This is truly a very exciting time for the Fish (and for fans like us) as the Marlins have undergone a long awaited and much anticipated change for the better.

We're loving Donnie Baseball here in the 305 and we're overwhelmingly ecstatic about Bonds.

But as we focus our gaze on reattaining the magic and glory of '97 and '03, we realize that for it to happen, we really need to be a lot stronger in four areas.

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1. A Deeper Mound

We're still missing depth in the bullpen though we look (with great hope) to see Cosart get in where he fits in - if we can just keep him clear-headed.

Otherwise, the rotation is entirely capable of enough power and finesse to carry the Fish to the top - with just a few tweaks here and there and a lot of hands-on experience.

We're just hoping that Mattingly doesn't put Ramos where Capps needs to be. And let's please forget about Capps predicted health longevity - they said the very same thing about The Freak in 2008, 2009, and 2010. Capps is the man for the 9th and has everything that it takes to lock it down. Just ask him, he'll tell ya.

But regardless of whether Capps stays healthy or not, we need a deeper mound. This is baseball, afterall. Anything could go wrong.

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2. Realmuto's Development

Yes, he's still young (gracias a Dios), but we'll need for him to mature in the next few years into a catcher that can hold down a world series defensive team. His pop up time is awesome (and we do mean awesome), but he'll need to develop his framing technique and, ahem, blocking skills.

However, we're looking to the coaching battery of Nieves and Schneider as the combined expertise needed to make Realmuto one of the best framers and a blocker worthy of mention.

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3. A Stronger First Baseman

We like Justin Bour offensively, but we'll need him to develop into a more formidable first baseman as his defensive performances have been universally weak.

To be fair, however, it is true that he did not get as many opportunities as a lot of other (and some weaker) sentries at cold corner in 2015.

The great news is that he has the incredible opportunity of being coached by none other than Mr. Mattingly, who, as a man of cold corners himself, has the wherewithal, wisdom, and expertise to mold Bour into a force to be reckoned with.

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4. True Fan Support and Loyalty

Look, we're from Miami, we love Miami, and being from long lines of Cuban ancestors ensconced in the Magic City, we eat and breathe baseball - but we gotta say that Miami is lacking a die-hard fan support infrastructure - even though this is not the fault of the fans themselves.

Nevertheless, we predict that with the new Marlins' era beginning (#goFish), and with the right marketing approach and school of proselytizers (we swim in that school ourselves), Miami can become a much stronger baseball city - and we can talk about the Fish as much as we talk about the Heat.

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The Bottom Line

Stanton can't be denied, our coaching can't be belittled, and our defense can't be ignored.

But before we can grab that new jewelry (and a few pennants along the way), we'll have to address the four points listed above.

And it can be done. For the third time.

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Jody Pike Mendez
Game Developer at Roll Saga Baseball

Photo credits: (Main image) http://www.fishstripes.com/2015/11/17/9741422/2016-miami-marlins-offseason-plan-salaries-and-arbitration; (1) Jarred Cosart, http://espn.go.com/mlb/player/_/id/31096/jarred-cosart; (2) J.T. Realmuto, http://inningseaters.sportsblog.com/posts/2751538/rookie-catcher-j-t--realmuto-heating-up-at-the-plate.html; (3) Justin Bour, http://www.outsidepitchmlb.com/justin-bour-is-the-miami-marlins-best-option-at-first-base/30130; (4) Marlins fans, http://marlinmaniac.com/2016/02/01/marlin-maniac-seeks-new-writers-miami-marlins-fans/; (Ring) http://www.dr-fishbein.com/about.html