As the Florida Marlins head into the final two months of the season, a crucial two months, there is good news involving some of the teams key contributers.

The team is expected to recall catcher Matt Treanor from his rehab assignment with Class A Jupiter on Wednesday. Treanor has been on the DL since July 8th with a hip strain. Treanor went 1-3 with an RBI in his latest outing with Jupiter on Tuesday and is expected to split time with John Baker upon his return to the Marlins. Baker has been performing better in the past few days, but the addition of Treanor will be a needed boost behind the plate and another reliable bat in the line up.

Josh Willingham is making strides at the plate after missing nearly 2 full months of the season with a strained back. During his time on the DL, Willingham didn’t even swing a bat due to his injury. As a result, when he returned to the team June 24th he was cold at the plate. Recently though Willingham had an 8 game hitting streak and is starting to regain his form, just in time for the playoff push.

Lastly, Andrew Miller is still rehabbing from right knee tendinitis. Miller, acquired from Detroit in the Cabrera & Willis deal, exceeded expectations early in the season. However, in June his form was not the same and he was placed on the DL. He threw 1 inning for the Marlins’ Gulf Coast League team on Monday and is scheduled to pitch for Class A Jupiter on Sunday. If all goes well, Miller would be a welcome addition to the bull pen for the stretch run.

Jamie Moyer must have felt invincible when it came to facing the Florida Marlins. The 45 year old lefty for the Philadelphia Phillies came into Tuesday’s game against the Marlins an impressive 10-0 in his career against the Marlins. If Florida wanted to get their road trip off on the right foot, they would need to change Moyer’s luck against them.

The Marlins got after Moyer early. In the 2nd inning with the bases loaded, Moyer walked Jeremy Hermida to open the scoring. Later on in the 4th inning, Josh Willingham hit into a fielder’s choice that drove in another run.

Moyer flirted with danger all night, he was able to escape the first four innings of the game with just 2 earned runs and had forced the Marlins to strand 9 men on the bases during that span. Eventually Moyer was pulled and the Marlins beat up on the Phillies bullpen tacking on 6 more runs to win the opening game of their crucial 6 game road trip 8-2.

Josh Johnson out shined Moyer throwing 6 scoreless innings and allowing just 5 hits. Since returning from Tommy John surgery, Johnson has gone 2-0 and the Marlins are 5-0 in games he has started this season. It appears as though the big right hander is back on track and fully recovered from his injuries.

The Marlins have two more games against the Phillies and then head up to Shea Stadium for 3 against the New York Mets. There is no better time than now for the Marlins to assert themselves and take the upper hand in the NL East.

For the Florida Marlins, the post season starts Tuesday, or at least they should view it that way. With the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, and the Marlins having Monday off, its as you were in the standings. The Phillies hold a 2 1/2 game lead in first, the Marlins are in second, and the Mets are 1/2 game behind the Marlins in 3rd. Starting Tuesday the Marlins will make a critical road trip through the north east to face their divisional foes. The test beings Tuesday with 3 games in Philadelphia and then a 3 game weekend series at Shea Stadium against the Mets.

So far this season the Marlins are 5-4 against the Phillies and 4-5 against the Mets. Those numbers will have to improve if they wish to put the Mets farther behind them and surpass the Phillies for first place. The chips are falling into place for the Marlins to do well on this trip, they have the heart of their rotation going in Philadelphia with Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez, and Chris Volstad taking the mound in the 3 games. This means Ricky Nolasco, Scott Olsen, and then Josh Johnson again, would face the Mets. The Marlins’ playoff hopes are certainly in their hands the next 6 days.

It will be critical for the Marlins to do well on this road trip, if for no other reason than the fact that their schedule gets no easier in the next few weeks. If the Marlins falter against their NL East foes and fall behind, it will be no easy task next week to catch up as they host the St. Louis Cardinals for 4 games and the Chicago Cubs for 3 games. The Cardinals series will have its own significance as the Marlins are currently 2 1/2 games back of the NL Wild Card spot, with the Milwaukee Brewers currently holding said spot and the Cardinals 2 games ahead of the Marlins, 1/2 game behind the Brewers.

There is no doubting the fact that the next week will do a lot to sort out the Marlins playoff aspirations, lets just hope that this weekend we are still talking about their playoff run.

After 6 innings on Sunday, all looked well for the Florida Marlins. They were leading the Colorado Rockies 2-0 and Scott Olsen was dealing. Olsen went 6 innings with 0 ER, 2BB, and 6Ks. All looked to be in place for the Marlins to win and keep the pressure on Philadelphia. Then in the bottom of the 6th, with the bases full of Marlins, Olsen was due up to bat. As usually happens in these situations in the NL, the pitcher was lifted and Luis Gonzalez was came in for Olsen. Gonzalez struck out, the Marlins didn’t cash in, and the tide turned.

The Rockies proceeded to beat up the Marlins bullpen and instead of Florida taking 3 of 4, Colorado left Miami with a split of the 4 game series. To be fair to the bullpen, the Marlins bats didn’t exactly help them out late in the game. Aside from the missed opportunity with the bases loaded in the 6th, the Marlins were able to load the bases with 1 out in the bottom of the 9th, trailing 3-2. A well placed single would do the job of tying and probably even winning the game. Instead, Rockies closer Brian Fuentes retired Josh Willingham and Jorge Cantu to end the threat and the game.

Generally a split of a 4 game series wouldn’t be devastating as a sweep of a 4 game series is very hard, and 3 of 4 would have been nice. But in this case the Marlins blew a bigger opportunity than winning 3 of 4 from the Rockies. The New York Mets had already lost, so the Marlins had a chance to get a 1 1/2 game buffer between themselves and the 3rd place Mets, and also a chance to stay within 1 1/2 games of the 1st place Philadelphia Phillies who won their game later in the evening. Instead the Marlins remain precariously 1/2 game ahead of the Mets, and Philadelphia is now comfortably in 1st with a 2 1/2 game lead. This week’s games will be a tremendous indicator of the Marlins post season chances.

The defeat of the Colorado Rockies on Thursday evening marked something more significant than just another win. Anibal Sanchez returned to the mound, pitching 5 2/3 innings of extremely effective baseball. Sanchez allowed 2 runs and 6 hits with 4 Ks while throwing 95 pitches. The Marlins went on to win comfortably, 12-2.

On the grander scale it marked the completion of the Florida Marlins young rotation. With Sanchez’s return to the mound, the fearsome foursome of Ricky Nolasco, Scott Olsen, Josh Johnson, and Anibal Sanchez was once again complete in the Marlins rotation.

As rookies in 2006, the foursome proved difficult for opposing teams to deal with. Nolasco went 11-11 with a 4.82 ERA, Olsen was 12-10 with a 4.04 ERA, Johnson 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA, and Sanchez was 10-3 with a 2.83 ERA. No other team has ever had four rookies win 10 or more games in a single season. 2006 however was the last time the four were together in the rotation. Johnson injured his elbow and had to undergo Tommy John surgery. Sanchez had rotator cuff issues in his shoulder and missed most of last season.

The four are now back together and, most importantly, healthy. All of this couldn’t have come at a better time. Though they are all young, they are all blessed with talent and will be crucial as the Marlins chase down a playoff spot. We’ve seen it time and time again, good pitching is what sustains teams in the stretch run and into the playoffs. The Marlins now have a healthy, strong rotation to take the fight to the Mets and Phillies in the NL East.

Give credit to the Marlins, they showed for perhaps the first time that they were willing to go after an already established big name. Manny Ramirez has clearly been discontent in Boston over the past year and a half, as a result the Red Sox finally gave serious consideration to trading him. Imagine the surprise all across baseball when the Florida Marlins were the team being named as recipients of Ramirez.

The proposed deal would have sent Manny Ramirez to the Marlins, Jeremy Hermida and prospects would have been sent from Florida to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Boston would have received slugger Jason Bay from Pittsburgh. As the deadline approached today however, talks fizzled, and the Marlins pulled out of the deal.

So who is to blame? One would have to say the Marlins are to blame for failing in their bid to receive Ramirez. The Marlins, instead of being content with Ramirez, were asking for minor leaguers, and cash exceeding the $7 million offered by Boston. Boston was not quite to the point with Ramirez that they were willing to dump him off no matter the cost, the Marlins simply asked for too much.

Ramirez’s sometimes questionable outfield effort, large contract, and age (36) no doubt prompted the Marlins to seek the extra cash and prospects. In the end though, positives must outweigh negatives. Ramirez would have brought a .299 batting average, 20 HRs, and 68 RBIs to an already potent offense. As a two time World Series Champion and 2004 World Series MVP he would have brought unquestionable playoff experience to a young team in the thick of a playoff chase. On top of all that, Ramirez’s star power would have put some butts in seats at Dolphin Stadium, especially in a city with a large population from the Dominican Republic, Ramirez’s home.

The trade deadline has come and gone, but the Florida Marlins still have a space that desperately needs to be filled to bolster their roster for the playoff run. As the deadline approached, the Marlins made inquiries for relief pitchers and catchers, but were only successful in acquiring a reliever.

The usual starting catcher Matt Treanor, who began a rehab assignment with A Jupiter on Thursday, is trying to return from a hip injury. MRI exams revealed that he has 3 muscle tears in his hip and pelvic regions. Treanor is determined to play through the pain and delay surgery until the post-season, but there is no guarantee he will be able to do so.

The Marlins do have John Baker, Mike Rabelo, and Paul Hoover available as catchers, unfortunately Baker boasts the best batting average, at .204. Rabelo and Hoover are batting .202 and .200 respectively. The Marlins’ targets before the deadline were Bengie Molina of the San Fransisco Giants, Gerald Laird of the Texas Rangers, and Ryan Doumit of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Molina was thought to be their first choice, but has a sizable contract. Laird and Doumit however both have reasonable contracts, and are putting up better numbers this season, batting .312 and .333 respectively. Doumit would likely be the best fit for the Marlins as he would bring a reliable bat to the bottom of the batting order and is also a dependable back up behind the plate.

At this point however, the Marlins have to hope one of the catchers they had their eye on is placed on waivers. At that point the Marlins could try and bid for that player. Assuming no other team bids for the same player, they have themselves a new catcher. If, however, another team bids things can get complicated in a hurry.

By now we’ve all had time to digest the fact that Manny Ramirez will not be calling Miami home. The deal between the Boston Red Sox and the Florida Marlins fell apart, and Manny will now be sporting Dodger Blue in Los Angeles.

The Marlins did make a move before the trade deadline however, acquiring left handed relief pitcher Arthur Rhodes from the Seattle Mariners for minor leaguer Gaby Hernandez. Rhodes, 38, comes in with a record of 2-1 and an ERA of 2.86 in 22 innings. Hernandez was 2-8 with a 7.24 ERA at AAA Albuquerque and 3-0 with a 4.30 ERA at AA Carolina.

In the end this is a trade that will perhaps prove worthless. The Marlins made this move to bolster their bullpen and add a lefty arm down there as well. However, with the additions of Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez to the starting rotation, Mark Hendrickson moves to the bullpen providing another lefty arm to ease the work load of Renyel Pinto. The Marlins also have Taylor Tankersley who, after starting the season with the Marlins going 0-1 with an ERA of 8.64 in 24 appearances, has regained his focus in the minor leagues and posted a 1.23 ERA in 21 games and allowed 0 earned runs in his last 10 games.

Ultimately, the Marlins did add another left hander to the bullpen, and that will allow Renyel Pinto’s arm to take a nap once and awhile. As the season draws to a close and the NL East race gets hotter, lets hope Rhodes has enough left in the tank to make this trade worthwhile.