The Peter Principle
Newly-minted POBO Bendix shouldn't be the target of your ire
At 6-20 after getting swept in Atlanta, the Marlins have matched the worst 26-game start in franchise history.
With 7 series losses and one split so far, they’re winless in their first 8 series for the 5th time ever, for the first time since 2013.
Their offseason of indolence has left them with a lineup even more impotent than last season’s bottom-of-the-league bunch, on an early-season pace for the worst batting average (.216), on-base percentage (.273), slugging percentage (.320) and OPS (.593) and the 2nd-fewest runs per game (3.38) in franchise history.
The results turned in by their injury-ravaged rotation are a near-daily reminder of the oft-repeated theme over the last year on VFTB that they don’t have nearly the amount of pitching depth that many believe.
Their over-taxed bullpen continues to take on water.
Most nights, the defense and base running would drive Tom Emanski to change the channel.
And while Bruce Sherman pinches pennies, there don’t seem to be many low-cost game-changing answers coming out of a farm system that was ranked 29th out of 30 this spring by MLB Pipeline.
But they say it’s always darkest before the dawn, don’t they?
Beginning tomorrow night the Marlins play what, on paper, looks like the easiest 10-game stretch they’ll encounter all season: 4 at home against the improved but still challenged Nationals, 3 at home against the hapless Rockies and 3 in Oakland against the woebegone Athletics. Each of those clubs finished last in its division last season, and each was projected by most to repeat the feat in 2024.
Could the Marlins actually string some series wins together?
If they’re unable to do so over the next week and a half, the possibility of a miserable summer spent on a collision course with 100-plus losses could suddenly loom large.
For the folks in the executive suites at loanDepot park, getting the better of the Nats, Rockies and Athletics could provide a welcome—albeit temporary—respite from the fan ire that, in some circles, is turning into something that’s even worse.
Fan apathy.
And while an 8-2 Marlins run against a string of 2nd-division clubs wouldn’t cause the Braves and Phillies to lose a drop of perspiration, it would at least be something.
Right?
During this ghastly opening month, there’s been a lot of social media venom directed toward first-year president of baseball operations Peter Bendix.
But this isn’t his fault.
It’s the owner who slammed the brakes on any momentum the Marlins may have generated during their surprising 2023 playoff season with his moratorium on spending. Sherman knew as soon as last season ended he wouldn’t authorize meaningful roster additions ahead of 2024.
That direction made it easy for former general manager Kim Ng to walk away. With her track record in the game, she didn’t need the job.
That’s similar to the decision Don Mattingly made early in the 2022 season that he had no interest in returning to manage the Marlins in 2023—no matter how the “mutual decision” to part ways was spun publicly to allow Sherman to save face. And Mattingly’s decision was similar to the one reigning NL Manager of the Year Skip Schumaker has apparently made looking ahead to 2025, a decision he made after only one season on the job, and a successful one at that.
Talented, respected baseball people are showing they don’t want or need jobs with Sherman’s Marlins enough to tolerate the grief that comes with them.
You know who did want the job though? The guy who had never before had the opportunity to have the final say in a baseball operations department. A first-time head man, Bendix was happy to sign on for the title, the paycheck and the challenge.
Who can blame him? And I’m sure he remains hopeful he can build an operational infrastructure that, over some number of years, has a chance to make the Marlins competitive on a semi-regular basis. Only time will tell.
But at some point, Sherman is going to have to allow his POBO to spend some money.
For Sherman, talk about trying to win “the Rays way” with the Tampa Bay import was nothing more than a vehicle, he hoped, to buy himself a few more years of patience from what’s left of one of the smallest fan bases in professional sports.
When he bought the team in 2017, traded away all the team’s stars and began the process of replacing virtually everyone of note on the baseball side or the business side of the operation, he asked fans to “trust the process.” Now in year 7 of ownership, he’s asking for a do-over, for a chance to restart the process from scratch. This time he’s going to get it right. Just trust him.
His hope is that having more assistant general managers than healthy major league-caliber starting pitchers will lead to victories.
And he’s hoping that, in the meantime, someone will buy some tickets.
While the Marlins try to market last season’s Wild Card run and the success of the 2023 World Baseball Classic and 2024 Caribbean Series at loanDepot park, they’re once again 29th out of 30 major league clubs in attendance, ahead of only the dead-man-walking Oakland Athletics.
In fact, the Marlins are the only one of the bottom 5 clubs in 2024 per-game attendance that is not deep in the throes of an effort to leave its current home.
The #26 White Sox are seeking public funding for a new ballpark closer to the heart of downtown Chicago. The #27 Royals are contemplating what’s next after losing a county-wide referendum earlier this month that would have helped fund a new park. The #28 Rays are trying to figure out how to pay for their proposed new home next to the Tropicana Field site in St. Petersburg. And the A’s are playing out the string in their final season in Oakland before moving to a Triple-A park in Sacramento for at least the next 3 years as they try to firm up an eventual relocation to Las Vegas that—with each passing day—looks less and less like a fait accompli.
So, yes, the Marlins and their fans could use some good news.
Could it come as the result of some fortuitous scheduling over the next week and a half?
It’s always darkest before the dawn.
ONE LAST THING…
Looking down the road, I see the Marlins are scheduled to host the 3-21 White Sox in a 3-game series over the 4th of July Weekend.
Good seats remain.
Far be it from me to offer promotional ideas to the astute marketing mavens at 501 Marlins Way, but how about this suggestion:
At each of the 3 games that weekend, the first 5,000 fans through the gates will be permitted to leave before the game begins.
While you’re here…
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Learn more about one-on-one play-by-play coaching from Glenn Geffner via Zoom at glenngeffner.com.
As usual I enjoyed your commentary. Bottom line, the Marlins have never been good for multiple seasons. At least in the Lorria/Samson era, they were mostly average. I do not understand this guy Sherman. Okay so he overpaid for a team and inherited a lot of debt. But shouldn't he and his investors seen that. You would think a man as successful as Sherman would be smarter than this. Just picture two years down the road. If you think attendance is bad now, who is going to show up for another "rebuild" The Marlins at this point are a team of veterans past their prime (Bell, Garcia, Anderson) and guys who are mostly AAA depth kind of players. They did have players who performed well in AAA and in short stints at the MLB level last year (Meyers, Edwards, Amaya, Johnston). Strangely enough all of them were shipped back to the minors, traded, or developed a "mysterious" injury. Could those players have performed any worse than the present roster. You had to know the bullpen was going to be a disaster coming into the season. You had to realize they had too many inexperienced and unproven guys in the starting rotation. Unfortunately, I do not see the situation improving. Drafting and developing a roster of MLB players will take 4-5 years starting from today. By then who is going to even be interested enough to care. I'm sorry but this guy Sherman just doesn't seem very smart. I stopped going to games several years ago. I used to drive down from Central Florida a couple of times a year. The last game I attended, I was there early and walked around the stadium. I passed by one of the color analysts, a former player (Hollandsworth). I didn't want to bother him but did not want to pass by him in silence eother. So I simply passed by and said something nice, like "I like you show or your work", something like that. He flashed me the most insulting, condescending look like he was better than me. That was the last game I attended. The team is bad, the stadium is hard getting to, and team officials are rude. I find myself watching less and less and certainly won't be spending my time and money to attend games at the stadium. Frankly I think Mr. Hollansworth (I know he was fired) and the team owes me an apology.