Marlins welcome return of optimism as they ready to open 2015 season
MIAMI -- Three years ago, the rebranded Miami Marlins took the baseball world by storm with an eventful offseason.
To celebrate the opening of a new ballpark, they executed high-profile signings of Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle and Heath Bell. Experts predicted a postseason berth.
And yet those Marlins fizzled with a 69-93 record and last-place finish in the National League East. By winter, gone were Hanley Ramirez, Reyes, Buehrle and co. The rebuild had begun.
With Opening Day less than 24 hours away, optimism has returned to South Florida after another promising offseason, from Giancarlo Stanton's and Christian Yelich's extensions to the additions of Dee Gordon and Martin Prado.
Pressure and expectations are back.
"To be honest, I don't feel like it's any more than 2012," Stanton said. "It's a new vibe, obviously a new revamp. 2012 was a lot, lot going into it. We're on a better track we just got to show it. It's kind of hard to explain. I'd say we have the most expectations for it and the outside view is, 'We'll see what happens.' My opinion."
So why doesn't it feel like last time?
The answer is fairly simple, one that each member of the Marlins touched on during Sunday's press conferences prior to a workout at Marlins Park.
No photo better epitomizes this idea than the one Stanton uploaded onto his Instagram account this weekend.
Newcomer Michael Morse, no stranger to winning after going the distance with the San Francisco Giants in 2014, sees the chip on the Marlins' shoulders, the desire to compete. It's a common trait among successful clubs.
"The biggest thing that I think is going around this clubhouse right now is we're a talented ballclub and the guys believe in themselves," Morse said. "I think it started from last year at the end of the year when they went on a run and big Giancarlo got hurt. But at the same time, these guys noticed that they got a lot of ability and this team is on its way up. This year in spring training we all got together and everybody played within their abilities and we were winning ballgames. It was pretty fun. Right now I think we've got a little swagger going, and it's something that winning ballclubs have. It's that feeling of winning and not taking losing as an option."
When the Marlins host the Atlanta Braves on Monday afternoon in front of a sellout crowd, it will be with the intention of reaching the playoffs. The pressure is back on, but this time the organization believes things will play out differently.
Those offseason moves upgraded the roster's talent and also brought in character guys to foster the camaraderie necessary to play out a "162-plus" -- as president of baseball operations Michael Hill put it -- season.
"First of all, they have to be talented, but after the talent box is checked we're just very mindful of the clubhouse culture," Hill said. "We know how bad it was in 2012, and there's no secret that it was not a good mix in that clubhouse. I think it contributed to the direction we went in in 2012 and being in it, being around it, you're hyper-sensitive to it. You want to make sure that when you're putting a team together you respect that part of the game. You can always be talented, but it's a team that wins, and you don't win with one person, two people, three people. It's that 25 men and that coaching staff. They do it together. That is the message we started during our reboot and it was something we will continue to preach and will always be a big part of who we are and how we try to put a team together."
You can follow Christina De Nicola on Twitter @CDeNicola13 or email her at cdenicola13@gmail.com.