By:  Stephen Parsons

In 2014 the Miami Marlins flirted with a winning season as they finished with a 77-85 record.  They finished well behind the division champion Washington Nationals at 19 games.  However they finished just 2 games back of the 2nd place team Atlanta Braves and New York Mets.  A busy off season in Miami has Marlins fans thinking 2015 could be a year filled with excitement and competitive baseball.

The first order of business that Miami conducted in the off season was locking up slugger Giancarlo Stanton to a long term deal.  The two sides agreed to a massive 13 year deal for $325 million.  The deal is back heavy so the Marlins have some flexibility to get better now and pay more of the contract later on.  Stanton put together the best season of his career.  He hit for a .288 batting average with 37 home runs…