Florida Marlins

The Florida Marlins are a professional baseball team based in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Marlins belong to the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They have played in Dolphin Stadium from 1993 to the present.
The "Marlins" name originates from fish of the same name. They are nicknamed "the Fish".
The club joined the National League as an expansion franchise in 1993. The Marlins are notable for winning the World Series both times they've made it into the postseason (1997, 2003), although they have never taken first place in their division and have always gone into the playoffs as a Wild Card.
Despite success in the postseason, the Marlins have suffered from low attendance and arguably negligent ownership. The attendance problems have been blamed on the venue. Marlins ownership has pushed for a new park, threatening to move if no agreement has been made. After a decade of hard work and failed attempts for a stadium deal, the push paid off when Miami-Dade commissioners, City of Miami commissioners, and the team agreed to a plan to help the Marlins build their $525 million stadium on the site of the legendary Miami Orange Bowl. As part of the Deal, the Marlins in the future will be known as the Miami Marlins.

2007: Injuries ruin expectations
The Marlins opened the 2007 season with high hopes after a successful 2006 season in which most expected they would lose 100 or more games. The underdog Marlins had remained in the Wild Card race until mid-September before finishing a respectable 78-84. The 2007 rotation included Dontrelle Willis, Scott Olsen, Anibal Sanchez, Sergio Mitre, and Ricky Nolasco, and the Marlins entered spring training with hopes that this rotation would blossom into one of the best in the National League. Willis was a Cy Young runner up in 2005, Sanchez threw a no-hitter in 2006, and Olsen led the team in strikeouts in 2006. The Marlins also banked on starter Josh Johnson to come back from an arm injury suffered the season before. Things got worse for Johnson entering spring training as MRI's discovered he had nerve damage in his throwing arm. Eventually, Johnson was put out for the remainder of the season after Tommy John Surgery. The Marlins got even more bad news as spring training went on. INF/1B coach Perry Hill retired, leaving the Marlins with a huge hole as Hill was considered to be one of the best defensive coaches around and was credited for the previous defensive success of Gold Glovers Luis Castillo and Mike Lowell. The Marlins' injuries took a toll as they lost OF Jeremy Hermida when an MRI of his right kneecap revealed a deep bone bruise for a month. Opening Day center fielder, Alejandro De Aza had an ankle sprain, P Sergio Mitre had a blister problem and P Ricky Nolasco had a sore elbow. In May, Marlins sent struggling P Anibal Sanchez to the minor leagues, where he was put on the Minor League DL with shoulder tendinitis. He then went out for the remainder of the season due to a tear in his labrum. The Fish also put promising pitcher Henry Owens on the DL as well as 1B Mike Jacobs. They sought bullpen help, dealing Jorge Julio, who amassed 2 blown saves and 2 loses in his tenure, to the Rockies for P Byung-Hyun Kim.
As injuries amassed for the Marlins, they traded P Randy Messenger to the Giants for P Armando Benitez who became a middle reliever instead as Gregg was the closer. In the June Draft, the Marlins selected 3B Matt Dominguez out of high school; it marked the first time since 2002 that the Fish got a position player rather than pitcher in the first round. The team entered the All Star break with more injuries: SS Hanley Ramirez had a hamstring injury, Miguel Cabrera missed the Home Run Derby with a shoulder injury, and Aaron Boone was out for the remainder of the season. The Marlins sent only one player to the All Star game as Miguel Cabrera went for a franchise record fourth time and fourth straight overall. The team had a record of 42-47 at the break.
After the All-Star break, the Marlins fell apart. After a July 20 game against the Reds, Scott Olsen was arrested by Aventura, Florida police and booked on charges of driving under the influence, resisting arrest with violence and fleeing and eluding a police officer. After completing the Reds series at 48-51, the Marlins sunk dramatically to last place in the NL East with a record of 23-40 the rest of the way and a 71-91 record overall. The Marlins had to deal with the struggles of both Willis and Olsen, the teams' top starters who both finished with ERAs north of 5.00 carrying 15 losses a piece. The Marlins did have some bright spots on offense as they set club records for runs scored (790), hits (1,504), doubles (340), home runs (201), RBIs (749) and slugging percentage (.448).
As the Marlins wrapped up the season they announced that pitching coach Rick Kranitz won't be back with the club and extended Larry Beinfest and Michael Hill to long term deals that run through 2015 along with promotions to President of Baseball Operations and Vice President/General Manager, respectively.

2007 offseason: End of Cabrera & Willis Era
The Marlins offseason began with trying to get better on defense and pitching. They had two players formally file for free agency, Aaron Boone and Armando Benitez.
The Marlins filled their pitching coach vacancy by hiring Mark Wiley, formerly the pitching coach in the 2005 season and scout for the Rockies in 06' and 07'.
The focus of the 2007 offseason, however, was that the Marlins were officially listening to offers for slugger Miguel Cabrera and pitcher Dontrelle Willis. The team that seemed to be leading was the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. They felt that they had worked out a deal for Cabrera not once, but twice. Angels owner Arte Moreno said that each time, the Marlins came back after he felt a trade had been completed and asked for more to sweeten the trade. The San Francisco Giants expressed similar sentiments about the asking price the Marlins wanted, saying that the Marlins were asking for 4 players, with 3 of the 4 being pitchers and 2 of the 4 being major league players, not minor leaguers. Talks with both teams fell apart, but most still felt the Marlins would complete the trade with the Angels when MLB's annual Winter General Manager Meetings took place in Nashville.
Early on December 5th, 2007, it was announced that the Detroit Tigers were interested in making a trade with Marlins. Later in the day, the Marlins had agreed to the terms of a trade with the Detroit Tigers. The trade would surprisingly send not only Cabrera, but also Willis, to the Tigers. In return, the Marlins did not receive four players, but six. The Marlins received: center fielder Cameron Maybin, catcher Mike Rabelo, and pitchers Andrew Miller, Eulogio De La Cruz, Burke Bradenhop, and Dallas Trahern.
With a vacancy left at third base, the Marlins made a move and signed infielders Jose Castillo, Jorge Cantu, and Dallas McPherson. They've also added veterans Luis Gonzalez (outfielder) and pitcher Mark Hendrickson.

New Marlins Stadium
On February 21, 2008, the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County approved the building of a baseball stadium for the Marlins. As part of the agreement, the Florida Marlins will be renamed the Miami Marlins and agree to stay in Miami until 2046. In addition, MLB will make its first $1 million contribution to help ensure the Marlins' new stadium is green, for a healthy building, and the league also plans to start a youth baseball academy in nearby Hialeah. The team's name change to Miami Marlins will not happen until their first year in the new ballpark. MLB President Bob DuPuy has said that it is likely the future stadium will host the All-Star Game and World Baseball Classic. In addition, David Samson has said the ballpark is expected to be pitcher-friendly and that besides the retractable roof being closed on rainy days, he envisions it being shut on summer afternoons, when air conditioning is preferable. "Those announcements will come shortly," owner Jeffrey Loria said of whether South Florida would someday be a host to either an All-Star Game or a Classic contest. "The answer is yes, but we will be announcing them shortly." The team also expects to revise their uniforms with the future name change.
When completed, the seating capacity would be at 37,000, making it the second smallest stadium (in capacity) in MLB. Set to open in April 2011, the stadium would become only the sixth MLB stadium to have a retractable roof, joining Rogers Centre, Chase Field, Safeco Field, Miller Park and Minute Maid Park.

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