Cardinals still only Allen winner, but barely

The St. Louis Cardinals, once more, were the best team in the Allen. It's been that way every year since 2011, when this traveling championship across the National League was started. This time, though, the Cardinals barely won.

The St. Louis Cardinals have been so dominant in the National League traveling championship, which we call the Dick Allen Award, that we can't just give it to someone else in a tie-breaker call.

So, it went to the Cardinals again in 2016, though just barely over the Miami Marlins. The Marlins actually finished 2016 with the most wins (23) and the most championships (four) for the Allen. However, the Marlins were quite lax in defending the championship, succeeding only three times in seven efforts.

Thus, the Cardinals, who won only one championship during the season, still finished the season with the most games holding the title with 19, compared with 18 for the Marlins.

The Cardinals won their championship by taking two of three from the Milwaukee Brewers in Milwaukee, then made five defenses before losing three of four at home to the Pittsburgh Pirates July 4-7.

The Marlins had several chances to catch the Cardinals going down the stretch, but they could not make their championships last. The Marlins turned in two one-and-done titles in August, then lost a challenge in Atlanta during the final week of the season that could have put them over the top.

So, the Cardinals are Team of the Year again. In six years of following the traveling championship though the National League, they lead in every category. Their record in Allen games is 199-126 with 21 titles, 50 defenses in 71 attempts and 238 games holding the championship. No other NL team is even close. The Cardinals have been Team of the Year every season, it will remain that way until someone can beat them.

The results from 2016 follow. First, here are the results from other seasons.

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

Dick Allen Award: Marlins making runs matter

With Giancarlo Stanton having his best year and Dee Gordon adding juice to the top of their lineup, the Miami Marlins are much improved offensively. They are defending their first Dick Allen Award in two years this weekend against the Cincinnati Reds.

Giancarlo Stanton has 10 homers in June, approaching his own Miami Marlins records for most home runs in a month (Arturo Pardavila III/Creative Commons Attribution Generic 2.0 license).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The Miami Marlins are defending the Dick Allen title for the first time in two years this weekend, which makes this a worthwhile time to look at two players on that club who really are ripping it up.

The Marlins took the Allen by winning three of four at home against the Colorado Rockies June 11-14 before going into four interleague games against the New York Yankees. The Marlins picked up their National League schedule this weekend in Cincinnati, where they were 35-55 all-time against the Cincinnati Reds.

The Reds won the opener Friday night, 5-0, marking the 11th straight time the Reds held Miami to four runs or fewer going back to May 14, 2013, about a month before the Marlins last won the Allen. The Marlins returned the favor Saturday with a 5-0 win against the Reds behind seven shutout innings by Justin Nicolino, who allowed only four hits in his Major League debut.

So, the Marlins and Reds will meet Sunday for the Dick Allen. The Reds are taking their third crack this year at the Allen, but they have yet to win it and they are 2-6 this season in Allen games.

After giving the impression of being a team on the rise last season, the Marlins are only 30-40 overall this season playing in the weak National League East. The problem is not their offense.

In 2013, the Marlins ranked last in the National League with only 39 games in which they scored five or more runs. Last year, they improved to 56 such games, raising their ranking to ninth in the NL. This year, they have reached five or more runs in 28 games, which ties them for fifth with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Their best hitter is Giancarlo Stanton, who is one of the best hitters anywhere. Stanton leads the Major Leagues with 25 homers, reaching that mark in only 67 games. Stanton became the fourth player in the last 10 years to reach 25 homers that fast, behind Albert Pujols (who did it in 49 games in 2006), Alex Rodriguez (63 in 2007) and Jose Abreu (67 in 2014).

Stanton has 10 home runs in June, approaching his own club record for most home runs in any month (12 in May 2012). The most home runs in a month by any player this year is 13 by Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals in May.

Then, there's Dee Gordon, who went to Miami from the Dodgers in a batch of trades that ended with the Dodgers getting Howie Kendrick from the Angels to play second base. A lot of people around the Dodgers like Kendrick at second base, but it's hard to say they're better off without Gordon.

Friday night, Gordon reached 100 hits this season in his 65th game, becoming only the sixth player in the National League since 1961 to get there that quickly. The fastest was another speed merchant, Ralph Garr, who reached 100 hits for the Atlanta Braves in his first 62 games of the 1974 season. Gordon entered this weekend's series on a pace to have 131 hits at the All-Star break, averaging 1.5 hits per game. He had one hit in each of the first two games of the Cincinnati series.

The Marlin last won the Allen June 20-23, 2013, on the road, taking three of four from the San Francisco Giants. The Marlins defended the prize twice before losing three straight on the road to the St. Louis Cardinals July 5-7 that year. Historically, the Marlins are 24-24 in games for the Allen, winning the prize three times and defending it in three of five attempts. This weekend's series is their 15th series for the prize all time.

Between their last successful title defense and this year's Allen victory against the Rockies, the Marlins were 4-12 in Allen games, failing four attempts to win it.

All-time in the Allen games, the Reds are 53-53. This weekend's series is their 36th for the Allen. They have won nine titles since the prize began during the 2011 season.

Fourth Division: Mets might make it, Sox are sunk

The New York Mets are off to a good start in their bid to finally escape from the Fourth Division after two straight years of limited opportunity. The Chicago White Sox are all but certain to remain stuck in the bottom tier for another year, but they've blown three straight seasons of opportunity to escape.

Chris Sale pitched the Chicago White Sox to a 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles Thursday, but the White Sox have almost no chance of escaping from the Fourth Division this year (Keith Allison/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The Fourth Division has been pretty slow going until this week, when it has picked up with a torrent of games involving five of the six clubs in this lowest echelon of ordinal competition.

The New York Mets, long overdue for a good shot at advancement to the Third Division, now hold first place in the fourth tier with a 7-2 record, and they play three at home this weekend against the floundering Miami Marlins. The Chicago White Sox, who have blown legitimate opportunities to escape from this cellar for three straight years, already appear to be trapped in the Fourth Division for another year.

The Major League schedule obviously isn't built to make sure all the teams in each division play each other, so the rules for promotion and relegation have to be rigged a little.

The top three divisions, which each include eight clubs, require that any club win 10 games to be promoted or lose 10 to be relegated and, in either case, a team must play at least three others within the division to be promoted or relegated.

The Fourth Division, with only six clubs, relaxes those restrictions, a little. A team can be promoted with fewer than 10 wins, but only if that team wins at least 75 percent of its games and plays at least two Fourth Division opponents, and that team can't stand in the way of promoting another team that wins at least 10 and finishes at least .500 in the Fourth Division.

A light schedule in the Fourth Division will work against some club's chance of advancement, and that has been the plight of the Mets for the last two years. Last season, the Mets finished 9-7 in the Fourth Division, the exact same .563 winning percentage as the Minnesota Twins, who won the division at 18-14. The Mets certainly would have advanced, and won the division, with one more victory. As it was, they had to move over for the Colorado Rockies, who finished 16-16.

But the Mets have a robust opportunity to advance this year with a thick Fourth Division schedule. The lowest division includes the Marlins from within the National League East, the San Diego Padres from within the National League, and the Baltimore Orioles, who the Mets face in interleague play.

The White Sox are on the short end of the stick this year, with only a dozen games in the Fourth Division, six each against American League counterparts Baltimore and the Houston Astros. The Sox split a doubleheader Thursday in Baltimore and now are 1-2 in the Fourth Division with three coming up this weekend in Houston.

The White Sox would just about have to win out in the Fourth Division for any chance of advancement, and they probably don't have that kind of club. But they have nothing about which to complain. The White Sox are in their fourth season at this lowest tier. In two of the previous three, they finished in last place. Last year, their best showing, turned up a 14-17 record against the Fourth Division. Combined in the last three full seasons, the White Sox are 42-61 in the Fourth Division.

2014 Bud Selig East standings and summary

Despite falling from first place in the Joe Cronin League, the Cleveland Indians defended their championship in the Bud Selig East. The Indians won the 2014 Selig East title by three games over the New York Yankees and four over the Tampa Bay Rays.

By BILL PETERSON

Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The Cleveland Indians finished their 2014 Major League season at 85-77, three games out of the American League playoffs. But the eastern crop of teams in the Joe Cronin and Chub Feeney Leagues was so weak that the Indians still won the Bud Selig East for the second consecutive season.

The Indians finished 47-35, three games ahead of the New York Yankees and four ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays. Another interesting contrast between how the Major League season plays out and what can happen in a league like this. As subtraction tells us, the Indians were 38-42 against clubs that aren't in the Cronin or Feeney Leagues.

Among Bud Selig East teams, the Indians had the best Major League record, with the Yankees right behind them at 84-78. Every other team in the Bud Selig East was below .500 during the Major League season.

2014 Chub Feeney League standings and summary

The Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals went to the National League Divisional Series neck-and-neck on top of the Chub Feeney League. The Cardinals prevailed in that series, and in the Chub Feeney League. The Cincinnati Reds, who won the first three Feeneys, fell all the way to the league basement.

By BILL PETERSON

Big Leagues in Los Angeles

Once again, the Chub Feeney League came down to the Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League playoffs. Once again, the Cardinals prevailed.

This time, the Cardinals beat the Dodgers in a four-game divisional series during the National League playoffs, securing a three-game margin on the Dodgers in the Chub Feeney. Entering the series, the Cardinals held a one-game lead on the Dodgers in the Chub Feeney League, so the Dodgers would have prevailed if they had won in three or four games. However, it went for the Cardinals.

The Chicago Cubs with their youth movement made a surprising run in the Chub Feeney League. Though the Cubs again finished last in the National League Central, they were 43-41 in the Chub Feeney League, putting them in third place, four games back of the lead.

The Cincinnati Reds, who won the Chub Feeney League in each of its first three years, plummeted all the way to the Chub Feeney basement in 2014, finishing 8½ games out of the lead.

2013 Bud Selig East standings and summary

The Cleveland Indians won their first Bud Selig East title in 2013, taking advantage of an expanded field to beat out the Cincinnati Reds and the Tampa Bay Ray. The Indians had never before finished higher than fifth in the Bud Selig East.

By BILL PETERSON

Big Leagues in Los Angeles

Just as the Cleveland Indians made a big move up in the Joe Cronin League, they also came a very long way in the Bud Selig East as the 2013 season developed. 

In the first three years of the Bud Selig East, the Indians finished fifth twice and sixth once in a six-team circuit, never finishing within 13½ games of the lead. In 2013, though, the Indians dominated in every way, winning the league by 3½ games over the newly entered Tampa Bay Rays and five games over the Cincinnati Reds.

During the 2013 Major League season, the Indians finished 92-70 for the first wildcard. They ended up losing that wildcard game to the Rays.  

The Indians' rise in the Bud Selig East and the Joe Cronin League somewhat is in step with their rise in the American League Central division. The difference is that the Detroit Tigers stood between the Indians and the AL Central title, whereas the Tigers are no part of the Joe Cronin or Bud Selig Leagues.

2013 Chub Feeney League standings and summary

The St. Louis Cardinals won the expanded Chub Feeney by five games over the Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds, who had won the first three Feeney titles. The Cardinals clinched victory at the very end, when the beat the Dodgers in a six-game National League Championship Series.

By BILL PETERSON

Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The St. Louis Cardinals took full advantage of the new order in the Chub Feeney League, winning the loop by a comfortable five games over the Dodgers and the three-time defending champion Cincinnati Reds.

In fact, the Cardinals, Dodgers and Reds were the only clubs to break even or better in the expanded Feeney League. Among the newcomers, the best was the Milwaukee Brewers, who finished 41-42, 13 games out of first place.

The Dodgers had a chance to win it in the National League playoffs, as they faced the Cardinals during the championship round. Entering those playoff games, the Cardinals were 53-30 and the Dodgers were 38-21, so the Cardinals held a three-game lead. If the Dodgers had swept that series, they would have won the Feeney, and they would have tied the Cardinals for the Feeney if they had won the series in five games. 

Instead, the Cardinals won it in six, padding their cushion over the Dodgers in the end.

2014 Third Division standings and summary

The Kansas City Royals needed a strong playoff run to secure their promotion to the Second Division for 2015, and they got it. The Baltimore Orioles, who lost four straight to the Royals in the American League Championship Series, got it the other way.

By BILL PETERSON

Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The Pittsburgh Pirates became a very good club in 2014, actually good enough to overcome a slow start and barrel into the Major League playoffs. Of course, we also saw what kind of club the Kansas City Royals became in 2014, advancing to the World Series.

Somewhat in parallel, the Pirates and Royals will advance to the Second Division in 2015 after finishing one-two in the 2014 Third Division. The Pirates won by an easy four games over the Royals, who finished three games ahead of their nearest threat, the 18-18 Seattle Mariners.

The Pirates finished 25-11 in the Third Division, and 20-6 of that came against the two teams that just dropped into the tier, the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies. The Royals would have thrown second place wide open to the Mariners and Oakland Athletics if they had lost their wildcard playoff game to the A's, but they won that game and their next four against the Baltimore Orioles to solidify their position.

The Orioles, on the flip side, sealed their demotion by losing four straight to the Royals in the American League Championship Series. If the Orioles had won just two games in that series, they would have been saved. Instead, they are going down, along with the Miami Marlins.

2012 Third Division standings and summary

The Washington Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers won the promotion sweepstakes from the Third Division in 2012 to the Second Division in 2013. The Nationals stomped through this group with a .654 winning percentage, while the Brewers have earned their second consecutive promotion.

By BILL PETERSON

Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The New York Mets and Cleveland Indians have been to the Fourth Division before. The Mets are going back. The Indians are saved by a technicality.

The Mets were a clear choice for relegation, finishing the furthest out of first place and with the second worst winning percentage in this group. The Indians (7-10) had the worst winning percentage, tying with the San Diego Padres at 9 1/2 games back. However, the Indians played only the Toronto Blue Jays and the Miami Marlins within the Third Division, short of the three opponents needed for promotion or relegation. So, the Padres are going down the the Fourth Division in 2013.

The winners in this group were the Washington Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers. The Nationals finished 34-18 to win this race by 7 1/2 games over the Brewers. But the Brewers were the only other club with a winning record in the Third Division, clinching their rise from the Fourth Division to the Second Division in two years.

NL East: Two up, three down

The National League East almost certainly can't involve anyone other than the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals in 2013. Each has won it in the last two years, and no one else is even close to contending for even a wild card spot.

Cliff Lee, with a 7.3 WAR in 2013, was the most productive player in the National League East by that measure (Keith Allison/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license).


By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The National League East shapes up, by 2013 WAR, as a matter of two clubs, the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals. The Braves won it last year. This year, it figures to be the Nationals, especially after spring injuries to Atlanta pitchers Kris Medlen and Mike Minor.

By 2013 WAR, this is quite a close race, with Atlanta scoring 45.7 against 44.7 for the Nationals. The Braves actually beat the Nats by 10 games in 2013, but the gap has been closed somewhat with the Nats adding nearly 5.0 WAR to their pitching staff between the additions of Doug Fister and Jerry Blevins, while the Braves lost catcher Brian McCann.

The other three clubs look weak here, though the Miami Marlins have a chance to come up fastest after young pitching made a good showing in 2013.

Following is a list of each team in the division, giving each club's "top half" position players by 2013 WAR, its "second-level" position players, its top-level pitchers and second-level pitchers. For the top-half position players, we give the player's position and where he ranked at the position across big league baseball in 2013 WAR, then the actual WAR value for the player. For every other category, we give the player's overall 2013 WAR ranking, understanding that pitchers and position players are ranked separately.

More about all of this, including some important clarifications, can be found here. Bear in mind, though, that the 2013 WAR totals for each club only include these top players, and every club will have players with little, no or negative WAR value that actually would drag down its totals.

Atlanta Braves (45.7 in 2013 WAR)

Top-half position players — 1B: Freddie Freeman 5, 5.5; SS: Andrelton Simmons, 1, 6.7; RF; Jason Heyward, 9, 3.6; LF: Justin Upton, 11, 2.6. Totals: four players 18.4 WAR.

Second-level position players — Chris Johnson, 144, 2.0; Ramiro Pena, 208, 1.0. Jordan Schafer, 213, 0.9. Totals: three players, 3.9 WAR.

Top-level pitchers — Craig Kimbrel, 37, 3.3; Kris Medlen, 39, 3.3; Julio Teheran, 41, 3.2; Mike Minor, 45, 3.1; Ervin Santana, 52, 2.9; Luis Avilan, 72, 2.4; David Carpenter, 90, 2.1. Totals: seven pitchers, 20.3 WAR.

Second-level pitchers — Alex Wood, 177, 1.1; Anthony Varvaro, 202, 0.8; David Hale, 222, 0.7; Freddy Garcia, 234, 0.6. Totals: four pitchers, 3.2 WAR.

The most striking reading on the Braves is four starting pitchers in that 31-60 range by 2013 WAR -- Medlen, Teheran, Minor and Santana — meaning four No. 2 starters. Their fifth-best starter, Avilan, is a No. 3 by these criteria. Thus, the Braves figure to win the pitching match-up in most games they play, even though this group doesn't include a clear No. 1. And they'll finish games better than anyone else in the National League with Kimbrel.

The shortstop, Simmons, is the best across the game by 2013 WAR. Despite winning the NL batting title in 2013, Johnson finished 20th among big league third basemen by 2013 WAR, meaning the Braves still could use an upgrade. With McCann gone, the Braves still have a plus catcher in Pena.

Washington Nationals (44.7 in 2013 WAR)

Top-half position players — SS: Ian Desmond, 6, 3.7; 3B: Ryan Zimmerman, 10, 3.8; RF; Jayson Werth, 5, 4.8; LF: Bryce Harper, 5, 3.8; C: Wilson Ramos, 11, 2.4. Totals: Five players, 18.5 WAR.

Second-level position players — Denard Span, 110, 2.4;  Nate McLouth, 161, 1.6; Adam LaRoche, 217, 0.9. Totals: three player. Totals: Three players, 4.9 WAR.

Top-level pitchers — Doug Fister, 21, 4.1; Jordan Zimmerman, 28, 3.7; Stephen Strasburg, 45, 3.1; Gio Gonzalez, 49, 3.0; Tanner Roark, 91, 2.0; Tyler Clippard, 105, 1.8. Totals: Six pitchers, 17.7 WAR.

Second-level pitchers — Craig Stammen, 183, 1.0; Ross Ohlendorf, 188, 0.9; Rafael Soriano, 195, 0.9; Jerry Blevins,  204, 0.8; (4, 3.6)

The only club around here (or anywhere) for starting pitchers that looks better than the Braves is Washington, with Fister and Zimmermann in the top 30, then Strasburg and Gonzalez in the next 30. That's to say the Nats have two No. 1s and two No. 2s. And Roark, the fifth best starter on this club, comes in as a No. 3 by 2013 WAR. Add to all that five relievers who hit the top 240, and this team figures to pitch.

The Nationals could have done with a little more star turning by Harper, Zimmerman and Werth. That, and the discovery of a second baseman, would give this club a complete lineup.

Philadelphia Phillies (29.6 in 2013 WAR)

Top-half position players — RF: Marlon Byrd, 4, 5.0; LF: Domonic Brown, 12, 2.5; (2, 7.5)

Second-level position players — Carlos Ruiz, 155, 1.7; Ben Revere, 227, 0.8; (2, 2.5)

Top-level pitchers — Cliff Lee, 2, 7.3; Cole Hamels, 16, 4.6; A.J. Burnett, 111, 1.7; (3, 13.6)

Second-level pitchers — Jonathan Papelbon, 125, 1.5; Jonathan Pettibone, 126, 1.5; Chad Gaudin 149, 1.3; Kyle Kendrick, 182, 1.0; Jake Diekman, 222, 0.7; (5, 6.0)

Look how little offense we can find on a club that includes Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins. None of these old horses even made these rankings at any level. The Phillies had to sign free-agent Marlon Byrd just to reach two players into the top half in their positions.

Some pretty good pitching here between Lee and Hamels. The Phils have famously had trouble getting leads up to Papelbon as the closer.

Miami Marlins (26.7 in 2013 WAR) 

Top-half position players — RF: Giancarlo Stanton, 14, 2.4; C: Jarrod Saltalamacchia, 10, 2.9. Totals: Two players, 5.3 WAR.

Second-level position players — Ed Lucas, 168, 1.5; Christian Yelich, 176, 1.4; Jeff Baker, 235, 0.7. Totals: Three players, 3.6 WAR.

Top-level pitchers — Jose Fernandez, 6, 6.3; Nathan Eovaldi, 80, 2.2; Steve Cishek, 83, 2.1; Henderson Alvarez, 100, 1.9; Mike Dunn, 117, 1.6. Totals: Five pitchers, 14.1 WAR.

Second-level pitchers — Jacob Turner, 134, 1.4; A.J. Ramos, 197, 0.9; Tom Koehler, 203, 0.8; Kevin Slowey, 234, 0.6. Totals: Four pitchers, 3.7 WAR.

The framework for this club is the young starting pitchers, particularly Fernandez, Eovaldi, Turner and Koehler. Lots to like. And though Stanton ranked only 14th among big league right fielders by 2013 WAR, everyone knows he's real.

This is a club that tore down last season and started all over. Indeed, the Marlins had to go beyond starting over. The club made a move in the right direction in 2012, moving to its rightful home in the Little Havana section of Miami and changing its official location to "Miami," before the manager, Ozzie Guillen, made his bone-headed declaration of love for Fidel Castro. Then, a cast of veteran players tanked. No slack here for Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, but there's also no reason to spend a bundle and finish in last place. It's more fun watching a young club try to improve.

New York Mets (24.5 in 2013 WAR)

Top-half position players — 3B: David Wright, 5, 5.9; CF: Juan Lagares, 10, 3.7. Totals: Two players, 9.6 WAR.

Second-level position players — Daniel Murphy, 150, 1.8; Josh Satin, 194, 1.2; Curtis Granderson,195, 1.1. Totals: Three players, 4.1 WAR.

Top-level pitchers — Bartolo Colon, 14, 5.1; Dillon Gee, 78, 2.2. Totals: Two pitchers, 7.3 WAR.

Second-level pitchers — Zack Wheeler, 170, 1.2; Carlos Torres, 197, 0.9; Bobby Parnell, 211, 0.7; Jonathon Niese, 220, 0.7. Totals: Four pitchers, 3.5 WAR.

They say it's worse in New York to be irrelevant than the be terrible. The Mets are both. They made a little bit of an effort to improve with the free-agent additions of Colon and Granderson. But it won't be nearly enough.

We didn't include pitcher Matt Harvey here because he is out all season with injury, but he would have added 5.2 WAR to the pitching staff. He and Colon would have given the Mets a front two in the rotation to rival anyone outside the Los Angeles Dodgers and Seattle Mariners. David Wright is a great player. Not much else to say here.

Puig needs to cool it, or he'll cool down the Dodgers

Yasiel Puig, 22, is a wonder for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have become powerful contenders through his energetic style of play. As the competition becomes more serious, though, it becomes a question of whether his erratic style of play will derail the Dodgers' championship bid.

Yasiel Puig is hitting .352 for the Los Angeles Dodgers and winning games dramatically. But some of his dramas are potentially damaging (Ron Reiring/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The saga of Yasiel Puig brings up a lot of the old dualities concerning the relationship between genius and reality.

Of course, "genius" isn't typically the word to describe dominance on the baseball field, and anyone who finds himself constantly groaning about Puig's reckless throws and base running misadventures will agree that genius is no part of his game. Nor is Puig's expression of the game especially original. It's just endlessly dramatic, perpetually thrilling and consistently inspiring. Maddening, too. But we'll take it.

By now, everyone knows that Puig showed up at Marlins Park in Miami Tuesday 35 minutes before stretching, a little bit after the second bus arrived from the hotel. Traditionally, players who don't take either of the buses from the hotel, whether because they have other transport or because they stay at other locations, are required to be at the yard before the second bus arrives. Puig has a home in Miami and reportedly was caught in traffic. As Dodgers manager Don Mattingly told reporters, it happens.

So, Mattingly fined Puig the usual nominal amount, which is usually about $500, and benched the young star, which he was going to do, anyway. Puig was on an zero-for-11 and hadn't taken a day off since Aug. 4. Of course, his tardy appearance was huge news.

So, then, was his at-bat in the eighth inning, when he homered off the bench against the Miami Marlins to break a 4-4 tie and trigger a 6-4 Dodgers victory.

Moments like that are the upside with Puig, who was batting .352 with a .979 OPS. Puig was batting .353 against left-handers and .351 against right-handers with 12 homers in 261 at-bats -- seven of his homers coming in the sixth inning or later.

But it's only because Puig has such a flair for the dramatic that the Dodgers, or any other team, would put up with his warts, which include a tendency to show up veteran teammates on the field, throwing to the wrong base so he can show off his arm and running into outs as he attempts to show off his speed. Which is to say nothing of his harrowing confrontations with umpires.

Puig is untamed, flouting the conventions of the game, only to make the game his own in the end. Of course, that works against teams like the Philadelphia Phillies and the Miami Marlins, who have been losing all year long. In the playoffs, though, when all the teams you play are good, weaknesses not only are exposed, but they are exploited. When the playoffs come around, the Dodgers will lose a lot more from Puig's vices than they will gain from his virtues. The game is based in failure, and the fear remains that Puig will bring more failure on himself than he or his team can overcome.

Thus, the pundits have offered us two schools of thought about Yasiel Puig. One, which might be represented by MLB.com's Richard Justice, says leave the kid alone and let him be himself. Perhaps it is because of Puig's exuberance that the Dodgers have done as well as they have (50-20) since he came to the big leagues. The other, which might be represented by Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, says the Dodgers need to harness Puig and get him under control before he kills them in the postseason.

The inclination here is to agree with Plaschke. Puig will never reach his potential, nor will the Dodgers reach theirs, so long as they can't bring his game under control. In particular, these confrontations with umpires really need to stop. If he starts going badly, then calls start going against him, and if he's still missing cut-off men and running into outs, he's not going to be a very good player, at all.

The Dodgers do need Matt Kemp back, but not to remove Puig from the lineup. Indeed, as recent outings against David Price, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels have reminded us, a good left-handed starting pitcher is the best antidote to the Dodgers. The Dodgers will need Puig and Kemp in the lineup simultaneously to handle left-handed pitching.

But if Puig doesn't learn, or isn't taught, how to handle his emotions and harness his game, there's a real good chance that it won't end well. For all the promise and excitement that Puig has brought to the Dodgers with his upside, his downside can still keep them from realizing that promise and excitement in their fullest manifestations.

Capuano cruises: Dodgers 5, Miami 3

Dodgers left hander Chris Capuano had an easy day against an easy lineup Sunday, mixing together almost nothing but sinkers and changeups to keep the Miami Marlins quiet. The Dodgers' win brought them a little bit closer to leaving the National League West cellar.

Chris Capuano entered Sunday's game against Miami with a 10.38 ERA, then allowed but one run in 6 1/3 innings (Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 Unported license).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The game: May 12, Miami Marlins at Los Angeles Dodgers, National League. Miami entered 11-26, fifth place NL East, 10 1/2 games behind Atlanta. Los Angeles entered 14-21, fifth place NL West, seven games behind San Francisco.

The pitchers: Miami, Tom Koehler, right hander (0-0, 3.18). Los Angeles, Chris Capuano, left hander (0-2, 10.38).

The result: Los Angeles 5, Miami 3.

Summary: A weekend of last-place baseball in Los Angeles came to an end as the Dodgers won the rubber game of a three-day engagement with the beleaguered Marlins. Four different Dodgers drove in runs and Chris Capuano shut down, by far, the weakest offensive assembly in the major leagues.

The pitching: The remarks coming out of the Dodgers clubhouse postgame from starting pitcher Chris Capuano and manager Don Mattingly indicate that the plan was no plan. Just execute pitches, attack the hitters and don't worry too much about exploiting the hitters' weaknesses. Then again, with this Marlins lineup, you don't have to look very hard for weaknesses. And with an inexperienced Tim Federowicz catching for the Dodgers, it probably was out of the question to expect too much sophistication,anyway. But who expected this? With very few exceptions, everything Capuano threw was either a sinker or a changeup. We've heard of left handers shutting down big league lineups with two pitches, of course, because we've heard of Sandy Koufax and Steve Carlton. But a junk dealer doing it with a sinker and a changeup is, at the very least, rare.

Per MLB.com, Capuano threw one curveball in the first inning, one slider in the third, a curve and a slider in the fourth, a curve and a slider in the fifth, and three sliders in the seventh. Of 79 pitches, 55 were strikes, so Capuano certainly executed his pitches. And except for the nine pitches just enumerated, everything was a sinker or a change, about 50-50 between them. Of the six sliders Capuano threw, he offered four of them to Marlins second baseman Derek Dietrich, who crushed a three-run homer against Dodgers starter Matt Magill Friday night in only his second major league game. The first slider from Capuano to Dietrich was the only pitch of a fourth-inning at-bat in which Dietrich ended the inning with a sharp ground out to first. Capuano didn't throw another slider until Dietrich came up with one out in the seventh. He threw it for first pitch strike one, then second pitch ball one. Later, Dietrich hit a slider foul on 2-2. On the next pitch, Dietrich slammed a sinker for a line drive double to left. At that point, the Dodgers called on Kenley Jansen ...

There will be calls to remove Brandon League from the closer's role for the Dodgers after he allowed two runs in the ninth inning Sunday, but we're holding our fire, at least, based on this one game. League worked ahead of hitters, threw 96 on the knees and induced ground balls. If the Marlins were smashing the ball, it would be different. Sometimes, stuff happens. Adeiny Hechavarria's two-out double that drove in both runs went the other way off the end of his bat and fell barely inside the foul line in short right field. And, for whatever reason, the Dodgers couldn't crank out a double play that would have ended the game before Hechavarria batted. Anyway, all's well that ends well, even if this one didn't end especially well.

The hitting: Matt Kemp picked up his 1,000th major league hit Sunday. Befitting the season in which he reached the milestone, the hit did not come with runners in scoring position. Both of Kemp's hits Sunday came with two out and nobody on. Kemp batted with runners on first and second, nobody out, in the first, and it went about the way it's been going. Not only did Kemp fail to drive in the lead runner, but the lead runner got himself thrown out at third. In other words, a double play. Carl Crawford decided to test the arm of Marlins right fielder Marcell Ozuna going from second to third. Ozuna made a nice throw and caught Crawford easily.

Ozuna is 22 and never played above Class A in six pro seasons before the Marlins promoted him to Jacksonville (Southern League) in April. He began the season in Class A Jupiter (Florida State). But with Giancarlo Stanton disabled by a right hamstring strain, Ozuna got the call. At the plate, Ozuna was two-for-four Sunday, raising himself to 15-for-46 (.326) in the big leagues. He is ranked 75th among the 2013 prospects by Baseball America ...

Kemp now has six singles in 36 at-bats with runners in scoring position for batting and slugging averages of .166. But the Marlins still respect him, as they should. In the seventh, with one out and runners at second and third, the Marlins intentionally walked Kemp. The next two Dodgers batters, Andre Ethier and Scott Van Slyke, each drove in runs. It was a nice day for Van Slyke, who homered in the second inning Sunday before driving in the Dodgers' final run with his two-out single in the seventh.

The base running: We thought, for just a fraction of a moment, about chastising Dodgers right fielder Andre Ethier for being less than urgent with his throw to second base in the ninth inning after Miami's Adeiny Hechavarria dropped one off the end of his bat just inside the foul line to drive in two runs. On a second half-thought, though, Ethier probably was stunned that Hechavarria would try to take second and, if he was, he should have been. Bad move by Hechavarria. He got away with it, barely beating Ethier's throw to second, but it was a mistake. Those two runs brought the Marlins within 5-3 with two outs. If Hechavarria had been thrown out, he would have ended the game with the tying run at the plate. He would have taken the Marlins out of the game at the very moment when he put them in it ...

Nick Punto has a career .249 batting average and a career OPS of .654. He has appeared in 100 games or more just once in the last five years. This year, the Dodgers are paying him $1.5 million. Is he worth the $1 million the Dodgers would save by paying some kid the minimum to do the same job? Yes. Punto is not perfect (more on that later), but he has quite a nose for the game. Sunday, in the seventh, Punto led off with a single, then hustled to third on pinch hitter Juan Uribe's one-hop single to center field. The Marlins' center fielder, Justin Ruggiano, had the play right in front of him, but Punto was thinking third base the moment the bat hit the ball. Ruggiano made a weak throw home on Punto's sacrifice fly in the fourth. Think that was on Punto's mind? …

Now, do we blame Carl Crawford for trying to take third from second on Matt Kemp's fly ball to Miami right fielder Marcell Ozuna in the first inning? We say not. No one wants to make the first or third out at third base or home. Crawford's out at third was the second of the inning. More to the point, the Dodgers need to force a little more action, and teams like Miami are the right opponents for doing it. Let's see if the child outfielder can make that throw, even though we've already seen him make a few nice throws in this series. Ozuna made the play. Tip your cap. In the future, we'll know. The Dodgers were back on second base quickly enough, anyway, because Dee Gordon stole it.

The fielding: Brandon League probably would have a couple more friends in town today if second baseman Nick Punto could have turned a double play in the ninth inning. One out, runner on first, Miami's Nick Green hit a grounder right to Dodgers shortstop Dee Gordon. Looked like a routine double-play ball. For whatever reason, though, Punto held onto the feed from Gordon. The runner to second, Miguel Olivo, came in hard, but Punto had his front to him, he saw it all the way and we see second basemen make that throw all the time. Maybe Gordon just didn't get the ball out fast enough to start the double play, but he certainly didn't dawdle. The next hitter, Derek Dietrich, singled hard to Punto's right, through a spot where it has become ordinary to see second basemen make a play. Of course, a lot of that is positioning, and positioning is scouting, and Dietrich, to this moment, has 11 major league at-bats, so there's still much to be learned about him ... Best defensive play of the day for the Dodgers was Scott Van Slyke, playing first base, reaching two rows into the seats to snag Ozuna's foul ball in the sixth inning. Van Slyke made another nice play on Dietrich's one-hop smash to end the Miami fourth ...

As for the Marlins, one can see why the Dodgers ran so much on their outfielders. Center fielder Justin Ruggiano's throw on Nick Punto's sacrifice fly in the third didn't exactly resemble a shot from a cannon. Even worse, the Marlins had no one in cutoff position, so the throw just plopped onto the infield dirt on the shortstop side of second base and skidded to catcher Miguel Olivo, who went up the third base line to get it. Later, in the seventh, Punto ran from first to third on a single hit right at Ruggiano ...

Marlins left fielder Juan Pierre, 35 years old, has never been known for his strong throwing arm, and it certainly hasn't improved with age. In that fourth inning, after Skip Schumaker doubled with one out, Tim Federowicz hit a hard grounder towards Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria. Schumaker ran on contact, then, seeing that Hechavarria might play it, doubled back toward second base. As the ball skipped off Hechavarria and toward Pierre in short left field, Schumaker headed back toward third base and Pierre didn't even look there, even though a good throw would have nailed the runner. Instead, Pierre made the safe play, throwing to second to keep the double play in order. We can argue about whether Pierre made the right play, but it's pretty hard to stomach just letting the lead runner have third base with less than two out. And the value of having the double play in order diminishes when we consider that the Dodgers had their eight and nine hitters coming up. That eight hitter, Punto, hit the sacrifice fly just now described right after Pierre let Schumaker have third ...

More on Pierre. After the Marlins intentionally walked Matt Kemp with one out to load the bases in the seventh, Andre Ethier hit a fly to Pierre in medium-short left field. As Juan Uribe came in from third for the Dodgers, Pierre's throw home was so weak that it had to be cut at the pitcher's mound by third baseman, Placido Polanco, and it was so crooked that the catcher, Miguel Olivo, was up the first base line waiting for it. So, when Polanco cut the throw and turned to the plate, his catcher was on the first base side of the plate, which isn't where you want your catcher if he's protecting the plate against a runner from third. Fortunately, for the Marlins, Polanco threw to the catcher, instead of the plate, or a three-run inning would have been even bigger for the Dodgers.

Strategic moves: Like a lot of other people, we sometimes wonder what Dodgers manager Don Mattingly is doing. But we don't wonder about it quite as much as some other people. For example, somebody on the MLB.com message board said it didn't make "logical sense" to have Skip Schumaker, batting .183, in the six hole and Nick Punto, batting .333, in the eight hole. But that one is easy. The No. 8 job is harder than the No. 6 job and you need more diversification there. In particular, of course, No. 8 needs to find a way on base with two out and nobody on so the pitcher can make the third out and bring the top of the order up the next inning. Punto did exactly that with a second-inning walk. And it worked out kind of that way in the fourth, when Punto hit a sacrifice fly for the second out, which brought Chris Capuano to the plate for the third out. Sadly, for the Dodgers, the third and fifth innings thusly set up went like this: Carl Crawford out, Dee Gordon out, Matt Kemp single, Andre Ethier out.

Other than that, every button Mattingly pushed in this game gave the right answer. When Punto hit his sacrifice fly, it was Schumaker who scored. Something else to consider: there's next to nothing gained by double-switching the No. 8 hitter, so he's probably staying in the game if the manager makes that kind of pitching change. Mattingly made exactly that change when he removed Capuano in the seventh. He removed Schumaker from second base and replaced him in the six hole with reliever Kenley Jansen, moved Punto from third base to second, and brought in Juan Uribe to play third base and bat ninth. In the bottom of that inning, Punto and Uribe were in the middle of a three-run effort.

What now: Los Angeles is 15-21, still fifth place in the NL West, seven games behind San Francisco. However, the Dodgers have gained two games on San Diego in the last two days, so they are one-half game behind the fourth-place Padres. Miami is 11-27, still fifth place in the NL East, 10 1/2 games behind Atlanta, and the Marlins aren't close to anybody. The Dodgers are 2-4 on their nine-game home stand, which closes with three games against the Washington Nationals Monday through Wednesday at Dodger Stadium. The Marlins finished their ten-game road trip 3-7 and now go back to Little Havana for a nine-game home stand that begins with three against Cincinnati Tuesday through Thursday. Monday night at Dodger Stadium, blue is going with Josh Beckett (0-4, 5.13), who has won four straight against the Nationals. Washington is scheduled to start Jordan Zimmermann (6-1, 1.59), who is as good as it gets right now.

Nationals shape up as new NL East dynasty

The National League East has been a division of local dynasties. The Atlanta Braves won it for 11 straight years. Then the Philadelphia Phillies won it five straight times. Time for a new dynasty. The Washington Nationals.

Bryce Harper is up for the Washington Nationals for the whole season in 2013. He will be good for a very long time. So, one supposes, will the Nationals (MissChatter/Creative Commons).

By BILL PETERSON

Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The Atlanta Braves won the National League East every year from 1995 through 2005, rebooted and returned in 2010 with a consistently strong team. But not strong enough to win the division again.

The Philadelphia Phillies were primed to become the division's next kingpin, but that didn't happen right away. The New York Mets combined young stars David Wright and Jose Reyes with Carlos Delgado's last good year and Carlos Beltran's best year to win the division in 2006, when they were easily the National League's best team. 

The Mets were going to win the NL East again in 2007. They held a seven-game lead through Sept. 12. But the Phillies went to Shea Stadium and swept three from the Mets, cutting the difference to 3 1/2 games and starting up a race. Turns out, the Mets lost 12 of their last 17 and the Phillies won 13 of their last 17 to sneak past the Mets by a game. By then, the Phillies had a core of Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Carlos Ruiz and Cole Hamels in place. Aided by astute pitching additions such as Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, the Phillies would win the division five straight times, adding on six playoff series victories, two NL pennants and a World Championship.

Along, then, came 2012, which began with Howard and Utley on the disabled list. The Phillies couldn't cover and went to the All-Star break with a 37-50 record, losing 12 of their last 15 and falling to 14 games out of first place. Ryan and Utley were back in the lineup for the second half and the Phillies were their old selves, 44-31 after the All-Star break as they rallied to the fringe of the wild card race. 

By then, though, the division was changed, maybe for a very long time.

A young group of talent with the Washington Nationals leaped forward, managed by the great Davey Johnson. From 69 wins in 2010 to 80 wins in 2011, the Nationals already were 49-34 at the 2012 All-Star break, and they just never let go, even though the Braves stayed right with them and the Phillies began winning consistently.

Now, 2013 is coming, and it's just impossible to predict that anyone but Washington will win this division. The Nationals are even better now than at the start of last year. Bryce Harper is up this time for the whole season. Kurt Suzuki, who substantially upgraded their catching after a mid-season trade, is around for the whole year. Jayson Werth is back after missing half of last season with a wrist injury. The Nationals traded for a good center fielder, Denard Span. They signed a good free agent, Rafael Soriano, as their new closer. Stephen Strasburg will not be limited to 160 innings.

And all of that will be added to an impressive core of young, established talent. Ryan Zimmerman, Ian Desmond, Danny Espinosa, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmerman, Ross Detwiler, Tyler Clippard, Craig Stammen and Drew Storen all will be between 25 and 29 years old in 2013. The Nats also brought back free agent Adam LaRoche, the next guy down from Adrian Gonzalez and Joey Votto among National League first basemen.

The only way to ruin this team is at the negotiating table, and that's not coming around for another nine months. So, make way for the Nationals. A lot of people believe the Braves will make trouble for them. We don't. Sometimes, we think the Phillies might have one last campaign, and that if they can go to it with all their guys for the whole year, they might teach these kids lesson. But the news coming from spring training said Halladay is out of velocity and command, and Lee didn't get people out, and that staff full of aces might be down to Cole Hamels.

Of all the clubs across the National League, the Nationals are the easiest to pencil in as a division winner. Last year, the Nats were among the best offensive clubs in the National League. This year, they might be the best, certainly the best in the NL East. Their pitching staff -- starting rotation and bullpen -- is right there on top of the NL with Cincinnati, if not a little ahead. Defensively, they are plus up the middle with Suzuki, Espinosa, Desmond and Span, and all of those guys can kick in offensively. Balls hit to the left side will have to deal with Zimmerman and Harper. Almost the entire team is younger than 30, but the Nats also have key veterans like LaRoche, Werth and Dan Haren who have, between them, been on nine postseason teams outside of Washington. And they have the best manager going.

Johnson is 70 years old, he has 16 years of managing in the big leagues, and he has finished first six times and second seven times. It says volumes about what has happened in baseball management that Johnson didn't work for ten years, from 2001 through 2010, because Johnson isn't the kind of guy who's sitting behind his desk in his underwear at one in the afternoon waiting for the general manager to come down and dictate the lineup. But he knows better than anyone what to do when the light goes on. So, Nationals GM Mike Rizzo took a lot of heat last year for sitting Strasburg after 160 innings, but if he's willing and able to work with Johnson, then he's got something going that a lot of other GMs in the game don't.

Only one little chink in this armor presents itself, and it is the kind of thing that can hurt. There are times in life when you need to get a left-handed hitter out in the sixth or seventh inning to keep the game under control, and the Nats don't have an obvious left-handed reliever for the job. Their two good lefties from last year's bullpen, Mike Gonzalez and Tom Gorzelanny, both signed as free agents with Milwaukee. Veteran lefty Zach Duke made the Nats as a reliever, but he is a four-pitch guy without a magic bullet and he has been slapped around by left-handed hitters for a .748 OPS in his career entering 2013. 

Maybe it won't matter. Maybe Washington's starters will go seven innings every day. Maybe the Nationals will score so much that they can take a punch in the sixth or seventh inning. When you scan this club looking for flaws, all that emerges is this one little, common situation, but games turn on this situation. Chances are, the Nats will whistle past it. Although the Nats will not sneak up on people this year, taking them down is going to be a big job.

Our favorite candidate is the Phillies, assuming, for the purposes of forecast, that Halladay will not be great and that Lee is just working on pitches this spring. Along with bringing Howard and Utley back for the whole season, the Phillies made some nice upgrades.

Domonic Brown finally happened this spring, and he profiles as a fast, powerful right fielder along the lines of Atlanta's Jason Heyward and Miami's Giancarlo Stanton. The Texas Rangers made a big mistake in trading away Michael Young, and Philadelphia is the beneficiary. In his best days, Young was a 200-hit machine and, more recently, he excelled in a super-utility role to help the Rangers win two pennants. He's 35 now and he was down last year, but he's playing for another contract and the Phillies are giving him third base. Expect a productive season from him.

The Phillies paid Jonathan Papelbon $11 million last year to be their closer, then kept losing leads before they could give him the ball. During the winter, they signed Mike Adams, who is about as good as it gets for an eighth-inning reliever. And Phillippe Aumont is ready to make a contribution. Seattle took Aumont No. 11 overall in the 2007 draft, then shipped him to the Phillies in exchange for Lee in 2009. The Phillies moved Aumont to the bullpen, he started getting people out, and now appears to be the time for the 6-foot-7 right hander. 

Progressing year by year, the Braves reached the playoffs in 2012 as a strong first wild card with 94 wins. But they made some changes and they're licking some wounds. They might have too many holes for a return to the playoffs.

Catcher Brian McCann, a key piece of this team, is entering his age 29 season off shoulder surgery. He hasn't played all spring and, even if he does return before the end of April, his throwing arm will be an issue. Zapping out base stealers has never been a strong part of his game -- 24 percent against a league average of 27 percent during his career. Chipper Jones, now retired, was still producing last year and the Braves don't have an obvious replacement, though the spring numbers suggest that a platoon of Chris Johnson from the right and Juan Francisco from the left might work. Second baseman Dan Uggla suffered a big offensive decline in 2012 and he is entering his age 33 season. And Brandon Beachy, who led the NL with a 2.00 ERA when he went under the knife last year, still is recovering from Tommy John surgery.

The starting rotation is questionable. Tim Hudson is 37, and he's always been pretty good, but it's pretty easy to name eight or nine guys who you would rather have as a No. 1 starter. Kris Medlen went 10-1 as a midseason call-up last year, but it's not established that he can maintain for a whole season. Lefty Paul Maholm is 31 with two straight solid seasons behind him (3.66 ERA, 351 innings combined). The Braves will hope for more of the same and better yet from 25-year-old lefty Mike Minor. Julio Teheran, 22, is thoroughly unproven. The Braves do have three very solid performers for their bullpen in Craig Kimbrel, Jonny Venters and Eric O'Flaherty.

The Braves made headlines by bringing in the two Upton brothers, Bossman Junior and Justin, but it's not obvious that the Uptons are upgrades, for they replace two dynamic players in Martin Prado and Michael Bourn. Prado, in particular, is one of the game's unsung heroes, a .300 hitter and .800 OPS performer at five positions with presence of mind and flair for the dramatic. He doesn't show up in the baseball columns, but he definitely shows up in the games. The Braves might miss him more than they know, but they're still powerful contenders in a three-team race with Washington and Philadelphia.

The top three will feast on a dreary bottom two, the New York Mets and Miami Marlins, both of which are scandalized by their own ownership.

The National League, in recent years, has suffered from the travails of its three big city teams -- the Mets, the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers appear to have solved their problems with new ownership, the Cubs have, perhaps, intensified their problems with new ownership, and the Mets are muddling along with the same ownership. Mired in debt and entangled in the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme for the last several years, Mets owner Fred Wilpon appears no closer to building a contender. The Mets have some guys who might someday be somebody, but right now they've got nobody except for third baseman David Wright.

We're not as hard on Miami owner Jeffrey Loria as a lot of commentators are, but we're not as easy on him as Bud Selig, either. Loria is under a lot of heat for unloading several established players from his 2012 club, never mind that the Marlins' $118 million outfit was a last place team in 2012. If you're going to finish last, you might as well spend only $35 million, which the Marlins are paying this year. Either way, Loria's sell-off doesn't approach the most outrageous sell-off in Marlins history, which would have been Wayne Huizenga's fire sale right after the Marlins won the 1997 World Series.

That certainly wasn't the only Marlins folly under Huizenga. Putting the team in Fort Lauderdale for all those years was even worse. This franchise needed to be in Miami all along, but Huizenga is a Fort Lauderdale guy, so that's how it went. The more rabid South Florida baseball fans are in Miami, particularly the Cuban community. The Marlins might never sign a big time Cuban defector because of it. The pressure would be too great. But the Marlins stand to work up a solid base of fans there. 

So, all was looking great for the Marlins going to 2012 as they were set to open Marlins Park in the Little Havana section of Miami and Loria ponied up with a $118 million payroll.

Meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox were hoping to unload manager Ozzie Guillen before his mouth damaged the franchise, and Loria was glad to take him -- just in time for Guillen's mouth to damage the Marlins. Proclaiming, "I love Fidel Castro," just as the Marlins were about to open a new stadium in Little Havana might have been the most tone-deaf remark of 2012, at least right with any number of statements made during the election season. The season just had to fail. A Miami baseball team with a manager saying he loves Fidel Castro is a public relations disaster even if the team does win.

So, the Marlins are starting over, and they might as well. Guillen is gone, and so are key players from last season's belly-up ball club. Loria still is there, which isn't great news. But it's a new season, and that's always great news.