How come you never really hear anything about Miguel Cabrera? We’ve been force-fed every little detail of Albert Pujols’ career for the past couple of years, but no mention of the real phenom.  Cabrera followed up his superhuman 2004-2005 campaigns (in which he was 21-22, respectively) with an equally impressive ’06.  His extra base hit totals climbed from 65 to 78 from his first full season in ’04, not to mention the huge boost in his average by 45 points to .339. And for those of you hardcore stat-heads out there just wanting to shove his high strikeout rate in my face, he’s getting better. His strikeouts have decreased from 148 to 125 to 108 in successive years (his PA totals have stayed largely unchanged, too).  And for all the hoopla you hear about his home stadium taking away from his performance, his OPS was actually 100 points higher at Dolphins Stadium than on the road, although many of his road games are played in Hitter’s Hell’s like Shea and RFK.  Speaking of those other teams in the division, did I mention that he hit .345 against them and the American League last year.

Hanley Ramirez really surprised me to be honest.  I knew he would be good, but not this good…not this fast.  I expected him to struggle mightily in his first full season in the big leagues, especially in that predominately rookie lineup.  He responded by being in the lineup every single day, racking up 700 PA. He made some big adjustments halfway through the year, as evidenced by his 1st and 2nd half splits (OPS - .744/.931).  More importantly, he totaled 74 extra base hits, second on the team to Cabrera’s 78.  He stole over 50 bases, and scored 119 runs.  I’d say that’s a pretty good effort for a rookie who hit just .268 in the first half.

The feel-good story of the year was Dan 'Not so' Uggla.  The former Rule V pick had a couple of good months, and ended up breaking the Marlins franchise record for homeruns by a second baseman. Otherwise he wasn’t anything to phone home about, and his 48/123 BB/K rate leaves something to be desired.  He’s driving in runs though, and anyone that hits 27 homeruns after being given up on is a definite feel-good story for me.  Fantasy-wise though, I don’t feel good about anything with him.

This team wasn't without its disappointments though, super-prospect Jeremy Hermida had a very rough rookie season, hitting just .251, and slugging only .368 as he battled injuries all season.  He'll be just 23 years old this year however, so there's plenty of time to improve.  There’s definitely some thought that he wasn’t ready for the jump and should’ve spent some time in Triple-A.  That being said, he should improve immensely in the next couple of years.  Can you imagine when Ramirez, Cabrera, and Hermida all start clicking in that lineup?

Josh Johnson came literally out of nowhere to become Florida’s best pitcher in 2006.  After an incredible spring, a huge controversy arose when then-manager Joe Girardi decided not to keep Johnson in the big league rotation.  When Johnson was eventually added to the rotation, he responded by throwing a Real Quality Start (at least 7 IP, 3 ER or less) in 38% of his starts.  He wasn’t without help from his fielders however, roughly 72% of batted balls were turned into outs when Johnson was on the mound.
Anibal Sanchez had a very good, albeit short, first year in the Bigs. He only made 17 starts, but managed to throw a RQS in 53% of them, including a No-Hitter.  The thing I really love about him is the fact that he seems to be taking advantage of his home park, not giving up many homeruns while pitching 6.5 Innings a start.

It's always good to have a team leaderboard with many different players on it.  Florida's got a slew of players that are only going to get better as they feed off of one another.  They've got that feel of the young Yankees team that Gene Michael built in the mid-90's, with the obvious exception of a dominant closer like Mariano Rivera. Though they probably have a better rotation than the aforementioned Yankees teams. 

After graduating just about everyone to the big show in 2006, the top guys still on the farm are few and far between, and the ones that are there are far from major league action.  Gaby Hernandez, one of the prospects that came over in the Paul Lo Duca trade with the Mets, had a 115/35 K/BB ratio in High-A ball, but that’s still just the Florida State League.