• In Case You Wondered: The Marlins Proposed the Trade

  • We’ve all wondered how the trade happens and in this Detroit-loving article by Jason Stark, we discover that after the Tigers rejected the Marlins’ Cabrera for Miller and Maybin offer, the Marlins came back with the 8 player lineup (meaning: included Dontrelle) and Detroit said yes.

    Also, the Marlins wanted Mike Rabelo because bench coach Carlos Tosca had managed him before and liked him.

    Oh, and one bit of commentary. Trading away your entire minor league system and spending millions on free agents doesn’t make your GM a genius. For every good GM like Dave Dombrowski there is an incompetent GM like Omar Minaya.

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  • Tigers Acquire Cabrera and Willis

  • Wow, the blockbuster deal just happened.

    MLB.com is reporting (and Peter Gammons is confirming) that the Detroit Tigers have acquired Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis. In return, the Marlins will get outfielder Cameron Maybin, left-handed pitcher Andrew Miller, catcher Mike Rabelo, right-handed pitcher Eulogio delaCruz, right-handed pitcher Dallas Trahern and right-handed pitcher Burke Badenhop.

    It’s not official yet, but:

    The deal was all but finalized as of late afternoon at the Winter Meetings.

    Here is who we know we’re getting:

    Maybin and Miller were both first-round Draft picks of the Tigers, Maybin in 2005 and Miller in 2006. Both have tasted the Major Leagues.

    Maybin, 20, made his debut in August and appeared in 24 games, hitting .143 with one home run in 49 at-bats. However, he made a rapid rise through the Tigers system, batting .304 with 10 homers in 83 games for Class A Lakeland before making a brief stop at Double-A Erie.

    Miller, 22, made 13 starts for Detroit last season, going 5-6 with a 5.69 ERA. In 78 Minor League innings in 2007, he allowed 71 hits and struck out 61 batters. He was drafted out of the University of North Carolina.

    Looks like Dave Dombrowksi is serious about bringing as many former Marlins to the Tigers as possible.

    Links:  

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  • The Marlins are Everywhere

  • The baseball season just ended and already the Marlins are making news across the league:

    • Congratulations to Mike Lowell, Josh Beckett, Julian Tavarez, Dave Magadan, and Gary Tuck for winning the World Series with the Boston Red Sox. Extra credit to Mike for being named the World Series MVP (although we all know that had Boston lost that game, Josh would have won the next one and ended up with another MVP). Asked about his two rings, Mike said:

      “I think with the Marlins no one expected us to do this and I think with the Red Sox people expect you to win and I think both are very satisfying.”

    • Welcome back Joe Girardi. You have just been named the manager of the New York Yankees. Lets hope you know how to behave with your new owner because the younger Steinbrenners seem as feisty as their father.
    • Speaking of the Yankees, greetings to A-Rod, who is now a free agent and some are reporting that the Marlins may make a run at him (unlikely since he’ll get a long-term deal somewhere else) and that the Yankees may try to replace him with Miguel Cabrera (maybe, but hopefully no).
    • See you later to Armando Benitez who filed for free agency and will now have to beg someone else to pitch for them.
    • Hello to Yorvit Torrealba who joins the growing list of catchers who are rumored to be talking to the Marlins He handled the Rockies pitching staff very well.
    • Farewell to Edgar Renteria who heads over to the the American League, joining Dave Dombrowski‘s project to rebuild the 1997 Florida Marlins (plus Pudge). No word on yet on whether they can convince Ed Vosberg to come out of retirement.

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  • Photo by Flickr user ricsae

  • Considering that Pesky Home Record

  • Fine win today for the Florida Marlins against the Washington Nationals — great pitching and timely home runs will do the trick.

    When we look at the Marlins today and consider all the bad things that have happened (injuries to pitching staff, strikeouts, errors, all those games Jorge Julio blew) the one stat that stands out is the poor home record (18-26). If the Fish had a decent wining home record, combined with the winning road record (25-22), they would be fighting for first place in the NL East.

    So why have we failed? I think it comes down to two things — pitching and defense.

    Historically, the Marlins have had good home records even in the worst of years. That has to do with the constant focus on pitching and defense. Starting with the second generation of the Marlins (around 1996), the team has always tried to have a strong defensive presence in the infield while sending out good pitchers. Dombrowski and Beinfest have both done great work bringing in talented arms throughout the years (think of the rotations in 1997, 2003, and 2006) and keeping a solid infield (think of the gold-glove caliber infield for most of this century).

    Now, Joe Robbie/Pro Player/Dolphin Stadium is a pitchers park. Humid summer air combined with the a good infield, scoreboard in left, deep gaps, and the Bermuda Triangle means fewer home runs and quick outs on ground balls.

    The 2007 Marlins are a great offensive team. They have power and speed in various positions. But they also have a crippled pitching staff and the defense has been horrible. So now, instead of us beating offensive teams in our defensive park with pitchers and defense, we are the offensive team without pitching and defense in a pitchers park.

    This all brings us back to today’s win. Serio Mitre had 17 groundball outs and the Marlins showed some solid defense. The result? a 5-2 win.

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  • Smiley Withdraws Bid Clearing Way for Henry Purchase

  • In what appears to be the first step in John Henry’s purchase of the Florida Marlins, Don Smiley withdrew his bid to buy the team. Smiley‘s 14-month attempt to purchase the team was unable to gather enough money. This clears way for John Henry to complete his deal. In more exciting news, GM Dave Dombrowski who built a deep minor league system and a world champion re-signed for 5 more years. Despite lucrative offers, specifically from the Dodgers, Dombrowski opted to stay in South Florida. Henry has already indicated that he wants to invest more money in the payroll and name Dombrowski the president of the ball club.

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  • John Henry On Verge of Buying Marlins

  • News out of Wayne Huizenga and John Henry‘s representatives indicate that Henry is on the verge of purchasing the Florida Marlins. Henry has already promised to build a new stadium from his own funds. He also suggested that any public fund would be welcome and allow him to direct more of his money to the payroll. Henry also would keep Dave Dombrowski as President and General Manager. Finally, and most importantly, Henry would increase the payroll back to a competitive level, probably convincing Jim Leyland to stay. At this point, Henry still has not sold his 1% of the NY Yankees and Huizenga has not submitted his name for approval by Major League Baseball.

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