Wayne feeling good about future heading into spring with Florida
By Stacy Kaneshiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
When Jeffrey Loria switched ownership from the Montreal Expos to the Florida Marlins, he did not forget Justin Wayne. After all, he paid the right-handed pitcher a $2.95 million bonus after the Expos made him the fifth overall pick in the 2000 draft.
"It's good knowing that the scouting department with former Expos management now with the Marlins, along with the coaching staff, looking at me to possibly help out the pitching rotation," said Wayne, a Punahou School graduate. "It's good to know somebody out there wants you."
On July 18, Wayne was part of an eight-player trade that sent him and five others, including starting pitcher Carl Pavano, from Montreal to Florida for three players, the big-name being outfielder Cliff Floyd.
Wayne was placed on the 40-man roster and was called up Sept. 1 by the Marlins. He made his big league debut Sept. 3 against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. He got strapped with the loss, but he would get four more starts and finish 2-3 with a 5.32 earned run average.
"It definitely helped when they gave me that chance last year," said Wayne, who turns 24 on April 16.
Marlins pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Jupiter, Fla., tomorrow. Wayne, a two-time All-America pitcher at Stanford, is trying to make the Marlins 25-man roster. But the acquisition of veteran left-handed starter Mark Redman from the Detroit Tigers last month made the competition for a spot in the rotation a little harder for Wayne. Redman (8-15, 4.21) just won salary arbitration and will make $2.15 million this season.
"He's really secured, I think," Wayne said. "It will be a little stiffer for players like myself trying to compete for one of those last remaining spots."
The Marlins projected rotation has Brad Penny, Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett, Pavano and Redman.
The nice part about the trade was that Wayne was reunited with his original minor league coaches and instructors. Pitching coordinator Wayne Rosenthal and pitching coach Brad Arnsberg moved from Montreal to Florida. They were mentors he enjoyed working with.
"Along with Wayne Rosenthal and a bunch of the other coaches at Double-A and Brad Arnsberg, a big league coach, they really helped me in establishing what I need to do to become a better pitcher at the higher level," said Wayne, who been in Florida for about a month working with coaches to get a head start.
Since the Marlins won the World Series in 1997, the year Wayne graduated from Punahou, Florida has been cutting salary by trading its marquee players. But it appears the Marlins are changing their philosophy. Wayne said he likes the offseason acquisitions the Marlins made. In addition to Redman, they got speedy outfielder Juan Pierre from Colorado and signed free agent catcher Ivan Rodriguez.
"I felt they've solidified their big league corp of players in order to help us win," Wayne said. "It's bad in a sense that they brought in another starting pitcher, but it's good knowing they're really aggressive and knowing they want to compete."
The Marlins fans showed their enthusiasm for the upcoming season at FanFest last Saturday, Wayne said. Some 10,000 attended the fair at Pro Player Stadium to meet the players. It was there that Wayne formally met Rodriguez for the first time. Wayne said he can't wait to work with the 10-time Gold Glove catcher.
"It's not everyday you meet an all-star and shake his hand," Wayne said. "The best thing for a pitcher is to have a catcher that you can really work with. Learning from other people's mistakes is better than learning from your own, so it will be good to sit down with him."
