SB Nation User Blog: Fishcrazy

Jayson Stark on Marlins trade talk

Fishcrazy — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:38:52 -0000

Just a quick fanpost on a segment I heard this morning on 790 the Ticket, featuring Jayson Stark. I listened for about 15-20 minutes, and wish I could've listened longer but I had to go to work. Here are some bullet-points on what he said about possible Marlins dealings. As you probably alreayd know, the non-waiver trade deadline is tomorrow.

The Marlins aren't very active in the trade market. Stark hasn't heard much about possible Marlins deals.
The Marlins are looking for an extra outfield bat, someone like a Jonny Gomes (that was an example; I don't think he meant that we were actually asking about Gomes). But there's very few available low-salaried, extra outfielders who are on non-contenders and could be acquired relatively cheaply.
There apparently was some Hermida-to-the-Cubs chatter a while ago, but it's died. The team apparently does not have plans to move Hermida. (I'm not sure if that's because they value him, or because no one will surrender anything worthwhile for him.)
The Marlins asked about the Padres' Heath Bell. Any Bell deal would require Andrew Miller or Sean West, and the Marlins don't want to do that, at least at this point. Stark thinks Bell for West might be a good deal. He also touted Miller's potential and said that you don't want to give up on him yet. But Miller also needs to master more than one pitch, which may be impossible with his delivery; Miller still throws across his body and Stark thinks he needs a new delivery.
A caller asked about acquiring Victor Martinez from the Indians. Stark said it was highly unlikely, and that it would probably require someone like Cameron Maybin. He said to use the Cliff Lee deal as a comparison: the Indians are looking for multiple quality prospects.
The team will not trade Mike Stanton, and Logan Morrison's probably not far from untradeable, as well.
And the most interesting tidbit...the Marlins actually inquired about Roy Halladay. They were told it would take a package including Stanton and Maybin and that was the end of that.

With the trade deadline looming, all the well-connected baseball pundits like Stark, Kurkjian, Olney and Gammons are making the TV and radio rounds. If you've heard anything else about the Marlins, please post it here!

Baseball America: Fish have 2 of baseball's hottest prospects

Fishcrazy — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:47:54 -0000

Baseball America (by way of SI.com, my constant source of links) has written an article naming the "hottest" prospects in baseball. "Hot" basically means they had a really good week, but hey, recognition is recognition.

Ranking #3 is 19-year-old phenom Mike Stanton, with a 10-for-23 week that included 2 homers and 2 doubles.

The blurb:

Stanton needed time to make the transition to Double-A. He hit just .202 in his first 27 games with Jacksonville in what was the first really protracted slump of his career. That's over now. Stanton is on an eight-game hitting streak and has upped his line with the Suns to .252/.337/.476 in 147 at-bats.

Stanton now has 20 homers on the season, including 8 at double-A Jacksonville. This is after totaling almost 40 HRs last year. Baseball America has high regard for Stanton, ranking him in February as baseball's 16th best prospect overall. (FYI, Cameron Maybin was the highest-ranked Marlin at 8th.)

Coming in at #5 on the "hottest prospect" list is Stanton's teammate, Logan Morrison, who hit .429 for the week and walked an amazing 12 times. In fact, in one week Morrison drew almost half as many walks as Bonifacio has on the season.

The blurb:

Pitches to hit were few and far between for Morrison, which wasn't altogether surprising since he's been the one batting cleanup behind Stanton in the Jacksonville order. ... Morrison needed a little time to get back in form after a right wrist fracture sidelined him for two months, but he's been heating up in July, batting .311/.500/.525 in 61 at-bats.

Morrison was ranked 18th on Baseball America's preseason top 100 list, two behind Stanton.

Marlins first-half awards

Fishcrazy — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:50:33 -0000

With the first-half now complete (plus a week), I thought it would be an opportune time to issue the Fishcrazy First-Half Awards. Your feedback is welcome, especially before the trophies get sent to the engraver and the award checks get printed.

MVP

1. Hanley Ramirez (.349/16/61) - Who else? He's the rock in an inconsistent lineup. Earlier this month, he set a team AND NL-shortstop record for most consecutive games with an RBI. He was voted an All-Star starter for the second time, and has rightfully earned pundits' praise as one of the top 3 hitters in the game.

2. Josh Johnson (8-2, 2.74) - What Hanley does for the lineup, JJ does for the pitching staff. Volstad has struggled at times, Nolasco was simply awful for two months, Miller remains an enigma, and Sanchez can't stay healthy and wasn't very good when he was. Through it all, there was JJ, who's thrown less than 6 innings only twice this year.

3. Burke Badenhop (5-3, 3.45) - Yes, it's something of an upset for a long-reliever to be in the MVP conversation. But on a team that's featured imploding starters and a chronically overused bullpen, Badenhop is the guy who performs expert triage. Volstad gets shelled for 8 innings against Boston? Badenhop's there to throw 4+ shutout innings. Anibal gets hurt after 3 innings versus Milwaukee? Badenhop throws <i>five</i> shutout innings. As of right now, he's still the best player we got for Miguel Cabrera.

Honorable mention: Cody Ross (.278/14/52) (solid, but streaky hitter), Kiko Calero (1.95, 32.1 IP, 40 K) (best bullpen arm when healthy)

LVP

1. Matt Lindstrom (6.52 ERA, 14 SV) - No, he's not Jorge Julio-level bad, but he's certainly been a major disappointment. When Gregg was dumped traded, we Fishstripers were delighted that he'd be giving way to the fireballin' Lindstrom. But Lindstrom has been mediocre at best. Opponents are hitting almost .300 off him, and he was pulled from his last save opportunity before going on the DL.

2. Dan Uggla (.227/16/50) - I realize that average isn't everything, and he's been unlucky on balls put in play. But being almost 100 points off his 2008 OPS is more indicative of the problem. He's had his share of homers this year, but hasn't had any sustained hot streaks and is on pace to hit the fewest doubles of his career.

3. Jeremy Hermida (.255/10/34) - Once a top prospect, Hermida was injury-prone and ineffective until he caught fire the second half of '07 and finished at .296. Then he fell back to earth with an inconsequential 2008. So which was the real Hermida? It seems '07 was the fluke: the walks are nice, but he's just not a very good hitter, especially not for a corner outfielder. (There's rumors of him being traded to Pittsburgh for Matt Capps. I'm all for it--let's get Carroll in the lineup.)

Dishonorable Mention - Nolasco (at 2-5 with a 9.07 ERA, he was a shoo-in for LVP, but his terrific rebound pushes him out of the standings); Cameron Maybin (.202/1/3) (he'd be higher, but expectations are scaled back for a 21-year-old-rookie)

CY YOUNG

1. Johnson

2. Badenhop

3. Calero

Honorable mention - Dan Meyer (2-0, 1.78) (see below) Chris Volstad (6-8, 4.44)(the epitome of his up-and-down season: 3 IP/4 ER on July 3, a CG shutout on July 8);

BEST OFFSEASON ACQUISITION

1. Kiko Calero - see above.

2. Ross Gload (.282/3/15) - acquired for a player to be named, Gload's been everything you could want as a veteran off the bench.

3. Dan Meyer - a free-agent pick-up like Kiko, Meyer's been our top lefty all year.

Honorable mention: Ronny Paulino (.241/4/14) (the other half of a solid catching platoon with Baker); Leo Nunez (2-3, 3.79) (bonus points because we got him for Jacobs);

WORST OFFSEASON ACQUISITION

1. Hayden Penn (1-0, 7.77) - we got him for spare parts, but still, he was simply terrible. If only his pitching ability could match his sideburns.

2. Scott Proctor - our medical staff didn't catch this??

3. Emilio Bonifacio - (.258/1/23) - at least he's given us something, unlike the top two. But he's not a net improvement over Olsen or Willingham--heck, not over Willingham alone.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

1. Chris Coghlan (.245/2/15) - in a weak crop of rookies, someone's gotta finish first. He's cooled since his average hit .275 in late June, but he's displayed a good eye (30 BB) and has held his own in the outfield. It can't be easy to learn major-league hitting while fielding a new position at the same time.

2. Emilio Bonifacio - Bonifacio has shown some flashes, and he's hitting a little better recently. And we'll always have those first couple of weeks in April. But that's about all I can say for him despite Fredi's adoration.

3. Sean West (3-4, 4.91) - He gave it a go, and was pretty darn good at times (namely, the 8 innings of shutout ball against San Fran). He's still a year away, but has nothing to hang his head about.

Marlins rumored to be shopping for closer

Fishcrazy — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:51:35 -0000

From Sports Illustrated's John Heyman:

The Marlins inquired about closing stars Heath Bell and Joakim Soria in hopes of filling their relief openings. Injuries to closer Matt Lindstrom (elbow) and Kiko Calero (shoulder) have left them shorthanded at a time they are challenging for the NL East division lead. For now, both the Padres (Bell) and Royals (Soria) are saying neither reliever is available.

Talk about aiming high. Certainly this could all be crap, nothing more than a couple cold-calls Beinfest had an underling make just to test the waters in case of a ridiculous bargain.

But if it's true, it's noteworthy that the Fish would seem to be deviating a little from their standard business model of acquiring reasonably priced, unheralded veterans or trying to coach up prospects. I say "a little" because even though they're premiere closers, both are affordable.

Soria's in the second year of a three-year, $8.75 million contract, which is do-able even for the Marlins. Bell's only making about $1.255 million this year on a one-year contract (he'll cash in next year). So even though the Fish apparently were rejected on both players, it does show the parameters of what the team's looking for in terms of talent and salary.

And of course, it strongly indicates Fredi and the F.O. have soured on Lindstrom as a closer . You don't go after a guy like Soria and keep him through 2010 if you believe Lindstrom's a bona fide closer, or that Nunez would be ready next year.

Makes you wonder who the team would give up to get a Bell or Soria. Ryan Tucker? Logan Morrison? Gaby? Some other relief prospect? They wouldn't think about trading Stanton, would they?

SI names Loria 4th-worst owner in baseball

Fishcrazy — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:19:12 -0000

I'm digging this fanpost thing!

Sportsillustrated.com has ranked the 5 best and 5 worst owners in each of the four major sports. Unsurprisingly, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria made the "worst" list, coming in at number 4. Ted Lerner of the Nationals was 5th (boteman could've told you that), while David Glass (Royals), Tom Hicks (Rangers) and Peter Angelos (Orioles) were the top three.

Here's what it said about Loria:

<blockquote> The art dealer turned a nation of fans against him with his first team, the Expos, before forcing their move from Montreal and selling them back to Major League Baseball. He then took control of the Marlins and watched his exciting team shock the Yankees in the 2003 World Series and then became Miami fans' worst nightmare: the second coming of Wayne Huizenga. The Marlins slowly have been rebuilding themselves with more young talent, despite the lowest cash outlay provided by any owner, and could be turning a corner soon. That is, until Josh Johnson and Dan Uggla are shown the door like Josh Beckett, Derrek Lee and Miguel Cabrera. </blockquote>

I'm kind of torn about this. I'm not a reflexive Loria hater. It's like Loria is two owners. There's the owner who put us through the 2004/2005 firesale abomination, but also the owner who's willing to add salary and pull the trigger on deals to make playoff runs (Urbina, Lo Duca, Rhodes). He's not a baseball tourist; he's a real fan who attends the games (ask Joe Girardi) and invests heavily on scouting and development. There's the owner who shamelessly destroyed the Montreal Expos and then skipped town, but also the owner who maintained an even keel every time the new Marlins stadium was shot down over the last 5 years.

Having Loria as an owner is like having a dog with a bad temper. Much of the time, the dog is loyal and good to you. But you know it's bitten you in the past and you never fully trust it, even in the best of times. What do you guys think?

As for the rest of the "woest list," Angelos is an undersandable pick for #1, having infamously meddled in his team's affairs to the point where a team on the rise in the 1990s in a glorious new park is now a completely adrift perennial loser.

I take issue with Hicks, though. Yes, we all know about A-Rod's contract, and there's been other major contract blunders over the years. But overpaying for free agents doesn't make you a "bad" owner. At least he's actually <i>paying</i>. I'd bet half the league would love to have a deep-pocketed owner like Hicks.

Maybin sent to Triple-A

Fishcrazy — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:03:00 -0000

In case you didn't already know this, and not seeing it on the front page yet, I regret to inform you that Cameron Maybin has been sent to Triple-A New Orleans.

Courtesy of Juan C. Rodriguez at the Sun-Sentinel:

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The struggling Maybin, who did not start for a third consecutive game Sunday, will report to Triple-A New Orleans where the Marlins hope he’ll continue polishing his game. At no point this season did Maybin achieve any offensive consistency. He hit .202 (17 for 84) with five extra-base hits, three RBI and struck out 31 times.

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The writing was on the wall before Maybin got caught in a rundown between second and third base as the tying run in a one-run game yesterday. Maybin had been on the bench the last few games, and was only used as a pinch-runner Sunday, and obviously didn't do that very well, either.

After hitting an even .500 during last season's extremely encouraging September call-up, Maybin was primed for big things this year. But, much like Bonifacio, the big splash wore off quickly. By the end of April, Maybin was almost an automatic out who looked completely overmatched. So back down to the minors it is to get his head right again:

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We’re looking for him to get some at-bats and regular time, and polish his game," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We always talked about right from the very beginning was the confidence level and we don’t want a guy to get buried. As a staff and as an organization we felt he was getting close to that.

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Maybin remains a premiere prospect, so the Fish were careful to give him some encouraging words as he heads to the minors:

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''We just want to send him down, get some AB's, and regain some confidence,'' Marlins general manager Mike Hill said. ``He's tremendously talented, has a bright future ahead of him. He's still a baby.''</blockquote>

(Via the Miami Herald.) You don't want your top prospect to feel like a failure simply because he needs some more seasoning. I have no doubt he'll regain his swagger and reclaim his spot in center soon enough.

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In Maybin's place, the team called up John Koronka, who was 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA at N'Awlins. Koronka was a former mediocre reliever who was converted into a starter this year and has become pretty darn good at it (at least in the minors). Here's hoping that he'll capably fill the gap until Sanchez and/or Miller return.

And last, this would appear to mean that Chris Coghlan has claimed left field for now, with Ross taking over for Maybin in center and Hermida sliding to right. I could be wrong about this, but I don't think they called up Coghlan to have him sit behind Ross Gload. If anyone has any other insight into this, comment away.

(Sorry for the lack of block-quotes; this is my first FanPost and I can't figure out the coding.)