Marlins attendance - prediction

Sorry if I seem a bit insensitive referring to the above blog, I get weird in the late hours...

Sincerely,
Delivery Boy...

After I posted the previous comment, I found out that Marlins' opening day ticket sales must be tanking, too. They've just announced that anyone buying a ticket will be entitled to another ticket for any game played during April or May.

Wow, to get Rangers opening day you have to purchase a season ticket package.

I'd rather have a team be competitive full time and win a WS every 15 years, than see a AA team 4 out of 5 years and win a WS in the 5th. Or however the math/WS wins goes in Miami.

One way, it's a wild ride to the playoffs and anything might happen. Unless fighting to not lose 110 games is exciting, it's a Suckfest

I think I prefer the consistently competitive as well. Sure playoff runs, especially deep ones or that end in championships, are fun but that lasts about a month. The serious fan is going to watch that team year in year out for 162 games. That can be a lot of watching losing baseball. Then factor in getting tired of watching it, tuning out, and realizing after a season is half over and having ignored them that this is one of those unusual seasons where they might have a chance.

As a North Sider, I watched more than my fair share of losing baseball at Wrigley Field, but never felt cheated. As mediocre as the franchise has been for the past 100-odd years, they always seemed to try. But the Marlins have quit on us in myriad ways. Not only has the front office bailed repeatedly, but the team's quit, too. It's hard to blame anyone in the clubhouse, however, when they see firsthand their next-door neighbor in the locker room being traded away.

I heard a great side bet for the Marlins this year. Will Stanton's total number of feet traveled in his HRs this season be higher or lower than the Marlins total attendance. My bet is on Stanton.

Stanton is an excellent ballplayer with unlimited potential and a good attitude, but I think he will really struggle to hit above .250 this season. As the only player in the lineup that strikes fear in opposing pitchers and catchers, he will be intentionally walked whenever possible, and pitched around the rest of the time. It will be rare for him to see a pitch in the strike zone. As a result, I think he will swing at a lot of bad balls and strike out a ton - easily over 200 times - in 2013. I feel sorry for him, but maybe he'll escape Miami and anchor a solid lineup someday.

I know this is a Marlins bashing frenzy. But why the dire prediction for Stanton?
I know they traded away a lot of people. But who exactly did they have last year to protect Stanton?
I see little reason to expect his numbers to be impacted by all this. I would expect similar numbers as last year.

Valen - I'm not trying to be excessively negative, just realistic. I watched a lot of Marlins games last year, and Stanton's one glaring weakness, which most superstars are able to correct eventually as they learn more plate disipline, is a tendency to swing at bad balls. Maybe not swinging for the fences all the time like some do, but wanting to carry the team on his broad shoulders. And taking a walk "for the good of the team" when the pitch is outside the strike zone isn't going to get it done, especially this year. So I think opposing teams will exploit that weakness as much as possible in 2013, but as long as he doesn't develop really bad habits out of frustration being pitched around all the time and get too stubborn, I think he'll learn to harness his vast potential fairly early in his career, and become an outstanding hitter, not just a slugger.