The Florida Marlins have signed 25-year old righty starting pitcher Josh Johnson to a 4-year, $39 million dollar contract extension. He pitched in 33 games (all starts) last season and he was 15-5 with a 3.23 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. Johnson has now pitched in 86 games (76 starts) for the Marlins in which he is 34-16 with a 3.40 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. I like this move for the Marlins but they better keep their fingers crossed because until last season he was a tad injury prone.

The Marlins have signed 31-year old righty reliever Chris Schroder to a minor league deal. He pitched in 45 games (1 start) in AAA-ball last season and he was 3-1 with 3 saves, a 2.22 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. Schroder has also pitched in 62 games (0 starts) in his major league career and he is 2-5 with a 4.46 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP. He only has allowed 65 hits in 78 2/3 innings in his major league career while whiffing 85 batters so Schroder does have the potential to help the Marlins in 2010.

The Florida Marlins are on the verge of really making some noise in the National League East. But, it appears as if money is going to once again cause them to short circuit. If the season started next week though the Marlins would have a outstanding line-up that would look like this:

C-John Baker/Ronny Paulino
1B-Gabby Sanchez
2B-Dan Uggla
SS-Hanley Ramirez
3B-Jorge Cantu
LF-Chris Coghlan
CF-Cameron Maybin
RF-Cody Ross

The Marlins will likely trade Dan Uggla or Jorge Cantu before the season starts which would likely put Emilio Bonifacio somewhere in this starting line-up and that would be a huge downgrade. The Marlins are moving into a brand new stadium in 2012 so they should quit being so damn cheap.