posted March 24, 2008 at 18:39 EST in MLB Free Picks

Starting Pitching:

The sun came up today, Amy Winehouse is still a drugged up popstar and the Florida Marlins are still rebuilding.

Mark Hendrickson is the projected opening day starter, which gives you an indication of how far away this team is from competing.

Scott Olsen and Sergio Mitre should be at the top of the rotation but both are young and inconsistent. Those same two adjectives can be used for Andrew Miller, who is also in the mix.

Ricky Nolasco and Rick VandenHurk will fight for the fifth spot but the bottom line is that there are a slew of prospects around. It’s hard to tell who will emerge but the Marlins again look like they will have one of the best rotations in 2010. Unfortunately, for now, they will be unreliable.

Relief Pitching:

The Marlins bullpen returns intact but with one less steady arm among the starters (Dontrelle Willis), they can expect to be overburdened again.

The bullpen really emerged as one of the few steady parts of the team. Once Kevin Gregg proved to be a reliable closer mid-season, all of the other parts seemed to fall into place.

The group of guys are anonymous – you might not recognize Taylor Tankersley, Matt Lindstrom, Renyel Pinto or Lee Gardner by face, but they compose a decent unit that kept the Marlins from an utter collapse last year.

With consistency on their side, expect another solid season.

Hitting:

Although Miguel Cabrera is gone, the production has yet to decline in spring training.

Hanley Ramirez is still hitting leadoff and is still hitting the cover off of the all. He is among the top five best players in the game but playing in Florida, he gets little attention.

The big surprise so far has been Jorge Cantu, who cranked 28 home runs and had 117 RBI’s in 2005, but has since had two disappointing seasons. Cantu has been so good at the plate that he won himself the third base job.

The batting order – like the rest of the team – is waiting on prospects, though. Cameron Maybin would be a good fit as a leadoff hitter if he can win the centerfield job, and of course the Marlins are still waiting on guys like Jeremy Hermida, Alejandro De Aza and Josh Willingham to play consistently and prove that they are Major League-quality players.

Regular Season Wins: 69

This is a rebuilding project across the board and with Willis and Cabrera off in Detroit, there is even less certainties this go around.

Unlike last year, the Marlins had positions filled and were simply waiting on players to grow. Now the Marlins have to figure out who fits where, who is going to be part of the future and who is ready to contribute right now.

Expect a lot of mixing and matching, particularly in the batting order. If the Marlins don’t find solutions early, they will begin to mail it in – like their fans typically do.

Free Pick: Under 69 wins

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