27-year old righty swinging shortstop Hanley Ramirez looked disinterested quite a bit last season. He still played in 142 games in which he was 163 of 543 (.300 avg, .853 OPS) with 92 runs scored, 21 homers, 76 RBIs and 32 stolen bases. Ramirez has averaged 112.4 runs scored, 24.8 homers, 77.8 RBIs and 39.2 steals per season in his five years with the Marlins. Ramirez is a career .313 hitter with a .905 OPS in his major league career. Look for him to rebound in a big way with the bat in 2011, as he will likely be a legit MVP contender in the N.L. Ramirez is not much of a defensive player as he made 16 errors in 140 games at SS for the Marlins last season while showing poor range. I don’t see Ramirez improving defensively any time soon as he just doesn’t look too interested in the field.

If the Marlins ever decide to move Ramirez to a different position (2B or CF), then Osvaldo (”Ozzie”) Martinez could wind up starting at SS for the Marlins. Martinez is the Marlins’ #5 prospect coming into this season according to Baseball America. He played in 14 games for the Marlins at the end of last year and he was 14 of 43 (.326 avg, .848 OPS) with 8 runs scored, 2 RBIs and 1 stolen base. He also played in 130 games in AA-ball last year and he was 156 of 516 (.302 avg, .773 OPS) with 90 runs scored, 5 homers, 54 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. Martinez didn’t make any errors in 11 games at SS for the Marlins last season but he showed pathetic range. Despite the range problems in the majors, Martinez will likely wind up being a vastly better defensive SS than Ramirez is or will be.

29-year old righty swinging Omar Infante will be the Marlins’ starting 2B in 2011. But, if the need arises at SS, he could slide over. He played in 19 games for the Braves at SS last season and he showed outstanding range despite making 5 errors.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE MARLINS SS IN 2011: A+

The Florida Marlins dealt 30-year old righty swinging Dan Uggla to the N.L. East Division rival Atlanta Braves over the winter. Uggla won’t be too easy to replace offensively as he averaged 99.8 runs scored, 30.8 homers and 93.0 RBIs in his five years with the Braves. 29-year old righty swinging Omar Infante was part of the return for Uggla and he will be replacing him at 2B. Infante played in 134 games for the Braves last season and he was 151 of 471 (.321 avg, .775 OPS) with 65 runs scored, 8 homers, 47 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. Infante looks like a different player in the N.L. has he is a .309 hitter with a .763 OPS in his first three years in it. Infante made 7 errors in only 65 games at 2B for the Braves last season but he showed good range. Infante can’t replace Uggla’s production but he should hit around .300 while playing good defense for the Marlins in 2011.

25-year old switch hitting Emilio Bonifacio will back up Infante at 2B in 2011. Bonifacio played in 73 games for the Marlins last season and he was 47 of 180 (.261 avg, .648 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 0 homers, 10 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. He made 1 error in 5 games at 2B for the Marlins last season while showing outstanding range. Bonifacio could wind up starting at 2B for the Marlins in 2011 if the need arises to move Infante to a different position.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE MARLINS 2B IN 2011: B

The Marlins never trusted 27-year old righty swining Gaby Sanchez until 2010. He played in 151 games for the Marlins last season and he was 156 of 572 (.273 avg, .788 OPS) with 72 runs scored, 18 homers, 95 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. The Marlins would be very happy with Sanchez if he can repeat in 2010 numbers in 2011 and he’s capable of doing that. He will have a good chance of going over 100 RBIs in 2011 if he can stay healthy because the lineup should be improved this year. Sanchez needs to improve on defense though as he made 11 errors in 149 games at 1B for the Marlins last year.

34-year old righty swinging Wes Helms and 32-year old lefty swinging Greg Dobbs will likely backup Sanchez in 2011. Helms & Dobbs each played 2 error-free games at 1B last season but neither of them are very smooth there.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE MARLINS 1B IN 2011: B-