25-year old righty swinging shortstop Hanley Ramirez finished second in the voting for the N.L. MVP Award behind only the superhuman Albert Pujols of the Cardinals. Ramirez played in 151 games last season for the Marlins and he was 197 for 576 (.342 avg, .954 OPS) with 101 runs scored, 24 homers, 106 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. He has now played in 618 games in his five year major league career and he is 771 for 2,439 (.316 avg, .917 OPS) with 470 runs scored, 103 homers, 313 RBIs and 164 stolen bases. Ramirez is quite simply the best hitting shortstop in all of baseball without a doubt and he should be able to win a MVP Award at some point in his career. He is the future of the Florida Marlins who have locked him up with a long term contract which was really smart of them.

24-year old lefty swinging outfielder Chris Coghlan has been impressive as a rookie this season. He has played in 116 games for the Marlins and he is 140 for 452 (.310 avg, .832 OPS) with 74 runs scored, 9 homers, 42 RBIs and 7 stolen bases. With the way he has played this season he probably has pushed Jeremy Hermida to another team and that’s a good thing.

Shortstop Hanley Ramirez has responded well to being dropped to the #3 spot in the lineup. He has played in 141 games for the Marlins this year and he is 190 for 540 (.352 avg, .972 OPS) with 95 runs scored, 23 homers, 100 RBIs and 26 stolen bases. Ramirez is the best hitting shortstop on the planet and I think he will be winning a MVP award soon as he keeps getting better.

The handwriting is on the wall that the Marlins will move both 29-year old starting 2B Dan Uggla and 27-year old righty swinging 1B/3B Jorge Cantu over the winter. Uggla is primed to get a huge raise in arbitration. He has played in 146 games for the Marlins this season and he is 125 for 520 (.240 avg, .811 OPS) with 79 runs scored, 29 homers and 81 RBIs. Uggla has played four years for the Marlins and he has played in 605 games in which he is 590 for 2,294 (.257 avg, .827 OPS) with 394 runs scored, 119 homers and 351 RBIs. I would find a way to keep Uggla if I were running the Marlins because their aren’t many 2B that can hit the ball like Uggla. Jorge Cantu has been playing a lot of 3B lately and he is having a good season again for the Fish. Cantu has played in 138 games for the Marlins this season and he is 152 for 543 (.280 avg, .774 OPS) with 62 runs scored, 16 homers and 89 RBIs. In two years for the Marlins, Cantu has played in 293 games in which he is 326 for 1,171 (.278 avg) with 154 runs scored, 45 homers and 184 RBIs. With the Marlins getting a new stadium in a couple of years they should keep both Cantu and Uggla.

I might be insulting 28-year old righty swinging outfielder when I call this a “career year” for him. After all this is the first time he’s been a everyday player in the majors so he might just be warming up. Ross has played in 141 games for the Marlins this season and he is 143 for 524 (.273 avg, .799 OPS) with 71 runs scored, 22 homers, 85 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. Jeremy Hermida should watch Ross and learn how to be a good baseball player.