PositiveHype

I have been trying to find a list of this year's free agents. Where is there a site that has a list?

Wow...AJ signing for $10+ million? Let me used my Jedi powers taught to me by Master Yoda. I can almost see him putting on a cap with an NY on it, but my vision is blurry. I can't see which color. Either way, he has turned to the Darkside of the force. Oh and I see him choking under big spotlights and national TV after Mike Lupica and the rest of media clowns have trashed AJ about his lack of consistency. The future is very very cloudy for this pitcher. Can we say future NY bust.

I expect 2 non-veterans in the OF. Dogfish, I can't believe that I am actually interested in your thoughts, but here goes. What makes you think that they won't have someone with experience out there opposite Hermida? What are your thoughts? What guy do you think that they will go with? By the way, I was entertained by your footer change. I remember that it used to say "Patience is a sign of maturity" and now it says "I'm losing patience with this team."

No kids? *disturbed* I'm with Juanky... :plaindance . We pretty much are fried; if there is a RHP starting for Atlanta, why not start Hermida and bat him 2nd? I guess that if Encarnacion has an 0-fer night, some of us will point that out again. Oh well, nothing we can do at this point. Everyone, just enjoy the game. Let's go fish!!!

Hermida is our RF next year unless we add someone that moves Hermida in LF. Nothing against Willingham, but if we are trying to get Cabrera to 3B because of his poor defense in the OF, why would we put someone else in our starting OF that also has the makings of a defensively poor OF? Willingham is a nice prospect, but unless he can hit like Cabrera, I don't think any NL team would ignore his defensive problems and keep a guy like him at a position very long. Sad to say, but if Willingham is going to be an everyday player, it is most likely going to happen in the AL as a DH. That is if he doesn't hit like Cabrera or better. I think that the only rookies that are going to be in the everyday lineup are Hermida and our local boy Andino. I'm rooting for Andino. Now, seeing what he has become, I don't have to feel so bad for getting burned by him in the past. Of course I want Hermida to live up to the hype too.

I can't argue with anyone here, but will say that we shouldn't worry about it any longer. Let's just enjoy the remaining games and prepare for next year. Also, go out and have fun or prepare for the Heat season. I'm prepping for the Heat and my season. Can't wait to see my team in full stride. As for an answer for this thread. Can I say ALL OF THE ABOVE AND WHATEVER EVERYONE ADDS BELOW.

Just a thought or speculation. Remember Mikey had the cancer situation before. Does anyone think that there may have been something that reoccured and Mikey kept private? I mean maybe he was getting some treatment (Radiation for example) and may have played the entire season well below full strength. Just a thought.

The Marlins are in a kind of good local situation to bring this team to credibility. The reality is that the traditional kings of Miami, the Dolphins, are probably going to suck for a couple of seasons and the opportunity for the other sports teams to gain a consistent following is there. The Marlins need to do what the Heat are doing. Instead of even considering unloading useful expensive parts, they need to just unload the expensive deadweight and go add some more attractions. The fish have a good opportunity. They have 2 very special and marketable young players in D-Train and Miggy. They need to do what the Heat has done with D-Wade. Players like these kids don't come along very often and you have to capitalize on it when you have them. Don't make the same mistake that the Dolphins made with Marino and not add more superstars with them. I don't know about the ending contracts and how much money is going to be freed up, but what ever is freed up needs to be re-used on building on this situation. The fish need to use that money on another very strong SP, another very strong RH bat in the OF, and a younger strong closer. If they add very strong players at these positions, the Marlins will have the team needed to dethrone the Braves once and for all. Of course that is assuming that they get another manager that fits well with this team. They can also start to gain a following while the Dolphins are not the top dog in town. That's what the Heat are trying to do and that's what the Marlins need to try. Here's a potential look at what we could look like: lineup: 1)Pierre (I believe in him) 2)Castillo 3)Cabrera 4)Delgado 5)LF-Right-handed Bat 25+HRs 90+ RBI 10-15SBs 6)LoDuca 7)Hermida 8)Andino SPs: 1)Willis 2)Beckett 3)Strong pitcher 15+wins 4)Vargas 5)S. Olsen bullpen: 1)Strong Closer 35+ SVs 2)T. Jones 3)Villone 4)Mota or Alf (not both, get rid of 1) 5)another quality lefty 6)Whoever EARNS the final spot

Well, guys let's accept, although unofficially, that it's pretty much done so this last 8 games can be tolerated. We can watch Andino show what he can do for next year, see Conine and Lenny Harris play possible their final MLB games, see Batman and Superman (Delgado and Cabrera) pad their stats, D-Train and Beckett add one more win (if the bullpen doesn't blow it), and hopefully Jack allow Hermida and Willingham get some ABs so the team can see what they are giving the next manager of this team. Also, consider all of the failed offensive opportunities just icing on the cake for Bill Robinson's departure (That is if Davey Johnson isn't hired); also, the base running mistakes here in combination with Ozzie Guillen's situation in Chicago should give us the chance to have Ozzie back here either as the manager or our 3B coach again. He's the brightest part of all this. We have a fixable situation. The core of our team is young with the exception of a few. How many teams would like to start the offseason knowing that they have LoDuca, Delgado, Castillo, Andino, Cabrera, Hermida, Pierre, Willingham, Willis, Beckett, Vargas, S. Olsen,T. Jones, etc. in their pockets? Just about most of them would. We have a #1 and 2 starter, a strong infield, a solid leadoff hitter (if you think that this year was just an offyear), a guy who may have 40 SVs, one of the best 1-2 power punches in MLB. We have our foundation in place, we just need to fix the rest of the situation.

Not really. I wrote the guys off last weekend. This one hurts quite a bit less than the Phillies losses at home. The more you accept the season is over, the easier it is to watch these games. I agree to an extend this team has a way of sucking you back in , honestly after the Phillies game I came to grips with the season being over but with a 3-0 lead the astros lost , the phillies losing , you start to have hope. I am like a woman who continues to stay with a cheating husband I think it will change this time basically i am the Marlins b?tch !!! And the fact that i sent in my money for season tickets proves it ! Interesting analogy that definitely works. Earlier this year I compared this to a guy that has a drop dead supermodel girlfriend that doesn't let him get any p@$$y. Everytime he's about to leave her, she teases him with a little hope that he's actually going to close on the deal, but once again, like every other time, she leaves him sore with no results. Well, I think that it's safe to say that the guy is going to finally get a new girlfriend, that is equally hot, but will take care of business.

Why replace, a grizzled old guy with a angrier, grizzled old guy? I thought the team reacted negatively to Jack's gruffness this year. I understand and respect your concern, but Lou has a few things different. Jack's problem was also a combination of his lashing and the lack of trust of his philosophy by nearly everyone. Even Admin Beinfest has concerns about Jack. It also hurts that he has a bad track record in the 3rd season every place that he has been in which his credibility has been called into question. You all know like Jeff Torborg's handling of young pitchers and their eventual arm problems. When their is a trend, people will call you out. Jack has that 3rd year disaster trend. If Admin goes with Lou, he's accepting the whole package. Lou, as crazy as he is, will not only call underperforming players out, bench them indefinitely, and in some cases get into physical confrontations with them, but he also goes to war with anyone for the guys that give him 100%, no matter where the guy ranks on the roster. Hard working players, like any other hard working human being, appreciate and respect that. Also, no one has ever questioned Lou's knowledge wherever he has been. These are where he differs from Jack. This year would have been different and certainly more entertaining with Lou as the Marlins' manager. Odds are that he would have had one of his physical confrontations with Mota or Burnett. I don't think that anyone can count high enough to know the number of times he would have called players out. Actually, it may have not occured too many times because, it's Lou's way or you ride the bench, a seast on a minor league, the waiver wire, or a plane ticket to another team. Either way, you have an imprint of Lou Pinallea's foot on your backside if you don't perform as a player. Jack and Lou are far apart.

I really appreciate what Jack did in 2003 but it's time for a change. Jack should forget my early comment [on the mlb.com this March]. Ie. the Marlins will win neither the division title nor the wild card with Jack. :whistle After all, as fas as I know, his 3 years with the Marlins are the first consecutive winning seasons in the Marlins history. Not bad before retirement of a manager with 1000+ wins. :notworthy I wonder how many games would Jim Leyland have won and how many consecutive winning seasons would he have had if the ownership hadn't oredered for the breakup of the 1997 team. It's all in the talent that you have. Jim Leyland is the best manager in this team's history.

All the new players coming in, Hermida, Vargas, Olsen, Messenger, Resop, etc, are signs of rebuilding mode. By that logic, the Braves are in a rebuilding mode. They are. They just happen to be winning while doing it. Yep, lucky stupid bastard braves :thumbdown For division rivals, it's painful to see what the Braves have done thrtough the years. They have done more or less the following: 1) the best of the first part was with McGriff, Justice, D. Sanders/O. Nixon, R. Gant, T. Pendleton, J. Blauser, Lemke, Avery, Leibranght, A. Pena, Wohlers, G. Olsen (the catcher), Smoltz, Glavine, Maddux 2) rebuilt with guys like C. Jones, A. Jones, B. Boone, Millwood, A. Galaraga, R. Sanders, B. Jordan, J. Lopez, Furcal, R. Klesko 3) latest era has been Franceur, Laroche, M. Giles, T. Hudson, H. Ramirez, J. Sosa, Estrada, revolving door of veteran and young OFs It's just so discouraging to see over and over and over again.

Is there any real credibility to this Ozzie Guillen stuff? If the White Sox let him go, that would be a no brainer to bring him here. You know that it also helps along the Alex Gonzalez situation because of the respect for Ozzie. I think that it wouldn't be to far fetched to say that Alex would probably take lees from the Marlins than another team just because of Ozzie. Also, I love the "small ball" mentality or as Ozzie says, "smart ball." However, this isn't a thought for me until I see Ozzie let go. Until that happens, I think it's just a rumor with amplified legs that may have derived from one of us wishful thinking Marlins fans. In short; I'll believe it when I see it.

Why is this debate about Jack continuing? We all know that a change is going to happen and we all want the Marlins to do better next year. You all know, whether you disagree or not, that I haven't been bouncing back and forth about Jack and have actually disected what I have been disatisfied with aLll year. However, it's over. A new guy will be coming in soon and roster changes will be done as well. I think that we should be curious about who are the possibilities for next year's team instead of debating Jack and his moves. As for possible replacements; Leyland, the Marlins most knowledgable and best strategical manager ever, won't be available because do you all think that he'll choose Florida over his old home in Pittsburgh or the opportunity to work with Dave Dombrowski again in Detroit? Not likely. I think that it comes down to Girardi, Pinella, and Davey Johnson. Unless there is someone there that we don't know about, like Tony Pena maybe. Personally with Pinella becoming available, I say go with him and let a younger guy (maybe Mordecai) be his understudy in preperation for the day that Pinella retires. Pinella can sure bring a spark to any situation. He can start a fire with water. He will call out players; even fight them. He'll go to war to protect the ones that give him 100%. He's perfect for an underachieving team. Davey Johnson has 2 turnoffs as I stated in other threads. 1) He is a strong advocate of waiting for the 3-run homer due to his experience of playing under Earl Weaver during his days in Baltimore. 2) He probably would retain Bill Robinson because of their ties when they were together in NY with the Mets. That's scary. Any way, let's end all of this Jack stuff. It's over. The Jack supporters have come to accept it and the Jack bashers are getting what they wanted. Also, the Jack supporters know that several players that caused this disappointment may not be here next year either. So let's move on to discussing how to improve the team. :thumbup

1) I agree with a stop gap type of player as insurance along with letting the youngsters play. I personally wouldn't sign Alex because I think that his going to price himself above his true value. 2) I agree...bye bye AJ 3) Bye Bye Enc 4) It's hard to tell if Jones would do well as a setup guy, but then again everyone doubted his ability to close when the fish first tried it. 5) I'm undecided about Lowell. I'm concerned about this year becoming the norm, but at the same time I'm concerned that we may give him up for nothing and he may have a big return year. The year that he had this year reminds me of a year that George Foster had in the early 80s with the Mets and another year when Ron Gant went from 30+ to less than 15. Both players rebounded with quality seasons by their standards. 6) I agree about Pierre. Even with the bad season, he still ranks among the best basestealers, which are rare in today's homerun crazy MLB. 7) I don't doubt that Lowell will return at 3B, but aren't there any corner OFs that can put up 20-25 HRs, with nice speed, and strong defense available via free-agency? I saw (I think in the CBS Sportsline Rumor Mill citing L.A. sources) something about Dodgers would like Lowell and want Milton Bradley out and probably would be willing to part with Bradley straight up in an effort to get a player that would fit with Tracy's philosophy that wiining comes from getting character players with decent talent;not talented ones with bad character. Of note in relation to this possibility, Bradley is one of the players that Tracy wants out this offseason. Who knows? I honestly don't know if I would want that to happen. Bradley's good, but is he worth the headache, even if we could get him in this kind of deal. 8) Armas is the kind of pitcher that I would look at, but does anyone know of any others that are a little above Armas' ability? I feel that the Marlins need a true #3, not a #4 that can "possibly" be a #3. 9) I was thinking 2nd or maybe 7th, depending on his adjustment to playing everyday at the MLB level and particular his ability to hit MLB lefty pitchers. 10) Whatever we do with the bullpen, there has definitely got to be at least 2 quality lefties and another righty that is more consistent. I think if we can get a solid closer, by moving Jones to setup, it greatly strengthens the bullpen by moving the rest of the guys down into lesser roles and sends guys that are not MLB pitchers to the minor leagues or the waiver wire. 11) I like Pena alot and he is my first choice too, but I'm hesitant on Davey Johnson as I mentioned in other threads. Also, I like Pinellas fire. I don't think that there will be a problem with players if he's here. We've seen that he has no problem calling out players or even getting into fights with them. Also, you know that he's going to go to war with umpires and anyone else for the players that give him 100%.

Well if this team is sinking, then I'm going down with them. I'm dissapointed, but if this is the end, then there is always next year. Props to a true fan. :notworthy

Well, Lou's dilemma in Tampa will soon be over. How long do you think before he puts on that Marlins teal? With the Yanks probably going to the playoffs, there doesn't seem to be an opening with there manager going to happen, so the fish are probably the best scenario for an older manager trying to get a championship ready team. This could be nice if he has someone younger with him learning the ropes so he could take the job after Sweet Lou retires.

thoughtson this come to last year's NL Championship series. How much of a difference was the defense of Tony Womack in contrast to Jeff Kent's. Kent is the better hitter, but the Cards found a hole alot of times, at key moments, toward the 2B side. The Astros didn't with Womack over there for the Cards. Look who ended up in the series. Hmmm...Lowell or Wilson...Is Lowell's bat that significant this year that we can ignore the defensive problem? I mean he's never hit like Piazza or Manny, let alone Cabrera or Delgado to where we can put him at 2B for the sake of offense improvement.

I picked #3, but I think the payroll won't change much.

OK, barring an historic comeback, it's time to start looking at the offseason and next year. We all don't need to argue over Jack's moves anymore; or at least I personally don't see it's relevance at this point. We all know what's going to happen. If you don't, you have something wrong. Any way, what should we do for next season? Here are some thoughts/questions. 1) Do we re-sign Alex Gonzalez or do we trust the youngsters? 2) AJ Burnett? 3) Juan Encarnacion? 4) Do we go after a closer and move Jones to the setup role? If so, who can we get? 5)Do we keep Lowell and see if another batting coach can get him back to form? 6) Pierre? Same question as with Lowell. If we let Pierre go, who can fill that void? 7) If we don't keep Lowell, do we move Cabrera to 3B and get another OF or do we keep Cabrera in LF and get another 3B? 8) If we lose Burnett, which is very likely, who can we get to fill that void? 9) Where in the batting order do we bat Hermida that can allow him to adjust to MLB? 10) What relievers can help this team? 11) Since it is very likely that Jack will be heading back home, who can we bring in to manage this team? Also, do you prefer a veteran manager like Leyland, Pinella, Herzog, etc. or do you prefer a younger guy like Bob Brenly, Tony Pena, Davey Lopes, Joe Girardi, etc.? Hopefully we can have some decent opinions in here. :whistle

Jack raised the white flag early in this one. 958198[/snapback] How? 958252[/snapback] OK, I admit, I as a Jack Basher that I haven't seen that from Jack. I have criticized his decisions, but haven't seen him with the white flag yet. I have wondered at times if the players haven't though. Any way, what difference does it make at this point? We all know what is likely to happen in the offseason.

Moneyball...I agree...I hope that you stick with this opinion because they showed me something else of yours that seem to be a contradiction, but I'll stick with you on this. Also, it seems that alot of the people that want Bill and Jack out want Davey Johnson to be the next manager. All of you that say that, do you realize that if Davey Johnson is the next manager, he may very likely keep Robinson as his batting coach because of their ties back to NY with the Mets. Trust me, you don't want Davey Johnson. 958230[/snapback] okay now that you've typed the exact same thing in two different topics i'm just going to completly ignore you. cause 8 people wnat davey johnson to be the next manager doesn't mean that everyone wants it and bill robinson should just go play catch with mike piazza or something. 958241[/snapback] Sorry for being repeptitive, but I want to be explain something that those individuals don't seem to be aware of. Any way, the Piazza/Robinson thing is an interesting match. A guy that was nothing special with a bat but nice with a glove that wants to teach people to hit and a guy that knows how to hit, but has been a defensive liability throughout his career that wants to catch. I guess that we always want to do what we can't. Can you all imagine Piazza as a catchers coach someday? Whew, that could get ugly.

Moneyball...I agree...I hope that you stick with this opinion because they showed me something else of yours that seem to be a contradiction, but I'll stick with you on this. Also, it seems that alot of the people that want Bill and Jack out want Davey Johnson to be the next manager. All of you that say that, do you realize that if Davey Johnson is the next manager, he may very likely keep Robinson as his batting coach because of their ties back to NY with the Mets. Trust me, you don't want Davey Johnson.

I hear the name Davey Johnson, but you guys may be very disappointed with him. First, he would very likely keep Bill Robinson around because they have ties back to NY with the Mets. Second, if you think that the offense lack aggression now, it would be more or less the same with Davey. He is a wait for the 3 run homer advocate to the point that he has openly preached it since his days as a player under Earl Weaver. Not that there is anything wrong with it; it just doesn't work in Dolphins Stadium. Besides, wouldn't you all prefer a younger manager at this point?