So, Gene Kingsale had an interesting night.

Only a half inning removed from a crucial misplay in the field, Kingsale stepped to the plate with the Netherlands trailing by a run and the tying run on third. Naturally, as in all tales of redemption, Kingsale ended up tying the game with a liner to right. To make things even better for the journeyman, Kingsale advanced to third following an error on Carlos Marmol, and eventually scored the winning run on an error by Willy Aybar.

On a Netherlands team that features mostly minor leaguers who may never see the lights of a major league stadium again after their WBC experience, there are a few former major leaguers.

Enter Randall Simon, Sidney Ponson, and Kingsale.

Everyone knows about Simon’s hot dog antics or Ponson’s obsession with beer brats. Can that same thing be said about Kingsale? The answer to that is almost certainly no despite Kingsale boasting a somewhat interesting tale.

In 1996, as a 19-year-old, Kingsale broke into the majors with Baltimore as a center fielder. A few opportunity deprived and offensively challenged seasons later, Kingsale would be claimed off waivers by the Mariners where he would spend small parts of two seasons. Kingsale joined the Padres in 2003 until his release a few months later. Kingsale would eventually find some playing time with Detroit in 2003, but spent 2004 and 2005 in the minors.

The story is interesting when you consider how many 19-year-olds find the majors and encounter close to zero success at the major league level. Dave covered the 19-year-olds with at least 100 at-bats in late January and found that essentially every player who pulled the feat was successful in some capacity. Kingsale didn’t receive 100 at-bats prior to his 20th birthday, in fact, he received zero. Even so, only one positive season of wRAA?

I guess that makes last night all the sweeter for Gene Kingsale.

While speaking to the Fort-Worth Star Telegram, Milton Bradley, now of the Chicago Cubs, made a couple noteworthy comments regarding not only his time as a member of the Texas Rangers but also his theory on statistics and playing time. Before adding any personal opinions or commentary, here are the quotes of interest:

“My agent was saying that Jon Daniels was telling him, ‘There are days when he doesn’t want to play because of his health.’ Well, you can get a healthy guy to go out there and play 162 games, but he won’t do what I did in 120.”

“When you’re on one-year deals constantly, you’ve got to put up as good numbers as you can. When you have days where you’re not feeling like you can contribute, you’re not going to go out there, because you’re not going to want your numbers to suck. So, if you’re in a situation like I am now, if they want me to go out there when I’m feeling a little banged up, I’ve got no problem doing that because they’ve made the commitment to me.”

Let’s go one at a time, starting with the top quote. Bradley seems to be bitter that the Texas Rangers showed little interest in retaining his services beyond the 2008 season, and lost his temper upon hearing the remarks of his general manager. The line about his 120 games outperforming 162 of others is incredibly cocky but it also reeks of truth.

If you take the 126 games Bradley played in 2008, which produced a win value of +4.5, and slotted in the -0.3 win value that comes from prorating Jeff Francoeur’s season to 36 games, the resulting +4.2 wins still exceeds the wins added totals of both Josh Hamilton (156 g) and Ryan Braun (151 g). I always find it humorous that people are criticized for pointing out something similar to Bradley’s self-assessment, especially if it is true.

Perhaps the cockiness overwhelmingly turns off those offering the critiques, but why is it if a player makes a comment like that it becomes blasphemous, yet if I point it out in an article it gets lauded as interesting? Of course a difference exists in the routes taken by both myself and Bradley in offering up the information, but because Bradley presented his case without humility he is very likely to get panned by the media and the casual fan.

Now, Bradley’s second quote does not evoke the same sort of defensive response, because it comes off as largely hypocritical. He is essentially claiming that he took days off when under 100% in order to preserve statistics. This preservation would, in theory, lead to lucrative contracts via free agency. I’m definitely a proponent of players taking days off when hurt because an injured player is more likely to hurt his team than help, but front offices might actually interpret his actions differently, choosing not to commit based on an attitude that puts statistical preservation above the team.

I’m not saying he is right or wrong, because these comments could easily sway to either side. Milton failed to mention that his proneness to injuries also turns teams off from committing, as do his perceived attitude problems. Sitting out of games intentionally for the sake of keeping your numbers high is equivalent to getting a triple-double in basketball by purposely missing your own shot to grab a rebound. If Bradley needed some time off to heal, then by all means he should because, with health, he is an incredibly talented player and it would benefit his employers to keep him on the field as often as possible.

The Cubs have made a commitment to Bradley, but statistical preservation issues aside, he just is not very likely to be on the field all too often given his track record and the fact that the senior circuit will require his presence in the field. Bradley is, in my eyes, the most talented player of the last ten years who truly deserves to sign one-year deals each season.

We’d had an inkling before, but with a second slip of the tongue, it appears that we can now be confident that Angels’ OF/DH Vladimir Guerrero is in fact a year older than his listed age. That makes him 34 for the upcoming season, his final under the contract he signed with Anaheim back in the 2003 offseason.

Given the recent trend in market contracts for good hitting outfielders with lead gloves, it will be interesting to see what kind of extension talks take place between Vlad and the Angels, if any, during this season. Any new contract for Guerrero is going to start with his age 35 season and he is already showing signs of age-related performance decline.

In fact, Guerrero’s WAR has fallen every year since 2004, when he posted a 5.6 WAR, to last season’s 2.4 figure. All that results in Vlad being overpaid each of the last three seasons according to FanGraphs estimates.

CHONE, ZiPS, Marcel and Oliver combined to project a slight rebound in offense for Vlad this coming year, but that was before it turned out that he was a year older. An extra year at that age, and track record, may result in a non trivial adjustment downward in expectations. With his defense at an abysmal -10 to -20 range and injury concerns, Guerrero really needs to scale back the number of games he plays in the field even further than the 99 he was down to last year.

If Vlad isn’t able to rebound, there could be some serious offensive issues in Anaheim, something the team can ill-afford especially with the news that Ervin Santana has at least a partial tear of his UCL.

Solidering on in our series breaking down each organization from worst to best.

Rankings So Far

#30: Washington Nationals
#29: Florida Marlins
#28: Houston Astros

#27: Kansas City Royals

Ownership: D

During David Glass’ tenure as the owner of the Royals, the team has operated with one of the smaller budgets in baseball, and while it has grown in recent years, the Royals are still one of the lesser spenders in baseball. They don’t have the revenue streams that larger market cities have, and will not be operating on a level playing field with those teams anytime soon. While Glass isn’t the meddler that Peter Angelos or Drayton McLane are, his hand is still too heavily involved in the direction of the baseball operations department.

Front Office: D

Dayton Moore came to Kansas City with a sterling reputation for talent evaluation from his time with the Atlanta Braves. His hiring was supposed to signify a new and better way of doing things for the Royals. Since taking over, Moore has made a long series of moves that have significantly tarnished his reputation and harmed the future of the franchise. The team has taken a spread-the-wealth approach to free agency, throwing a decent amount of money at a lot of average or worse players, wasting precious resources that could have easily been better spent on other players or in player development. Instead of maximizing their return on investment, as other small market teams have successfully done, the Royals have bought mediocrity on the free market, and failed to improve their team’s chances of winning in the process.

Major League Talent: C

There are good players in Kansas City, but like with the other teams at the bottom of these rankings, just not enough. Zack Greinke, David DeJesus, and Alex Gordon could all play for any team in baseball. Gil Meche has been a very pleasant surprise since signing as a free agent. Joakim Soria is one of the best closers in the game. But, the supporting cast is just not very good. The Jose Guillen signing was a disaster, and the acquisitions of guys like Mike Jacobs, Kyle Farnsworth, and Willie Bloomquist are just lateral moves that only serve to eat up payroll and waste roster spots.

Minor League Talent: C

Recent first round picks Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas provide legitimate impact bats for Kansas City’s future, but the dropoff after those two is fairly steep. There are some interesting arms behind those two, such as Dan Cortes and Tim Melville, but they aren’t the kinds of prospects that you like to see in your top five, especially for a rebuilding franchise. Having two premium position players is nice, but the depth just isn’t there. Much like the major league roster, there just aren’t enough good players here.

Overall: C-

The Royals are a clear step ahead of the previous three teams, but still have an awful lot of work to do before they could ever be considered a legitimate World Series contender. Unfortunately, the moves the team has been making over the last year don’t inspire an awful lot of confidence that the team is going to make the necessary transition in philosophy, and filling out the roster with replacement level veterans is simply never going to work. With a smaller paryoll, they have to emulate the Cleveland/Oakland/Minnesota/Atlanta philosophies of getting big returns on small invetments, and right now, that’s just not happening in Kansas City.

The Colorado Rockies organization has a strong minor league system, especially in terms of depth, although the club could use a few more pitching prospects and one powerful impact bat. There is an impressive group of middle-infield prospects.

AAA/AA
Don’t forget about Casey Weathers, the eighth overall selection in the 2007 draft. The right-handed closer prospect had a solid 2008 season, before undergoing Tommy John surgery in the off-season. He’ll miss all of 2009, but should be ready to go in 2010 when he could make his MLB debut. Last season in Double-A, Weathers allowed 34 hits in 44.1 innings and posted rates of 5.68 BB/9 and 10.96 K/9. Obviously the control needs to improve and the time off will not help.

Athletic center-fielder Dexter Fowler is one step away from the Majors. The switch-hitter had a breakout season in Double-A last year when he hit .335/.431/.515 with 20 stolen bases in 421 at-bats. The 22-year-old prospect was selected in the 14th round of the 2004 draft out of high school and has slowly climbed to the top of the prospect chart in Colorado. He also made his MLB debut in 2008 and hit just .154 in 13 games with no extra base hits or walks. Some time in Triple-A will likely do him good. After stealing just 20 bases in each of the past two seasons, he could stand to run more until his power develops further (nine homers in 2008).

Outfielder Seth Smith, 26, has earned the opportunity to prove his worth as a part-time player and pinch hitter. In his MLB debut in 2007, Smith was 5-for-8 in seven games (.625), as well as 3-for-6 (.500) in the playoffs. He then appeared in 67 games for Colorado in 2008 but managed just 108 at-bats, and hit .258/.350/.435. Smith appeared in 19 games as a starter and came off the bench in the other 48 games. The left-handed hitter had just 11 at-bats against southpaws.

Infielders Eric Young and Chris Nelson both spent the 2008 season in Double-A. Young had a solid season and hit .290/.391/.392 with 46 stolen bases in 403 at-bats. He also walked 61 times (13.1 BB%). He then dominated the Arizona Fall League and hit .430 with five home runs and 20 more stolen bases in 31 games. Nelson, the club’s first-round draft pick from 2004, struggled in 2008 and likely earned himself a repeat trip to Tulsa in 2009. The 23-year-old struggled at the plate, in the field, and with injuries. He hit just .237/.324/.346 in 283 at-bats, but the potential is still there.

A+/A
Right-hander Jhoulys Chacin has very quickly become the club’s best pitching prospect. He split 2008 between two A-ball affiliates and allowed just 143 hits in 177.2 combined innings (The innings total is a bit of a concern for such a young arm). Despite playing against better competition in the second half of the season, Chacin, 21, showed improved rates: 2.43 versus 1.63 BB/9 and 7.92 versus 8.41 K/9. He should open 2009 in Double-A. His repertoire includes a fastball that can touch the mid-90s, a solid change-up and a developing curveball.

Southpaw Christian Friedrich was selected 25th overall by the Rockies in the 2008 amateur draft after a solid college career. The 21-year-old had an up-and-down debut after posting a 3.25 ERA in eight short-season starts and then a 7.50 ERA in three A-ball games (A noticeable decrease in control/command was partially to blame). Regardless, he should open 2009 in A-ball where he will continue to work on a change-up to go with his average 88-92 mph fastball, curveball, and slider.

Two more infielders, Hector Gomez and Daniel Mayora, are being talked about in the Rockies system. Gomez has the higher profile despite hitting just .266/.309/.421 in A-ball in 2007. He also stole 20 bases and hit 11 home runs. He missed all but one game during the 2008 season due to a leg injury and Tommy John surgery. Mayora is less athletic and lacks the first-step quickness needed to be a stolen-base threat or to play shortstop regularly. He was left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft despite a career .297 average and potential above-average power for a middle infielder.

Catcher Michael McKenry has hit 40 home runs in the past two seasons in A-ball and has above-average power for his position. He also slugged nine homers in the Arizona Fall League this past off-season. The big question, though, is how well he’ll hit for average after batting .287 in 2007 and .258 in 2008. McKenry has the defensive skills to play in the Majors and threw out more than 40 percent of base stealers in 2008.

SS/R
Connor Graham, 23, is a tall, strong-bodied pitcher at 6’7”, 235 pounds who has a power arsenal, which includes a mid-90s fastball and slider. He also has a splitter/change-up. Graham was selected out of college in the fifth round of the 2007 draft. In A-ball last season, he posted a 2.26 ERA (3.32 FIP) and allowed just 99 hits in 147.1 innings, but walks were the problem as he allowed 83 (5.06 BB/9). He also had a strikeout rate of 8.43 K/9. If Graham can improve his control, he could be a dominating starter, but he is more likely headed to the bullpen where he could become a closer.

Wilin Rosario quietly climbed onto the prospect depth charts in 2008. The 20-year-old catcher hit .316/.371/.532 with a .217 ISO in 263 rookie ball at-bats. Rosario could stand to be a little more patient at the plate, but he produced respectable rates: 8.4 BB% and 21.7 K%. Defensively, he threw out 46 percent of base stealers and has the ability to remain behind the plate long-term.

Up Next: The Los Angeles Angels

Today, we continue on with the organization rankings. Before we do that, though, a couple quick notes.

1. This is not a review of how teams have performed in the past. This is a forward looking exercise. You can disagree with the ratings all you want, but you should understand that we’re not retroactively grading how teams have done prior to 2009 – we’re talking about how well they are equipped to contend for a World Series title going forward.

2. The overall grade at the end of each piece is not an average of the four subsection grades. These problems compound on top of each other in a multiplicative effect. When you multiply decimals, the product is smaller than the average of the parts. Same thing here.

Rankings So Far

#30: Washington Nationals
#29: Florida Marlins

#28: Houston Astros

Ownership: C-

Drayton McLane is a well capitalized man, ranked by Forbes in 2008 as the 301st richest person in America, so the Astros have enjoyed the ability to spend liberally on their major league payroll during his tenure as the team’s owner. However, while he provides enough money for the team to have a contender’s budget, that financing comes with strings attached, as he’s simply too involved in the decisions that should be left up to the baseball operations department. Micromanaging ownership is a significant barrier to overcome, and until McLane takes a more hands off approach, the Astros are going to have to overcome his meddling.

Front Office:: C

In an era where almost every team with a GM opening has gone with a first time hire, looking for someone who can combine traditional analysis with many of the advances made in the last ten years, the Astros decided that Ed Wade was the man to lead their organization forward, despite a pretty mediocre track record in Philadephia and a decidedly old school philosophy. Wade has some strengths in talent evaluation, but his ability to put together a championship roster is in question. As baseball moves forward in analytical processes, the Astros current front office is getting left behind.

Major League Talent: C+

Lance Berkman is a superstar. Roy Oswalt is a very good pitcher. Carlos Lee can hit. Wandy Rodriguez is a solid pitcher who flies under the radar. Hunter Pence is one of the better 25-year-old players in the game. But the dropoff after the top tier of talent is pretty substantial, and half the team’s payroll is tied up in their four highest paid players. The lack of quality young talent on the roster is problematic going forward. Even if the team committed to rebuilding, it would be nearly impossible to trade Miguel Tejada, and the return for guys like Carlos Lee would be minimal in this economic environment. Berkman and Oswalt both have full no trade rights. The team is stuck, in a lot of ways, with the roster it has, and that roster is both not good enough to contend and declining in ability by the year. That’s a bad middle ground to be in.

Minor League Talent: F

The Astros farm system is the worst in the game, bar none. Jason Castro is the top talent in the system, but even his upside is limited, as he profiles more as a good catcher but not a star. Beyond that, it’s rough – Brian Bogusevic has made a remarkably quick transformation from failed pitcher to intriguing outfielder, but like with Castro, there’s very little star potential. Jordan Lyles is about as far from the major leagues as any team’s best pitching prospect in recent memory. The team just lacks impact talent on the farm, and since they overachieved in 2008, they won’t even have the benefit of high draft choices this summer. It could be years before the Astros have something resembling another home grown nucleus coming through their system.

Overall: D

Their desire to be perpetual contenders over the last decade is coming back to haunt them, as the club isn’t talented enough to contend for a World Series, lacks the ability to rebuild quickly, and has the worst farm system in the game. By all rights, they need to start over, but they’re limited in their ability to do so. Berkman and Oswalt are good enough to keep them from being utterly horrible, but there’s just not enough around them to make an actually good team, and the front office isn’t adept enough at adding undervalued talent to build a championship roster around their stars. As those two decline, so will the Astros organization, and it could be a while before we see them in October again.

Going back to the WBC well, has anyone noticed the overabundance of bunting during the tournament thus far?

During the U.S.A. versus Venezuela game Sunday night, Jimmy Rollins lead the game off with a double, putting the U.S. in prime position to take an early lead with Dustin Pedroia, Chipper Jones, and Kevin Youkilis due up. Naturally, Pedroia – the reigning American League Most Valuable Player and the guy with a career .366 wOBA and 20 bunt attempts – bunted … well, tried to at least. The bunt failed, resulting in Rollins being picked off second. The blunder promptly eliminated the baserunner and gave Armando Galarraga enough wiggle room to escape the inning without damage.

Now obviously that’s a bit of an extreme. Not every bunt fails, but most bunts do result in outs. In case some people needed to be reminded: outs are bad.

In the 8th inning of yesterday’s Japan versus Korea game, team Japan trailed by one in the 8th inning. Ichiro Suzuki singled with one out. Ichiro is capable of stealing bases. In fact, as Jeff Sullivan appropriately highlighted, Ichiro excels at stealing bases in high leverage situations. It’s fair to say Ichiro is a smart and rather good baserunner, something team Japan should know, but naturally Ichiro was disallowed the chance to steal. Chang
Yong Lim threw to first upon entering the game, trying to keep Ichiro close, and on the next pitch Hiroyuki Nakajima bunted a pitch foul. Nakajima tried again and succeeded on the third pitch, allowing Ichiro to advance to second with two outs in the inning.

The next batter, Norichika Aoki, pushed ahead in the count 2-0 before grounding out to the pitcher and promptly ending the inning. Team Japan lost 1-0. Now I’m not sure the average run environments of the WBC, but using Tom Tango’s run expectancy chart, you can see that a runner on first with one out is expected to wield 0.573 runs. A runner on second with two outs is expected to result in 0.344 runs.

Okay, so maybe playing for one run isn’t a bad idea down by one in the 8th inning, but with two outs, a batter up who – small sample alert – has an OPS over 1.410 in this tournament, and one of the best base stealers in the world on first base, wouldn’t it make a bit more sense to not bunt?

More examples of bunting gone wayward came in last night’s Netherlands versus Puerto Rico affair.

In the 7th inning, and trailing by one run, Puerto Rico shortstop Mikes Aviles doubled to right field, putting the leadoff man on second with the bottom of the order due up. Yadier Molina bunted the first pitch he saw and rather than advance Aviles to third with one out, bunted too hard, giving first baseman Randall Simon the opportunity to look Aviles back to second. A pitch in the next at-bat hit Alex Cora, and then Jesus Feliciano had an infield single. Ramon Vazquez and Carlos Beltran both recorded outs, leaving the bases loaded. There’s no way of knowing what result would’ve followed if Molina successfully moves Aviles over or if Molina is allowed to swing, so I’ll withhold on speculation.

The Puerto Rican team saw two straight batters walk, setting the stage for Pudge Rodriguez – who has absolutely dominated in the tournament. The opposing team is struggling to throw strikes and Jose Oquendo asks Pudge attempt and bunt – giving up an out in the process – until he falls behind 1-2. This is with nobody out, two one, and one of the better hitting catchers facing less competition. Pudge lines the next pitch foul and then strikes out swinging, leaving Aviles to attempt and tie the game. Naturally, the Netherlands pitcher continues the walking trend and walks Aviles on five pitcher and Yadier Molina drives in two with a line drive double.

It’s not that managers are willing to bunt, rather that they’re bunting in poor situations that have adverse effects on their teams chances of scoring. With so many first time managers, the trend is a bit discouraging. The WBC might succeed in expanding the borders of the game, but the boundaries that have held managers back for years remain unaltered.

The Phillies and Rays, who met in the 2008 World Series, happened to be the two best fielding teams in baseball last season, tied with a UZR of +74.3 runs. Third on that list was the Oakland Athletics, who finished third in the AL West at 75-86. The Athletics have been known for defense for a while now, as GM Billy Beane has shown a knack for combining pitch-to-contact arms with solid defenders. The Oakland pitching staff also performed well, virtually deadlocked with the Rays, and ahead of the Phillies, in value wins. With a decent offense, the Athletics may have looked pretty darn good last season.

Of course, the offense was anything but decent save for Jack Cust, and its ineptitude canceled out the defensive contributions. Looking at the nine players who primarily comprised the Athletics offense, their slash line was an ugly .245/.323/.378. If you remove Cust, the line drops to .247/.315/.364, so it becomes evident just how much he added to the OBP and SLG.

In attempting to rectify the situation, Beane acquired Matt Holliday, brought back Jason Giambi, and emptied his pockets further for Orlando Cabrera and Nomar Garciaparra. Holliday is a tremendous offensive talent likely to take a slight step back due to the change in scenery from an NL hitter-friendly park to an AL pitcher-friendly park. He will still be very valuable, though, and a huge upgrade over the likes of Emil Brown or Rajai Davis.

Giambi is likely to spend most of his time as a designated hitter, though with Cust’s defensive struggles, the former MVP will probably get his fair share of innings at first base. For however many games he plays at first base, splitting time with Daric Barton, you can count on that position seeing a definitive rise in offensive production.

Orlando Cabrera is a better fielder than Bobby Crosby and though he isn’t going to light the world on fire with his bat, he will still be a better hitter than Crosby as well. The swap may very well add +1.5 to +2 wins depending on how well Cabrera utilizes his glove. And Nomar will primarily face lefties, whom he has hurt over the last few seasons. With Eric Chavez hurt and Jack Hannahan, well, not being a good hitter, I would think Nomar and Hannahan would platoon in some form at the hot corner, with Garciaparra facing lefties.

The As have several positions that will require playing time decisions, but the increase in offensive productivity not necessarily at the expense of defensive prowess brings the As to around 83-85 wins right now, which could end up being good enough for the division. Last year, their starting lineup featured four players who added +1 win or less. This season, even if some of those players still receive playing time in a platoon situation, expect that number to shrink. Giambi might not have much left and Holliday certainly isn’t going to re-sign after the season, but do not sleep on the Oakland Athletics in 2009.

Right about the same time that Jon Lester got his recent deal from the Red Sox, Scott Baker signed a four year, $15.25 million extension with a $9.25 million team option for a fifth year. Like Lester, Baker is entering his final year of team control so it sets us up nicely for a direct comparison between the two.

Both pitchers receive similar playing time estimates, around 160-165 innings pitched, though there’s reason to believe that Lester could beat that given his 210 innings last season. Of course, that also comes with the risk of a young pitcher who took a big jump in innings will increase his odds at injury. Overall, I think the risk and reward balance out enough to call it a push.

Baker’s performance projections are remarkably consistent, ranging from 3.97 to 4.01 FIP among CHONE, Marcel and ZiPS. Lester is right around the same marks with a low of 3.95 and a high of 4.17 from the same three systems. Baker looks to have a slight (emphasis on slight) edge on projected performance, though again, there’s good reason to think the systems are undervaluing Lester based on his record before 2008.

That projection for Baker results in about a three-win player going forward, meaning that the Twins are paying less than $3 million per win going by the 40/60/80 arbitration award scheme. Even if the option ends up being exercised, the overall value only rises a bit.

Adding in Baker’s option to his contract to bring it up to the same time frame as Lester’s guaranteed years leaves Baker with $24.5 million compared to Lester’s $30 million. While I find the Lester contract to be pretty even for both sides, leaning a bit toward Boston’s favor but with a lot of possible variance. Baker looks like a more stable quantity, and a pretty good deal for the Twins.

Continuing on with the organizational rankings series, which kicked off this afternoon. Due to popular demand, I’m going to add in a section on ownership, which will cover the team’s financial health as well as the qualities of the upper level executives not in the baseball operations department.

Rankings So Far

#30: Washington Nationals

#29: Florida Marlins

Ownership: F

What can I say about Jeff Loria? He almost single-handedly dismantled baseball in Montreal, ran the Expos into the ground, and then conspired with Bud Selig to pull off a deal that saw him sell the Expos to MLB and he took ownership of the Florida Marlins. Since then, he’s run the Marlins as a glorified farm team for the rest of baseball, offering little financial support to the baseball operations department and giving them a shoestring budget that requires them to dump almost every last bit of talent from the organization once they become eligible for salary arbitration. As he did in Montreal, he’s focused on getting a new stadium from the local government, and will put no effort into fielding a contending team until the city complies. At this point, he’s in the running for the title of worst baseball owner of all time. And he doesn’t appear to be going anywhere.

Front Office: B-

Larry Beinfest and company actually do pretty good work, considering what they are given to work with. They scout well, and continue to unearth useful players on the cheap. His acquisition of Hanley Ramirez has worked out better than even he could have imagined, and by surrounding Ramirez with guys like Dan Uggla (Rule 5 draft), Jorge Cantu (minor league free agent), and Cody Ross (acquired for cash), the Marlins were able to field a respectable offense while getting by on a payroll of approximately $0. They’ve sacrificed a lot of defense in the process, however, and the formula will never result in a World Championship, but it’s probably as good as anyone could do, given the circumstances.

Major League Talent: B-

Last summer, we ranked Ramirez as the second most valuable commodity in baseball. The Marlins have their young superstar locked up long term, but with their payroll, they’ll continue to struggle to get enough good position players around him. There is some talent there, with Uggla and Jeremy Hermida providing some offense and Cameron Maybin looking like a potential top of the order hitter and center fielder, but it’s the pitching staff that will carry this team. Ricky Nolasco is an all-star in the making, and it’s tough to find a better group of arms than Josh Johnson, Chris Volstad, Andrew Miller, and Anibal Sanchez rounding out the rotation. That’s an extremely talented group, but there’s significant health questions with almost all of them, and the Marlins defense won’t do them any favors. But, with a few good hitters and some good arms, this is a team that should win about as often as they lose, and has some upside beyond that.

Minor League Talent: B+

There’s some serious upside down on the farm. Mike Stanton has as much raw power as any prospect in the game, and Logan Morrison, Kyle Skipworth, and Matt Dominguez are all among the better prospects in the game at their respective positions. Gaby Sanchez and Chris Coghlan provide some more polished, lower upside depth, and Sean West, Ryan Tucker, and Jose Ceda give the team some more good arms on the way. Player development is the strength of the Marlins organization, and they continue to excel in this area.

Overall: D

Ownership screws the whole situation up here, as the rest of the franchise actually performs pretty well. With a better owner committed to winning baseball and developing some positive revenue streams, the Marlins could be a force in the NL East. Instead, the good work of their baseball people is wasted as the team acts as a conduit to shift talent to other major league clubs. The Marlins are getting a lot of stuff right, but the overriding direction of the organization is not towards winning, and that cripples the overall health of the organization.