‘Give us a chance’: Marlins make plea to fans for ’19

MIAMI >> The outfield grass at Marlins Park was a worn-out mess on Saturday, with those who arrived for the team’s annual FanFest being greeted by signs reminding them that the turf will be replaced soon.

When it comes to the Marlins, many things are a work in progress.

Wearing new uniforms with the rebranded team logo, in a stadium that has gotten spruced-up since last season ended, some of the 2019 Miami Marlins gathered for the first time to greet fans and start hyping the new season. Pitchers and catchers report to the team’s spring training home in Jupiter on Wednesday.

“I would tell our fans to just give us a chance,” Marlins President of Baseball Operations Michael Hill said. “So many people have written off the Marlins and really haven’t taken an opportunity to take a deep look at what we’re building. When you have a lot to do, it’s going to take time and we understand where we’re at. But we’ve been able to add a tremendous amount of talent over the last 18 months.”

By Hill’s count, the Marlins have added 38 prospects and upper-level players since this new regime led by Derek Jeter took over after the 2017 season. That has gone a long way toward restocking a farm system that by Hill’s own description was “barren.”

“We know where we were,” he said. “We know where we’re going.”

The Marlins won 63 games last season, their ninth straight year under the .500 mark and the 15th consecutive time the team missed the postseason — the second-longest drought in baseball, topped only by Seattle’s run of 17 straight seasons without a playoff game. Attendance plummeted to a club record-low 811,104, and the team just traded away its best player, sending catcher J.T. Realmuto to Philadelphia.

For Realmuto, the Marlins got catcher Jorge Alfaro and pitching prospects Sixto Sanchez and Will Stewart from the Phillies. Alfaro has above-average power and, the Marlins believe, even a better arm than Realmuto — who they considered elite. Sanchez has the arm to consistently reach the upper 90s on his fastball, while Stewart doesn’t throw as hard but has off-speed offerings that get him out of trouble.