Watch Out Now: Marlins Have MLB's Best Record

The Marlins are ridiculous. A combined payroll of $22 million and there they are, at 9 games over .500, sitting in first place in the NL East with the best record in baseball . . . In mid-May no less! Straight wow factor right there. It's surprising they're scoring runs, let alone winning baseball games. But that's Florida for you: every year the management tears it all down, and just about every year the Marlins overachieve and hang in the race far longer than anyone expects. It feels like it's right out of Major League or something.

If only Marlins' fans would just wake up to this team already . . . Attendance has never been good for baseball in South Florida, but this is the kind of scrappy, exciting team that could maybe change that.

Skipper Fredi Gonzalez is managing out of his mind right now, getting a talented young core to buy into the concepts of selflessness and teamwork. Go around the infield right now. Can you name a single Marlin? Well, everyone should know SS Hanley Ramirez. A rare mix of speed and power, he's as talented as anyone playing the game today. (It looks like Florida is actually serious about keeping him too.) 2B Dan Uggla is off to a career-best start with 11 HRs already on the season, while 1B Mike Jacobs has smacked 11 of his own.

Sprinkle in a no-name pitching staff---Scott Olsen and Mark Hendrickson, to name a couple---and it's nothing short of mind-blowing to see this team contending as it is right now.

If it all boils down to the bottom line, here's how I see it: Florida's payroll comes in at $22 million when you throw the whole team into the mix. And that's just 1/10 of the combined salaries for the New York Yankees, who clock in at just under $230 million.

-JAB