30-year old righty swinging 2B Dan Uggla has been the MVP for the Florida Marlins this year, plain and simple. Uggla has played in 129 games for the Marlins this year and he is 136 of 476 (.286 avg, .883 OPS) with 86 runs scored, 29 homers, 83 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. The Marlins are in negotiations to sign Uggla to a long term deal and that would be a smart move. Uggla has played in 746 games in his five years with the Marlins and he is 738 of 2,814 (.262 avg, .836 OPS) with 485 runs scored, 150 homers, 443 RBIs and 19 stolen bases. Uggla is already the Marlins’ all-time leader in homers with 150. He is also #6 in games (746), #8 in hits (738), #3 in runs scored (485), #4 in RBIs (443), #7 in doubles (161) and #6 in walks (349) in Marlins’ history. He deserves to be part of the core of the Florida Marlins when they move into their brand new stadium in 2012.

20-year old righty swinging RF Mike Stanton came into this season as the Marlins’ #1 prospect according to Baseball America and you’re starting to see why that is. Stanton has played in 58 games for the Marlins and he is 57 of 210 (.271 avg, .905 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 14 homers, 39 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has whiffed 73 times this season for the Fish but he also has 25 walks which is impressive for a young hitter like him. Before the Marlins called up Stanton he played in 53 games in AA-ball in which he was 60 of 192 (.313 avg, 1.171 OPS)with 42 runs scored, 21 homers and 52 RBIs. He walked 44 times while whiffing 53 times in the minors this year. Stanton is starting to remind me a big of Miguel Cabrera when he came up in 2003.

27-year old infielder Donnie Murphy has been relegated to pinch hitting so far for the Marlins and he’s doing a outstanding job. Murphy has played in 14 games for the Marlins this year and he is 5 of 16 (.313 avg, 1.165 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 2 homers and 7 RBIs. The only thing probably holding back the Marlins from giving him some starts at 3B over Wes Helms is his career stats coming into this year. Coming into this season Murphy played in 127 games in the majors in which he was 62 of 325 (.191 avg, .607 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 10 homers, 45 RBIs and 4 stolen bases.

The Florida Marlins plan to keep Dan Uggla around for a while. Uggla has played in 96 games for the Marlins this year and he is 96 of 352 (.273 avg, .826 OPS) with 61 runs scored, 17 homers, 55 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Uggla has really been a rock for the Marlins since they selected him in the Rule 5 Draft. He has played in 713 games for the Marlins and he is 698 of 2,690 (.259 avg, .826 OPS) with 460 runs scored, 138 homers, 415 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. Uggla is #7 in games played in Marlins’ history with 713. He is also #4 in runs scored (460), #8 in hits (698), #8 in doubles (157), he’s tied for #2 in homers (157) with Miguel Cabrera, he’s #5 in RBIs (415) and he is #6 in walks (332) in Marlins’ history. I really think the Marlins need to keep Uggla for a while. They are moving into a new stadium in 2012 and I hope to see Uggla and Hanley Ramirez as the double play combo there.

26-year old righty swinging shortstop Hanley Ramirez and 26-year old righty starting pitcher Josh Johnson are heading to the All-Star Game. Ramirez was elected by the fans so he will be the starter at SS for the N.L. Ramirez has played in 79 games for the Marlins so far this season and he is 89 of 299 (.298 avg, .880 OPS) with 47 runs scored, 13 homers, 52 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. Josh Johnson has been outstanding this season for the Marlins. He has started 17 games for the Marlins this season and he is 8-3 with a 1.82 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. Johnson has been ultra aggressive in the strike zone as he has whiffed 115 batters while only walking 27 in 114 innings this year. He has great stuff as he throws a lot of strikes while also missing a lot of bats as evidenced by the 83 hits he has given up. The Marlins only have two players signed past the 2012 season when they move into their new ballpark and these are the guys.