PennFishFan

SoFlaFish, what are you doing now if you're not practicing land-use law? I'm in law school and thinking of one day doing land-use in South Florida, so was just curious--thanks.

http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/...t=.jsp&c_id=fla From Joe Frisaro: MARLINS 5, ORIOLES 4 at Jupiter, Fla. Friday, March 3 Marlins at the plate: Josh Willingham, who homered against the Orioles on Thursday in Fort Lauderdale, had an RBI double in the fourth inning. Chris Aguila and Reggie Abercrombie each had doubles. Scott Seabol doubled in the ninth inning and scored the tying run on a throwing error. Jason Stokes delivered a sacrifice fly, pushing across the winning run. Orioles at the plate: Kevin Millar delivered an RBI single in the third inning off Renyel Pinto, and he had two singles. Jeff Conine lofted a double to center in the first inning. Keith Reed's RBI single in the seventh inning scored Napolean Calzado, who doubled. Calzado added an RBI single, producing the go-ahead run in the eighth. A pair of doubles by Ed Rogers and Brandon Masters generated a run in the eighth inning. Marlins on the mound: In two scoreless innings, starter Brian Moehler allowed one hit while walking one. The right-hander struck out three. Logan Kensing, battling back from an injured shoulder, tossed a scoreless inning of relief, walking one and throwing 13 pitches. Matt Herges worked 1 1/3 innings for the win. Orioles on the mound: Starter Bruce Chen tossed two perfect innings, striking out two in a 20-pitch performance. Showing great control, Chen tossed 13 strikes. Sendy Rleal threw two innings without allowing a run. Grapefruit League records: Marlins 2-0; Orioles 0-2. Up next: The Marlins are the home team when they face the Cardinals on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. ET in Jupiter. Left-hander Scott Olsen starts for Florida, with right-hander Sidney Ponson going for St. Louis. The Orioles return to Fort Lauderdale Stadium on Saturday for a 1:05 p.m. contest with the Dodgers. Daniel Cabrera will start for Baltimore, while the Dodgers will go with D.J. Houlton.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/pbccentral/co..._jose_0210.html A GALPAL BY ANY OTHER NAME ... Former Marlins World Series pitcher Carl Pavano must have a thing for dark-haired women named Alissa. Or Alyssa. Nightcrawling sources in north county tell Page Two that Pavano, now with the New York Yankees, has been spending quality time at Jumby Bay Island Grill near Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter. That's where he can find his favorite bartender, Alissa Zandy. Like Pavano's former high-profile post-Series squeeze Alyssa Milano ? who stars in the WB series Charmed and dumped the dude last year after chirping that ball players aren't all they're made out to be ? this 22-year-old fresh graduate from FSU is of Italian lineage. And in the darkness of Jumby after hours, even someone with the sharp eye of a pitcher could mistake Alissa for Alyssa. Pavano, 30, whose off-season home at Ironhorse just southwest of Jupiter, one recent late night got the "what for" from a former Zandy boyfriend. But the excitable ex was ushered out before things got ugly. Zandy is playing it low-key, saying: "I've known Carl for a few months. He's a very nice guy, but we're keeping it to the friends level. That he comes in to see me, that may be true." Pavano actually had a Yankees official return the comment request left on his voice mail. "Carl doesn't remember any kind of verbal altercation," says the Yankees' PR man, Jason Zillo. "Carl and Alissa are only good friends."

Despite what anyone says, Juan Pierre was a class act during his entire time with the Marlins. He was an all-star caliber performer who had a mediocre season in 2005, and people are too quick to forget his many contributions to the team.

Everything - the ability to attract consistent attendees (season ticket holders) and walk-up crowds to interesting the support of private investors and municipalities to forging long lasting and profitable ventures between the club, city and businesses - revolves around baseball in an urban setting. There is absolutely nothing urban about Dolphins stadium...why not re-visit the possibilities of having a stadium near downtown Ft.Lauderdale, another urban setting that has seen explosive residential growth over the past several years?

Palm Beach and Broward counties may not be willing to work with the Marlins for a stadium at this point, but it is certainly unwarranted to say that building a park there would be a mistake. Besides the number of affluent people residing in the two counties, they certainly have the population to support a major league team. The combined population of Palm Beach (1.2 million) and Broward (1.7 million) counties are equivalent or higher than many fairly successful MLB markets (such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Oakland, etc.). That, of course, is before you add any of Miami-Dade's numbers into the mix. Additionally, having a stadium in Miami-Dade inevitably alienates many residents of Central and Northern Palm Beach County, which are both located 60+ miles from Dolphins Stadium. Putting a stadium somewhere in Broward County (perhaps in a centrally located area, such as near the BankAtlantic Center/Sawgrass Mills) would, in my opinion, do a lot to reach out to fans from West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, etc. Being in the geographic center of the tri-county area (unlike the current locale) just seems to make sense, at least from a transportation/geography viewpoint. I'm not necessarily advocating a Broward location as the best option (and I know very little about the politics in Broward, and if it could even happen), but I feel that such sites should be explored as possibilities.

Thanks for posting that...great article, with some very good insights. I'm a first-year law student hoping to get a summer internship with a sports team (hopefully the Marlins), so I really appreciate the post.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/sfl-tod...la-sports-front Marlins' purge continues as Todd Jones heads to Detroit By Keven Lerner Sun-Sentinel.com Posted December 8 2005, 10:43 AM EST Todd Jones, who saved 40 games for the cash-strapped Marlins last season, is on the verge of finalizing a two-year contract with the Detroit Tigers, according to a report on the team's Web site. The MLB.com story says the deal for the veteran closer is expected to be announced today, and is believed to be worth about $6 million. Jones, a free agent, resurrected his career with the Marlins last season, taking over the closer's role from Guillermo Mota. His 40 saves were his most since 2000. He had a 2.10 ERA, allowing just 61 hits over 73 innings. He also had 62 strikeouts. Jones, 37, returns to the team he played for nearly five years ago, with the Tigers trading him to the Minnesota Twins for Mark Redman on July 28, 2001. If the season started today, Miguel Cabrera would be the only holdover from the 2005 Opening Day starting lineup. Dontrelle Willis and Nate Bump would be the only pitchers back from last Opening Day's staff. The players the Marlins have traded: Juan Pierre, Mike Lowell, Josh Beckett, Mota, Carlos Delgado, Luis Castillo and Paul Lo Duca. The players they've lost to free agency/retirement: A.J. Burnett, Conine, Easley, Alfonseca, Valdez, Juan Encarnacion, Alex Gonzalez, Jim Mecir and Jones.

In the last few days, the trades involving Beckett, Delgado, Lowell, and Mota, our payroll for next year has been slashed by quite a bit. Assuming that no other major players are traded (even though this probably isn't the case), and figuring in what we still owe Pudge and Leiter, etc., what is our current payroll at?

Is this in the issue with UNC on the cover? 737091[/snapback] I'm not sure...I just saw it on SI.com

Pretty good article from Jacob Luft of SI with some interesting stats. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writ...ania/index.html Next stop? With hype gone, Willis looks to bounce back in 2005 By Jacob Luft At 23, Dontrelle Willis begins his third season in the majors. Inside The Numbers Comparing Willis' first two seasons Year GS IP H ER HR BB SO QS 2003 27 160.2 148 59 13 58 142 16 2004 32 197.0 210 88 20 61 139 18 Versus AB HR BB SO Avg. OBP Slg. Righties 1157 31 94 211 .271 .328 .420 Lefties 215 2 25 70 .209 .292 .307 Is Dontrelle-mania dead? It seems like yesterday when the wide-eyed kid with the beguiling delivery sparked a moribund Marlins ballclub to a World Series run. Willis won his nine of his first 10 decisions in 2003 and locked up the Rookie of the Year award by outdueling Randy Johnson on July 30. The Marlins began packing their home stadium for the first time in years, offering partial season-ticket plans to people who planned to show up only when Willis was scheduled to pitch. Newspapers, magazines, 24-hour sports networks -- they all wanted a piece of D-Train. "I can't lie about it," Willis said earlier this spring. "It was surreal." Willis ended up with numbers any 10-year veteran would be proud of (14-6, 3.31 ERA), to say nothing of a 21-year-old straight out of Class AA. But the kid faded toward the end of '03 and struggled in the playoffs. The following season he couldn't recapture his magic touch, slumping to a 10-11 record and 4.02 ERA. The backlash came quickly. Critics howled. Willis is a flash in the pan! Now that hitters have figured out his delivery, he's nothing special. There was even talk of moving him to the bullpen, where he thrived as a specialist against left-handed hitters in the '03 postseason. His career splits (see chart) are so unbalanced that it is easy to see why opposing managers try to stack their lineups with as many right-handed batters as possible. Even though it seems he has been around longer, Willis enters his third season -- he makes his first start tonight against the Nationals -- at 23 as the fourth starter behind the cannon-armed duo of Josh Beckett and A.J. Burnett and veteran lefty Al Leiter. That gives Willis at least one luxury he didn't have last spring: lower expectations. And that could be a good thing because, as Willis points out, "Nobody was talking about Johan Santana before last year, either." There are at least a couple of other reasons why Willis may be in store for a bounce-back season, the first of which has as much to do with perception than anything tangible. ? Willis displayed outstanding control during Spring Training, walking three batters in 28 innings while striking out 25. Although spring numbers should be taken lightly, they carry more significance with Willis because, as Leiter said, "he's all shoulders and elbows. That makes it difficult for him to always have the same release point. If he's just a tick off, that's the difference between hitting the corner and the middle of the plate." Perhaps Willis' strong spring showing is a sign that he is working well with new pitching coach Mark Wiley, which could bode well for the regular season. ? D-Train's rookie season, ballyhooed though it may have been, wasn't that much different than what he gave the Marlins in '04 (see chart). The biggest difference was the dramatic increase in hits allowed, a statistic that research has shown to be largely dependent on random variance. Said Willis: "A couple of games got away from me but as far as going deep into ballgames, especially in the second half when every start was critical ... I felt good about how the season went." ? Baseball Prospectus, which uses an intricate comparison system called PECOTA, forecasts an 85.6 percent chance that Willis will either improve on his 2004 numbers or have a "breakout" season. More important, Willis knows from experience it isn't his funky delivery or winning personality that will determine where he goes from here. "I don't care the way you throw it," he said. "If you're making bad pitches, then the outcome is going to be in their favor more times than yours. If you're making quality pitches and you're putting together good sequences, then you have a better chance to get outs. But this is the majors. You're going to face good hitters and they're going to hit good pitches."

ESPN Insider reports that the Mets are looking to move Cliff Floyd. Could he be a legit possibility for the left-handed power hitter the Marlins want in their outfield? He obviously has experience in South Florida, and could pave the way for the Marlins to move Enc as well. :mischief2

It's done... MIAMI -- One of the Marlins' 1997 World Series heroes is returning. Savvy veteran Al Leiter, who pitched for Florida in 1996-97, has agreed to a one-year contract with the Marlins. Leiter, 39, is back with the Marlins after spending seven seasons with the Mets. In his first stint with the Marlins, Leiter compiled a 27-21 record with a 3.51 ERA. The Marlins traded Leiter to the Mets in 1998 in a deal that included A.J. Burnett. The veteran left-hander was 10-8 with a 3.21 ERA with the Mets last season. In 30 starts, he tossed 173 2/3 innings. A Toms River, N.J., native, Leiter has a home in Weston, Fla., in Broward County. The addition of Leiter strengthens a Marlins rotation that could lose All-Star Carl Pavano. Pavano, who is fielding free agent offers, has drawn interest from the Tigers, Red Sox, Orioles, Yankees, Mariners, Phillies and Angels. The Marlins offered Pavano salary arbitration late Tuesday night. Should Pavano decline by Dec. 19 and sign elsewhere, Leiter provides a seasoned replacement. Complete coverage > The Marlins also offered salary arbitration on Tuesday to fifth starter Ismael Valdez. A member of three World Series title teams, Leiter threw a no-hitter for the Marlins in 1996. On May 11 that year, he shut out the Rockies, 11-0. In 1997, Leiter was the Marlins' Game 7 starter in the World Series. He was not involved in the decision in a game won by the Marlins in dramatic extra-inning fashion over the Indians. Pro Player Stadium has been especially kind to Leiter, who has a career record of 22-9 with a 2.77 ERA in 38 games there. Along with signing Leiter, the Marlins also are close to bringing back another former member of their pitching staff. Reliever Antonio Alfonseca, who pitched for the Braves last season, is close to finalizing a two-year deal. Alfonseca would compete with Guillermo Mota for the closer position. He also has experience setting up.