JUPITER, Fla. _ The optimism surrounding the Miami Marlins' start of spring training is quite sharply spoken.
"A lot more talent (than last year) _ upper level talent," as president of baseball operations Michael Hill put it Monday.
But quantifying that optimism is a tougher ask. Trying to get a handle on Marlins expectations is where the expertly crafted vagueness comes in.
"We're not putting limitations on what we can do," said Hill, as if a jinx might be in play.
Marlins CEO and part owner Derek Jeter famously says, "I don't put a time frame on it," meaning any idea at all when the club's ground-floor rebuild might bear tangible fruit.
But majority owner Bruce Sherman on Monday at least had the nerve to say, "The time now is to be much better this year."
Now. Much better. Hallelujah.
And manager Don Mattingly refreshingly placed some pressure on his team _ and on himself.
"I kept coming back to, 'It's time,'" said Mattingly. "Time to kind of get this thing up the hill. We're going to be disappointed if we don't make significant strides. We've got to raise or expectations."
Year 3 of the Sherman/Jeter Era, now underway, needs to show dramatic improvement in terms of wins and competitiveness after a disheartening step back to a 57-105 record last season.
The regression was not only in the standings. Crowds averaged an-MLB worst 10,016, nearly 5,000 worse than anybody else and a near-50% drop from 2017.
Nobody more than Marlins fans, in all of sports, have been told to be patient longer, with no reward.
Miami is trying to end a 16-year MLB playoff drought, and a streak of 10 straight seasons below .500.
Unequivocally, this season will be a disappointment if there is not a minimum improvement of around 15 wins, into the mid-70s. Progress must be palpable; that nourishment is needed.
A Marlins team perhaps even hanging around in the playoff hunt deep into the season should not be an unreasonable high hope _ not if Hill's appraisal of "a lot more talent _ upper level talent," proves accurate.
The Marlins internally believe next season, 2021, may be the big year when everything jells and the team is ready to compete for the playoffs. But it will be tough to expect that leap if dramatic improvement this season doesn't provide a springboard and feed hope to a fandom starving for it.
There are reasons for optimism. Now it's time for results to reflect that.
Hill on Monday said, "If you got it, flaunt it," a challenge to young players to step up. The same thing might apply to the team. Your talent is that much better? The farm system has gone from barren to bounteous? Time to show it.
Sherman seems to get it.
"From day one we made difficult decisions we knew would not be popular," he said. "We knew it would be tough. We knew we'd have to earn fans' support. We want to build a sustainable winning program. We're here for the long haul."
He called the ups and downs of the Loria regime a "silly way" to run a ballclub.
Almost 75% of the 40-man roster (29 players) are new since Sherman and Jeter bought the club from Jeffrey Loria. The painful fire sale that depleted the club of star talent served its purpose. Miami's farm system is now ranked No. 4 by MLB.com. There is a pipeline now. It is full, and flowing.
Top prospects like righty pitcher Sixto Sanchez, outfielders JJ Bleday and Jesus Sanchez, shortstop Jazz Chisholm, second baseman Isan Diaz and outfielder Monte Harrison are knocking to get in. Sanchez has electric, top-of-the-rotation talent. Diaz has a chance to win the 2B job this spring and start the future now. Hill calls Harrison "one of the most physically gifted players I have ever seen."
Even without Sanchez's fulltime promotion, the starting rotation looks strong led by projected Opening Day starter Sandy Alcantara, Caleb Smith and Pablo Lopez.
A really bad 2019 bullpen was almost completely retooled. (It could include, in Pat Venditt, the majors' only "switch pitcher," a right and left thrower I'll be rooting for for the sheer novelty of it.
But a boost in expected run production might be the Marlins' biggest improvement. Jonathan Villar and Corey Dickerson were notable free-agent adds. Returning third baseman/right fielder Brian Anderson is poised for a breakout season after hitting 20 homers last year.
All of it must reverse last year's step back and prove begin to tangibly to Marlins' fans that the massive Jeter rebuild is working.
Sherman himself said it: "The time now is to be much better this year."
Starving Marlins fans need that. So does a franchise struggling to regain relevance in this ever-more-crowded market, where the new Inter Miami soccer team will compete directly with the baseball franchise starting this spring.
You got something for us, Marlins? Now would be a really great time to start to show it.
