Marlins Die-Hards is running a Marlins trade pool. Our suggestions for players to be traded prior to deadline are:

1. Dan Uggla
2. Jeremy Hermida
3. Dan Meyer
4. Wes Helms
5. Ross Gload

Why? I think Uggla and Hermida are no-brainers. In fact, the Fish should trade them regardless of whether they’re in contention. The rest are veterans who can fit nicely on a bench/bullpen of contending team. I would also throw in Kiko Calero into the mix.

You can share your thoughts of our list here or go to Marlins Die-Hards to submit your own.

The Sun-Sentinel has the unfortunate photo to prove it.

The City and County are debating and voting on the ballpark. You can watch both of them live at the links below:

• City of Miami
• Miami-Dade County

Mike Berardino of the Sun-Sentinel provides some thoughts and insights on the Olsen/Hammer deal:

About that payroll dump so far:

the Fish have removed roughly $7 million from their books for 2009.

On what we got in return:

In return, they have brought in a cheap young setup man (Leo Nunez), a light-hitting second baseman with Gold Glove potential (Emilio Bonifacio) and a couple of decent low-level prospects who just finished their first full pro seasons (RHP P.J. Dean and IF Jake Smolinski).

What happens to Dan Uggla?

What about Dan Uggla and his $5 million projection? Juan Rodriguez was assured again Monday night — as I have been recently — that the Marlins have made it clear Uggla stays into next season.

What will happen to Bonifacio?

For now, look for Bonifacio to be sent down to Triple-A for a little more seasoning as the speedy switch-hitter in the Luis Castillo mode tries to get his bat going.

And on what to expect:

Something tells me, though, the Marlins aren’t quite done, that there will be an interesting addition or two at the end of this salary-shedding process.

Maybe a veteran catcher to handle all that fine young pitching? (Alas, it WON’T be Pudge Rodriguez, I’ve been told.) Maybe a proven corner outfielder with some sock? Maybe even a one-year closer to take the burden off Matt Lindstrom.

ESPN’s Keith Law has a very strong view on the Jacobs trade:

First:

Jason (NJ): Thoughts on the Jacobs for Nunez trade?

Keith Law: I am officially off the Dayton Moore train. Mike Jacobs stinks. A .299 OBP from an everyday corner infielder? They gave up a decent relief arm AND they’re going to pay Jacobs arb salaries when Kile Ka’aihue (of whom I am no huge fan) is sitting right there and could provide equal or better production for free. To say nothing of Shealy or the out-of-favor Billy Butler. It’s just a bad move for KC, and hey, a free reliever for Florida.

Then:

I addressed this briefly in chat Thursday, but it’s worth reiterating: The Royals’ trade for Mike Jacobs was a profoundly wrongheaded move.

Jacobs should not get regular playing time from a major league club, period. The fact that the Royals looked at him and thought, “Wow, everyday first baseman!” is terrifying, because it’s so wrong.

Dave Cameron of FanGraphs adds:

The Marlins, always in cost-cutting mode, weren’t particularly interested in taking Jacobs to arbitration this winter, and with a team full of bad defenders, opening up first base to hide one of them seems like a pretty good idea.

He runs some numbers:

But from the other perspective, why on earth does Kansas City want Jacobs? Yes, his power is appealing, and he’s better than his .299 OBP in 2008 would suggest, but even as a .270/.330/.490 guy (which is basically what Marcel has him projected at for 2009), he’s just barely better than a legue average hitter. If we call him +5 runs offensively, then subtract 10 runs for the position adjustment, he’d be a -5 run player if he played league average defense. But he doesn’t – he’s one of the worst defensive first baseman in the game, racking up +/- ratings of -12, -10, and -27 the last three years. Even if we consider 2008 to be an outlier, we’d have to estimate his defensive value at around -10 runs compared to an average first baseman, which we then add to his previous -5 rating, and all of the sudden, Jacobs is about 15 runs worse than a league average first baseman.

And, he also suggests:

Nunez’s sparkly 2.98 ERA and 94 MPH fastball have them thinking that he could be a potential late inning reliever. Even though they’re wrong on that count (Nunez’s combination of lots of fly balls and no strikeouts make him a pretty lousy reliever), moving Jacobs before he costs them too much money makes sense for Florida.

Courtesy of the Mike Berardino of Sun-Sentinel.

Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post reminisces about the 1998 Marlins.

Get to know Dr. James Andrews.

Justin Miller and his infamous tattoos get some ink in Inked Magazine (including photos).

Interesting New York Times op-ed by former Chicago Cub Doug Glanville:

With contributions coming from all sources — including the Chicago Police Department — it was obvious that we had been anointed.

The problem was, the Florida Marlins thought the same thing.

They had their own reasons for feeling that way. Their manager, stodgy, cigar-smoking Jack McKeon, had been brought in at mid-season to right a wrong ship, and as the most senior manager in the league had shown a lot of whippersnappers that he knew how to run a young team. The Marlins barreled their way to the wild card berth in the playoffs fueled by fire and brimstone.

So what happens when two forces — destined, tired and playing awfully good baseball — collide in Wrigley Field?