Preview: Marlins hope makeover is more than fish story

JUPITER, Fla. (USA TODAY) So much is new this year for the Miami Marlins beginning with the name that some of the most crucial factors in turning the team back into a contender can get overlooked.

"New uniforms, new stadium, new personalities, new TV show, new everything," says right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, who you might remember as Mike Stanton the last two seasons.

See, everything is new, even one of the most talented returning players wanting to be identified by his given first name. That TV show is The Franchise, a season-long no-holds-barred inside look at the team and colorful manager (new, of course) Ozzie Guillen.

All of the hoopla about the additions of Guillen, shortstop Jose Reyes, closer Heath Bell and starting pitchers Mark Buehrle and Carlos Zambrano is warranted and creates expectations far above 2011's last-place finish team President David Samson says a .500 season would be "a complete failure."

But .500 or better isn't likely to happen without significant contributions from players who were Florida Marlins a season ago.

Start with Stanton, the powerful man-child who has plenty of long-distance shots among his 56 home runs in his first 875 big-league at-bats.

But leave it to straightforward Guillen to sum up his expectations for Stanton, 22.

"I don't want a long one," Guillen says. "I want a lot of homers. Don't give me a 500-foot homer. Give me 40 390s."

He has similar goals on the other side of the ball.

"I've got this man throwing 200 innings and winning 21 games," Guillen says of No. 1 starter Josh Johnson, who had a 1.64 ERA last season, but in only 60 innings. "Is he going to do it? That's what everybody wants."

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Preview: Marlins hope makeover is more than fish story