'They did the right thing,' period."

Jeff Loria is still defending Fire Sale III: Full Throttle:

"It's the beginning of a new era for us and it's exciting," he said.

The Marlins fielded an Opening Day lineup on Monday that featured only one position player from Opening Day 2012, when the team christened its new stadium with a roster full of high-priced stars. But Loria once again said the trades of last year, which sent Hanley Ramirez, Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle (and others) away in exchange for prospects and role players was necessary for the team to compete.

"People will look back in two years from now and say, 'They did the right thing,' period," he said. "Give these guys a chance. Give us a chance. Watch them mature because they’re quality."

The big problem with Loria's assumption is that there is no such thing as a sure-fire prospect in Major League Baseball. A look at the Marlins' past top prospects provides ample evidence to that effect. Consider some of the "future All-Stars" the Marlins have drafted in the first round:

• Jeremy Hermida (career OPS+: 96)
• Matt Dominguez (written off when the team discovered he can't hit)
• Chris Coghlan (won Rookie of the Year, the OBP fell to .335 to .296 to .212)
• Chris Volstad (shudders)

The last time the Marlins traded a perenial All Star for some prospects, the result was three lackluster seasons out of Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller (both of whom were high first-round picks).

Maybe Adeiny Hechavarria, Rob Brantly, Henderson Alvarez, Nate Eovaldi, Rob Brantly, Jake Marisnick, Justin Nicolino, et al will turn out to be a core that can augment Giancarlo Stanton and help the Marlins compete for pennants in 2015 and beyond, but the odds of so many prospects panning out are quite low.