Florida Marlins

The Florida Marlins are well-known for dealing players such as Dontrelle Willis, Miguel Cabrera, Gary Sheffield and Edgar Renteria.

In fact, tracing back to 2004, the Marlins have been talking about becoming a spender once the new ballpark is constructed.

Unfortunately, despite placing clauses in player contracts such as Mike Lowell, the deal was delayed and the Marlins continued to gut the roster of talent throughout the years.

In their time of need, the Florida Marlins have called on the services of an old friend to aid in their cause. In a trade with the Colorado Rockies, the Marlins reacquired super utility infielder Alfredo Amezaga to start in second base and take infielder Omar Infante's place in the lineup.

Already, the Florida Marlins are in excellent shape to make a run at the postseason for the first time since 2003. The Marlins have gotten a Cy Young worthy performance out of Josh Johnson and solid outings out of Ricky Nolasco and Anibal Sanchez, who nearly repeated his gem from 2006. Yet, they're still waiting on Chris Volstad and Javier Vazquez to follow suit.

Next season—the year of the new ballpark—was supposed to be the year the Florida Marlins would start making some serious noise.

The players and coaches apparently didn’t get that memo as the fish have won five of their last six to improve to 10-6 on the season. Their record would be good for a wild-card playoff birth if the season ended today.

It seemingly is a paradox, but upon closer examination, it makes sense. Today's top players are among the best in baseball history, but today's teams are among the worst ever.

Albert Pujols, Evan Longoria, Alex Rodriguez, Joey Hamilton, Robinson Cano, Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulotwitski, Joey Votto, Ichiro Suzuki and Ryan Howard, in no particular order, can hold their own with the greatest hitters of all time.

Normally, I dive right into recommending specific waiver wire pickups, but based on the drastic trends so early in the season, I have to provide some big picture fantasy advice.

With just over two weeks in the books, some unsuspecting players have emerged on to the fantasy radar, while others have already been scooped up, despite a shaky track record.  But before you replace a consistent veteran with the latest fad, please consider a few things.

It's been five years since the big trade of the 2005 offseason, in which the Florida Marlins sent starting ace Josh Beckett and third baseman Mike Lowell to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for prospects Anibal Sanchez and Hanley Ramirez.

However, which team got the better end of the deal?

The Florida Marlins?

If four different AAA players from four different major league organizations all have the exact same talent and equal potential, why would one be a better player to draft than the others?  

The same question could be asked of four current major league reserves. Opportunity would be the answer. Which player is blocked from the opportunity to get regular at bats at the major league level, and which player will be afforded the chance to play. 

Florida Marlins (2010 record: 80-82)

The Marlins finished 2010 with an 80-82 record, in third place in the National League East, and it appears they’re destined to finish the upcoming season in much the same position. They won’t be able to compete with the Philadelphia Phillies and it is unlikely they’ll be able to overtake the Atlanta Braves, but they are quite a bit better than both the New York Mets and the Washington Nationals… so, third place it is.

Our 2011 fantasy baseball projections will be released one-by-one until the top 100 players have been revealed. These rankings consider past achievements, current performance and expected future results based on standard 5×5 H2H settings.