Freddy Gonzalez should have finished higher on this list when you consider the payroll he was working with. He led the Marlins to a 87-75 record (53.7%) during the regular season. He has now compiled a 242-243 (49.9%) record during his three seasons as manager of the Marlins. He’s a better manager than Joe Girardi is or was so it’s puzzling as to why he doesn’t garner at least the same level of respect. Maybe he will win the award in 2010 as the Marlins are likely to pare down the payroll even more once again.

24-year old lefty swinging OF/2B Chris Coghlan won the National League Rookie of the Year Award. He played in 128 games for the Marlins last season and he was 162 for 504 (.321 avg, .850 OPS) with 84 runs scored, 9 homers, 47 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Coghlan’s future could be at 2B for the Marlins if they trade Dan Uggla this winter (which is very likely). Coghlan has a good upside but it might be hard for him to repeat the kind of batting average he put up last year for the Marlins.

UPDATE: Coghlan also finished tied with Jeremy Affeldt and Brad Hawpe for 28th in the N.L. MVP Voting.

The Marlins have traded 25-year old lefty swinging outfielder Jeremy Hermida to the Red Sox for 25-year old lefty reliever Hunter Jones and 20-year old lefty starter/reliever Jose Alvarez. Hermida played in 129 games last season for the Marlins and he was 111 for 429 (.259 avg, .740 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 13 homers, 47 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. In five years with the Marlins, Hermida has played in 516 games in which he was 452 for 1,708 (.265 avg, .769 OPS) with 222 runs scored, 57 homers, 210 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. The Marlins have waited a long time for Hermida to live up to his potential and he never has. Still, the Marlins should have got more for him than what they did. Neither Jones nor Alvarez were listed among the top 30 prospects on the Red Sox heading into last season according to Baseball America. Jones pitched in 11 games (0 starts) for the Red Sox last season and he was 0-0 with a 9.24 ERA and a 1.82 WHIP. He walked 7 batters and gave up 3 homers in only 12 2/3 innings last season for the Red Sox. Jones also pitched in 36 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball last year and he was 4-3 with 2 saves, a 4.25 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Jose Alvarez pitched in 26 games (12 starts) in Rookie + A-ball last season and he was 9-4 with a 2.26 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. Adding Jones likely means that the Marlins will be subtracting Reynel Pinto soon. But Alvarez is the key to this trade for the Marlins but it will be quite a while until he is ready to pitch for them.