F@B: Rumors

Posted: January 31st, 2008

I think the Marlins want to make sure they get third base right. Rotoworld is reporting that Dallas McPherson is now a Fish.

If I’m mistaken, the Fish essentially signed all three guys they considered for the vacancy at third. Dallas will fight for third base job with Jorge Cantu and Jose Castillo.

Update: It’s official — 1-year deal worth $425,000. Chris Seddon was designated for assignment.

As Seen In: News, Players, Rumors

Posted: January 31st, 2008

Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Marlins have lured Luis Gonzalez with a one-year $2 million deal (including an additional $1 million in incentives).

Gonzalez, 40, is expected to fill a combination of roles, including left field and first base, and serve as a mentor for the Marlins’ younger players.

Interesting that he is saying left field, meaning the Marlins are serious about giving Maybin the starting CF job.

Gonzo has slowed down significantly over the last couple of years but the team is hoping he provides depth and most importantly veteran leadership.

As Seen In: News, Players, Rumors

Posted: January 3rd, 2008

We’re back after a nice holiday break and we lead off with the news that the Marlins are not done adding players.

With Jose Castillo on board, the Fish are close to adding Jorge Cantu to the mix. Cantu has had some good and some bad in his brief MLB career:

Cantu broke in with Tampa Bay in 2004, and his best season was ‘05, when he batted .286 with 28 home runs and 117 RBIs.

It’s not clear whether the Marlins will continue to pursue free agent Dallas McPherson. Some have speculated that Jose Castillo still needs some more experience in the minors but on the other hand, McPherson may not want to compete for a job when he has a chance to start somewhere else.

Update: Cantu is signed. 1-year deal worth $500,000.

As Seen In: News, Rumors

Posted: December 4th, 2007

ESPN’s Christopher Harris summarizes the deal and has some positive views on the new Marlins:

Check out this haul: Florida got prized centerfielder Cameron Maybin, should’ve-been-top-pick lefty starter Andrew Miller, middle-of-the-rotation prospect Dallas Trahern, possible future closer Eulogio De La Cruz, major-league backup catcher Mike Rabelo and another starting prospect, Burke Badenhop.

On Andrew Miller:

Miller probably came to the bigs too fast, but the Tigers couldn’t help it. He’s a lefty with a high-90s fastball, the potential for a fantastic slider, and a nasty cutter, and he’s a horse who’s posted a 2.60 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP in his abbreviated minor-league career, since being taken in the ‘06 draft. Unfortunately, he scuffled over two seasons in Detroit: 4.56 ERA, 1.75 WHIP and 49 walks in 74 1/3 big-league innings. But he’s still just 22, and unless he absolutely spits the bit in spring training, will make the Marlins’ rotation. Scott Olsen figures to be in the mix, Sergio Mitre had a decent ‘07, Josh Johnson is out for the year with Tommy John surgery … there’s just very little reason to think Miller won’t see his first full season in the bigs. The move to the NL, the slightly more pitcher-friendly park and all those innings he’ll get to work out the kinks make Miller a fantasy name to know in NL-only and deeper mixed leagues for ‘08. His WHIP may hurt you, but high strikeouts are coming.

On Cameron Maybin:

Maybin’s Detroit cameo this fall (.143 AVG, .473 OPS in 49 at-bats) indicates he’s probably not ready for prime time, but Florida’s gaping hole in center gives this 20 year-old (he turns 21 in April) a legitimate shot to make the team with a good spring. In 192 minor-league games, Maybin hit .309 with an .884 OPS, and he’s six-foot-four and fast. The Marlins have all but raised the white flag before the new year, so why not let Maybin suffer his growing pains in the majors? My prediction is that it’ll happen, and the kid will reward fantasy owners with steals (he had 25 at High A last year and five during his September callup), flashes of power and a whole lot of strikeouts. He might be a bit overvalued in redraft leagues because he’s got that bonus-baby name, but in keeper leagues, with a Granderson-free path to the majors suddenly thrust upon him, he’s got to be considered one of the highest-upside fantasy forces of the next few years.

As Seen In: Players, Rumors, Trades

Posted: December 4th, 2007

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:  

• Cameron Maybin Profile
• Andrew Miller Profile
• Mike Rabelo Profile
• Eulogio De La Cruz Profile
• Dallas Trahern Profile
• Burke Badenhop Profile

As Seen In: Players, Rumors, Trades

Posted: November 30th, 2007

ESPN’s Jason Stark has the latest update on the Miguel Cabrera discussions.

First comes the settled part:

The two teams appear to have agreed that second baseman Howie Kendrick and catcher Jeff Mathis would be part of any deal.

But where it gets complicated is the Marlins demand for two top notch pitching prospects:

According to baseball men who have spoken with both teams, the clubs have talked about three young starting pitchers — Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders and the Angels’ best pitching prospect, Nick Adenhart. But the Angels apparently weren’t willing to trade two pitchers from that group without changes to the other half of the package.

Stark suggests that adding a center-fielder would reduce the Marlins pitching demand:

So it’s still possible that outfielder Reggie Willits, who could fill the Marlins’ center-field vacancy, could be substituted for one of the pitchers when the teams resume discussions.

I’m starting to think that unless the Fish can get 2 top pitching prospects and another majors-ready prospect, they won’t do the deal Cabrera and will wait until someone changes their mind in mid-season or during the next off-season.

As Seen In: Players, Rumors, Trades

Posted: November 19th, 2007

The Chicago White Sox have acquired Cabrera. That is, Orlando Cabrera from the Angels.

But that’s not the story here.

Looks like they’re focused on an all-Cabrera left side of the infield as their GM Ken Williams claims that this deal clears some financial room ($3MM) for another deal. And that deal is:

“We’re not done yet. We’re still trying to land a big fish,” Williams said.

You know who which fish he’s talking about.

As Seen In: Rumors, Trades

Posted: November 8th, 2007

We’ve been debating here what to do with Miguel Cabrera and here is one view:

The more I think about it, the more I am OK with trading Cabrera (assuming the trade is for value).

With all this Cabrera talk, did anybody every realize that trading him might not be the a bad thing for the club? First, they can get a lot in return (and are apparently asking for a lot). Second, given the Marlins’ revenue constraints, is Cabrera really worth the cost?

Take a look at these stats… Is Cabrera really that far ahead of Hanley or Uggla?

Player	POS	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG
Cabrera	3B	157	588	91	188	38	2	34	119	332	79	127	2	1	.401	.565	.320
Ramirez	SS	154	639	125	212	48	6	29	81	359	52	95	51	14	.386	.562	.332
Uggla	2B	159	632	113	155	49	3	31	88	303	68	167	2	1	.326	.476	.245

Hanley struck out 30% less while having 10% more total bases than Cabrera and still hitting nearly 30 home runs and having nearly identical slugging percentage. That, and Ramirez can steal bases while Cabrera prefers to eat them. Uggla, in the meantime, strikes out way too much, but puts up very respectable numbers. So, while losing Cabrera would mean losing a well known player, it doesn’t, necessarily, hurt the team’s offense as much as, say, the Heat playing without Dwayne Wade or any football team losing its quarterback (not using the Dolphins as an example since they don’t really have a good quarterback). The question then has to be asked, with Ramirez and Uggla (not to mention Hermida, Willingham, and Jacobs — all of whom can hit 20 home runs and in Hermida’s case, for average if healthy), is Cabrera really the “franchise player” on which the future of this team hangs? Or is this just a popularity issue?

Now, if you are the Marlins, you can keep Cabrera for now but can you keep him in the future (and will you want to?). In the long run (even with a stadium) it will be impossible to keep Cabrera and Ramirez (in addition to young pitchers like Olsen, Nolasco, Sanchez, Mitre, and Johnson). In fact with many of those joining the team at the same time, it seems that down the road the Marlins will hit a time when these young talented players will all be arbitration eligible during the same year and their salaries will increase exponentially. Even with a stadium, the Marlins will never have a revenue stream like the Yankees or Red Sox which will allow them to sign and keep all those players. In other words, Cabrera will either get traded some day or be lost to free agency. Alternatively, the Marlins could plan to keep Cabrera in the long run but that would mean planning on losing one of the other young talented players. Would you keep Cabrera, a player who has shown himself to be lazy and indifferent at times and who for two seasons now has been completely unable to control his physical conditioning and declining defensive skills, or do you keep the guys that hustle and will be able to do something other than hitting? Last I checked baseball does not maintain separate defensive and offensive squads. The concern is that while Cabrera will become the equivalent of Pavel Bure — offensively flashy, defensively useless, and always a member of a losing team, guys like Ramirez and Uggla are dedicated and hardworking.

That leaves the last question — do you keep Cabrera now, knowing that he will be gone in the future? That depends on whether you can get the trade value you want. This team has many holes that need to be filled in. After last year, we can all admit there is much room for improvement. Trading Cabrera is the most efficient way to fill those holes while securing this team’s on-field future.

As Seen In: Commentary, Players, Rumors, Trades

Posted: November 6th, 2007

It’s over.

“We do not plan on speaking with A-Rod or engaging in any type of contract negotiations with A-Rod,” Beinfest said, relieving the rumor mill of a juicy tidbit.

As Seen In: Obsessed with A-Rod, Rumors

Posted: November 6th, 2007

You probably noticed that we’ve recently been staying away from all the news about Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera potentially being traded to every team on the universe. Until we hear something concrete we won’t link to those speculative articles being written everywhere.

P.S.: We may, though, make fun of these articles.

As Seen In: Rumors, Trades