Mudcatsfan

Olsen as a Mudcat (AA) Johnson as a Mudcat (AA) Nolasco vs the Mudcats (AA) I'm Mudcatsfan, i love them all.

The bad news is that Josh will immediately drop off the ERA list today through no fault of his own. You need 1 IP for each team game played, and he has 61.1 to the Marlins 61 games played. Therefore he'll need to go at least 5 innings next week to qualify again, and really needs to pitch more like 7 or 8 innings a game to avoid getting knocked off . Here's hoping he will !

Salty is NOT a platoon player and neither is McCann. Salty has the look of a front line championship level player. Also the latest word is that he's improved his defense considerably, to the point where moving him no longer is neccessary. There's even an article about that on MILB.com today.

The most likely situation for a long term answer is through trade. Trading either Dontrelle, for several prospects, or prospect for prospect. The Diamondbacks are one team with enough position player talent to trade for some of the Marlins pitching. However what is the likelihood that they'd be able to afford Dontrelle? The D'backs do have a nearly ready AA catcher in Miguel Montero. With Chris Snyder and Johnny Estrada both young catchers in the bigs. They can't use all 3, and toss in their HUGE surplus of premium hitting prospects, they become a very realistic suitor. The Dodgers are in a similar situation with a plethora of position prospects, and only 8 spots in the major league lineup. The dodgers have young Russ Martin already getting his feet wet in the bigs, with Dioner Navarro on the DL. It only makes sense for the dodgers to trade a catcher to the Marlins, who will then move him on to the Mets, and eventually end up in San Diego. Thus continuing the Piazza/Loducca Overground Railroad. The Most catching rich system in the league is the Atlanta Braves. While it may be unlikely for the Braves to help out a division foe, they also will need to divest themselves of their huge catching glut. Brian McCann is hitting over .340 for the big team. AA Catcher Jarrod Saltalamaccia is finally ending his season-long slump and recovering his title as Baseball's Best Catching Prospect, Bryan Pena is a serviceable backup catcher in the bigs already, and Max Ramirez is tearing up single A. Sorry, i just wrote a whole article

Dude, he's had some good games. Why do you refuse to accept anyone else's opinions, or even hard FACTS to the contrary? Proof of Him having good games..... DATE OPP W L ERA SV IP H ER BB SO APR 04 @HOU 1 0 0.00 0 6.0 3 0 1 5 APR 30 COL 0 1 3.82 0 7.0 7 1 2 5

I keep hearing Angels and Dodgers as matches due to their depth of position prospects, but the D'backs make sense too. Outfielders, pick two Quentin, Chris Young, Justin Upton, Carlos Gonzalez Catcher Miguel Montero, NO pitcher needed. This trade wouldn't even DENT Arizona's farm system, as they keep most of those OF propsects, and dont' even have to discuss Stephen Drew or Conor Jackson. We however deal from a position of strength, Lock up a CF of the present (young) or future (upton) We pick up a Quality Corner OF in (quentin or Gonzalez) We also solidify the C spot. Holes, FILLED. D'train Missed, but not irreplaceable.

I've been saying for a while, that i'd like to see the Marlins and the D'backs balance out their prospects. The marlins could trade a Scott Olsen for a Chris Young, and solve both teams' glaring weaknesses. Involving D'Train is interesting because you could then legitimately ask for one of their superstar prospects. D'Train could bring in a Justin Upton or a Carlos Quentin. If you can pry two of those kind of guys away from them, then yes, D'train leaving is a viable option. How about Carlos Quentin, Chris Young, and Miguel Montero for D'Train and (pick a pitching prospect) . How solid would that make the Fish Lineup? Plus Arizona would have a true number one to add to Brandon Webb, plus an elite rookie pitcher for their 3 spot. The D'backs with the D'train, it almost makes perfect sense. Look at the Diamondbacks. They sure as hell need a top of the rotation starter because they are about to get really good when Jackson/Quentin/Gonzalez/Drew/Upton start producing, and they are loaded with all sorts of goodies in the minors they don't necessarily 'need' - Chris Young (CF) and Miguel Montero ?. You'd probably get a pretty good arm as a throw in as well. Probably not Nippert or Mock, but something of value.

Marlins aren't making a deal simply for the sake of making a deal, and I highly doubt you ever see Olsen and another player with a future dealt for a centerfielder. I'd expect to see a lot more action on this position after the Astros and Mariners sort out where they're heading. No, no, i'm not saying Olsen and another pitcher for Young. I'm saying Olsen straight up for Chris Young. If they want more then we could add Petit, or Hernandez, etc, for another one of their great hitting prospects. (they have incredible positional talent depth) Just a case of two lop-sided farm systems helping to balance each other out. I think there's a trade in there somewhere.

Clearly the Marlins need an Outfielder with some upside. Gathright has that, but his price is too high if it includes Olsen. Tampa seems like a team with a great fit for us, with their surplus of position prospects and lack of pitching. Arizona is a similar match. D'backs have too many old outfielders (Lugo, Green, Eric Byrnes) who can play there now, The next wave of Carlos Quentin, Carlos Gonzalez, Chris Carter and others, Plus the expected impact of Justin Upton (often rumored to move from SS to CF) for the next 15 years. If the D'backs felt that Chris Young had too much upside for Olsen, the Marlins could go for one of their other surplus positional players in return for another lesser pitching prospect. Thus the D'backs could get TWO quality arms for an Outfielder they may not even need and an extra log jammed prospect. D'backs NEED pitching, and the Marlins have it to spare.