Miami Marlins ~ 2015 Season Expectations
There are high expectations and numerous predictions on what people expect Miami to do this season. Some expect a resurgence and the Marlins have finally done something right and you're going to see so much change and positivity in 2015! While others believe the Marlins made many poor moves this offseason and made many mistakes and just aren't going to be all of anything really.... well I say to you person that I hope you're in-correct! But you can't be ignored, so let's take a look at what Miami expects for this season.
Disaster Expectation:
Record: Under 77 wins
Playoffs: Missed
Explanation: After spending 325M in the offseason, trading an abundance of talent for win-now assets like Latos, Prado, etc.. and trading away guys like Andrew Heaney... you finish with a record than you did in the 2014 campaign? Seriously? That would be a disaster of epic proportions for Miami. They can't allow that to happen and the players know that. While Loria is gone, Mark Cuban certainly won't stand for those sorts of standards for a team he runs and plans on winning an abundance amount with.
Poor Expectation:
Record: 80-82
Playoffs: Missed
Explanation: It's an improvement!.... but only by 3 wins. It's not over .500 which is expected for a team of this caliber. Dee Gordon has to produce and show all the nay-sayers that BAPIP wasn't the only reason for his success in Los Angeles. Stanton of course has to produce like a star and of course the veterans have to step up and show themselves worthy of what they were given up for to be brought in. In this scenario, none of these things happen and it leads to this sort of level of season.
Expectation:
Record: 87-75
Playoffs: Wildcard Round Exit?
Explanation: The distance between expectation and failure isn't really that much of a distance for Miami. They need to improve their record by 10 games in order to be worthy of all the adjustments they made. It may seem difficult and to some unreasonable, but after acquirng all those assets now Miami has to produce on the field. They're quite simply expected to get within the 90-win range in order to have a solid season. The question after this starts when people ask if this is enough to make the playoffs in MLB. 87 wins is great, but 88 was the minimum last year between the Athletics, Pirates, and of course Giants. The Mariners missed by 1-game with 87 wins, will this be viewed as a total failure?
Good Expectation:
Record: 90-72
Playoffs: Divisional Round Exit
Explanation: 90 wins would be an awesome season for the Marlins. They make the playoffs, and they prove all the nay-sayers wrong who doubted Dee and the rest of the Marlins youth such as Yelich or Ozuna. With this though, they'd need to finally get that bit of playoff extra boost... winning a huge 1-game wildcard would do that for Miami. They would fall in the Divisional Round but with all the youth improving no Marlins fan or baseball expert would call this season a down year for Miami.
Dream Expectation:
Record: 96-66
Playoffs: Championship Series Exit
Explanation: Improving their record by nearly 20 wins would be remarkable. Almost having 100 wins just 3 years removed from a massive firesale would be incredible. All the haters would simply have no response, and it'd be a huge boost for the Marlins in general with all the things that would come with going 96-66 and potentially... winning the division for the first time in Marlins history! Yup, the Marlins have 2 World Series rings but yet no division banners. I think the Nationals would trade those in for what Miami has though... regardless, if the Marlins did do that well they would have to follow it up with an impressive postseason which they could be capable of with all they're veterans and youth combination.
So those are the Miami Marlins 2015 Season expectations! Let's get on with Opening Day!