Sherman rallies Marlins at first full-squad workout

JUPITER, Fla. -- The National League East is expected to be a behemoth in 2023, but the message at Marlins camp before the first full-squad workout of spring on Tuesday was simple: It's time to win.

"My expectation is to be in the playoffs," said principal owner Bruce Sherman, who spoke for 15 minutes during the team meeting. "Why do you do this? There's no other reason to do this other than make the playoffs and take it all the way. We have the pitching to do that. Nobody wants to face our staff in a short series."

Sherman, who also visited the back fields of the Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium complex the day before to watch top prospect Eury Pérez pitch, explained why he’s so optimistic.

Miami has both the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner and the American League batting champion on its roster. New manager Skip Schumaker and his staff worked all offseason to develop relationships with their players. The organization has brought in baseball lifers Jeff Conine, Terry Collins, Jim Riggleman and Trey Hillman as voices from winning organizations to offer various perspectives. There has been alignment between the front office and the Major League and Minor League staffs.

"I feel like everybody took it in and our plan was to come in here and win,” All-Star Jazz Chisholm Jr. said following the team meeting. “We made a lot of moves. We made a lot of trades, signed a couple of new guys. We made a big jump in our offense as well. So I feel like everybody knows what they've got to do when they get here. I worked out with [Jorge] Soler and [Avisaíl] García all offseason, and they worked their butts off. So I know what I expect from these guys from seeing the work that they put in, and the hustle, and everything that they're doing right now."

As the architect of this Marlins squad, general manager Kim Ng agreed.

"I think the club is ready to take that next step," Ng said. "I think that in terms of Skip and the staff that we've hired, those guys are prepared and eager, ready and willing to lead them, and that they're not going to leave any stone unturned in terms of helping them with their development, and trying to put up a win every night on the board."

The consensus is that there's a different vibe at camp compared to previous years, in large part because of the new coaches. Nearly every player reported early, and they've cited a palpable energy.

"I think they're just excited," Schumaker said. "There's a lot of guys that ended the year not how they wanted to end their year -- whether it was [from] a health or just a production standpoint. So they want to prove that was an outlier year, and it just wasn't who they are now."

Sherman said he was involved in using the club’s analytics system to evaluate potential free-agent targets this offseason. The club’s biggest moves came after the start of the new year, beginning with the signings of Jean Segura, who played in last fall's World Series, and Johnny Cueto, who won the 2015 Fall Classic. The club also acquired Luis Arraez, Matt Barnes and A.J. Puk via trade.

Regardless of what the projections say or what other clubs in the division have done, the Marlins believe they can compete for a postseason spot.

“I've been doing this for about six years,” Sherman said. “I went to the playoffs one year with no fans there. It wasn't fun. I want to go to the playoffs with fans screaming in attendance, like they're going to be doing at the WBC. There's no other reason to do this. And everybody in that room wants to win."