As we have all heard by now, the Miami Marlins traded everything and everybody, but the home run structure out in centerfield and Giancarlo Stanton.
After having a conversation with a friend, he concluded one thing, "At least the Mets aren't the laughing stock of the N.L. East."
I couldn't agree more.
The Marlins traded away the major pieces acquired over the 2011 offseason after going through a horrible 2012 campaign.
Hanley Ramirez was gone before the season's end and Jose Reyes, Mark Buerhle, Josh Johnson, John Buck and outfielder Emilio Bonifacio were shipped out to the Toronto Bluejays after both sides reached an accord.
Reyes and Buerhle signed a deal where, combined, they were owed over $160 million.
Despite the firepower, the Marlins could not get it together as they finished the season 69-93.
Miami ranked in the bottom-six of baseball in runs, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
If you ask me, it all went wrong once they finished the construction of that horrendous ball park.
It's so green it looks like you are literally underwater and everything around you is covered in moss. That home run structure in centerfield is simply ridiculous and the park is so huge only Stanton can hit homers there, which is probably the only reason they kept him.
Only AT&T Park, home of the World Champion San Francisco Giants and PETCO Park of the San Diego Padres, yieldeed less homers per game. AT&T Park had about 1.04, while PETCO had 1.35 per game. Marlins Park saw 1.40 homers per game.
As for the Mets, things won't likely improve for them in 2013, but they realized that their ballpark did not suit their players, so they brought in the walls in left field. They are emptying out their payroll little by little as they will only have John Neise and possibly both R.A. Dickey and David Wright under contract beyond 2014.
They have a good young starter in Matt Harvey who came up in midseason and showed he can pitch in the majors. He went 3-5 with an impressive 2.73 ERA striking out 70 in 59.1 innings pitched.
The Mets have yet to bring up their secret weapon Zack Wheeler who is still getting seasoned in the minors.
Though the Mets will not be capturing a playoff berth, let alone an NL East pennant, there is no doubt that with Sandy Alderson in office and money freeing up, the team can get back in to shape way before the Marlins do.
The Mets made mistakes and they are willing to correct them. As for the Marlins, well, if I were a fan I would be skeptic about the team's decisions when signing players and offer inghuge contracts to big time free agents.
But first of all, nobody would even want to play in Miami until things turn around.
There is basically nobody for Marlins fans to go see. All they have now is Stanton and Yunel Escobar's eye-black.
