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Speaker 1: Welcome to Big Fish Small Pod. I'm Andrew Wordahl, and

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Speaker 1: today is March twenty fifth. Here on Big Fish Small Pod.

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Speaker 1: I've been with you every Wednesday and Friday, and we'll

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Speaker 1: continue throughout the season. I'm taking a particular interest in

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Speaker 1: the offense this year. The pitching feels like really well

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Speaker 1: established for this Martlins team, so the offense is kind

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Speaker 1: of the next thing to click into place. So what

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Speaker 1: I'm doing today is looking a bit at just like

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Speaker 1: the dynamics of this roster to start the season in April.

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Speaker 1: It will be a twenty eight man roster, fairly unusual.

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Speaker 1: I haven't really seen anything like that. Usually rosters expand.

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Speaker 2: At the end of the year.

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Speaker 1: So what I'm doing is I just put together a

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Speaker 1: bit of like a mock offense Like I's certainly not

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Speaker 1: like a projection so much. It's just like I wanted

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Speaker 1: to get some thoughts on page. So like, looking at

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Speaker 1: this team, we're gonna have like presume starters Jacob Stallings, Hazes, Aguilar,

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Speaker 1: Jazz mcguil, Rojas, Brian Anderson, Jorges Laire, Jesus Sanchez in center,

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Speaker 1: and Avid Garcia and right with Garrett Cooper d Hing

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Speaker 1: should be like the primary roster with a.

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Speaker 2: Bench looking probably about a fourteen man offense.

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Speaker 1: To start with Joey Wendell being like your infield utility

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Speaker 1: guy giving some days off in there. Brian day let

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Speaker 1: Cruz a fourth outfielder providing days off for the outfield.

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Speaker 1: Nick Fortest being that like backup catcher John Birdie should

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Speaker 1: stick in as like you're pretty much anything utility guy. Uh,

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Speaker 1: pretty much a day off backup for anyone who needs it.

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Speaker 1: And then Diaz sort of like a developmental bat, your

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Speaker 1: first baseman. He'll slide in to cover first, maybe some

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Speaker 1: dh kind of hard to foresee that, but he'll probably

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Speaker 1: be benefit at least from the month of April by

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Speaker 1: just being in the majors, seeing the pitching, getting his

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Speaker 1: bat there. Because he was good in Triple A last year.

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Speaker 1: Kind of the next step for him is proving it

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Speaker 1: in the majors. So how can I maneuver that? It

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Speaker 1: seems to be just having him as that extra bat

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Speaker 1: bench guy for April is a great way to do it.

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Speaker 1: So taking a look at like what the offensill look like,

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Speaker 1: I mocked a lineup very I mean, it could go anyway,

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Speaker 1: so I'm really not like locked into this. But I

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Speaker 1: have Jazz leading off. He has like all that potential

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Speaker 1: there as you're like ideal lyoff hitter and he's definitely

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Speaker 1: going to be a starter. Then you have Jorg Silaire.

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Speaker 1: He batted second for the Braves last year. Makes sense

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Speaker 1: to have him bat second for us as well. There's

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Speaker 1: really just no reason not to have his power back

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Speaker 1: to get as many chances as possible. And third, I

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Speaker 1: have Garrett Cooper. He's someone who you want in the

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Speaker 1: middle of the order, but has been a bit of

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Speaker 1: a question mark, so that third spot generally speaking, not

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Speaker 1: as many like run opportunities in third versus like second

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Speaker 1: or fourth, which is why fourth goes to Avi Garcia.

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Speaker 1: You're more solid middle of the order bat from which

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Speaker 1: Jesus Sanchez can bat behind him in a sort of

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Speaker 1: developmental opportunity. Immediately seeing a true pro right ahead of

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Speaker 1: him against the pictures about to face, maybe there's a

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Speaker 1: thing or two he can learn, but at least like

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Speaker 1: he's in a spot to provide some coverage for Avi

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Speaker 1: and to get his best shot with the bat behind him.

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Speaker 1: Hazu's aguilar, an aggressive veteran kind of there's a bit

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Speaker 1: of like a drop off as.

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Speaker 2: Far as potential.

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Speaker 1: The way I see it, Hazu's agular seemed like pretty

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Speaker 1: well extended last year, so maybe some days off here

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Speaker 1: there could help him going forward. But his like aggressive

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Speaker 1: presence seems to be more dominant than his like solid

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Speaker 1: presence with the bat, If that makes any sense at all,

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Speaker 1: It's just the difference between like Avid Garcia and Hazu's agula.

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Speaker 1: They're more just just a consistent can do anything at

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Speaker 1: the plate that Hazus Aguilar hasn't quite shown, but he

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Speaker 1: still like could continue to show that, so you want

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Speaker 1: him in position to make the most of his bat

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Speaker 1: after that kind of aggressive position. I have Miguel Rohoff

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Speaker 1: batting seventh, kind of like an unusual move. I don't

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Speaker 1: necessarily know if he'll be there or ninth or first

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Speaker 1: or really anything, but I like his ability to be

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Speaker 1: that like leadoff hitter in terms of skills and be

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Speaker 1: kind of a reset at the plate. He'll foul some off,

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Speaker 1: he won't be too too aggressive, but he also might

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Speaker 1: be incredibly aggressive, so it's more an unpredictable thing. Then

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Speaker 1: you're like Hazus Agular, who you know is going to

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Speaker 1: be trying to get an extra base hit after Miguel

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Speaker 1: Brian Anderson kind of the thought is to minimize his

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Speaker 1: at bats after the shoulder surgery, but.

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Speaker 2: He still could prove to be that middle of the

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Speaker 2: order bat.

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Speaker 1: He might benefit just from someone like Miguel Rojas in

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Speaker 1: front of him offering that sort of reset. And they've

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Speaker 1: played together for years, so they know each other well

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Speaker 1: and what that means to how they get pitched and

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Speaker 1: how then they might get pitched themselves. It offers just

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Speaker 1: a cohesive sort of predictability there that might help Brian

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Speaker 1: Anderson settle into a gear, prove himself and then move

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Speaker 1: up in that order. Then a ninth day of Jacob Stallings.

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Speaker 1: He's kind of a glove first catcher. He does offer

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Speaker 1: like a real at bat. By no means is he

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Speaker 1: like a Jeff Mathis type player out there. He could

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Speaker 1: even probably bad as high as seventh than this order,

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Speaker 1: but the thing is that he's here for his glove

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Speaker 1: and to minimize those at bats might be a decent choice,

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Speaker 1: just even as far as fatigue goes. It's also a

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Speaker 1: sort of position that you could pinch hit later in

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Speaker 1: the games, give like Nick Fortes, some of those at

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Speaker 1: bats he seemed really solid at the plate last year.

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Speaker 1: But mean a rookie hasn't quite been around the block yet,

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Speaker 1: you don't know exactly.

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Speaker 2: What to expect.

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Speaker 1: Probably until about like five hundred plate appearances, you don't

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Speaker 1: really know what to expect.

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Speaker 2: So this team has a lot to prove.

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Speaker 1: Highest upsides hitters You're probably looking at like Jazz and

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Speaker 1: like Jesus Sanchez, and those are guys that are still

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Speaker 1: proving themselves. So, like, the idea with this team right

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Speaker 1: here is that you have a really like Tubburn, confident lineup.

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Speaker 1: You have a lineup full of hitters that could easily

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Speaker 1: have good productive years. There's no one in the lineup

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Speaker 1: that I would say.

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Speaker 2: Couldn't be an All Star in twenty twenty two.

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Speaker 1: Not that it's particularly like likely all around. I don't

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Speaker 1: think that the Marlins are going to just have the

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Speaker 1: All Stars starting to line up in twenty twenty two,

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Speaker 1: But any of these guys, it could foreseeably be there.

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Speaker 1: I mean a few of these guys have been there.

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Speaker 1: Joey Wendalls, who's been on the bench, was their last year.

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Speaker 1: So it's just a good position with a very high floor.

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Speaker 1: We're looking at a team of hitters with some obvious

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Speaker 1: step ins and some obvious players that could take a

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Speaker 1: step forward. So sticking with that and just giving these

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Speaker 1: guys time in that bats and letting this like roster

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Speaker 1: play out give these players the opportunity to play.

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Speaker 2: That might be like.

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Speaker 1: The thing that ends up happening here for lack of

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Speaker 1: like a true franchise hitter at the top, like we

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Speaker 1: aren't the Blue Jays where they look at like vlad

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Speaker 1: Guerrea Junior and Boba schett as too like can beat

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Speaker 1: anyone batters if we're looking at some like guys that

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Speaker 1: still need to prove that Jazz is certainly a player

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Speaker 1: that you like hope could get to that point. But

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Speaker 1: along with these like just couple of proven bats in

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Speaker 1: the middle of the order, you have a chance that

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Speaker 1: the pitcher could get better seen by the lineup and

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Speaker 1: then be forced to go against a rather deep attack.

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Speaker 2: There might be like some risk of this team.

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Speaker 1: Does get blown away by like the absolute top pitchers

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Speaker 1: for lack of that like Boba shit. But the depth

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Speaker 1: should be enough to really push the pitch count and

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Speaker 1: test the opposition. And if what you're really afraid of

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Speaker 1: is those like unquestionably dominant arms. What you have at

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Speaker 1: the top is Jazz and Claire who could change the

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Speaker 1: game with one swing against any pitch. So the offense

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Speaker 1: should be at least competitive, and that's contingent on there

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Speaker 1: much more established pitching staff. So with a high floor,

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Speaker 1: you're looking at a roster that should at least be

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Speaker 1: like decent with some steps forward that will see how

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Speaker 1: they play out, could prove to be like a really

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Speaker 1: great year for Miami, and deeper than that. At Triple A,

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Speaker 1: you're looking at like players like JJ Blade, Jerer and Canasion,

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Speaker 1: possibly Peyton Verdic Jose Devers, who all show potential to

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Speaker 1: be good hitters that could force their ways into a

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Speaker 1: lineup down the line, but they're in a position like

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Speaker 1: as Don maddingly recognized yesterday, to like force those doors

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Speaker 1: open at Triple A. So you'll have, if it happens,

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Speaker 1: a bat coming up for their debut, really hot, and

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Speaker 1: that's what you want. You don't want to just have

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Speaker 1: players walking into the majors with no opposition. The offense

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Speaker 1: itself is positioned well for the year to go well,

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Speaker 1: and there's not much risk involved if it doesn't quite

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Speaker 1: lead to a fully functional offense. Because the best upside

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Speaker 1: bats in the organization would benefit from another year developing well,

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Speaker 1: the biggest questions on the roster have a real shot

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Speaker 1: to prove themselves. It's a formula to just make the

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Speaker 1: most of who's on the team now, and that's a

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Speaker 1: formula to getting the most wins you can. So I

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Speaker 1: think we're looking at a deeper lineup than we have

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Speaker 1: at probably any point in Miami Marlin's history at least

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Speaker 1: and certainly not since like Florida Marlin's days. It seems

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Speaker 1: like an offense that could really click and keep any

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Speaker 1: picture in check. So to see how it goes. I'll

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Speaker 1: be back with you next Wednesday. Podcasts way back next week,

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Speaker 1: but thank you for listening for now. I've been Andrew

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Speaker 1: Wordell