• Reconsidering the Marlins Defensive Alignment

  • Hanley RamirezA note in the Miami Herald suggests that the Marlins organization has considered moving Hanley Ramirez to centerfield but, for now, will keep him at shortstop. Hanley has probably committed a few too many errors this year. The team, though, cites Alex Gonzalez as an example of a previous young shortstop who had a few too many errors in his early years but ultimately ended up as a top-notch defensive presence.

    I have to admit that sitting through Marlins games recently, I thought quite a bit about where to position players and I suggest that down the road the Marlins consider playing Hanley at third base and moving Miguel Cabrera to first base. This will allow Alfredo Amezaga or Robert Andino to takeover shortstop and provide better defense.

    I vote that we save Hanley’s body for the long-term because he is clearly a special talent.

  • Opinion

  • SI Tells Everyone What We Already Know

  • Florida Marlins Authentic Miguel Cabrera Road JerseyNice article about Miguel Cabrera in Sports Illustrated. Niceties include:

    Through Monday, Cabrera was batting .325 with 66 RBIs. He’s slugging about .600, which would be a career high, and leads all National League third baseman in home runs. And he’s done it playing in a pitcher’s park, where the cavernous dimensions can be daunting.

    And there’s of course a dose of reality:

    His future in Florida will continue to be an issue, with Cabrera in line to surpass $10 million as early as next season. The Marlins’ payroll is a little more than $30 million.

    Link:  Sports Illustrated: ‘He’s pretty incredible’

  • News

  • In Beinfest We Trust

  • I’ve been thinking about trust lately.

    It all started when I read Ethan Skolnick’s commentary on trusting South Florida General Managers. He correctly points out that South Florida fans can trust Larry Beinfest of the Florida Marlins and Pat Riley of the Miami Heat no matter what they do, while being very suspicious of anything coming out of the Dolphins and Panthers organizations. Larry may have screwed up the Jorge Julio trade, but we give him a pass because Byung-Hyun Kim has done well and Armando Benitez had a few good outings (and a few terrible ones too).

    Trust is very important these days as we read that Dontrelle Willis is the subject of many trade rumors.

    I personally would prefer if the Marlins kept Dontrelle. He is a great guy, a pretty good pitcher, and will probably earn less next year. Keeping him tells the average fan and the media that the Fish are committed to winning and we’re just one ballpark away from spending money like the Yankees spend on bad pitchers. But I also trust that Beinfest will make the right choice if he goes the other way. I will be the first person to say one or all of the following:

    • Dontrelle is nothing more than a 4th starter but teams will pay us like he is a number 1 starter
    • Once we get over the injuries, we already have 4 top notch young pitchers
    • We desperately needed a new [center fielder]/[catcher]/[closer]
    • Wow, we just acquired the best young talent in baseball
    • This season is doomed, lets build up for next year
    • We just freed up money to [sign Miguel Cabrera]/[bring in a top free agent next year]/[close the gap on the ballpark funds]

    No matter what, we trust Larry.

  • Opinion
  • Photo by Flickr user 7 Years Later...

  • More Proof that the All-Star Game is for 2nd Tier Players

  • If you didn’t think Hanley Ramirez deserved to an All-Star, then don’t read this post.

    The Marlins terrific shortstop, who happens to be the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, was named the National League’s Player of the Week after hitting .520 with 12 hits, 3 HRs, 1.087 slugging percentage, 4 doubles and 6 RBIs. He’s hitting a mere .331 with 14 HRs and 27 stolen bases while playing shortstop every night.

    If Hanley wore a Red Sox or Yankees uniform while dropping that terrific RBI bunt in extra-innings to beat the Dodgers last week, I’m sure ESPN would have named him the player of the century (maybe they would have sent Pedro Gomez to cover him full time).

    Interesting note from MLB.com:

    The individual awards are starting to pile up for the Marlins. Florida now leads the NL with three Player of the Week winners this year. Miguel Cabrera took home the award in the season’s opening week and the week of June 4.

    I think it’s fare to say that the Marlins are 4 healthy starting pitchers away from dominating the National League.

  • News

  • The Essence of the 2007 Marlins

  • The somewhat irreverent baseball blog Bugs & Cranks slapped its keyboard on the Marlins today for their latest and season-long performance. They take shots at Fredi and the team for inconsistent play and sometimes illogical actions. For example, Josh Willingham‘s game winning hit in the 10th inning was a no brainer — yes, on paper you bunt in that situation — but Josh was 4-4 in the game and is the team’s best run producer. Willingham’s post game comments suggested that he assumed Fredi would call a bunt but since he didn’t get a sign he went ahead and swung at the pitch.

    Regardless, the article does have a few “high points” including this money quote:

    The game that Gonzalez is seemingly surprised to have won displayed the essence of the 2007 Marlins: talented, but bumbling; competitive, yet indifferent; heroic while squandering.

    That could summarize our season so far. It’s no coincidence that you could also say that about Miguel Cabrera.

    Link:  Bugs & Cranks: Andy Warhol: “The Florida Marlins Are Weird”

  • News
    • Passengers
    • RETWEETED
      17 years ago

    • The Marlins have been befuddling this season. Just when you think they’ve got it figured out, they slip again. The good news, as it were, is that they aren’t regularly beaten, but rather they give away games through errors and weird decisions. Hopefully they’ll manage to get something going in the next few games and then get a running start after the break. They need to get past that .500 hurdle…

  • White Sox Trying to Acquire a “Big Fish”

  • 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.

  • Opinion