Weekly In-Depth Look: Miami Marlins (13-37)

With a record of 13-37 and team salary of $35,071,900, the Miami Marlins rank last and second-to-last respectively in winning percentage and team salary. After spending millions of dollars during the 2011 offseason on superstar free agents such as Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, and Heath Bell, the Marlins struggled mightily throughout all of last year. They finished with a record of 69-93, placing them twenty-fifth in the league for winning percentage and last in their own division. With much anguish from their fan base, the Marlins' management decided to purge their large contracts and go through a small rebuilding process after their horrible 2012 campaign. When they finished trading almost all of their superstars away, most of whom went to the Toronto Blue Jays , in return for several high-rated prospects, the Marlins were left with only one true all star, Giancarlo Stanton. Only twenty-three years old, their right-field powerhouse has MVP-caliber potential, making him one of the most highly-touted trade targets on the market today. Although the Marlins do not seem due for any immediate success, they still seem content on keeping Giancarlo Stanton and using him to build their future team around. Even with the Marlins' bleak Major League roster, they still boast a fairly strong Minor League system with a good amount of promising young stars that could lead their team in a few years. Some of the Marlins' minimal success has been due to injuries to several of their key players, such as Giancarlo Stanton and Logan Morrison, but they still would not be doing much better, mainly due to their lack of skills at the Major League level. Although the Marlins have yet to demonstrate this year that their low payroll does not ensure them a low winning percentage, they have shown, through last year's struggles, that a high payroll does not ensure a high winning percentage and that the key to a successful team is not through spending big on the free agent market.