Quietly, the Marlins have fallen out of contention in the NL East and are currently eight games behind the Mets in the division.  Nonetheless, the Marlins competed for most of the season and surprised everybody. 

For a team above .500, the Marlins have the worst home record in baseball at 38-34.  Perhaps the fans - or lack thereof - have something to do with it.

According to The Record, the Marlins only had 600 fans at the time of first pitch for Wednesday’s game against the Braves.  The Marlins won the game 5-3 and star Hanley Ramirez was 2-4 with a double and a HR. 

Should Marlins fans be ashamed for showing such a lack of support for a team that put up a fight for most of the year?  After all, although it was very hot outside, the Marlins are still an above .500 team and they were playing a division rival.  An attendance like that is certainly embarrassing for the team, when as the report describes, “the ballpark was so quiet that home-plate chatter could be heard.”

It’s not the price that is driving people away - according to the Boston Globe, the Marlins have the 7th lowest average ticket price in baseball.

On the other hand, why should Marlins fans go to a game? Even though they managed to win a World Series in 2003, fans have to see an under financed team that usually gets rid of its star players once they become moderately expensive and hit arbitration.  Why should these fans go out and give ownership money for a team that they aren’t really putting any money into?

The Marlins have a payroll of around $21 million, which is less than half of the payroll of any other team in MLB.  Alex Rodriguez himself gets paid more annually than the entire Marlins team.  The Marlins finally locked up some of their good talent long term, when they signed Hanley Ramirez to a six year $70 million deal.  But - Dan Uggla, Mike Jacobs, Kevin Gregg, Scott Olsen, Ricky Nolasco and Jorge Cantu are all due raises for next year as they hit arbitration, and will the Marlins fork over the money?  Or will they continue to ship off their moderately expensive pieces such as the way they did with Miguel Cabrera? We’ll see.

For now though, it’s tough to disagree with Marlins fans who refuse to give ownership money when ownership fails to put money into the team. 

Thanks to MLBTR for the link 

Paul Lo Duca is once again a Marlin. Lo Duca came to the Mets from Florida as part of a fire sale market correction, and has once again joined the team, though his current contract is a minor league one. Paulie was released after the trade deadline by the Nats who are looking to go younger.

Lo Duca hit just .230 with the Nats, but spent more than his fair share of time on the DL.

Lo Duca is on pace to spend the 2009 season in low A ball in the Dodgers system. I liked Lo Duca and all as a Met, but its looking pretty apparant at this point that its about time for him to hang up his mask, or I guess with his temper to toss it really hard at the closet or something.

Yeah, I know it was just a thought, but you have to give the Florida Marlins credit for thinking out of the box. The Marlins, while in the mist of trying to trade for Boston Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez had some internal conversations about offering Ramirez to the Yankees. CBSSports.com’s Scott Miller is reporting that the Marlins came to the conclusion that the Yankees would not be interested so the idea was dead on arrival…

While attempting to work the three-way trade with Boston and Pittsburgh, the Marlins, on a parallel path, explored the idea of flipping Ramirez to the New York Yankees, sources with knowledge of the club’s thinking told CBSSports.com. The idea never took flight, partly because the Marlins determined that the Yankees were not receptive to the idea.

The story goes on to say that Ramirez’s agent, Scott Boras, would not have gone along with it. Boras said,

“There were a lot of teams we knew were talking about doing this or doing that, but we weren’t going to make Manny a postcard.”

Of course, Boras is going to say that after the fact, but I doubt he would of stood in the way of Manny coming to NY. If Manny were to go on and have the success we all know he is capable of, on a stage like Yankee Stadium or Shea Stadium for that matter, it would only increase his value come the off-season. Like I opened this post with, you have to give the Marlins credit here. They shocked everyone just getting involved in the Manny saga and then they actually thought about adding to it. Good stuff.

Just a quick look around the NL East, to see how the other teams are faring on this Wednesday evening.

John Smoltz, the former Braves closer turned Braves starter, might be headed back to the bullpen, once his stint on the DL ends. The Braves have suffered some blows to their pen due to injury, but according to ESPN, manager Bobby Cox likes Smoltz where he is. Meanwhile, Mike Hampton is still out, and left his last AAA start early with soreness. Tommy Glavine is back, giving up 2 runs and getting a no decision in a Braves loss to the Nats.

In DC, Nats reliever Chad Cordero is headed to the DL. Cordero threw just 13 pitches against the Braves before a trainer came out to the mound and brought him in for good. Cordero has no saves yet this season. Cordero has been struggling with injuries all season, and was almost DLed after the series against the Mets, and is expected to now miss at least four weeks.

Ex Met Jeff Kent had an RBI single to help the Dodgers beat the Marlins in the ninth last night. The Marlins had rallied back from a 6-1 deficit before losing anyway.

According to RotoWorld, the Marlins have acquired Wes Helms from the Phillies for cash.

Odd move for the Marlins, who are usually pinching pennies. Helms is owed $2.9 million.

Helms had a .965 OPS in 240 ABs last year.

Jeff Conine is going to come out of retirement to sign a contract with the Florida Marlins, after which he is expected to immediately retire. According to the team website, he will be signed for one day, March 28th. One of the players on the Marlins originally roster, Conine will be honored in their home opener, coincidentally against his most recent team, the Mets.

A member of both Marlins World Series teams, Conine spent only parts of last season as a Met. He had 41 at bats in 21 games and got just 8 hits. Most of his fielding appearances were at first base.

The Mets will stay in Jupiter today to face the Florida Marlins. Pitching for the Mets will be John Maine. Maine was great in his last start, throwing four no hit innings against the Astros last Saturday. Pitching for the Marlins will be right hander Ricky Nolasco.

Lineups courtesy of John Delcos at his blog.

Marlins

• SS Hanley Ramirez
• 2B Dan Uggla
• DH Luis Gonzalez
• LF Josh Willingham
• 1B Mike Jacobs
• 3B Jorge Cantu
• RF Brett Carroll
• C Matt Treanor
• CF Cameron Maybin

Mets

• 2B Argenis Reyes
• RF Endy Chavez
• DH Angel Pagan
• CF Carlos Beltran
• 1B Carlos Delgado
• 3B Jose Valentin
• LF Brady Clark
• C Robinson Cancel
• SS Anderson Hernandez

As always, head on over to the The Hot Foot Bleachers to talk during the game.

A warrant has been issued for Scott Speizio of the Cardinals, stemming from his vehicular accident last December. It includes but isn’t limited to DUI and hit and run. In response he has been released from the Cardinals. Speizio admitted last season to having a problem with controlled substances.

Former Single A batboy Cameron Maybin is currently favored to be the starting CF for the Marlins, according to Steve Wine of the AP. If that falls through, the team will most likely see who’s available at the local Little League, and scout some of the prominent sandlots of Miami.

ESPN is reporting the Cubs may look into selling naming writes for Wrigley Field, a move to upset baseball purists. Wrigley is considered to be one of the games great traditions, along with the Cubs losing.

According to MLB.com the Florida Marlins reached a new stadium deal which will be built by 2011. It will be a 37,000 seat park on the grounds of the Orange Bowl and will have a retractable roof.

The cost of the project is $515 million, with the Marlins contributing $155 million plus overrun costs. Once moved, they will be known as the Miami Marlins.