The Florida Marlins’ dreams of their own, baseball specific stadium in Miami will soon be resolved. The final vote by Miami city and Miami-Dade county commissioners is set to be held on February 13th. The vote on the Marlins’ new stadium will be the culmination of a decade long struggle to find a permanent home for the Marlins in South Florida.

Everything is at stake in this vote, the future of the Marlins and the future of Miami on the national sports stage. Whether people like to admit to it or not, a cities image on the national stage is greatly improved by having professional sports franchises. That image is even more powerful if your city has a team in each of the nation’s major sports leagues, the NHL, NFL, NBA, and MLB. Miami is one of a few regions of the country that enjoy the luxury of 4 professional sports teams along with the likes of Boston, New York, Washington DC, Philadelphia, the Twin Cities, Dallas, the Bay Area, Chicago, and Phoenix.

The Marlins’ future, at least in the eyes of its ownership, is also at stake. Should the city and county block the new stadium and either set it back further or lead to its demise, the Marlins’ days in South Florida could be numbered. Marlins’ fans have for years had to put up with talk of their team being contracted or moved to a city more loving of baseball. No one should assume current Florida owner Jeffrey Loria wouldn’t consider this a viable option if it can make his wallet fatter.

Perhaps the most concerning aspect of all this is that a vote in the Marlins favor on the 13th doesn’t guarantee them their new stadium. Critics question whether the city and county will be able to move forward with the project from a financial standpoint. The current economic crisis and credit crunch are going to make borrowing money tougher for the city and county, and could possibly delay construction as material costs rise. Both the city and county are looking at a cost of around $10 million each for road improvement and the movement of power lines at the Little Havana site. Another $1.7 million is expected from both governments to keep the site “green”.

As it stands now, the total for the stadium comes to $609 million. Miami-Dade county is putting up 2/3 of that total, the city of Miami is donating the land for the stadium, and the Marlins are putting up $120 million up front and will repay the county another $35 million through rent. Upon moving into their new ballpark, the Marlins will change their name to the Miami Marlins and will be required (via lease agreement) to remain in the new stadium for 35 years.

In the end, if this stadium deal were to completely fall through for the Marlins, it will be the city of Miami that pays in the end. The Marlins aren’t going to disappear as a franchise all together. If they continue to be stuck playing in Dolphin Stadium and are not as profitable as ownership would like to see, don’t be surprised to see the franchise pack its bags and head for greener pastures. The Marlins, in the short history, have proven successful and look perched to make another run at success with their young, talented group of players. The Marlins’ 2 World Series titles in their history make them just as successful as the Dolphins, and more successful than the Heat and Panthers combined.

In many ways the future of the relationship between Miami and the Marlins will be drastically altered on February 13th. The two sides will either be linked together for several decades (which can hopefully be beneficial to both parties) or they can move farther apart, perhaps ending in the departure of the Marlins from South Florida someday. As a huge Marlins fan myself, I hope the City and County see fit to get this deal done and get the Marlins a new home.

Obviously the Florida Marlins are very anxious to get the 2009 MLB season underway. Anxious to build off of last years surprise success, the Florida Marlins’ pitching staff has already reported to the team’s Spring Training complex in Jupiter, Florida.

Florida’s projected starters in the pitching rotation are among the players already in camp and going through light through drills in addition to working on conditioning. Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco, Chris Volstad, and Anibal Sanchez, all prospective starters, have been joined by relievers Logan Kensing, Jose Ceda, Dan Meyer, and Taylor Tankersley.

Andrew Miller, a starter early last season before patella tendinitis in his right knee sidelined him, is expected to arrive in camp early this week. Miller is expected to be the final piece of the starting rotation, assuming his knee can hold up this season. The 23 year old has been receiving treatment on his knee throughout the offseason and has been going through throwing programs in the offseason as well.

The Marlins’ pitching staff is likely to be the backbone and strength of this team in the 2009 season. Last season the starting rotation in particular was a key reason for the Marlins strong performance. Finding an ace of the staff will be important, finding that pitcher you turn to in a tight spot. Ricky Nolasco was a defacto ace last season experiencing the best season of his career. Josh Johnson’s outstanding return from injury and surgery however make him a front runner to be the ace. Figuring out the back end of the pitching staff (relievers and closers) will be critical too as that was one of the Marlins weaknesses last season.

The Florida Marlins ensured their pitching rotation would retain its best returning starter on Tuesday by signing Ricky Nolasco to a 1 year, $2.4 million deal. Nolasco and the Marlins were not seeing eye to eye on money for the contract until yesterday, they were previously $200,000 apart from each other. Getting a deal done with Nolasco yesterday helped the team avoid going to arbitration with him.

Nolasco’s return ensures that the Marlins keep a key piece of their rotation, and perhaps the best member of the rotation. Nolasco will likely be at the top of the rotation, followed by Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez, and Chris Volstad.

Nolasco really found his form in 2008 achieving many career firsts and snapping several team records. Nolasco was a career best 15-8 in 32 starts last season over the course of 212 1/3 innings pitched. He had an ERA of 3.52 and struck out 186 batters while walking only 42. Nolasco set teams records for the most strikeouts in a month with 51 and threw the Marlins first complete game in 301 attempts by Florida starters. Nolasco also threw his first career complete game shutout.

The Marlins were very smart to make sure they did what was necessary to keep Nolasco. Though he is far from being an ace that would have dominated a huge salary elsewhere, he would have made a solid #2 starter for any team in baseball. Keeping Nolasco ensures the Marlins have their most seasoned pitcher returning and provides an anchor to their pitching rotation.

The Florida Marlins dreams of a new ballpark are again on hold as Miami city and Miami-Dade county officials have delayed a vote on the park. Officials have said the vote has been delayed in part due to the holidays and the presidential inauguration.

The Marlins have been playing in Dolphin Stadium since their inception in 1993, and have had dreams for at least a decade now of getting a new, baseball only ballpark. In the recent months the deal for a new ballpark seemed to have gained unstoppable momentum, especially after the major remaining lawsuits against the deal were shot down by judges.

Now, the Marlins must again wait for a vote on construction of their new ballpark. The Marlins’ new park is suppose to be built on the site of the now demolished Orange Bowl and is a part of a grand scheme to revitalize the area. Jeffrey Loria is not exactly one of baseballs better owners, running the team with extremely tight purse strings. Hopefully this will be the last delay this project sees, because the longer this process takes, the less faith Loria will have that his team will get its own stadium. Loria is not a man to be trusted and is not above moving the team elsewhere.

Websites, newspapers, and fans in Miami were abuzz over the weekend after an ESPNdeportes.com story that suggested veteran right hander Pedro Martinez may be in the midst of negotiations to join the Florida Marlins as a free agent for the 2009 season. I don’t know that I speak for many in saying this, but Pedro, thanks but no thanks.

Marlins officials and sources have been quoted as saying no such deal is in the works. Speculation abounds as to whether or not the story is true though. Some believe a deal really is/was being worked on but that Florida either can’t afford Martinez or he isn’t really interested. Rumor has it though that the Marlins are Martinez’ first choice to play for in 2009.

The Marlins are in NO need of the services of Martinez in their starting rotation. On top of that, the price tag he would bring would ruin the Marlins ability to go after any other players (young or not) that could actually help the team. Martinez would bring veteran leadership and playoff experience to a starting rotation lacking both qualities. However, Martinez is 37 years old and in the last 3 season he played with the New York Mets, he managed only 48 starts due to injuries and was 17-15 with a 4.74 ERA.

The Marlins are better off with their stable of young, talented starting pitchers. There is no reason for the Marlins to waste money bringing in a guy who will probably get injured midway through his first appearance in a Marlins uniform. I for one don’t believe the Marlins have even entertained the idea of bringing Martinez aboard.

Last Friday the Florida Marlins made further moves to try and strengthen their bullpen for the upcoming 2009 MLB season. The Marlins have reached an agreement with former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Scott Proctor. The deal is a 1-year contract worth $750,000 and includes $250,000 in incentives.

Proctor is a 32 year old right hander coming off a 2008 season in which he missed 2 months and was left off the Dodgers post season roster. Proctor posted a 2-0 record in 38 2/3 innings with a 6.05 ERA last season and has a career ERA of 4.42 in 262 games. Proctor had surgery in October to repair a partially torn flexor tendon but is expected to be ready for Spring Training.

The deal for Proctor hasn’t been confirmed yet as he needs to pass a physical today for the deal to be finalized. Assuming Proctor joins the Marlins, he’ll be given a chance to compete for a bullpen spot with the Marlins. It is unlikely that Proctor will get any chances as a starting pitcher. The signing of Proctor is odd as he doesn’t bring a lot of promise to the table and is coming off the surgery on his pitching elbow.