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...


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Future Former Marlins 2

Sean West, LHP

Acquired: Drafted in the supplemental first round of the 2005 draft, part of the haul of five pitchers taken by the Marlins in the first round that year, including Chris Volstad, Ryan Tucker, Aaron Thompson and Jacob Marceaux.
Will he live up to the hype? West missed all of 2007 with a torn labrum, so he already has a major red flag. However, he did manage to put together a good year at high-A Jupiter, posting a 2.41 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, and .224 BAA over 100 2/3 innings. It looks like he'll spend this year at AA Carolina, where he could springboard himself into the 2010 rotation with a good year. Beyond that is anybody's guess.
How long do we have him? He'll likely be around for awhile, as he has yet to make his big-league debut. There's always a chance the Marlins could deal away a prospect or two at the trading deadline if they feel they need a few pieces for a playoff run, but the odds of that happening are low (the only example I can think of came in 2003, when the team shipped Adrian Gonzalez to Texas for Ugueth Urbina). Baseball America recently ranked him as the 96th best prospect in baseball, and the top pitcher in the Marlins system, so the Fish would have to be given a pretty good offer to give him up, I suspect.
Future Reason for Leaving the Marlins: Let's go out on a limb on this one. West will be traded for prospects to Milwaukee in 2013, but unfortunately none of these guys will be included in the trade.


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Future Former Marlins 1

Being a Marlins fan comes with some unique baggage, chiefly the knowledge that most (if not all) of your favorite Marlins will one day be traded away to another team for younger, cheaper prospects. Though the signing of Hanley Ramirez to a multi-year contract last year broke a long streak of talented fan favorites (Cabrera, Beckett, etc.) leaving for greener pastures, we at Marlins Die-Hards do not believe for a second that the Marlins are on the verge of abandoning their thrifty (albeit successful) system of player development. With that in mind, we present a new feature, Future Former Marlins, in which we take a look at some of the promising talent in the pipeline, and speculate on the future of some of the team's prospects. We begin with the crown jewel of the Marlins farm system, Cameron Maybin.



Cameron Maybin, CF

Acquired: from Detroit on 12/5/2007 in the Cabrera/Willis trade. Florida may have fleeced Detroit this time, as Andrew Miller (the other major piece of the trade) has thus far outperformed Dontrelle, and Maybin could eventually outdo the rapidly-super-sizing Cabrera.
Will he live up to the hype? Maybin batted an even .500 (16 for 32) in September call-up action in 2008, and posted an OPS+ of 193 (in an admittedly infinitesimal sample size). He has pretty much locked up the starting CF position and looks like he'll be hitting leadoff, so he's off to the right start. Judging from pure intuition (WARNING: Intuition Bad), I think we'll be glad the Fish gave up Cabrera for him.
How long do we have him? He is technically a rookie this year, so we've got at least five years before he is eligible for free agency (I have no idea how free agency works for players still under their first contract - maybe you could leave an explanation in the comments for me...). If he proves to be as valuable as everyone thinks he is, and if the Marlins actually get that stadium, then he may be offered a long-term contract like Hanley was last year. Keep your fingers crossed.
Future Reason for Leaving the Marlins: Besides becoming too expensive? Maybe he'll become a fat load like Cabrera (which I guess would be fitting), in which case the Marlins would trade him to the Yankees in 2012, where this guy will show him all the best eateries in Manhattan.


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