A Line to Ride the Pine

The bench is an often overlooked aspect on a Major League Baseball team.  Think about it for a second, the bench is mostly filled with aging veterans who can still contribute but not enough to warrant 500 at bats in a season.   Besides these, the bench contains minor league fringe players who are not the top prospects aka future of the team but guys who are too good for AAA but not quite good enough to be a regular in the major leagues.  This makes it sound as if the bench is not important.  That could not be farther from the truth.   It is an extremely important part of every team and it does as much as any other part of the team to determine who hoists the World Series trophy.

Going into the 2008 exhibition season, the Marlins have an array of bench options.    With a team such as the Marlins, players who would be locked into bench roles with most other teams will have a chance to compete for a starting role.   This gives the Marlins a chance to have a better bench than the rest of the league.   Among those competing for starting jobs are Jorge Cantu, Jose Castillo, Alfredo Amezaga, Jason Wood, Cody Ross, and Cameron Maybin.     There is a good chance every one of these players will make the team for Opening Day 2008 with the majority of them taking places on the bench of course.

In the case of center field,  it is a battle between Cody Ross, Alfredo Amezaga, and Cameron Maybin.   The favorite going in would have to be Maybin.  While he is young and not tested in the major leagues much yet — he is indisputably the future in the position for the Marlins.   If he has a moderate Spring, expect him to take the starting job.  If he has a considerably poor Spring, then it is more likely he opens the year in the minor leagues while either Ross or Amezaga holds down the fort until he is ready.   Maybin is not a candidate for the bench as he will be getting at bats somewhere in the organization from day one.    If the battle for center field does come down to Ross vs Amezaga, then Ross would be the favorite to win the job.   Ross had a tremendous 2007 campaign in limited use, and by starting would also allow Alfredo Amezaga to serve as a utility player on the bench where is more useful to the team.

As far as third base goes, it will be a battle until the end of Spring Training most likely as newly signed Jorge Cantu and Jose Castillo battle for the starting job along with incumbents Jason Wood and Alfredo Amezaga.  Once again, Amezaga is more valuable to the team off the bench as a backup for many positions so he is unlikely to win the job.   Wood did a great job off the bench last year and could possibly be productive as a regular, however chances are the team elects to keep him coming off the bench where he proved to be an asset.   That means it comes down to Cantu and Castillo for the job most likely.   It should be completely determined by who has the better Spring as both come in with an equal chance of taking the job.  The one who loses out will most likely make the team as a bench player as both have experience at multiple positions.

The Marlins have a lot of choices for who will start every day and who will be on the bench and wait to help the team out in a clutch situation when called upon.   There’s a line to ride the pine, and there’s no reason to overlook any of those players waiting on that line.