Should the Marlins even go after Smoltz?

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TEAM HITTING - some stats

STAT                            #                 NL RANK                MLB RANK

Runs                         406                   4 / 16                        12 / 30

Home runs                86                    7 / 16                        17 / 30

Batting avg              .257                 10 / 16                       22 / 30

On-base %              .328                 12 / 16                       18 / 30

Slugging %             .405                   6 / 16                        17 / 30

Strikeouts                 676                 16 / 16                       30 / 30

Walks                        294                  11 / 16                      17 / 30

BA vs LHP               .253                  10 / 16                       22 / 30

OBP vs LHP            .318                  12 / 16                       24 / 30

BA vs RHP              .259                    8 / 16                      18 / 30

OBP vs RHP           .330                   9 / 16                        17 / 30

NOTES

- team strikes out 20% of total plate appearances; difficult to play 'small ball' & employ situational hitting 

- team BA / OBP splits actually slightly favorably against RHP

- lead off & #2 lineup spots rank 30th in 27th in total strikeouts (179 total Ks: 24% of ABs); lead off & #2 spots rank 26th & 22nd in OBP% in MLB

- Hanley's arguably top #3 hitter in the game right now (him or Pujols)

How each lineup spot ranks on the team according to its OBP %; from high to low:

#3 .408                    #4 .325

#8 .361                    #2 .323

#6 .340                    #1 .313

#5 .330                    #7 .298

OPTIONS

   SWITCH THE BATTING ORDER

      - get less K's in front of Hanley; arguably worse 1-2 combo in MLB in front of him

      - the top OBP % spots other than Hanley on the team are the EIGHT, SIX, & FIVE spots; 1 & 2 are at the bottom

   RELY ON CALL-UPS / CURRENT TEAM

      - we always do so why not this year

   TRADE FOR A BAT ...

      - with decent avg or slugging numbers at any of the 4 corner spots; this gives team ability to PLATOON Coghlan & Bonifacio

For now, the Marlins are buyers and believe upgrading the Bullpen is the #1 priority before the trade deadline.

This appears to be questionable considering the current bullpen.

       Marlins' Bullpen: ~ 4.03 ERA         Matt  Lindstrom: 6.52 ERA (29 IN / 21 ER)

       Marlins' Bullpen Core (Meyer, Nunez, Sanches, Badenhop, Pinto, Calero): ~ 2.72 ERA

Trading or demoting Lindstrom after his DL stint may help the bullpen the most. We've already demoted the Opening Day Starter; why not Lindstrom.

No reason to think Nunez, Meyer, Calero, or even Sanches wouldn't do just as good closing as Lindstrom.

So, getting a reliever while Calero/Lindstrom are on the DL does make sense, should it be the #1 priority? What should our priority be if not the bullpen? This is my take:

       Jorge Cantu: hasn't gone deep since June 3rd & has only one HR since May 7th (1 HR last 49 games / 193 AB)

       Emilio Bonifacio: .292 OBP; lowest of ALL Marlins hitters except Wes Helms; though bats lead off/2nd

       Dan Uggla: .222 BA; probably finishes season at .250, but for now, one can only get so many RBIs batting .222

I believe the Marlins have two trade options to remedy these problems:

       1. High OBP leadoff guy - giving Hanley / Cantu more RBI opportunities

       2. Big LH bat - protect Hanley, take pressure off Cantu, & help against RHP

       OR Leave line up alone & rely on current team / call-ups for offense like they normally have

The front office will presumably keep payroll under a certain number and that will control the Marlins' trade options above all. Almost automatically taking Dunn ($8 mil), Pierre ($10 mil), and Holliday ($12.5 mil) out of the mix.

With salary in mind, these are the bats who I would like to see the Marlins go after: Shin-Soo Choo ($400k), Brad Hawpe ($5.5 mil) or Luke Scott ($2.4 mil) 

What do you all think?