September 06, 2006

That's not what the Marlins do, Kendall. Look at Pavano, Burnett, Beckett. Hell, people thought Willis wouldn't end the season on the Marlins. They field a 15m team. That being said, nice to see Anibal Sanchez do well.

posted by jerseygirl at 09:59 PM on September 06, 2006

If Florida was willing to spend some money (which they're probably not) they would lock up all those young pitchers to long term contracts, and secure the teams franchise. If they don't guys (like Willis) will more than likely be out the door for the big bucks sooner than later. The Marlins have been starting the following rookies this year: Josh Johnson (NL runner up in ERA at present with 2.99); Scott Olsen (12-7, 4.04 ERA thus far); Ricky Nolasco (11-9, 4.75) and Anibal Sanchez (of the no-hitter today). While I'm not sure on the exact specifics, the Marlins should have these guys' rights for at least the next 4 years and therefore don't need to sign them to long-term contracts (unless they want to buy out the players' arbitration years). That is plenty of time to reap the benefits of all these young pitchers. Then they can trade them all and reload for another run at the World Series (they seem to be on a six year plan).

posted by holden at 10:29 PM on September 06, 2006

Screw the no-hitter - where's your sub-5.00 ERA?

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 07:44 AM on September 07, 2006

The way the Marlins have turned the baseball world upside down has to be one the best feel good things of the year in all sports. I think they are the biggest surprise in baseball. I hate that they have no fan support, and no owner support. Ownership gave up on them last November.... or so he thought. I do feel the fans should be upset with the owner and boycot the home games as they have done all year. This has to be one of the best alltime scrappy baseball teams. Joe Girardi should be given Coach of the year. It is just wonderful that a team with a 15 million dollar payroll is on the verge of making the playoffs with the triple digit payroll teams. Hell I heard that there were 6 or more individual players on other teams who made more this year than this entire team. Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!

posted by GoHorns at 09:20 AM on September 07, 2006

I gained 3 whole points in the SpoFi league. Only 21 more to go to catch JG. How do you do it?

posted by YukonGold at 09:52 AM on September 07, 2006

You have to sleep wiith the guy who invented Yahoo. In which case, the fantasy baseball league isn't the only thing you're winning.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 10:37 AM on September 07, 2006

Cla Meredith?

posted by BullpenPro at 11:10 AM on September 07, 2006

I do feel the fans should be upset with the owner and boycot the home games as they have done all year. That's a shame. There's no way I could join them. The Marlins have been the most exciting ballclub to follow the last 10+ years. They are, for the third time, building the core of a championship ballclub with exciting young players. The 1998 Fire Sale Marlins had Derrek Lee, Luis Castillo and Mark Kotsay (all 22 years old), Cliff Floyd (25), Livan Hernandez (23 ish), Matt Mantei (24 -- granted, he never did shake the injuries, but when healthy he was awesome to watch), and Craig Counsell (27). Pretty good core of players, and it only took 6 years to get back on top. This year's club has been just as exciting, and I'm certain that the Marlins will appear in the World Series again with Cabrera, Hanley, Uggla, Willingham and their whole great young pitching staff in tow. Sorry, no sympathy here for Marlins fans (not until they move, anyway).

posted by BullpenPro at 11:51 AM on September 07, 2006

Sorry, no sympathy here for Marlins fans (not until they move, anyway). It is hard to support owners who slash payroll because they don't like their stadium deal. It was bad the first time, and it was even worse the second time. The fact that the Marlins have ended up playing good baseball is great, but it doesn't change what Loria was trying to do.

posted by bperk at 12:17 PM on September 07, 2006

It is hard to support owners You could have stopped there. No baseball owner is without his contemptible qualities, all built on a foundation of self-indulgence. If we picked our teams based on how rootable the owner is, we'd all be cheering on fantasy league teams. There are at least a half a dozen franchises that are run in more despicable fashion than the Marlins (and, I know, that's saying a lot). I have no defense for that scumbag Loria, but which scumbag is more deserving of loyalty? Arroyo for WMP is a deal I'd do every day of the week Didn't RSN feel that way about the Beckett deal, too... at the time...?

posted by BullpenPro at 12:27 PM on September 07, 2006

There are at least a half a dozen franchises that are run in more despicable fashion than the Marlins (and, I know, that's saying a lot). I have no defense for that scumbag Loria, but which scumbag is more deserving of loyalty? I have been trying to be a fan since the franchise was established. Everytime I get excited about the team, the owners sell it off. That is more than just you average owner-is-a-jerk problem. The franchise seems to be setting out to destroy goodwill.

posted by bperk at 01:13 PM on September 07, 2006

The difference between the Marlins and the other teams mentioned is that there is nothing about those teams that draws fans in. They are just hopeless. I do live in D.C., and the Nationals are the only MLB games I have gone to this season. Perhaps I will become a fan in time, but I have to guard my fandom from being drawn to a terrible, poorly managed franchise yet again.

posted by bperk at 01:56 PM on September 07, 2006

Maybe it was more that he pitched one exceptional game in his career and he's been riding on those coattails ever since. He's not the guy. I find it surprising that every single one of these prospects is finding success in the NL. Mnookin made light of it today and I have to agree, you can't keep them and expect the same results. ps. Sorry Anibel, we dragged your moment of glory into the gutter with Marlins ownership and Red Sox prospects talk. But, you have a no-hitter and we...have whatever it is we have.

posted by YukonGold at 06:12 PM on September 07, 2006

Sorry Anibel, we dragged your moment of glory into the gutter with Marlins ownership and Red Sox prospects talk. I had a hunch it would come to this when I posted it. But the story of a Sanchez's no-hitter is inextricably bound to the story of Marlins ownership and the Red Sox season. And there are only so many ways you can say "Sanchez had great stuff that night" or "Uggla made a heads-up play".

posted by rocketman at 07:29 AM on September 08, 2006

Don't even try to sound like you "had a good feeling" spira. Yeah they had a lot of good prospects but this happens almost never. A season after a firesale this never happens. They are supreme overachievers. I like there spunk and it is always fun to cheer for the underdog so go Marlins. Oh, and congrats to Anibel.

posted by kidrayter2005 at 09:44 PM on September 08, 2006

I was happier with the Wily Mo deal than the Beckett deal. I liked Bronson, I really did, but I had the panic attacks every time he pitched, because at least once or five times a game he would serve up that weird-ass gopher ball pitch that he keeps in his arsenal, and my heart would pause for a second, hoping that the batter would be so stunned by this split-fingered-meat-in-front-of-a-wolf-pitch that he'd swing and miss, and, swear to God, I've actually seen that happen. Other times, the guys just hit it to the frickin' moon. I don't miss that, and the white-guy-kickin'-the-cornrows thing just looks silly.

posted by The_Black_Hand at 10:15 AM on September 09, 2006

I've watched that replay of the final out a couple of times now, and I'm almost positive that the runner was safe at 1st base. Now, that wouldn't be recorded as a hit (since the fielder took WAY too long to throw the ball), but it would have brought another batter to the plate, and who knows what would have happened then... That said, it would be one of the gutsiest calls by an ump to call the runner safe during a no-hitter, on a close call..

posted by grum@work at 11:46 PM on September 09, 2006

Don't even try to sound like you "had a good feeling" spira. I didn't have a good feeling. And even if I had, I'd have ignore it and relied on the facts. What I did say - and wrote - before the season was that I thought it was possible that the Marlins could play .500 baseball. Not that they necessarily would, just that no one should be surprised if they do because the talent was there. Yeah they had a lot of good prospects but this happens almost never. Teams almost never assemble such a large number of prospects who are all ready for the majors at the same time A season after a firesale this never happens. Not all firesales are the same. This firesale was good for the Marlins in the long run; I had no doubt about that at the time. I didn't know it would turn out so well so soon, but it seemed obvious that they were dumping a lot of veterans with large contracts who were on the downside of their careers. The only major player they traded who didn't fit that description was Beckett, and Beckett's performance has never lived up to his hype over a full season. What happened last winter was nothing like Huzienga's firesale, where players were just given away for little talent. They are supreme overachievers The only player on the team who is playing better than anyone could have predicted is Uggla. Willis is having a much worse season than last year, and Cabrera, who has a chance to be one of the ten best players of all time, hasn't hit with the kind of power one expects from him. I'm not saying that people should have expected everything to go as well as it has. The Marlins have not had major injury problems and have had to overcome few significant obstacles other than their own bad start. Their rookie pitchers have certainly have had an easier time adjusting to the majors than most rookie pitchers. Most teams will run into far more bumps than the Marlins have. (The Marlins did have one serious bump - Jeremy Hermida, who was by far their top offensive prospect, had his season destroyed by injuries) But the talent to do this was there. If you talked to knowledgable scouts before the season, they would have told you that the Marlins had a lot of talent comapred to most other NL teams. The team has played as well as they could, but they have not played above their talent level. They are not overachievers. If they were overachievers, we'd expect them to decline significantly next year. I don't expect that at all; I think they'll be as good or better if their players stay healthy. I think they could definitely win the division title in 2007. My point is not that I had some special foresight; it's the exact opposite - that anyone who got past the "they had a firesale and traded away all their expensive players" headlines and actually looked at the team's talent could have come to the same conclusion. Instead, the big story blinded people to the reality, and most people assumed fire sale = terrible team.

posted by spira at 03:00 AM on September 12, 2006