You'll have to clue me in on what you mean by worst "franchise". Like, the management?
I wouldn't say the Marlins guys are complete dumbasses. They made the Clement trade to the Cubs and got a little known lefty prospect named Dontrelle Willis in return. That's turned out pretty damn well so far.
Their main problem is that they don't have the money to keep any of the big contract players. They're a lot like Oakland, in that they've now taken the approach of signing their young pitching prospects very early to long contracts, so that they can keep them around.
Personally, I think the Marlins have one of the best scouting groups in baseball. They draft well, the prospects they get in trades usually contribute, and they've got a direct plug into the latin american talent pool. So it's no suprise that they've assembled an excellent young rotation, stacked from top to bottom.
A.J Burnett
Josh Beckett
Mark Redman
Dontrelle Willis
Brad Penny
That is a devastating 1-5. You have the perfect assemblage of guys(2 lefties, 3 righties) who can beat you different ways. Redman jams you, Dontrelle Willis comes from right field making his fastball nearly impossible to pick up, and Burnett, Beckett and Penny are your classic flamethrowing righties with overpowering stuff.
If you get a consistent closer in there(Vladimir Nunez had a disastrous start to the season, but I wouldn't give up on him yet), that pitching staff will get you 80 wins in the NL guaranteed with even the shittiest of offenses.
What I also really like about the Marlins is that even if they do trade or lose their two biggest contracts next year(other than Pudge, who's gone without a doubt, and Castillo, who I doubt they'll get rid of), Mike Lowell and Derrek Lee, they have two young studs pegged to replace them, in Miguel Cabrera and Adrian Gonzalez(1st overall pick in the 2000 draft), who both not only can hit, but play gold glove caliber defense at their respective positions, and give you long term stability(both are only 20).
Did I mention they have a guy in triple a(Rob Stratton) who's leading the entire minor league's in homers with 27?
