If you thought Spring Training would help answer many of the questions about the Marlins, think again. Here are some of what we believe are the lingering issues: More
We noticed a few interesting quotes in recent articles about the Marlins:
Said Loria Saturday in Marlins camp: “With the exception of last year, when we had the chain of injuries primarily hung over from the year before when there were decisions made that were not great decisions, this team has always been formidable.”
Translation: I put out a great product and Girardi broke it.
“There will be a complete change [of uniforms],” Loria said. “Nothing has been designed yet. It will be different. It will be fun. It will be something we can all grab on to and call our own.”
Are we the only ones worried about “fun” uniforms? This Fish already have traditional looking uniforms. Don’t want to end up looking like an expansion team… again.
“I think [the Marlins] treat me good from the bottom all the way to the top. I feel comfortable here.”
Reminder to all those “fans” who criticize the ownership and management for the way they treat players: Hanley knows what he’s talking about; you don’t.
Spring Training is just around the corner and the Marlins have released the names of the new (and old) faces who will join the club for its annual spring rituals.
We have already heard about Jose Castillo and Jorge Cantu but now we learn that 13 minor league free agents received invites to the big league camp and they are: pitchers Doug Waechter, Bobby Keppel and Tim Corcoran; catcher Paul Hoover; infielders Tagg Bozied and Jason Wood; and outfielders John Gall, Alexis Gomez and Jorge Piedra.
Other non-40-man-roster invitees include pitchers Burke Badenhop, Dallas Trahern, Gaby Hernandez, Brett Sinkbeil, Aaron Thompson, Ryan Tucker and Chris Volstad; catchers John Baker, Brett Hayes and Brad Davis; and infielders Chris Coghlan and Lee Mitchell.
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.
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.
Jim Leyland will present a young lineup for tomorrow’s opening game against the Univeristy of Miami: left fielder Fletcher Bates (23 years old), center fielder Julio Ramirez (20), right fielder Ryan Jackson (26), first baseman Brian Daubach (26), second baseman Amaury Garcia, shortstop Alex González (21), third baseman Josh Booty (22), catcher Scott Makarewicz (30), and designated hitter John Roskos (23). Right-hander Joe Fontenot (20) will start, followed by Brent Billingsley (22), Ryan Dempster (20), Blaine Mull (21), Aaron Akin (20), Rey Mendoza (27) and Nelson Lara (19).
Marlins invite new players to Spring Training: P Aaron Akin (1st round pick), IF Dave Berg (UM graduate), IF Chris Clapinski, P Mike Gardiner, C Randy Knorr, and P Brent Billingsley.