Miami Marlins 2018 season preview

            In 2017, the Miami Marlins finished 2nd in the NL East, but they had a 77-85 record, which wasn't nearly good enough to make the playoffs. With new owners open to rebuilding, the Marlins had some moves to make this offseason. Let's take a look a what they did.

              Notable additions: 2B Starlin Castro, OF Cameron Maybin, OF Lewis Brinson, RHP Sandy Alcantara, OF Magneuris Sierra,1B Garrett Cooper, LHP Caleb Smith, RHP Jumbo Diaz, C Bryan Holaday, 2B Johnny Giovotella, OF J.B. Shuck, OF Scott van Slyke, SS Christhian Adames, INF Eric Campbell, OF Rafael Ortega.

               Notable subtractions: OF Giancarlo Stanton, OF Christian Yelich, OF Marcel Ozuna, 2B Dee Gordon, RHP Edinson Volquez, RHP Vance Worley, OF Ichiro Suzuki, 1B Tyler Moore, C A.J. Ellis, U Mike Aviles.

                 What they did well: They at least got value for Yelich, Stanton Ozuna and Gordon, like Castro, Brinson, Sierra and Alcantara. But....

                   What they did bad: They could of gotten way more for them. Clint Frazier for Stanton, Tyler O'Neill for Ozuna. At least they did very well with the Yelich trade.

                    Sneaky Sleeper: Quietly their second best starter, Jose Urena had a great season, and led all Marlins pitchers in WAR. He had a 3.82 ERA and even though he only struck out on average six batters for every nine innings, he still allowed just 3.4 walks per nine innings. Not too shabby. He could be the incoming outbreak, but him and that guy are kind of interchangeable.

                       Incoming outbreak: Though he should be the Sneaky Sleeper, Derek Dietrich is the incoming outbreak. He's a guy who I like, and could hit 20 bombs on a lowly Marlins team. He got an extended amount of time in 2017, and hit 13 homers. I have faith in Dietrich.

                      Blue-chip Bopper: All his friends are traded. Push him to the block. That's the case for J.T. Realmuto, who is basically Lil Uzi. Realmuto hit .278 and 17 homers, and is a top four catcher in my opinion. Just Gary Sanchez, Buster Posey and maybe Willson Contreras are ahead of him.

                       Astounding ace: Well, with everybody gone, that will be Dan Straily, the only one to want to stay. Even though Urena has better numbers, I'm going with Straily, who struck out 170 and had a solid 4.26 ERA in 2017. He's officially the ace of a lowly staff.

        Here's the Marlins projected roster, starting with their lineup.

 CF Magneuris Sierra (L)
 2B Starlin Castro (R)
 C J.T. Realmuto (R)
 1B Justin Bour (L)
 3B Miguel Rojas (R)
 RF Derek Dietrich (L)
 LF Lewis Brinson (R)
 SS J.T. Riddle (L)
 Pitcher

            Here's their rotation.

 RHP Dan Straily
 RHP Jose Urena
 LHP Adam Conley
 LHP Dillon Peters
 LHP Justin Nicolino

   Kyle Barraclough (R) is their closer, with RHP Brad Ziegler, RHP Junichi Tazawa, LHP Caleb Smith, RHP Odrisamer Despaigne and Drew Steckenrider (R) in the bullpen as well.

   C Tomas Telis (S), 1B Garrett Cooper, INF Brian Anderson and OF Cameron Maybin are on the bench.

   Finally, for my prediction, I think the Marlins, a team in the worst part of the rebuild, will not make the playoffs in 2018.