PHOENIX -- If someone had told the Marlins in February at the start of spring training that by late August they would be languishing at the bottom of the standings — dead last in the National League East — not a soul would have believed it.

“No chance,” shortstop Jose Reyes said.

“No way,” catcher John Buck said.

Manager Ozzie Guillen said he would have bet every nickel to his name that the Marlins would not be positioned where they are now, playing out the string in a season that once held high promise.

“I would have lost all my money,” Guillen said.

With a quarter of the season remaining, the Marlins started the day on Monday with not only the worst record in the NL East, but also with 55-67 record that was actually worse than last season’s 57-65 mark at the same point.

That team finished last, 30 games out of first.

If the Marlins don’t improve on their position between now and the season-ender on Oct. 3, they will finish last in back-to-back seasons for the second time in franchise history. The 1998 and ’99 Marlins also pulled up the rear.

But those teams were the gutted remnants of the 1997 World Series team.

These Marlins were supposed to be so much better. After their free agent spending spree over the winter, most baseball experts projected the Marlins to contend for a wild-card spot, if not for the team’s first division title.

“You would think right now we’d be competing for a spot to go to the playoffs,” Reyes said. “That’s the way we felt when we took the field on Opening Day.

“Now we’re almost into September and we’re in last place. It’s hard to believe.”

Buck said if the Marlins merely had “normal” seasons, they wouldn’t be in the position they are now.

“Nobody had to have a blowout year,” Buck said. “On paper, we should have been in the thick of things. To be this far out ...”

Giancarlo Stanton, one of the few bright spots for the Marlins when he has been healthy, said for the Marlins to be this far out of it with so much season left “makes no sense.”

The Marlins said they would prefer to finish anywhere but last, naturally.

But they also said it doesn’t much matter whether they finish second or last if they’re home in October.

“Not making the playoffs is not making the playoffs,” Stanton said. “Obviously, there’s a difference between third and last. But either way, you’re still going home after 162 [games].”

Guillen pretty much agreed.

“There’s only one difference if you finish last or you finish second,” said Guillen, who has never before managed a last-place club. “The [team] that finishes second and doesn’t make the playoffs, it’s more exciting during the season. It’s more fun to play for something. It’s more intense. But they’ll be watching the playoff games like I do.

“At the end of the day, you both go home.”