When the Florida Marlins open play in a new stadium in 2011, don’t be surprised if Mike Stanton is in the lineup bashing home runs.

 

If that turns out to be the case – and three-year projections in baseball can be murky at best – then Edwin Rodriguez and John Duffy can sit back and smile. 

 

Stanton is having a superb season with the Greensboro Grasshoppers – a .289 average with 33 home runs and 84 RBIs as the team heads into its final 12 games of the season. But he came perilously close to not being able to finish the season here due to circumstances beyond his control. 

 

When it became obvious that Manny Ramirez had finally worn out his welcome in Boston, the Florida Marlins became one of the teams interested in acquiring him. The hottest report had the Red Sox sending Manny to the Marlins for former Greensboro Bat Jeremy Hermida and Stanton. Depending on which report you believe, Boston would have then swapped  Stanton, perhaps Hermida and another prospect to Pittsburgh for Jason Bay.

 

The Hoppers were on a road trip to Lake County when manager Rodriguez and pitching coach Duffy first heard Stanton’s name in the trade talks. They quickly decided to take action. Duffy called the Marlins’ brass first and then Rodriguez did the same, both making the same impassioned plea. 

 

“We told them, ‘listen, you’re making a big mistake. This kid is going to be hitting fifth in 2011 when you guys open the new stadium. Don’t go and do that,’” Rodriguez recalled.

 

Ultimately, the Marlins refused to include Stanton in any deal. The Red Sox ended up sending Ramirez to the Dodgers in a three-way trade that netted them Bay.

 

So, did Rodriguez and Duffy save the day?

 

“We’re not going to say we were the official difference-maker,” Rodriguez said, “but they let us know after the trade was off that they took that into consideration.”

 

That was at the end of July and Stanton has been on a tear in August, hitting .362 with six homers and 17 RBIs.

 

“I kind of didn’t believe it in the beginning,” he said of hearing his name bandied about, “but then it kind of panned out that it was true. I was a little nervous but it didn’t bother me much. It’s business.”

 

Why would the Marlins decide to keep the young prospect, who won’t turn 19 years old until November?

 

Because the power potential of this 6-foot-5 athlete is mind-boggling. None other than esteemed expert Peter Gammons of ESPN said Stanton was “maybe one of the best five prospects in the minor leagues.”

 

Stanton has already surpassed Greensboro’s South Atlantic League record of 30 homers in a season, set by Jason Kinchen in 2001. (He won’t reach the all-time Greensboro record of 45, by Henry Parrish in 1929.) He has an outside shot at Russell Branyan’s all-time SAL record of 40.

 

“I’ve been playing baseball since I was 5 or 6,” Stanton said, “and could always hit the ball really far when I was little.”

 

It turned out he could do other things well, too. Stanton was equally good in football, basketball and baseball and became a three-sport star at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, Calif. UCLA and Nevada-Las Vegas were interested in him for football, but he signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Southern Cal with a chance to walk on in football as a wide receiver-defensive back.

 

But the scenario changed when the Marlins made him their second-round draft pick last summer. He signed for a reported bonus of $475,000.

 

“I decided on baseball because of the opportunity,” Stanton said. “I was so young and it was a great opportunity to come in and play well, or play bad, and just see if I could do it. I thought I would (have some regrets) a little more than I have. Probably because I’m enjoying this so much, I haven’t really thought about if I should have gone to school.”

 

Stanton played sparingly in 2007, compiling 56 at-bats between the Gulf Coast League and Jamestown, with one homer and three RBIs. But he caught the Marlins’ eye in spring training and Rodriguez was raving about him before the Hoppers’ season started.

 

I’ve seen a few 18-year-old players come through Greensboro over the years. Some have been overmatched and some have held their own. The most impressive was Nick Johnson in 1997, who hit .272 with 16 homers and 75 RBIs and showed uncommon poise for someone so young. 

 

But Stanton has been even better. His physical ability is obvious, but the coaching staff has also been impressed with his work ethic, attention to detail and even-keel demeanor.

 

Rodriguez said Stanton is not afraid to ask questions. For instance, he approached the staff about when he could expect to stop laying off breaking balls that end up in the dirt.

 

We said, ‘well, when you start trusting your hands, stay back and recognize the pitches,’” Rodriguez said. “He said, what level? We said, if we had to put a level on it, Double-A. His response to that was ‘I’m going to do that way before then.’ We looked at each other and said this guy is asking the right questions.”

 

The staff then saw Stanton writing something in his notebook. When they asked about it, he replied it was “what you guys just told me.”

 

In other words, Stanton is going about learning baseball in a way that’s uncommon for veteran players, much less those 18 years old.

 

Let’s crunch some numbers for a moment. Stanton ranks first in the league in homers and RBIs. He is also third with 141 strikeouts.

 

But the splits on his numbers reveal a hitter getting steadily better. Stanton struck out once every 2.9 at-bats and drew only 16 walks in the first half of the season. In the second half, he has improved his strikeout rate to once every 3.4 at-bats and has drawn 29 walks.

 

“He’s doing a better job with pitch recognition,” said Hoppers hitting coach Jorge Hernandez. “He recognizes the breaking ball real well, he’s staying on his back leg real well now so he can see the ball much better. The longer he goes into the season, the better he does at that.”

 

Case in point. A couple of weeks ago, the Hoppers were locked in a marathon game which Stanton ended with a monster home run to lead off the bottom of the 15th. He said he was pretty sure he hit a changeup.

 

And would he have been able to hit that pitch in that situation earlier in the season?

 

“Probably not,” he admitted.

 

Hernandez said there’s a lot of room for improvement, which he expects Stanton to do as he gains more experience.

 

“The game is going to teach him a lot,” Hernandez said. “The tools and abilities are there. The more he plays, the better he’s going to get.”

 

So far, Stanton has held up well during the grind of a five-month minor-league season, with its bus trips, hotels and fast food.

 

“I feel pretty good,” he said. “A little after the all-star break my body was feeling sore, but then it picked back up. I think I only had one time, about a week-and-a-half, when I wasn’t feeling too good. For the most part I’ve held up better than I thought I would in this long season. I’m having fun; it’s a good time.”

 

At one point, Rodriguez thought Stanton looked a little tired and told him he was getting a day off.

 

“He said ‘no, I want to be out there,’” Rodriguez said. “He’s on a mission and doesn’t want to waste any day. He has that kind of attitude.”

 

Along with that, Stanton has never gotten too up or too down. Rodriguez said you can’t tell if he has just hit two homers or struck out three or four times.

 

Stanton probably projects as a right fielder in the major leagues, but he has played center field since Bryan Petersen was promoted. He has handled himself well, getting a good jump on balls and covering a lot of ground with his long, loping strides.

 

“I actually like it better because I can get a better read for the game with so much space around me,” he said. “It’s more fun than right field.”

 

And showing that ability will only increase his value down the road.

 

Stanton said he’s glad that road will continue with the Marlins. This season has been something of a revelation for him, as well as for those in the front office.

 

“I just wanted to get better in all aspects of game,” he said of his goals for this season.  “Whether I hit .200 or whatever, it wouldn’t have mattered. I just wanted to have good at-bats and  play hard. If I practice hard and work on stuff right, I couldn’t ask for much more.”

 

And is he beginning to believe he has the ability to be in the major leagues? 

 

“That’s always the dream,” he said.” I’m not going to say that I can’t play or I can play. We’ll have to see how it goes. Hopefully it’s there.”

 

Rodriguez has no doubts.

 

“So far he’s been having an outstanding year,” Rodriguez said. “But you talk to him and that’s not a big deal. It’s like he was expecting it. ‘Let’s challenge my ability and see how far I can go.’”

 

And the farther Stanton goes, the more Rodriguez and Duffy will smile.