“We’re getting ready for another season, and we’re going to win more,” Marlins president David Samson assured Christina De Nicola of FOX Sports Florida late last week. “I promise you this: We’re not going to lose 100 games next year. Not even close.”
But that doesn’t mean that Marlins fans should be expecting a wheeling-and-dealing type of offseason.
From beat reporter Joe Frisaro of MLB.com:The basic plan in ’14 is to build from around the nucleus of players who endured more than their share of growing pains in a trying 2013.
Miami’s payroll parameters project to mirror the ’13 numbers -- about $38 million.
In free agency, the Marlins aren’t expected to be in the market for high-priced players.
Miami tried hard last month for Cuban slugger Jose Abreu, but the 26-year-old first baseman wound up scoring a record six-year, $68 million free agent contract from the White Sox. Whatever money Marlins ownership used in that Abreu pursuit will apparently be shifted toward bargain-bin free agent options.
The Marlins do have an impressive core of young players between staff ace Jose Fernandez, power-hitting right fielder Giancarlo Stanton and five-tool center fielder Christian Yelich. But Stanton is eligible for salary arbitration for the first time this winter and will continue to get more and more expensive.
Samson and Co. claim the Marlins have a plan. But it’s hard to see it right now.
