The Miami Marlins: Was Yet Another Rebuild Worth the Wait?
The latest renovations at Marlins Park show that the team’s new executive leadership is not only embracing change from the team rebuild on the field, but off of the field as well.
Mar 4, 2020
Ever since the Florida Marlins’ 2003 magical playoff run that ended in a World Series title, they have been hovering over mediocrity for nearly two decades. That was the case until the team’s former owner, Jeffrey Loria, sold the team in the summer of 2017 for $1.2 billion dollars to the Miami Marlins’ current owners, Bruce Sherman and Derek Jeter. When the new owners inherited the team, they found that it was lacking severe roster flexibility and young talent to build off of. deciding it would be best to clean house and commit to a complete rebuild by trading away their star-studded outfield. Now, we are three years down the line in 2020 and the Miami Marlins still have yet to make a postseason appearance, so has the Marlins’ vision to rebuild been working? While their regular season numbers at the major league level may lead to a firm ‘no’, the executives find their current state to actually be ahead of schedule, with sustainable success surely to be on the horizon.
One of the main reasons that the Miami Marlins decided to pull the plug before the 2018 season was the fact that their main core group of players which included Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton and Marcell Ozuna was just not resulting in enough wins for the price that the Marlins were paying for retaining them on their roster. Trading away those three main pieces, along with less notable names as the years went on, allowed the Marlins to bring in numerous players which would give them that fresh start that they desperately needed back in 2017.
“The news additions from the Yelich trade specifically are beginning to blossom, Isan Diaz is one or two seasons away from being a consistent threat in our lineup. If Lewis Brinson could ever find his rhythm, the decision to rebuild may actually work out for the long term,” sophomore Michael Sam said.
As of 2020, Bleacher Report ranks the Miami Marlins farm system as the ninth best in the league, holding four top 100 prospects. Along with that, the Marlins have the third-youngest average team age standing at 27.95, so it is safe to say that the Marlins front office accomplished their second goal which was to acquire as much young talent as possible. While the Marlins were trading away their key pieces, in return they were obtaining future cornerstones of the franchise, like Sixto Sanchez, Isan Diaz, Jazz Chisholm, Monte Harrison and numerous others.
Along with that, the Miami Marlins have continued to have a prominent eye for young talent in the draft throughout their rebuilding period. For instance, in 2018, the Marlins drafted Connor Scott out of high school and JJ Bleday, the most valuable player of the defending college baseball champion Vanderbilt Commodores, in 2019. It is pretty clear that the Marlins have acquired elite young talent throughout their rebuilding period and these young players, once fully developed, will lead this team to dominance.
Since starting the rebuild, from 2017 to 2018 alone, the Miami Marlins slashed over $48 million in salary alone, which completely opened the door for future free agents and trades since the salary would now be in Miami’s favor. One instance of them signing free agents would be right before the 2020 season, where they were able to sign veterans Corey Dickerson, Jesus Aguilar and Jonathon Villar to help develop the young core and add some serious depth to the squad.
“This offseason, the Marlins made some nice signings in Corey Dickerson and Jonathan Villar. These are the types of moves that make me believe we are heading in the right direction,but only time will tell, “sophomore Carlos Ablanedo said.
Even with all of these positive factors added to the team this was just the beginning. Despite not seeing immediate success since beginning the rebuild, the Marlins were given a fresh start, a great amount of salary flexibility and an abundance of elite young talent which will develop into the future stars leading the Marlins to prominence for years to come. This makes it evident that the Marlins rebuild is clearly working, and we will soon be seeing another World Series title back to Marlins Park.
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