Predicting Miami Marlins' 2016 Record Going Into Spring Training

The Miami Marlins can’t get out of their own way for trying. They have the best young player in the game in Giancarlo Stanton and one of the best new stadiums in all of baseball. They have tried buying a championship and they have tried rebuilding from scratch. Right now, they are somewhere in the middle.

For the first time in several years, the Marlins are a team that appears to have the talent to compete. They likely don’t have enough firepower or depth to compete for the division, but they may be able to make a run at the wild card. The two biggest things that may hold the Marlins back are depth and the health of Stanton.

The Marlins are the middle team in a top heavy division. They upgraded the rotation by signing Wei-Yin Chen and Edwin Jackson to free agent deals, and they also signed Chris Johnson to back up at the corner infield positions. Beyond that, the Marlins are hoping their holdovers can improve enough to win more than the 71 games they won in 2015.

With Stanton on board for a full year and Dee Gordon in place to have another productive season, the starting pitching upgrades should be enough. If Marcell Ozuna is able to rebound from a down year, the Marlins will really be able to make some noise. On top of that, Justin Bour should continue to improve in his second full year.

The Marlins are doing things the right way for a change. They will be blocked at the top of the division by a pair of juggernauts, but should own the rest of their competition. Adding Don Mattingly as the manager can do nothing but help. With the addition of Chen to the rotation, the Marlins should be able to go 83-79 without a problem.