Acquiring a phalanx of splashy free agents, the Miami Marlins made a big play for attention this winter that could beget even more attention. The team is being considered by premium cable channel Showtime as a potential subject for Season 2 of its baseball documentary series, The Franchise.
According to the Miami Herald, the show, which provides a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of a baseball team, could tab the Marlins to be its focus next season. The first season followed the San Francisco Giants as that team tried to defend its World Series title.
It is no surprise that the Marlins would be a potential target for Showtime. Young stars Logan Morrison and Hanley Ramirez have shown a flair for the spotlight, albeit not always for good reasons.
But the addition of combative and loquacious manager Ozzie Guillen, short-tempered starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano, and sometimes zany closer Heath Bell have transformed the Marlins clubhouse into a potential circus.
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Throw in new charismatic shortstop Jose Reyes, a shiny new stadium in Little Havana, and the Day-Glo tackiness that is the team's new uniforms, and it is easy to see why a bunch of television executives would want to film the goings on in the Marlins' clubhouse.
The series is a variation on HBO's popular Hard Knocks series, which follows NFL teams during summer training camp. New York Jets coach Rex Ryan helped cement his legacy as the most colorful coach in the NFL during a recent season of Hard Knocks, Guillen could do the same if the Marlins are featured in The Franchise.
But that is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of entertainment potential. Between Logan Morrison tweeting photos of he and teammate Bryan Petersen sharing a bath and a few glasses of red wine and the budding frenemy relationship between Reyes and Ramirez, the Marlins could provide enough fodder for multiple seasons of the show.
At the very least, we can expect some interesting DVD bonus features from a Marlins season of The Franchise.
