CATCHER: J.T. Realmuto is one of the few nearly every day backstops left in the league. Tomas Telis picks up the scraps.
INFIELD: The right side will be Justin Bour and Dee Gordon, though there's some whispers Gordon could be moved as a cost-cutting measure. Martin Prado should be healthy, thus assume his gig at the hot corner. J.T. Riddle and Miguel Rojas will battle to complete a rather uninspiring group. Derek Dietrich always gets his share of the pie as well.
OUTFIELD: Hold on a sec, I need to check something......Yup, as of this writing, Giancarlo Stanton is still on the club. He's joined by Christian Yelich and Marcell Ozuna, comprising of the best young trio in the league. Too bad they have to pretend they're broke and break it up.
BENCH: Dietrich and the loser of the shortstop battle will provide infield depth with Brian Anderson helping out too. The outfield is in flux with the Stanton situation, but keep in mind Yelich and Ozuna rarely sit. Destin Hood is in the system and has MLB experience.
ROTATION: When you have to feature Dan Straily on the image, you know pitching isn't a team strength. Wei-Yin Chen and Jose Urena are also slated to start with Adam Conley likely to join the party. Dillon Peters deserves a chance with Odrisamer Despaigne, Chris O'Grady, Justin Nicolino and Vance Worley all having MLB experience.
BULLPEN: If he'd only reduce the walks, Kyle Barraclough could close, but as presently constituted, Brad Ziegler gets the job with Bearclaw setting up. A name to watch is Drew Steckenrider, a candidate for the 100-K club. Junichi Tazawa, Nick Wittgren and Jarlin Garcia round out a quietly effective group.
PROSPECTS TO WATCH: Anderson is their top prospect, at least until some pieces are moved. Outfielder Austin Dean is a candidate to make an in season debut.
POSSIBLE ACQUISITIONS: While the Fish may bring in some cheap veterans for stability, they're looking to pare down payroll, so don't expect anything major. That said, a decent arm should fare well in The Aquarium. Yes, I am still crusading to have Marlins Park to adopt that nickname. It's not as noble as Jonah Keri helping Tim Raines make the Hall of Fame, but it's close.
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