Posted: August 8th, 2008

It’s all about the pitching.

As Seen In: Game Summaries, Videos

Posted: August 6th, 2008

It’s pretty obvious now that if the Marlins want to win the division, they’re going to have to get great starting pitching. Thankfully, we know have 5 good starters to work with.

As Seen In: News

Posted: July 31st, 2008

Seems like everyone now thinks the Manny Ramirez deal is dead. The hangups range from the Marlins not willing to give up better prospects to the Marlins demanding more cash to John Henry hating the deal. We’ll know for sure in about 2 hours.

Update: Jason Bay is about to go to Tampa so the 3-way Manny deal is dead as currently constituted.

Update 2: Now it looks like the Pirates and Red Sox cut the Marlins out of the deal and closed it with LA instead. Alas, it was fun while it lasted.

As Seen In: Rumors, Trades

Posted: July 31st, 2008

The good news it that the Marlins just strengthened their bullpen by acquiring Arthur Rhodes from the Seattle Mariners. The terrible news is that they gave up Gaby Hernandez. More details to follow.

Update: I’m slowly getting used to this deal. I still thing Gaby was a high price to pay, even for a good lefty reliever. But, the Marlins organization has other young pitchers (including 5 in the starting rotation) and we finally addressed our biggest need so please join me in welcoming Arthur Rhodes.

Update 2: Now I’m wondering who we send down to make room for Rhodes. Unless we release Mark Hendrickson, the rest of the bullpen is very solid. My best guess is that Robert Andino will get back on the Albuquerque express.

As Seen In: News, Trades

Posted: July 31st, 2008

If Manny wasn’t enough, looks like the Marlins are serious about Bengie Molina and offered a trade that I think many fans will sign up for in a heartbeat. This from the Palm Beach Post:

In other trade talk, the Marlins reportedly are talking to San Francisco about sending first baseman Mike Jacobs to the Giants for catcher Bengie Molina.

For all the negatives Fish fans see in Jacobs, he is a nice player who could hit quite a few bombs into the Cove. Let’s hope the Giants feel the same way because this would be a nice deal for both teams. This will allow Jorge Cantu to move to his newly discovered position at first base and also allow the Marlins to bring up Dallas McPherson who leads the whole baseball universe in home runs.

As Seen In: Rumors, Trades

Posted: July 30th, 2008

Yes, the media is exploding with rumors of Manny Ramirez being traded to the Marlins. Best source I can find is MLBTR which has been updating these rumors regularly.

Marlins GM Mike Hill had to cancel his appearance on tonight’s broadcast so let the speculation continue.

Update: Of course, Mike Berardino says NFW

Update 2: So the Red Sox want Jeremy Hermida, Ryan Tucker, and Mike Stanton (Jason Stark / ESPN). Two good prospects sounds expensive for a rental player.

Update 3: My take on Ken Rosenthal’s latest update that the Fish will not include Stanton: The Marlins are seriously talking about acquiring Manny Ramirez.

Update 4: Here is what was supposudly submmited to the Commisioner’s office for approval:

Marlins get Manny Ramirez, one prospect (BOS), and cash (likely Ramirez’s remaining salary)
Pirates get Jeremy Hermida and three prospects (two FLO, one BOS)
Red Sox get Jason Bay and John Grabow

Update 5: Nice dramatic feel in this writeup by the Palm Beach Post.

As Seen In: Rumors, Trades

Posted: July 22nd, 2008

The circus surrounding the Norm Braman trial continued today when Judge Jeri Beth Cohen postponed a decision on one of the two remaining issues for at least 5 weeks. The issue in question is whether money can be reallocated for a different purpose without a referendum. The Judge wants to wait for a Florida Supreme Court reconsideration of case concerning reallocation of bond funds.

Frankly, this seems like the only real legal issue left in this case so everything else that happened is irrelevant (hence the term “circus” in this post). The issue of whether the stadium is a good public use of money is not an issue for a court to decide, that’s why we have elected officials. Now, if Braman wanted to challenge the elected official’s authority to make such decisions, that’s a legal challenge. But in this case, debating whether the Marlins will leave town without a stadium or whether they cannot afford to pay more is not an issue for the court to decide.

Anyway, Judge Cohen is scared to make a decision because she doesn’t want her ruling overturned but the end result of her decision is to give the Braman a big victory.

As Seen In: Ballpark, Commentary

Posted: July 18th, 2008

It looks like Braman’s lawsuit is going down in flames (as expected) but a big concern may be his decision to continue wasting his money by appealing the decision.

We are not happy with the prospect, but we are not concerned. One thing to keep in mind is that Braman did not obtain an injunction (and no court has issued an injunction) against the projects. Absent that, the county, the city, and the Marlins are going ahead full steam. Even if Braman ultimately prevails in some sort of appeal (keep in mind that appeals can’t just be a disagreement with the ruling, there has to be an obvious error), the city/county will have to find a way to pay for the ballpark or else they would have to pay the Marlins for all costs incurred as well as damages.

As Seen In: Ballpark, Commentary

Posted: July 16th, 2008

Most of you on the East Coast (we’re out west) were probably sleeping and had a nightmare involving Dan Uggla make three errors and striking out three times (including twice with runners in scoring position). I can tell you that it never happened, the game never happened, this one did not count.

Dan, if you’re reading this, and I’m sure you’re not — stop worrying about it and move on. Thanks to the magic of HDTV it was clear from 3,000 miles away that you were freaking out in your own calm way. Real baseball returns on Friday and you can continue your great season in a critical battle against the first-place Phillies.

Update: To all the non-Marlins fans who are hitting our site today looking for everything and anything about Dan Uggla: He’s ours, he’s great, get over it!

As Seen In: All-Star, Players

Posted: July 15th, 2008

Don’t forget to watch our very own Hanley Ramirez lead-off tonight’s game. Let’s hope that Dan Uggla gets a chance to play too.

Note: Photo above is of Hanley at bat, the last time he and the Marlins played at Yankee Stadium (2006)

As Seen In: All-Star, Photos