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Archive for the ‘Marlins’ Category

Projected NL East 25 Man Rosters

Posted in Braves, Marlins, Mets, National League, Nationals, NL East, Opening Day, Phillies, Projections on April 1, 2025 | Leave a Comment »

The final rosters do not have to be finalized until Sunday afternoon, but looking at what we know today, here’s how I see it in the NL East:

Pos Mets Marlins Braves Nats Phils
C Barajas Baker McCann Rodriguez Ruiz
1B Jacobs Sanchez Glaus Dunn Howard
2B Castillo Uggla Prado Kennedy Utley
SS Cora Ramirez Escobar Desmond Rollins
3B Wright Cantu Jones Zimmerman Polanco
LF Bay Coughlin Cabrera Willingham Ibanez
CF Pagan Maybin McLouth Morgan Victorino
RF Francoeur Ross Heyward Harris Werth
OF Catalanotto Carroll Diaz Bernadina Fransisco
OF Matthews Jr.
 Bonofacio Hinske Morse Gload
IF Carter Helms Infante Gonzalez Dobbs
IF Tatis Lamb Thurston Guzman Castro
C Blanco Paulino Ross Nieves Schneider
SP Santana Johnson Hudson Lannan Halladay
SP Pelfrey Nolasco Lowe Marquis Hamels
SP Maine Sanchez Jurrjens Stammen Happ
SP Perez Volstad Hanson
 Hernandez Kendrick
SP Niese Robertson Kawakami Mock Moyer
RP Rodriguez Nunez Wagner Capps Madson
RP Igarashi Sanchez Moylan Olsen Baez
RP Feliciano Meyer Saito Bruney Zagurski
RP Mejia Veres Medlin Clippard Durbin
RP Calero Hensley Reyes Burnett Bastardo
RP Figueroa Pinto Chavez
 Bergmann Lopez
25th Adams Barden Conrad Batista Ransom
  • Mets: Beltran, Reyes, Takahashi, Nieve, Tejada, Santos, Escobar, Murphy, Parnell, Green, Dessens, Muniz
  • Braves: Freeman, Hicks, Sammons, Boscan, Schafer, Young, Proctor, Venters, O’Flaherty
  • Marlins: Badenhop, Richar, Davis, Luna, Murphy
  • Nats: English, Martis, James, Walker, Spier, Orr, Coste, Taveras, Maxwell, McDougal, Wang, Detwiller, Duncan, Bruntlett, Flores
  • Phillies: Blanton, Lidge, Romero, Valdez, Guzman, Hoover, Brown, Wise

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No Maybin: Marlins Show What Not To Do

Posted in Braves, Marlins, Minors, National League on May 11, 2025 | Leave a Comment »

I guess given the Marlins hot start this year, the Florida Marlins brain trust has mistakenly bought into that their early season success is more of the trend, than a fluke. It seems they really are banking on Emilio Bonifacio as an everyday player, rather than as a super sub. In doing so, they have done something that Bobby Cox would never do. As, each year, the Braves decide on a newcomer they will take North with them. They ease them into the lineup, and realize as a young player there will be first year growing pains. They take into account that a young players mental psyche must be nurtured, and that any decision made in regards to that player must take that factor into account.

Even Lou Piniella, who has a track record of not being one of the best at developing young players, knows about this. It would have been so easy after Carl Crawford initially struggled with his bat in his rookie season, to send him down. But, the Rays stuck with him and Crawford became a better hitter long term because of the experience at hitting in the 9 hole. Eventually, his bat came around and he has built on that year ever since.

If you decide that your young player you plan on building the team around for years to come is ready, you expect that he will be inserted into the lineup from the time he takes the field opening day, for the next 10 years. You do things to take the pressure of the player as he gets used to being a big league player. You expect that in that first year their will be peaks and valleys. The number one thing you don’t do is give up to him after 6 weeks.

In Cameron Maybin, you know what you are going to get with him. He does not have the plate discipline. He has shown to be a free swinger in his minor league career. He does have power and speed. He can play a decent center field. Why in the world do you send him down as the season is quite early, and sure you may be in somewhat in a pennant race.But, is Cameron Maybin the reason that the starting pitching has yet to secure a win in weeks?

This move in itself will not do Maybin much harm physically going down and working on his skills. However, I wonder what lasting effects this will have on Maybin. Are you willing to possibly damage Maybin, by calling him out, when Bonofacio is another player who has been struggling as much. This move of sending Cameron Maybin to the minors makes you question the Marlins front office. Unless they plan is to make Emilio’s Bonifacio into a utility player after his early struggles, I don’t understand how this move helps the Marlins franchise.

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Gotta Take Unhittable Santana over 2 Questionable Aces

Posted in Cy Young, Marlins, Mets, National League, Padres, Rotisserie on April 19, 2025 | 2 Comments »

For one of my NL only fantasy squads, how to approach the availability of several top tier starting pitchers was something I wrestled with leading up to the auction draft this April. With Santana available, I knew he would go for some big money. The thing I kept kicking around was would I be better off getting a pitcher who might be close to the talent of Santana, but would go for a price that would save me some money. For the money saved by going for the lesser talent, I could use that money to help me go after an additional top tier pitcher. I thought this plan might work. Peavy was coming off an off year. He was rumored to go another team in trade rumors. We all knew last year he was just not the same pitcher pitching away from Petco Park. I figured I could save about $10 in the draft by going with Peavy as my top pitcher, rather than Santana. Then, I could use that $10 to add to my budget for a second pitcher, as I just dropped Scott Olsen prior to the draft at $12. I had targeted one of my favorites in Ricky Nolasco as that second pitcher. At the draft, the numbers came close to what I expected on this plan. I saved $8 by going with Peavy ($31) over Santana ($39). I used that money to get Nolasco at $24

Its only three starts into the season, but it appears as if I might of been better at going with Santana as he has been dominant so far on the season. Here is the numbers compared so far on the year:

Player Park K BB ER H
Santana
 Great American (Cincinnati) 7
 4
 1
 3
Santana Dolphin Stadium (Miami) 13
 1
 0
 3
Santana Citi Field (N.Y.)
 7
 0
 0
 5

Santana has 27K’s on the season, and only one earned run.

Player Park K BB ER H
Peavy
 Petco Park (S.D.)

 8
 2
 3
 7
Peavy Petco Park (S.D.) 10 0 3 7
Peavy Citi Field (N.Y.)

 5 4 3 6

Peavy has been good, but not great. He lucked out in his third start and got some good run support for his second win. His pitching performance away from Petco has began by looking a lot like last year .

Player Park K BB ER H
Nolasco

 Dolphin Stadium (Miami)

 6
 0 5 7
Nolasco Dolphin Stadium (Miami)

 2 2
 4
 7
Nolasco
 WAS
 4
 1
 2
 7

Nolasco started off good in his first start, and it looked like he might be in line to continue the good pitching shown in his second half of last season. But, later in the game he got lit up by the Nationals, but the Marlins run support gave him the win. He has continued to look bad in the next two starts and the Marlins brass is trying to figure out what Ricky’s problems so far are on the season.

A lesson to be learned here. If you have a chance to get that special pitcher. Go for it. As, Santana is showing that he is that good. The bullpen blew alot of his wins for him last year, costing him a Cy Young. Unfortunately, for the most part, the voters look mainly at the pitchers wins, and don’t drill down enough on the pitching peripherals. Again, its only three starts, but the comparison here is worth following to see how this plays out over the season.

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Reyes passed by Hanley

Posted in Around the Web, Marlins, Mets, World Baseball Classic on March 7, 2025 | Leave a Comment »

As Jose Reyes was the original power-speed combo at shortstop. Now, Hanley Ramirez who is younger with similar skills has surpassed Reyes in the box scores, and now as the starting SS in the World Baseball classic.

So much for Ramirez being Jose Reyes lite. He is the real deal.

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Who’s On First, Whats on Second for Marlins

Posted in Marlins, National League on November 16, 2025 | Leave a Comment »

With The Florida Marlins off season thus far, one thing is clear. The franchise would prefer to remake itself rather than go forward with their latest collection of players who are about to make a lot of money through the arbitration process.

As of last season, the Marlins wisely broke the bank and locked up Hanley Ramirez for the long term. By doing so, they are making him the cornerstone to build the team around. It seems money spent wisely as Hanley almost delivered another 5 category season with 30 HRs, 35SB, 301BA, 125R, but fell short with the RBIs with only 67. Make no mistake, a .301/.400/.540 does not indicate he has many shortcomings with what he does with his bat.

However, he did start to slump playing in the three hole in the lineup, and was promptly moved back to leadoff. Now with Bonofacio in the mix, he is almost certain bat leadoff. That means they plan to use Hanley in the three hole. They have Cantu who will play primarily at first base, but will play some at third. But, the question remains about 2nd base. Uggla started his career as a third baseman, but worked with Wally Backman to learn the second base position while with Arizona. Bonofacio, is a second baseman by trade. He could play some third, and even play some outfield as well. The Marlins would be smart to hang onto Uggla. This is a modern day Who’s on First!

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After 2 and 1/4 seasons, Hanley Hits Big Time

Posted in Around the Web, Long Term Contracts, Marlins, Mets, MLB, National League on May 10, 2025 | Leave a Comment »

What is going on in South Florida? They are performing the magic again with their third roster makeover . I was wrong about HRam:

The loss of protection in the lieneup with Miguel Cabrera now in the American League. With less good pitches thrown his way, he likely will see his power number decrease, as you might see his OBP as good or better.

You can say that Hanley is really missing Miggy with his .336/.421/.569 production including 8 home runs and 13 stolen bases. We have seen no drop off and Hanley has now transitioned to the three hole in the lineup.

How he responds to offseason surgery will be an issue. He is not expected to be available at beginning of spring training. How he is able to prepare and be ready will not be the same.

He was available for the first game of the season and shows no real effects from the surgery. At the beginning of the year, his stolen bases were limited. It seems he is no longer being restricted on the stolen bases. His arm in throwing shows no problems best I can tell.

His defense is the middle of the pack according to PMR . With the Marlins lacking a 3B, its not out of the question down the road the team performs some defensive rel-alignment. If that means, a move to the outfield or possibly at the hot corner, we’ll have to see how this plays out. At the moment, the Marlins are choosing between a couple of second baseman for 3B

I am not sure if the hot corner transition will occur. With Ramirez slugging away and playing adequate defense, it will be hard to move him off the position. With Hanley providing the monster offense at a position not normally known for big numbers, they would have to justify if it was worth getting better defense out of the position with the apparent offense reduction.

With the loss of Willis and Cabrera over money concerns, how long is Hanley in the Marlins future? Sure, the team holds the upper hand in the cost containment of Hanley over the next few years. But, you don’t see the Marlins locking him up like the Rockies are doing with Troy Tulowitski

The Marlins have addressed this issue load and clear with and David Wright like contract. With the Marlins being a cost conscious franchise, this was their only chance at keeping him past next season. Its a great sign for the franchise and a win for the small market teams.

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The Pine Tar Incident Tape Measure Blast

Posted in American League, Angels, Around the Web, Cubs, fantasy, Former Player, Marlins, Matt Holiday, National League, NL East, Phillies, Projections, Rays, Sabermetrics, Yankees on February 24, 2026 | 3 Comments »

A few weeks ago we were wondering about Mattingly’s wife and what happened ? The Daily News has a story and pictures about Mattingly’s life, and Donnie’s current unfortunate situation. My first memory of Mattingly was the summer of 1983, when both Don and Steve Balboni were getting a shot at the first base job after being called up from minors.

brett_livid.jpg In fact, I happened to be visiting friends in New York and witnessed the Pine Tar Incident Game on the Yankee broadcast. Recently, I was thinking about a baseball related user name for some account I was creating. I gave it the name of The Pine Tar Incident since that game was one of the most memorable games that I ever watched.

More Blasts From Around the Web:

Piniella predicted number of wins: 89 wins. Chone has the NL and AL predictions too. 89 wins for my Rays!

We’re Talking Squawking Baseball on Cone for Ed Hearn

Brock for Broglio has PrOPS .

A great week of content at Greeny’s site. with DIPs, Contact Rate rate, Home / Road standouts.

If you own Hanley like I do, check out the Disabled Informer on HRam

Jason Stark covers the history making arbitration win for Ryan Howard. Will Phillies slugger ask them to “Show me the Money” with a 136 Million next?

I thought Heyman’s GM list was ridiculous. Glad someone else does too.

I did not Know Topkin of Times wrote for Melnick and Greco?

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Sleepless in Seattle for a Kingdome like deal

Posted in American League, Angels, Around the Web, Athletics, Braves, Mariners, Marlins, Mets, MLB, National League, NL East, Orioles, Rangers on January 29, 2026 | 1 Comment »

I get what the Seattle Mariners are trying to do in the American League West. With the Oakland A’s and the Texas Rangers more than likely taking themselves out of contention with their rebuilding moves, there is no better time to strike a blockbuster deal that make them a serious player. Its been a long time since personalities like Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriquez, Tino Martinez, and Randy Johnson were faces of the franchise. It’s a steep price to pay to obtain Erik Bedard, but a move they have to make to compete. Whoever you call your favorite team, you hope they make a move like this that gives the fans a chance. There will always be tommorows, but the fans focus are more concerned about the todays.

For every team that has the player with all the out of his world skills. A team can only hope a presence emerges in addition to that talent. In a football analogy, The Carolina Hurricanes hoped that Julius Peppers would be one. It didn’t happen. The Mets lucked out with David Wright. With all the press clippings several years ago in NL East about super prospect Andy Marte, Wright initially stayed off the radar. But, not any more. Every team can only wish they had the combination player and a presence like what David Wright has evolved into:

Three full seasons, two All-Star games, one post season (NLDS and NLCS) one Silver Slugger Award, 553 hits, 83 home runs, 325 RBI, a .312 batting average and 474 regular season games later, Wright, now 25, is experiencing another career evolution: leadership.

Wright no longer “keeps to himself.”

Hanley Ramirez earns top of his peers honor.

The Traditional vs New Age debate.

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Upward Spiral for Hanley Ramirez?

Posted in American League, fantasy, Infield, Long Term Contracts, Marlins, Mets, MLB, National League, NL East, Outfield, Projections, Rockies, Rotisserie, Spring Training, Trade on January 23, 2026 | 3 Comments »

The Mets SS Jose Reyes in his young career has evolved into highly coveted player because of his ability to get on base, score a bunch of runs, a .300 batting average, home run ability, and his bread and butter the stolen bases. It was partway through last season, I made the statement calling Hanley Ramirez as a Jose Reyes Lite . A funny thing happened along the way. From July 24, 2025 to end of the season Reyes went into a funk. His numbers over that period gave him .245/.312/.383 with 6 HRs and only 17RBIs which amounted to a .695 OPS. In, that same period, Hanley Ramirez managed a .325/.381/.573 with 13 HRs and 35RBIs for a .954 OPS. In a telling sign, H-Ram managed to almost double Jose Reye’s production, all while playing with a bummed shoulder that resulted in the Marlin’s SS having off-season surgery.

Now, I am not sure that the Marlins Ramirez will continue to be a better version of Jose Reyes. Some of the things on the horizon for Hanley Ramirez:

  • The loss of protection in the lieneup with Miguel Cabrera now in the American League. With less good pitches thrown his way, he likely will see his power number decrease, as you might see his OBP as good or better.
  • How he responds to offseason surgery will be an issue. He is not expected to be available at beginning of spring training. How he is able to prepare and be ready will not be the same.
  • His defense is the middle of the pack according to PMR . With the Marlins lacking a 3B, its not out of the question down the road the team performs some defensive rel-alignment. If that means, a move to the outfield or possibly at the hot corner, we’ll have to see how this plays out. At the moment, the Marlins are choosing between a couple of second baseman for 3B
  • With the loss of Willis and Cabrera over money concerns, how long is Hanley in the Marlins future? Sure, the team holds the upper hand in the cost containment of Hanley over the next few years. But, you don’t see the Marlins locking him up like the Rockies are doing with Troy Tulowitski

I think Hanley will continue to be one of the better young players in baseball. If the Marlins were smart, they would consider doing like many of the other teams have done with their young players and buy out his arbitration years. Otherwise, the Marlins become the new Montreal Expos if they have not already become them.

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Jose Reyes on pace for 85

Posted in Marlins, Mets, National League, Sabermetrics on July 24, 2025 | 1 Comment »

Reyes becomes better and better

Take those 85 walks. Since baseball began to integrate in 1947, a grand total of six shortstops age 25 or younger have drawn 80 or more walks in a season. Two of them, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, you may have heard of. The other four are an odd bunch

Its not that often a player learns plate discipline at the major league level. Its usually you have it or you do not. You are either a Ricky Henderson or a Wade Boggs or you are a free swinger.

As of now he has 51 walks and 382 OBP.

One player who has been called Jose Reyes Lite is H-Ram of Marlins.

He has 30 walks with a 389 OBP.

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