Florida Marlins

As we discussed yesterday, the Marlins finally got the OK to start constructing a new stadium in Miami. The stadium for the new Miami Marlins should be complete by 2012, which means that Marlins fans only have to suffer the horrid humidity and pouring rain of South Florida in a football stadium that has business acting as a baseball stadium. Rejoice!

And rejoice, they have. And not just the fans either, but the players have been rather vocal about their excitement for the new stadium.

The Marlins will have a lot of young help this year, with the returning Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, Jeremy Hermida, and Cameron Maybin looking to make significant contributions.

They also acquired third baseman Emilio Bonifacio from Washington for pitcher Scott Olsen. However, Florida did lose closer Kevin Gregg, who had 29 saves last year. Replacing him is Matt Lindstrom.

The reason why I have the Marlins in third place is because they will not compare to the Phillies or the Mets in terms of their pitching staff.

Get ready, Miami. The Marlins are coming. Or at least they will be. 2012!

ESPN.com:

"The Florida Marlins will soon have a home of their own.

The team on Monday cleared the last political hurdle in its decade-long quest to get its own ballpark in Miami when the Miami-Dade County commission voted to approve the multi-million dollar deal.

We continue our pick-by-pick coverage for the KFFL K-FAD Expert League Draft. To recap, the league is your standard roster (2 catchers, 5 OF) 5x5 rotisserie 12-team league. I get the chance to represent Fantasy Baseball Search to play against some of the toughest competitors and expert minds in the industry.

The third segment of the KFFL K-BAD expert league draft went much better then the second segment for my team. I was able to draft all the players I needed and wanted, plus thanks to this being an email draft I was able to discover some fantastic steals.

I remember jumping up and down in front of my dad one evening in 1997. 

The Florida Marlins, Cleveland Indians, and a sour apple lollipop my mother reluctantly gave me after literally an hour of begging, which in turn probably made jumping up and down a bad idea. 

The stage was set.

If the Florida Marlins end up getting their new stadium, the baseball fans of this area, if there are any left, are still likely to have contempt for  the ownership. They'll probably resent them more when they find out the total cost of this project.

The proposed state-of-the-art baseball stadium and parking complex will probably cost the tax payer close to a billion dollars when completed.  We're in a recession, remember, or haven't your checked for 401K lately?

According to John C. Rodriguez of the Sun Sentinel, the Florida Marlins have cut 24-year-old left handed pitcher Zach Kroenke, who they drafted in this offseason’s rule 5 draft, and returned him to the Yankees.

*From Protect the Plate

Despite having the league's lowest payroll, the Florida Marlins were competitive last year, falling just 5.5 games short of the wild card. They seem to overhaul their roster before every year, and 2009 is no different. With young stars, impressive rookies, and a new focus on defense, the Marlins hope to get the most out of the least once again.

FANTASY FAVORITE