All the news that fits this blog.

On Sunday, Mike Rabelo was on the bad end of several mistakes — the kind of errors and mental lapses we’ve seen happen to this team often. But now, perhaps as a wake-up call to the entire roster, the Fish have sent Rabelo down to AAA and called up Paul Hoover. Hopefully, Rabelo will benefit from this opportunity to start everyday and get his act together.

Congrats to Ricky Nolasco who was named the National League Co-Player of the Week (he is sharing the award with some guy from the Pirates).

Ricky went 2-0 this week with a 1.23 ERA, dominating two good teams (Philadelphia and Tampa Bay). In last night’s game against Tampa, he struck out 12 and was one out away from the Marlins’ first complete game since 1962 [Update: For those who didn't realize it, that was a joke. The Marlins are on course to set the MLB record for the most consecutive games without a complete game. The last Marlins complete game was on September 10, 2006 when Dontrelle Willis shutout the Phillies 3-0]..

Jacque Jones was designated for assignment this evening. He didn’t hit much and frankly showed no signs of returning to form. He is smart enough to know it:

Jones, 33, took the news surprisingly well, especially since he’s hitting a combined .147 in 116 at-bats with the Tigers and Marlins this year. He was smiling in the clubhouse, saying he needs to “get his head together.”

Robert Andino is back up giving the Fish another infielder while allowing Cody Ross and Alfredo Amezaga to continue their good work in center field.

The Mike Berardino is reporting that some Marlins players were making jokes about Dontrelle Willis’s demotion to A-ball:

“Got to be the highest-paid pitcher in the history of A-ball,” one Marlin quipped.

“Highest-paid Lakeland Flying Tiger ever, that’s for sure,” one of the younger Marlins chimed in a little too excitedly.

These, it should be pointed out, were the words of players who never called Willis a teammate before.

The article mentions that Andrew Miller did not have anything to say. I don’t know who thought it was funny, but as a Marlins fan, you have to feel for Dontrelle who is not only a great guy but such a meaningful part of Marlins history.

Since no one shows up to games at Joe Robbie Stadium, Hanley Ramirez lost his status as leading vote-getter among NL shortstops. 72-year old shortstop Miguel Tejada of the Astros is now up by almost 120K votes. Clearly, Astros fans are doing their job because all of the Astros infielders are getting quite a few votes.

Tejada is having a good year (.300 BA, 7 HR, 39 RBI, .335 OBP, .466 SLG, 46 R, 5 SB) but Hanley is having a better year (.299 BA, 14 HR, 31 RBI, .389 OBP, .525 SLG, 53 R, 15 SB). Yes, I realize that Tejada has 8 more RBIs, but he bats 3rd in the lineup while Hanley has spent most of the season at leadoff.

All I can say is keep voting Marlins fans.

is currently leading all National League shortstops in All-Star voting. With more than a month to go, Hanley has 268,386 votes — a ~12K vote lead over second place, and now 2-years older, Miguel Tejada of the Astros. Considering how few people show up at Joe Robbie Stadium, it looks like out-of-town fans and online voter are helping H2R make it to The Stadium. Dan Uggla is the only other Marlin in shouting distance, coming in 4th and ~412K votes behind Chase Utley.

So do your part to help get our guys into the game by voting often (up to 25 times per email address). And even though they’re not on the radar screen, don’t forget to vote for the other Marlins including Jacque Jones who is listed as an outfielder on the American League Ballot.

Thanks Willie:

“Hopefully, we can get hot at home,” manager Willie Randolph said after losing to Colorado on Sunday. “We’ve got the Marlins coming in, [we can]-X fatten up on them, hopefully, if we start rolling…”

Jacque Jones is now officially a member of the Florida Marlins (yes, please help us build his wiki page). 11 months ago we tried to get him from the Cubs but a last minute veto from Cubs ownership killed the deal.

Jones signed a minor league deal and will report to Jupiter to get some at bats before joining the big team. Brett Carroll will probably be sent down to the minors where he can improve by playing every day (rather than riding the bench in the majors). All-in-all, Jones comes at little to no cost or risk. He gives Fredi Gonzalez another left-handed bat and allows us to move Alfredo Amezaga back to the infield, perhaps even to play some third, where Jorge Cantu still hasn’t mastered the throw across the diamond.

Update: Robert Andino was sent down.

MLB.com revealed the details of Hanley Ramirez’s contract:

Ramirez will make $5.5 million in 2009, and the deal bumps up considerably in the upcoming years.

By coming to terms now, the Marlins will lock up Ramirez through his arbitration years (2009-2011), and then three more years, where he could have qualified for free agency. For those three seasons, the shortstop will earn $23.5 million.

The Dominican Republic native will get $15 million in 2012, $15.5 million in 2013 and $16 million in 2014

There is no signing bonus or no-trade clause so the Marlins didn’t take a huge risk on this already discounted deal. The deal will be formally announced Saturday morning at the Orange Bowl.

A fan over at the MarlinsBaseball Forums says he received the flyer below at his home calling fans to the Orange Bowl area Saturday at 11 AM. Seeing that the Marlins, the City, and the County are all listed, it makes one wonder whether the ballpark will be revealed. It is also a good opportunity to announce Hanley Ramirez’s new contract.