Last year’s Florida Marlins finished the season in last place in the NL East, 30 games out of first place. 2011 is not 2012 for the Marlins. The organization has a new name (Miami Marlins), a new stadium (Marlins Park), a new logo, a new manager (Ozzie Guillen), and new players (Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, etc.). No team went through more change over the offseason than the Miami Marlins. The Marlins are on a similar path as the two times the team won the World Series. Spend on players to build up the team for a run and then bring payroll back down. This is the third time in the organization’s short history it is on this route. I’m not saying the team is going to win the World Series in the next few years (partly because I wouldn’t say any team would), but it is going for it. Continue reading →