All eyes in the baseball world have been on Jay Bruce since his Major League debut on Tuesday.  So far, Bruce has shown why Baseball America named him the 2007 Minor Leaguer of the Year and the top overall prospect leading into 2008.  In three games, he is 4 for 9 with two RBIs and two stolen bases.

Jay Bruce is a classic five-fool talent, but his makeup has been an impressive attribute since his much-anticipated promotion to the Show.

While playing for the Louisville Bats–Cincinnati’s Triple-A affiliate–Bruce never did post-game interviews at a podium with 50 microphones in his face.  Now he will have to deal with the pressure of constant scrutiny that comes with the territory of being a can’t-miss, franchise-saving prospect.  But it’s been so far, so good for Bruce as he went 3-3 with two walks and a steal in his MLB debut, showing off his tools and potential.

Jay Bruce was drafted 12th overall in the 2005 draft out of a Texas high school.  Again, that year’s draft may go down as the most talent-laden ever:  Justin Upton, Alex Gordon, Jeff Clement, Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, Troy Tulowitzki, Mike Pelfrey, and Cameron Maybin were all drafted ahead of Bruce. 

Bruce was raking at AAA before his callup, hitting .364/.393/.630 with 10 homeruns and 8 stolen bases.  In fact, it was pretty surprising that Bruce didn’t make the big league club out of spring training.  Instead the Reds opted for Corey Patterson whose 2008 line isn’t pretty:  he’s hitting .200 even with a .240 OBP and a .352 SLG.  He may soon be looking for new work.

While Bruce is a middle-of-the-order power lefty bat who also hits for average and is fast enough to steal bases with a center field glove and a right field arm, there are a few question marks about the five-tool talent’s future development, namely his strikeout rate.  Bruce had a staggering 80 extra base hits between three minor league levels in 2007, but with the power came many strikeouts.  He struck out 135 times last year and had already accumulated 45 whiffs in AAA so far in 2008.  But unlike a player like Jim Thome, who offsets his extremely high strikeout rates with very walk rates (12 seasons 100+ strikeouts, 9 seasons 100+ walks), Bruce only walked 47 times in 2007.  The year before he walked 44 times compared to 106 strikeouts in Class Low A baseball.

However, Bruce has walked four times in his three MLB games including the first plate appearance of his career, showing patience in an anxiety-riddled moment.  If Bruce can hit Major League pitching like the scouting reports suggest, the walks will come naturally as his reputation spreads and pitchers begin to shy away from the middle of the plate in favor of nibbling at the corners.  But more important than actually getting on base will be Bruce’s control of the strikezone, so that he hacks at a pitch to drive rather than a borderline pitcher’s pitch.

While three games mean nothing in the long term grind that baseball is, Bruce seems unaffected by the glitz of the Major Leagues so far.  Only the strikeout rate is a concern, but even that is of no consequence if his power remains.  Reggie Jackson struck out more times than anybody in Major League Baseball history, but he is a Hall of Famer nonetheless.

Things are looking up for the Reds.  They haven’t finished above .500 since 2000 and are currently in last place in the most-populous division in baseball.  But in the suspect National League Central, the Reds could turn the division upside down quickly.  It begins from within from the work of their scouting and development.  Now their franchise player, Jay Bruce, has arrived.

CLICK HERE FOR WEEK 8 POWER RANKINGS

AL EAST

(30-20)  Evan Longoria had a two-homer game on Saturday and a walk-off hit on Sunday.  The rookie has seven homers in 40 games.

(31-22)  2005 AL Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon looks like a nice investment and stopgap until Boston’s rotation becomes fully healthy.

(27-25)  What a breakout year for Shaun Marcum.  He is leading the American League with a 0.865 WHIP.

(25-25)  Alex Rodriguez has come off the disabled list hot. His addition has the Yanks climbing the standings and already improving on their .245/.318/.354 line versus left-handed starting pitchers.

(24-25)  Daniel Cabrera’s stuff has never been question. Now his command of the fastball is coming around.  He’s 5-1 with a 3.70 ERA on the year.

AL CENTRAL

(27-22)  Jose Contreras has the White Sox in first.  He’s 5-3 with a 3.06 ERA and an impressive 1.05 WHIP.

(25-25)  Scouts say power is the last tool to develop, but Delmon Young’s zero homeruns is alarming.

(23-27)  Victor Martinez had 65 extra base hits in 2007 and finished 7th in the AL MVP voting, but he has yet to hit a homer so far in 2008.

(21-29)  Miguel Olivo is having a great year, hitting .292/.317/.594 as the Royals’ catcher.

(21-29) Dontrelle Willis has returned from the disabled list, but the Tigers will use him out of the bullpen, a testament of his struggles.

AL WEST

(30-22)  John Lackey is an impressive addition to a team that was already one of the best in the American League.

(28-23)  Frank Thomas hit .167/.306/.333 for Toronto before they released him.  He’s hitting .315/.415/.506 for Oakland in what looks like another great no risk, high reward move by Billy Beane.

(26-26)  Vicente Padilla has harnessed his outstanding stuff this season to propel him to a 6-2 record with a 3.33 ERA in 2008.

(18-33)  Ichiro Suzuki has looked pretty mundane at the plate so far in 2008, hitting .292/.352/.389, but he continues to be a well-above-average defender and is 21/23 in stolen base attempts.

CLICK HERE FOR WEEK 8 POWER RANKINGS

NL EAST

(29-20)  Andrew Miller’s last start (7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 9 K) was a glimpse into the lefty’s talent and the reason the Marlins traded for him.

(28-24)  The Phillies’ offense is hot, but Brett Myers, Adam Eaton, and Kyle Kendrick all have ERAs over 5.00.

(27-23)  The Braves treaded water for the first quarter of the season, but they are now surging.  Chipper Jones is raking, and John Smoltz and Rafael Soriano will come off the disabled list this week.

(23-25)  The Mets have an identity crisis.  That identity looks more and more like their New York counterpart’s:  an aging lineup.  Carlos Delgado is slugging under .400 and Moises Alou has already returned to the disabled list.

(22-29)  The trade for Lastings Milledge was supposed to be a steal, but he’s hitting just .242/.306/.349.

NL CENTRAL

(29-21)  Carlos Zambrano may have it figured out (finally).  He’s 7-1 with a 2.47 ERA this year.  Oh, and he had four hits of his own on Friday.

(30-22)  It’s interesting that a hitter as dangerous as Albert Pujols has never drawn 100 walks in a season.  He will in 2008, though.  His OBP this year (.474) is currently 51 points higher than his career mark (.423).

(29-23)  Wandy Rodriguez should return to the rotation this week in a showdown against St. Louis.   He has a 2.31 ERA in four starts this season.

(24-26)  Remember when Freddy Sanchez won the batting title in 2006?  He’s hitting just .245 in 2008.

(23-27)  Is Prince Fielder having a let-down year or is it just the adjustments made to combat his monster 2007 season?  His OPS in 2008 is just .799 compared to 1.013 a year ago.

(23-28)  Baseball America’s highest rated prospect Jay Bruce will soon make his MLB debut.

NL WEST

(30-20)  This Diamondbacks team is talented, but the lineup swings and misses much too often.  Mark Reynolds, Chris Young, and Justin Upton each have over 50 strikeouts in just 50 team games.

(26-23)  Let the Clayton Kershaw Era begin.  The big left-hander went 6 innings and struck out 7 in his debut.  If Kershaw can command his 92-95 mph fastball to set up his hammer curveball, he could be one of the best lefties of the next ten years.

(20-30)  Add Matt Holliday and Brad Hawpe to the list of disabled Colorado Rockies.

(20-31)  Omar Vizquel set the MLB record for most games played at shortstop.  He is a one dimensional player, but top flight at his specialty of shortstop defense.  His offensive numbers are slightly better than Ozzie Smith’s, though in a better offensive era.  So, is Omar a Hall of Famer?

(19-33)  Jody Gerut hadn’t played in the Majors since 2005, but has resurfaced with San Diego this season.  He’s hitting only .215, but it sure beats the Indy Leagues.

Mike Piazza went from unemployed to retired yesterday. He had a remarkable career and should be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

Piazza is famous for being a 62nd round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1988 draft, picked as a favor from Tommy Lasorda to close friend and Mike’s father, Vincent Piazza. There were only 7 teams that selected in that round because the others had finished their draft. In fact, the 62nd round is so late that Major League Baseball now holds just 50 rounds.

Piazza made it to The Show in ‘92 and unanimously won the National League Rookie of the Year Award in 1993 by hitting .318, 35 homers, and 112 RBIs. He finished 9th in the MVP voting that year, the first of seven top-10 MVP finishes.

And Piazza kept hitting. In the first decade of his career, he averaged just under 35 bombs and 107 RBIs, hitting well over .300 every season. He won the NL Silver Slugger for those ten consecutive seasons to begin his career.

Piazza finished 2nd in back-to-back NL MVP votings in ‘96 and ‘97. The ‘96 winner was Ken Caminiti who has since admitted to using steroids that season and died of cocaine overdose. In 1997, Mike Piazza had what may be the greatest offensive season ever for a catcher: he hit .362 with 40 homers and 124 RBIs. His 201 hits are the most ever for a player who caught at least 130 games. But Larry Walker won the NL MVP. Walker just edged Piazza in batting average, homeruns, RBIs, and OPS. But Walker played right field in Coors Field, before the humidor. Keep in mind that Piazza squated for 1,200 innings that 1997 season when rewrote the offensive possibilities for catchers.

Piazza was the worst defensive catcher of his generation, but probably the best offensive catcher ever. However, sportswriters for years have said pitchers loved throwing to Mike Piazza as their catcher. It should be noted that Piazza did catch two no-hitters: Ramon Martinez’s in 1995 and Hideo Nomo’s first in 1996.

The Dodgers should be lauded for finding and developing such a talent. They are also to blame for not moving Piazza to first base early in his career. He may have hit near 600 homers playing first base.

Part of Piazza’s legacy is his odd 1998 season when he was traded twice, playing for the Florida Marlins for just five games. He landed with the Mets, whose fans will always love him.

Of course, his feud with Roger Clemens will be remembered often. There was the 2000 World Series bat throwing incident. Earlier in that year, a 95 mph Clemens fastball hit Piazza on the New York Mets logo on his helmet, giving him a concussion. Oh, note that Piazza hit .421 with 4 homers off Clemens in 22 plate appearances.

The image of Piazza, with his broad shoulders seeming to be twice as wide as his waist, taking a rugged lumberjack hack and crushing a ball to the right-center power alley will last in baseball fans’ minds forever.

In the Mets’ first game in Shea Stadium after 9/11/01, Piazza hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the 8th to beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2. It was a magical moment and Piazza continued to receive ovations from the Mets’ faithful after he had left New York.

Piazza never struck out 100 times in a season. He did slug over .600 three times and bat over .300 nine times and hit 427 homeruns. Those would be great numbers for a first baseman, but Mike Piazza did all that while squatting for 13,553 innings and catching 1,629 games.

  Jon Lester’s no-hitter last night was impressive.  He struck out 9 and walked 2 and his game score of 94 is the highest of the 2008 season. 

But the significance of the 18th no-hitter in Red Sox history is much greater than one game.  It indicates that Boston may have made the correct decision in not trading for Johan Santana. 

The Red Sox cited obvious economic reasons for not dealing for Santana (he signed the largest contract ever for a pitcher), but keeping Lester and Jacoby Ellsbury may end up being a personnel decision that keeps Boston at the top of the American League for years to come. 

Ellsbury is hitting .276/.377/.396 in his rookie campaign.  He’s 18 of 19 in stolen base attempts and has walked more times (20) than he’s struck out (15).

Lester was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2002 draft from a Washington high school.  He was the Eastern League’s Pitcher of the Year (Class AA) in 2005 when he went 11-6 and led the league in ERA (2.61), complete games (3), and strikeouts (163). 

While he will not be the front-of-the-rotation starter the Red Sox once envisioned him, Lester could carve out a hell of a career as a fourth starter.  Boston’s circumstance obviously dictates Lester’s rotation spot since Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, and Clay Buchholz will be in BeanTown for years to come.

Speaking of Beckett, the Marlins wanted Lester in that deal, but Boston refused.  However, the Red Sox did dangle Lester in the deal for Alex Rodriguez that didn’t happen.

Speaking of Buchholz, he of course threw the previous MLB no-hitter last September 1st.  He is 23 and Lester is 24.

Lester’s 130 pitches last night was a career high, but the Red Sox let him continue for obvious reasons.  It was the highest number of pitches thrown in a no-hitter since Bud Smith’s 134 total in his 2001 gem (a span of seven not including Houston’s combined no-hitter versus the Yankees in 2003). 

On April 29th of this season, Lester threw 8 innings and allowed only one hit against the Toronto Blue Jays.  So Lester has the stuff and incredible makeup to be an effective Major League starter.  But with an offense like Boston’s and likely matching up against other teams’ back-end starters, Lester could win many MLB games.  He’s already 14-4 in his MLB career.   Compared to a 29-27 mark in his minor league days with a better ERA and WHIP.  One hundred fifty career MLB wins isn’t out of the question for Lester. 

It’s also worth noting that Jason Varitek has caught four no-hitters now (Lester, Buchholz, Derek Lowe, and Hideo Nomo).  Boston’s catcher and captain also has guided his franchise to two world championships and personally kicked A-Rod’s ass to jumpstart his squad in their 2004 title run.  These results are important in defining a position that is the most difficult to measure via statistics.

CLICK HERE FOR WEEK 7 POWER RANKINGS

AL EAST

(27-19)  David Ortiz is back. He’s hit 3 homers in his last two games. Remember he has a great streak going: he’s finished in the top-5 in the AL MVP vote all five years he’s been with Boston.

(25-19)  Scott Kazmir threw six scoreless in a win over the Yankees in his first start after signing his new contract. He’s thrown 12 consecutive scoreless innings.

(23-20)  Jeremy Guthrie, Daniel Cabrera, and Brian Burres all have ERAs under 4.00 and George Sherrill has 17 saves.

(23-23)  Scott Rolen is healthy and playing well.  He’s hitting .296/.370/.506 on the year.

  (20-24)  Mike Mussina has re-invented himself once again.  He’s 5-0 with a 2.76 ERA in his last 5 starts.

AL CENTRAL

(23-20)  The White Sox are back in first place after winning five in a row on a West Coast road trip.  Jose Contreras has won two starts in a row.

(22-22)  The Indians starters went a full turn in the rotation without giving up a run. Check Fausto Carmona’s interesting line for 2008:  more walks (35) than strikeouts (22) and a 1.500 WHIP, but he’s 4-1 with a 2.25 ERA.

(21-22)  Joakim Soria gets the saves and the accolade, but set-up men Ramon Ramirez and Leo Nunez have thrown in 18 and 17 games, respectively, and each have an ERA under 2.00.

(21-22)  Justin Morneau has been solid, but not spectacular since his 2006 AL MVP which goes back to the lesson that sometimes these awards are circumstantial.

(17-27)  In a season full of disappointment, relievers Aquilino Lopez and Francisco Cruceta have performed well in the absence of Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya.

AL WEST

(26-20)  Jeff Mathis was always the higher rated prospect in the minors, but Mike Napoli is putting together a nice MLB career.  Napoli has 10 bombs this season and is slugging a whopping .607.

(24-21)  Although he lost yesterday, Justin Duchscherer’s move from reliable reliever to the starting rotation has gone pretty well.  He’s 3-3 with a 2.67 ERA on the year.

(22-23)  After a terrible start, the Rangers are 12-5 in May.  Josh Hamilton continues to lead the AL in RBIs (49), but now he leads in extra base hits as well (26).

(18-27)  On Saturday night Erik Bedard finally showed why the Mariners traded for him, going 8 innings and striking out 10.

CLICK HERE FOR WEEK 7 POWER RANKINGS

NL EAST

(24-19)  Dan Uggla is still mashing (1.067 OPS) and the Marlins are going to sign Jacque Jones to give themselves another lefty bat.

(24-21)  Jayson Werth was supposed to be a fourth outfielder this year.  Injuries made him a starter and he has been very good.  He’ll never forget his 3-homer, 8-RBI night on Friday.

(22-19)  Jose Reyes‘ two homers over the weekend gave the Mets a two-game, rain-shortened sweep over the crosstown Yankees and may have saved Willie Randolph’s job.

(22-21)  Brian McCann won the 2006 NL Silver Slugger for catchers and may do it again in ‘08.  He’s hitting .316/.379/.579 with more walks (16) than strikeouts (15).

(19-26)  Jon Rauch has filled in nicely as a makeshift closer, notching 10 saves so far.

NL CENTRAL

(27-17)  Alfonso Soriano has always been a feast or famine hitter.  Right now, he’s as hot as a hitter could be:  he’s hit 7 homers and had 6 multi-hit games in the last week.

(26-20)  Prospect Chris Perez made his MLB debut on Friday then got his first MLB win on Sunday.  He is the Cardinals’ closer of the future, which may begin before the All-Star break.

(25-20)  The Astros are on fire because this lineup can mash.  Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee, and Miguel Tejada are all slugging over .500.

(21-23)  When Zach Duke went 8-2 with a 1.81 ERA in his rookie year of 2005, the Pirates thought they had a future ace on their hands.  The lefty has gone just 15-25 since.

(21-23)  Adam Dunn has hit a homer in four consecutive games and is well on his way to a fifth consecutive 40-homer season.

(20-24)  Ryan Braun said that he would be able to relax once his contract negotiations were finished.  Apparently he was right:  he’s hit four homers in his last four games.

NL WEST

(28-16)  Is Brandon Webb really this good?  No one has won 30 games in a year since Denny McClain in 1968.  Can Webb win 30 in 2008?

(22-21)  The Dodgers could make a run at the Wild Card in the second half, but not without a healthy Rafael Furcal.  Andruw Jones took the hat trick yesterday, giving him 44 strikeouts on the season. 

(17-27)  The number two overall pick of the 2006 draft, Greg Reynolds, has made it to the Majors and is 0-1 with a 3.09 in two starts.

(17-28)  Tim Lincecum is listed at 5′11″, 160 lbs.  Maybe that’s why he last until the 10th pick of the 2006 draft.  He’s 5-1 with a 1.92 ERA in 2008 and features one of the best fastball-curveball combos in MLB.

(16-29)  Brian Giles is having a nice season after consecutive sub-par years in ‘06 & ‘07.  He’s hitting .307/.401/.454 on the year with more walks (27) than strikeouts (19).

  Ryan Braun apparently likes Milwaukee.  He and the Brewers have agreed to an 8-year extension worth $45 million. 

Braun was selected number 5 overall out of the University of Miami in the 2005 draft–which may eventually go down as the great draft ever, by the way.  He won the National League Rookie of the Year Award last season, of course, when he slugged a whopping .634: a record for rookies.

Braun is just another in the explosion of great young talent in the Major Leagues.  They are taking over.  And they are getting paid for it.

Braun’s contract isn’t the gaudy and glamorous type that Alex Rodriguez (10 years, $252 million), Derek Jeter (10 years, $189 million), or Manny Ramirez (8 years, $160 million) signed in the late-1990s, but what is surprising is the similar length of this contract for a guy with less than a year of MLB service time.

Braun is off to a solid start in 2008, hitting .286/.316/.560 with 10 homers and 30 RBIs.  But within his remarkable rookie year–he also stole 15 bases, by the way–he struck out 112 times compared to just 29 walks in 113 games.  This season, the rate is 34 strikeouts and 8 walks but he’s not setting any slugging records in 2008.  In other words, Braun’s 1.004 OPS of 2007 is an aberration.

Braun should hit a ton, though, albeit with a sometimes questionable on-base percentage if his plate discipline does not improve.  The other factor in the Brewers’ long-term commitment to Braun is that he has already been moved off his natural position of third base after 26 errors in his rookie year.  He may be better defensively in left field, but even that poses a new problem:  the Brewers’ 2007 first rounder Matt LaPorta is raking in AA and is a corner outfielder as well.

The Brewers have made quite a commitment to Ryan Braun.  When will they get to Prince Fielder?  He was clearly unhappy in Spring Training when the Brewers simply renewed his contract rather than offering him a long-term extension.  Even so, Milwaukee is building a nice nucleus to compete in the NL Central for several years to come.

  The Tampa Bay Rays and lefthander Scott Kazmir have agreed to a three-year, $26 million extension.  The Rays hold an option for a fourth year in 2012 that is valued at $13.5 million.  They will pay Kazmir a $2.5 million buyout should they chose not to bring him back in ‘12.  Kazmir made $424,300 in 2007.

Scott Kazmir was drafted 15th overall by the New York Mets in 2002, then famously traded to Tampa for Victor Zambrano in 2004 by then-General Manager Jim Duquette.  Duquette was fired at the end of the season and Zambrano went 10-14 in parts of three seasons with the Mets.

In Kazmir’s first full season (2005), he threw 186 innings and posted a 3.77 ERA.  It was a career high in innings pitched.  The next year, Kazmir was an All-Star but made only 24 starts because of an inflamed shoulder.

Last season, Kazmir put together an impressive season, going 13-9 with a 3.48 ERA in 206.7 innings.  He led the American League with 239 strikeouts, but recorded the third-most walks (89) so control was a bit of an issue.  He also led the AL with 34 starts and the shoulder issue was forgotten.

Last season was a breakout year, but then Kazmir felt pain in his elbow this spring training.  It meant another high mark in innings pitched and another arm injury for the southpaw.

The first place Rays’ ace has made only two starts in 2008.  His third start (tonight) will be the first after signing his new contract.   It’s always an intriguing compotent to a player’s makeup as to whether or not the new contract will relax the player or if he will try too hard to live up to the agreement.

Kazmir’s talent is unquestionable.  He has never required surgery for his injuries as of yet, but they weren’t groin or hamstring problems either.  Durability is one of the main factors for all hard-throwing young pitchers and it’s no different with Kazmir.  Of course, there is a command issue as well.  In his impressive 2007, Kazmir’s WHIP was only 1.379.  However, Kazmir is only 24 years old and has already made nearly twice as many starts in the Major Leagues (99) as he did in his minor league seasoning (52).

The Tampa Bay Rays look ready to make a run, though.  Now they’ve signed their ace, Scott Kazmir.  James Shields, Carlos Pena, and Evan Longoria are signed long term.  Carl Crawford is signed through next season.  Last year’s number one overall pick David Price will be fast tracked to the Big Leagues, and incredibly the Rays have the number one overall selection in this year’s draft as well.  The times are a-changing in the AL East.

  Since their beginning in 1993, the Florida Marlins have been known more for erasing championship rosters than the two actual championships this organization has won.

Now it looks like they will finally keep one of their prized talents.

The Marlins and Hanley Ramirez have agreed to a six-year, $70 million deal.

Ramirez is no longer an unknown up-and-coming talent.  After narrowly winning the National League Rookie of the Year award in 2006 over Ryan Zimmerman, Ramirez placed 10th in the NL MVP voting in 2007.  It should be the first of many top-10 MVP finishes.

The winner of that MVP Award was fellow NL East shortstop Jimmy Rollins.  His Philadelphia Phillies won the division, but look at his season compared to Ramirez’s.  Also, check out Jose Reyes‘ 2007 season.  It was clearly a down season compared to his breakout in 2006, but it could mean his prowess among star shortstops has come and gone with the emergence of Hanley Ramirez.

* NL MVP

Hanley Ramirez has tools that make scouts salivate and looks destined to be a 40-40 player.  So far in the 2008 season, he’s hit 9 homers and stolen 13 bases with his offensive line currently at .331/.419/.568.

But what about his defense?  Ramirez’s fielding percentage was slightly below average and his range was slightly above average compared to other National League shortstops in 2007.  He’s also 6′3″ with an athletic build and turned 24 last December, meaning he could get much bigger, decreasing his agility and range.  Clearly he would lose value if he has to move to third base.

The Marlins definitely got a discount with their star shortstop.  He’ll make right under an average of $12 million per season.  Even though 2008 is just his third MLB season, the offensive possibilities are almost limitless.  He could lead the league in homers.  Or he could lead the league in stolen bases.  Or he could do both in the same year.  Ramirez improved nicely on his strikeout to walk ratio from his rookie campaign to 2007:  128/56 to 95/52.  Improved plate discipline will be the variable that takes him from annual All-Star to Hall of Famer.

Many have bashed the Marlins for the way they do business.  But that’s just it:  a business.  Go to South Beach and it’s easy to see why folks there don’t attend many baseball games.  There goes the Marlins’ revenue.  They play in a football stadium.  Mike Lowell’s contract with the Marlins had stipulations and triggers as to when (or if) they would ever build their own baseball park.  Therefore, signing players to long-term contracts is not really an option for this franchise.  But the Marlins have fared just fine.

Speaking of Lowell, the Marlins sent him along with 2003 World Series MVP Josh Beckett to the Boston Red Sox for, among others, Hanley Ramirez.  The Marlins have done an exceptional job of turning their arbitration-eligible players into great young talent.  Oh, they also received Anibal Sanchez in that trade.  While Sanchez has struggled with injuries and command, the Marlins’ scouts weren’t wrong about his stuff:  he’s thrown a no-hitter in the Majors.  The Marlins could not have footed the $152 million bill for Miguel Cabrera, but it does look they made the right call on Dontrelle Willis–both econimically and from the baseball aspect.   Meanwhile Andrew Miller (number six overall in the 2006 draft) is a starting pitcher at the MLB level and Cameron Maybin was rated the 6th overall prospect coming into 2008 by Baseball America.  Both were received from Detroit for Cabrera and Willis.

Since the Marlins came into existence in 1993, only the New York Yankees have won more World Series titles (4) than Florida.  Boston’s championship last season was their second since 2004, but also 1919, only equaling what the Marlins have accomplished in their 15 seasons.  Maybe Hanley Ramirez will be their next World Series MVP.

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