24-year old righty reliever Jose Ceda has been dominating in AAA-ball this year. Ceda has pitched in 28 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 2-1 with 19 saves, a 0.89 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. He has only given up 22 hits while whiffing 40 batters in 30 1/3 innings in the minors so far this year. Ceda pitched in 1 game out of the pen earlier for the Marlins this year and he is 0-0 with a 13.50 ERA and a 3.00 WHIP. Ceda has pitched in 9 games (0 starts) in parts of two years with the Marlins and he is 0-0 with a 5.79 ERA and a 2.25 WHIP. I think Ceda will get another chance with the Marlins this year, especially if they start dealing relief pitchers in July.

27-year old righty swinging 1B Gaby Sanchez had a solid rookie year in 2010 and he is having an even better year in 2011, so far. Sanchez has played in 78 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 89 for 296 (.301 avg, .869 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 13 homers, 45 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He is tied for first on the team in runs scored with 39. He is also #2 in homers (13) and he leads the team in RBIs (45) so far this year. Sanchez has slowed down a bit in June though. Sanchez has played in 25 games so far in June and he is 24 for 94 (.255 avg, .757 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 4 homers, 10 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Marlins need Sanchez to get back into gear because the Marlins have had trouble scoring runs this year.

Switch-hitting CF Chuck Carr burst onto the scene in the Marlins’ first year of existence. He finished 4th in the Rookie of the Year Voting in the N.L. in 1993, when the Marlins were born. Carr played in 142 games for the Marlins in 1993 and he was 147 for 551 (.267 avg, .657 OPS) with 75 runs scored, 4 homers, 41 RBIs and 58 stolen bases. He was also caught stealing 22 times, so he was far from perfect. Carr only played 3 years with the Marlins appearing in 353 games in which he was 331 of 1,292 (.256 avg, .646 OPS) with 190 runs scored, 8 homers, 91 RBIs and 115 stolen bases. Despite only playing three years with the Marlins, Carr is still #4 in team history in stolen bases with 115.

27-year old righty starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez has started 4 games so far in June and he is 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. He has whiffed 27 batters while only walking 5 of them in 25 2/3 innings this month. Sanchez has now started 15 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 6-1 with a 2.90 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Sanchez has only given up 84 hits in 99 1/3 innings for the Marlins so far this year and he has 101 whiffs. Sanchez is finally healthy and he is turning into the pitcher the Marlins thought he would be when they acquired him along with SS Hanley Ramirez from the Red Sox for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell.

The Florida Marlins have hired 80-year old Jack McKeon to be the Marlins’ interim manager the rest of this year. He will try to reinvent the magic of the 2003 Marlins. He was hired around Memorial Day in 2003 and he led the Marlins to a 75-49 (60.5%) record the rest of the year. McKeon then took the Marlins on a magical ride that ended in the old Yankees’ Stadium with a World Series Championship. McKeon has a 241-207 record (53.8%) in his three years in charge for the Marlins. McKeon has a 1,011-940 (51.8%) record during his 15-years as a major league manager. It will be interesting to see how McKeon’s old school, no-nonsense style fits with the young Marlins. This was a hire to win now as the Marlins aren’t giving up on the season.

50-year old Edwin Rodriguez has resigned as the manager of the Florida Marlins. The Marlins are 1-17 so far in June and it has led to frustration both in the front office and in the dugout. The Marlins are now 32-39 on the season (45.1%) which has them 12.5 games behind the Phillies in the N.L. East. The Marlins were 78-85 (47.9%) in parts of two years with Rodriguez calling the shots. Bench coach Brandon Hyde will manage the team today against the Rays. But, he is not the interim manager yet as the Marlins are considering bringing back 80-year old Jack McKeon to manage the team. Keep your eyes on this story.

35-year old righty swinging 3B/1B Wes Helms has been awful for the Marlins so far this year. He has played in 45 games for the Marlins so far this year and he is 16 for 74 (.216 avg, .545 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 0 homers and 5 RBIs. Helms has played in 557 games in his five years with the Marlins and he is 270 for 1,033 (.261 avg, .720 OPS) with 105 runs scored, 22 homers, 155 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The Marlins should think about getting rid of Helms if he doesn’t start hitting because he’s a horrible defensive player.

The Marlins have sent starting CF Chris Coghlan to AAA. The 26-year old lefty swinging Coghlan has played in 65 games for the Marlins this year and he was 62 for 269 (.230 avg, .664 OPS) with 33 runs scored, 5 homers, 22 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Coghlan was the N.L. Rookie of the Year in 2009. 26-year old switch-hitting Emilio Bonifacio and 33-year old lefty swinging DeWayne Wise will probably share CF now. Bonifacio has played in 61 games for the Marlins this year and he is 53 for 194 (.273 avg, .722 OPS) with 23 runs scored, 1 homer, 11 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. Wise has played in 36 games in A+AAA-ball this year and he is 51 for 153 (.333 avg, .935 OPS) with 32 runs scored, 5 homers, 21 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Wise played in 52 games for the Blue Jays last year and he was 28 for 112 (.250 avg, .675 OPS) with 20 runs scored, 3 homers, 14 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.

UPDATE: (6/20/2011) - The Marlins have placed Chris Coghlan on the 15-day disabled list due to a pre-existing left knee problem. So he gets out of going to the minors, for now.

The Marlins have designated 27-year old lefty reliever Dustin Richardson for assignment to make room on the roster for DeWayne Wise who has been called up from AAA. Richardson pitched in 23 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball for the Marlins this year and he was 3-1 with a 3.66 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP. Richardson whiffed 35 batters in his first 32 innings in AAA, but he also walked 20 batters and that got him into some trouble. Richardson has pitched in 29 games (0 starts) in parts of two years in the majors and he is 0-0 with a 3.31 ERA and a 2.02 WHIP. Richardson might not make it through waivers so the Marlins better be trying to deal him for something.

UPDATE: (6/23/2011) - The Atlanta Braves have claimed Dustin Richardson off waivers.

I could see the Marlins being buyers or sellers at the trade deadline. If the Marlins get on a hot streak, I think they will look to deal for a starting pitcher due to the failure of both Chris Volstad and Javier Vazquez so far this year. If the Marlins become buyers I think they will look at starting pitchers like Jeff Francis, Francisco Liriano, Chris Capuano, Wade LeBlanc, Kevin Slowey, Jeremy Guthrie, Aaron Harang and maybe Hiroki Kuroda. If the Marlins are in the hunt they would be smart to make some deals to improve the team as a good faith gesture to the fans building momentum for the opening of the new stadium in 2012. If the Marlins are sellers I don’t see them trading any of the future away. I see relievers like Clay Hensley, Brian Sanches and Randy Choate becoming available in late July if the current tailspin goes on for the Marlins. I also see Greg Dobbs, Omar Infante, Emilio Bonifacio, Wes Helms and Jose Lopez being available if the Marlins don’t start turning things around soon.