After Giancarlo Stanton’s extension, what’s next for Marlins?

It’s going to take more than the Giancarlo Stanton extension to rebuild the bridges the Marlins have burned over the last 17 seasons. It’s a record-setting deal, and shows a commitment towards a cornerstone player that no other organization has ever approached before, but it’s still just a hint that the Marlins are changing their ways: We’ve seen hints before. It will take future commitments and some new friends for Stanton to truly convince many that the Marlins are going to be different this time, but Miami isn’t as far off from doing it as they might seem.

The whole third of a billion dollars and security for life thing likely helped, but Stanton has been on the record as saying he wouldn’t stay with the Marlins if they didn’t show a commitment to winning. Trading Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle away a year after signing them to lucrative long-term deals had obvious issues that helped create Stanton’s mindset in the first place, but the players they got back are now part of Miami’s core along with him. General manager Dan Jennings has added additional pieces where he could -- some interesting, some not -- in the meantime, and the team promoted Jose Fernandez to the majors for 2013 at an age when most would have stuck him in the minors. While he missed much of last season due to Tommy John surgery, Fernandez is one of the game’s top young arms, and a rotation anchor that most teams would likely commit felonies for if they thought it would help them acquire him.

Fernandez won’t be back until mid-season. The rotation has loads of promise with Henderson Alvarez, Nathan Eovaldi, Jarred Cosart, and eventually prospect Andrew Heaney in the fold, but each of them has their questions as well. Alvarez and Cosart are reliant on a heavy sinker that induces grounders rather than misses bats, and while it’s a viable strategy, it can be a dangerous one when a pitcher’s command isn’t perfect. Heaney is unproven in the bigs, and Eovaldi hasn’t quite elevated himself to even the back-end levels it was expected he’d pitch at while he was a Dodgers’ prospect. If the Marlins could upgrade on one of these arms -- probably Eovaldi -- with a free agent or trade acquisition to help tide them over until Fernandez’s return, it would improve their 2015 chances, and maybe their chances beyond that depending on who the pitcher is and how long they sign for. There’s also Tom Koehler to consider, who put up a league-average 191 innings as a starter last year, but he might be more of a depth piece than a real solution.

The outfield is set between Stanton in right, Marcell Ozuna in center, and Christian Yelich in left. All three are quality defenders, and while you know about Stanton’s incredible hitting, the other two also held their own. Yelich posted a 112 OPS+ over 144 games and 660 plate appearances as a 22-year-old, while Ozuna nearly matched him with a 111 mark as a 23-year-old over 153 games. Those are the only real bats on hand, however. At shortstop, they have Adeiny Hechavarria, and should continue to stick with him thanks to an incredible glove. He’s not going to win any awards for his bat, but he was only a little below league-average offensively for a shortstop, coming in with a 96 OPS+ at the position. Jarrod Saltalamacchia is locked in for one more season behind the plate, but they can expect him to bounce back a bit from a tough 2014: he’s not significantly better than his 89 OPS+, but in four seasons with Boston, he posted an above-average 103 mark. That’s certainly within reach for him in 2015.

The places to upgrade are at first base, where Garrett Jones patrolled the most in 2014, as well as second and third base. Second baseman Donovan Solano is heading into his age-27 season, and has a 79 OPS+ over 1,051 big-league plate appearances. Casey McGehee is a fun story at third, as he resurrected his career at 31 by posting a league-average season at the hot corner for the Marlins, but he also led the NL in double plays and hasn’t hit for any kind of power since 2010 -- it’s a lot easier to forgive incessant double plays when that style of swing results in a homers every now and again.

Throwing money at Adam LaRoche would be one solution. He’ll be 34, but there isn’t a qualifying offer attached to him, and he’s coming off of a three-year run with the Nationals where he batted .256/.346/.458 with a 118 OPS+. He’s not the biggest power bat around, but someone besides Stanton who can hit a dinger would help the lineup out, and he won’t cost a ridiculous amount in either dollars or years. Third base is a little tougher to solve, as that position is currently even more of a wasteland than first, and the available options are going to cost real money: Pablo Sandoval, Chase Headley, and former Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez probably aren’t about to bet their futures on Miami. That might mean more McGehee at third, which isn’t the worst thing, especially not if the Marlins can find a solution for Solano at second.

Asdrubal Cabrera is a potential option there, as is Stephen Drew if he can’t find a shortstop gig. Jed Lowrie’s glove isn’t a fit at short, so swapping back to second full-time would work out for both sides, especially if Lowrie rediscovers the quality bat he’s shown in the not too distant past. They could patch the hole internally with Derek Dietrich, who might be a solid, average-ish utility guy on his better days, until they can work something out that’s more long-term. Trades could also be worked out at either position: there are options, and the Marlins would be wise to explore them.

They didn’t necessarily sign Stanton in order to win in 2015, as they still need to get Fernandez back and develop the young arms, and maybe sign Fernandez to his own cornerstone-style deal in another year or two. With the Mets still working towards relevance, the Phillies rebuilding, and the Braves maybe stuck in between a reload and a rebuild in 2015, however, it wouldn’t be the worst time for the Marlins to at least give it a shot. Signing Stanton in order to convince free agents there will be someone of significance around in the future is a start. Now they’ve just got to work on bringing in some new players to help him and the ones already here along.