Miami Marlins
2016: 79-82, third place. Manager: Don Mattingly (second season). He’s here: RHP Dan Straily, RHP Edinson Volquez, RHP Brad Ziegler, RHP Junichi Tazawa, LHP Jeff Locke, C A.J. Ellis. He’s outta here: LHP Mike Dunn, 1B-3B Chris Johnson, C Jeff Mathis, RHP Andrew Cashner, RHP Fernando Rodney, OF Jeff Francoeur. Projected lineup: 2B Dee Gordon (.268, 1 HR, 14 RBIs, 30 SBs in 79 games), 3B Martin Prado (.305, 8, 75, 37 doubles), LF Christian Yelich (.298, 21, 98, 38 doubles, .859 OPS), RF Giancarlo Stanton (.240, 27, 74 in 119 games), 1B Justin Bour (.264, 15, 51 in 90 games), CF Marcell Ozuna (.266, 23, 76), C J.T. Realmuto (.303, 11, 48), SS Adeiny Hechavarria (.236, 3, 38, .594 OPS). Rotation: RH Edinson Volquez (10-11, 5.37 ERA, AL-high 113 ER with Kansas City), RH Dan Straily (14-8, 3.76, NL-high 31 HR with Cincinnati), LH Adam Conley (8-6, 3.85 in 25 games), RH Tom Koehler (9-13, 4.33), LH Wei-Yin Chen (5-5, 4.96 in 22 games). Hot spot: Starting rotation. The shocking death of right-hander Jose Fernandez in a boating accident late last season left the Marlins without an ace. They acquired Straily and Volquez to fill two starting spots and hope to compensate for a wobbly rotation with a strong, deep bullpen. But it’s questionable how often their starters can get to the sixth or seventh inning. Volquez is 33 and had a 6.12 ERA in the second half last season with the Royals. Chen was hampered by injuries in the first season of his $80 million, five-year deal. Straily more than doubled his career win total last year and must show he can sustain success. Koehler has a career record of 35-48. Conley, coming off a breakout season at 26, could be the best pitcher on the staff this year. Outlook: Frugal owner Jeffrey Loria is trying to sell the Marlins, and he approved increasing payroll by one-third to about $100 million, perhaps to make the team more appealing to prospective buyers. But depth remains a problem, and the minor league system is thin, meaning injuries could sink the season. The Marlins already face a challenge at third base, where Prado will miss opening day because of a strained right hamstring and could be sidelined for the first several weeks. Gordon, Bour and $325 million slugger Stanton all missed significant playing time last season, dooming Miami’s bid to make the playoffs for the first time since 2003. The daily lineup remains the same for the third year in a row — when healthy — and the group will get one last chance to end the longest postseason drought in the NL.