BlackaWhacka

Let's re-Sign Joe Strong, and give him the closers spot LOL, he'd prob even do a better job then gregg at this point. Nah dude lets bring back Dennis Springer and have him throw knuckleballs in the 9th. Hitters accustomed to the usual high heat in that circumstance will be completely hopeless when they see that thing dancing all around. I would prefer to have Carlos Martinez finish the year at AA though. Before he got called up in 06 he had only a handful of innings above A+. His stuff is awesome but a little seasoning down there can only help. Next year he should definitely get a shot to land a role in the pen. Our bullpen has been a bit shaky lately and Lindstrom has me concerned with his control but we should give it a bit more time. No one has gotten Jorge Julio bad just yet.

Come back from what? Coming back from having an MVP type season in 2005 for the Rays and then suddenly dropping his production by a ton in 2006. He was then traded in 2007 after the Rays all but gave up on him at age 25. Now at age 26, he has something to prove. He will try to show the baseball world that he has what it takes to be a Major League starter. If he can keep this up...If he can keep up this level of production, that will be what I call a Comeback of the Year winner. His production didn't just tail off for no reason though, he suffered an ankle injury and it seemed to linger all year ala Jacobs. Then Tampa failed to believe in him and gave him the boot, which is why I'm not at all surprised he is doing what hes done all year with the bat with no injury to hold him down. I've been vouching for this guy since December, and I'm glad Beinfest gave him the opportunity to prove what I knew he could do for us and not someone else. Some of his haters haven't even popped up in some of these threads to give this guy props but at least most people aren't blind to his ability. And I never even knew the guy was such a stud at 1B. Maybe instead of getting something for Cantu at the end of the year, we should get something for Jacobs....

Hanley has done well, but we could do without the show boating. Bah, you only hear that opinion from uptight, old, white protestant men. Act like you've been there... put your head down.... yadda yadda. I haven't noticed that from him but if he has by all means I hope he continues! I love seeing the emotion. That doesn't bother me at all but I can only imagine the outrage coming out of Hutton had Escobar done the same thing. Tommy probably would've popped a vein right there.

You guys need to live with the fact that Cantu is here for, at most, a year...he doesn't deserve ALL THE CRITICISM he gets, when you consider the other "defensive guru's" are often, just as bad, and don't get criticized as much. Bottom line is, everything you see at 3B right now, is just a little mix that will be subtracted, as soon as Matt Dominguez is ready by 2011 or 2012. The same goes for the catcher's spot...with Skipworth. :notworthy All the bickering will become a moot point when he gets shipped off along with a few others at the end due to arby. Same thing will happen with McPherson next year or the year after until Matt is ready. And I'm willing to bet he'll get the same amount of hate as well if his back doesn't give out. We've gotten far with what we have, and with Johnson getting better, maybe we haven't reached the top of the bell curve yet.

Just like Tommy said, seems like going against Webb inspired Nolasco to up his game. The guy was flat out dominant, dropping curves and throwing fastballs ala Beckett. Perfect defense, clutch performances by the bottom of the order, and the bullpen was lights out to put it away. If people around the country keep thinking this team is a fluke, all I can say is "no hay peor ciego que el que no quiere ver". And we did it all without our best player.

Armchair sabermetricians will never give this guy the benefit of the doubt. They would have preferred Jose Castillo's .579 OPS and amazing defense right now (which through some statistical wizardry would be yielding us a greater contribution). Jorge Cantu is the best overall player we acquired for 3B before the season and right now. Someone likes to make baseless assumptions, or simply chooses to ignore the countless posts made in the offseason about just how bad Castillo and is vastly overrated defense is. Amezaga is statisically our best option at third against RHP. Well, he'd be better at short or second, but no point in moving Hanley (pre-season it was because to see if he could improve his defense, and now it'd be because his defense has improved) and Uggla's value would decrease if he's moved over to third. So putting Alfredo at third would do. When Cantu hits like he actually hits (in other words, like he has done lately, and not the few game hot stretch he had), I'd take Alfredo over him marginally against RHP when it comes to offense, and there's a big gap in their defensive abilities consider Alfredo is one of the best defensive infielders in the game and Cantu is one of the worst. The difference in their range and reaction time is huge. All right then, lets restart this season and place Amezaga at 3rd. Who would be the regular at CF? Cody Ross? Brett Carroll? haha I won't even include Maybin because he obviously needs time in the minors, and judging from his issues with Ks it was the right decision. Both of those guys have their issues. Ross has below average range in center and is slumping while Carroll's bat isn't ready yet. So while you might consider Amezaga to be the better option at 3rd, you open up a hole at center. BTW nice play by Cantu tonight in the 1st. Maybe his defense is improving!

So.....Jorge Cantu...... Statisically speaking, he IS as bad as a defender as people said before, and for as fast as his OPS rose 200 points to be above .900, it's dropping nearly as fast. [/hater] Career wise, yes. But maybe he worked hard on defensive drills in the offseason and the results are showing? Cantu keeps himself in excellent physical shape (something that couldn't be said about Cabrera last year) and I've read he implemented intense core workouts as well in the offseason. All of this could translate into a better defender (and overall baseball player) I guess what I'm trying to say is that rather than blindly hating the guy, give him the benefit of the doubt THIS year until he regresses to the mean in which you are referring to. You have to admit, he has been a pleasant suprise. Enjoy the ride for a while. Armchair sabermetricians will never give this guy the benefit of the doubt. They would have preferred Jose Castillo's .579 OPS and amazing defense right now (which through some statistical wizardry would be yielding us a greater contribution). Jorge Cantu is the best overall player we acquired for 3B before the season and right now. Yes, McPherson has the greater upside but if it ain't broke don't fix it; he needs the steady ABs right now in the minors to keep his confidence high and improve his game. I would definitely be in favor of benching Cantu if he starts struggling big time and Dallas is still tearing it up, but Cantu is still effective as we speak.

Interesting how the Rays are in the Top 10 while Kazmir and Garza have been out and Price/Davis are yet to arrive..... sick. Hendrickson looks crafty. *hooray LASIK* Funny that he has pitched his best yet after having undergone through the procedure and now all these reports have surfaced about the harmful side effects.

That's the biggest advantage the NFL has over MLB. Far less kids at the games. I'm sorry, but as someone who takes my kid to Marlins games (and BroncoBob can attest that EvenLittler SoFlaFish is very well behaved at games!), I'd prefer screaming kids at the stadium than dumb drunk rednecks wanting to pick a fight with anyone around them. There's a reason why I stopped going to Dolphins games - and I was reminded of that last season when I was given 7th row seats in the lower bowl, only to still have brawls break out in front of my son because of drunken rednecks trying to prove their miniscule manhood to everyone there. +1, minus the whole "takes my kid to the games" stuff. I love seeing kids at the games, it's the stupid adults I despise. Well.... at least you can punch the adults!

This makes you appreciate our scouting and the geniuses we've had in the front office during all these years in Dombrowski and Beinfest. It's one thing to have low payroll and bad attendance, but when you consistently are able to acquire good talent whether through trades or bottom of the barrel signings it separates us from teams like the Pirates that are constantly botching it and never seem to have that "bright future".

Yeah let's ignore the fact he hit a woman and only focus on the baseball side. Well it is a Florida Marlins baseball message board, not a stop domestic violence plea. And as long as it doesn't factor into his WARP or how many Win Shares he'll provide, we should all be fine with this.

Hanley liking this park already.

For those of you watching the pre-game show, did anyone catch when Rich Waltz was mentioning about heading to RFK when going to Washington? He goes "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT this year!" That would make a good YTMND loop.

But I'm not too fond of trading for him, would have rather signed him. WHY? We got him, and the Phillies are paying for most of his contract. If he would have been on the open market anybody could have signed him. This was a secure way to get him, and I must say a solid move for the Marlins. I wholeheartedly agree. I don't see why anybody should be excited about this move, but he is better than Wood without a doubt. If he is gonna mash lefties, I would rather have him do it with us than against us.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/sports/ci_8698500 The Dodgers are off today before playing their final exhibition games against the Angels on Thursday (in Anaheim) and the Red Sox on Friday (Dodger Stadium), Saturday (Coliseum) and Sunday (Dodger Stadium). Dodgers closer Takashi Saito threw a 25-pitch simulated game on a back field without any discomfort in his left buttocks, where tightness had kept him out of a scheduled appearance Monday night against Kansas City. Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt said Saito's pitching schedule, thrown off when he missed several days early in camp with a right calf injury, will remain on track if he has no ill effects from the simulated game. "We'll see how he comes in Thursday," Honeycutt said. "We'll go by how he feels, obviously. You can formulate any plan you want to, but if he doesn't feel right, he won't throw that day." For now, Saito still is slated to pitch on consecutive days for the first time Thursday and Friday, then rest Saturday and Sunday in advance of Monday's season opener. So Kaz Matsui is out with an anal fissure and his country-man Saito is suffering from tightness in his buttocks....... I'll leave this to your imagination.