gomarlins9703

thank god that it was ross, not uggla.

GET BACK IN THE DUGOUT YOU FOOL

It's all about knowing your players. Something Girardi dosen't. AA is not the type of guy to hit a sac fly. PUTTING YOUR PLAYERS IN THE BEST POSITION TO SUCCEED

I love how Train becomes a rattled rookie all of the sudden it's really quite sad

looks like the bad Dontrelle is back

pull yourself together

Trade options: Even though the non-waiver trade deadline passed July 31, the Marlins still are exploring outfield help, specifically center field options. The team has not ruled out pulling the trigger on a deal before the waiver deadline expires on Aug. 31. MLB.com has learned a couple of center field candidates on the Marlins' radar are Boston Minor League prospect David Murphy, and Willy Taveras, the speedster from the Astros. In exchange, the Red Sox are looking for relief help, and left-hander Taylor Tankersley's name has surfaced. The Marlins have a number of pitching prospects should the team not want to part with Tankersley, who has been effective in late-inning setup roles. Murphy, 24, went to Baylor and he was the Red Sox's first pick in 2003. He opened the season with Double-A Portland, playing center field. A left-handed hitter and thrower, Murphy appeared in 42 games and was hitting .273 with three home runs and 25 RBIs, before being called up to Triple-A Pawtucket, where through Aug. 11, he was hitting .277 with seven homers and 38 RBIs. He is playing right field and center field in Triple-A, and has been bothered recently with a sore back. Taveras is another interesting possibility. One of the fastest players in the game, he can lead off and cover a lot of ground in the outfield. Through Sunday, Taveras was riding a 16-game hitting streak. A right-handed hitter and fielder, Taveras is in his second full season. He's batting .275 with 19 steals. Should the Marlins not make a trade this month, the team will explore outfield help after the season. Source For Tank? Hell no. If we trade Tank we better get a damn good CF.

I don't mean to sound rediculous, but is it possible we target Soriano in the offseason? Of course priority #1 should be locking up Miggy for the long term.

PAY NO MIND: According to several national reports, the Marlins were interested in flipping Alfonso Soriano to the Tigers if they acquired him from the Nationals. But two major league officials said last week that wasn't the case at all. The Marlins were hoping to keep Soriano and play him in center field. As for Class A center fielder Cameron Maybin, the Tigers have consistently told other teams the former first-round pick -- and cousin of NBA guard Rashad McCants -- is "untouchable." Along with the Diamondbacks' Justin Upton and the Mets' Lastings Milledge, Maybin should be patrolling center in the majors well into the next decade. Sun-Sentinal

i say take a chance on him. He can't be worse than Moehler/Mitre. Just 2 years ago he was the best setup man in baseball

The next stud who is ready for the big leagues is Scott Tyler! Put Mitre in AAA or release Moe and bring up Tyler! Tyler's another ball thrower, a white Pinto

Borchard is practically just as crappy as Reggie

1) Ramirez 2) Willingham 3) Jacobs 4) Cabrera 5) Uggla 6) Hermida 7) Olivo 8) Amezaga

8/9/06 Placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right wrist flexor strain; Activated RHP Sergio Mitre from the 60-day disabled list; Designated RHP Jeff Fulchino for assignment.

It's a good thing George Steinbrenner doesn't monitor opposing teams' rosters too closely. He might be chapped over paying Carl Pavano $39.95 million to soak in the whirlpool while the Florida Marlins' rotation includes four starters with a 32-20 record and a total combined salary of $1.3 million. Their names are Josh Johnson, Scott Olsen, Ricky Nolasco and Anibal Sanchez, and they're all in the 22-23 age bracket. As they assume their places behind the rotation's resident veteran -- 24-year-old Dontrelle Willis -- they're linked by a common competitive streak and distinguished by their backgrounds and temperaments. Time will tell if Florida's kid pitchers can cultivate a nice little Barry Zito-Tim Hudson-Mark Mulder dynamic, plus two. But the maturation process should be fun to watch. Johnson (9-6, 2.85) is holding opponents to a .233 average. Johnson, a soft-spoken Mormon from Oklahoma, is a human solar eclipse at 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds. To borrow a southern-fried aphorism from former Cincinnati Reds scout Julian Mock, Johnson is so big, "He could hunt bear with a switch." Olsen, the only lefty in the group, has a terrific slider and a brashness that tends to stir the pot. During one fun-filled stretch this season, Olsen took a punch in the eye from teammate Randy Messenger in a late-night scuffle, got in an animated dugout discussion with manager Joe Girardi that was captured on television and endangered his well-being by confronting third baseman Miguel Cabrera over a double down the line. Olsen's friends and family back home in Illinois just smiled and shrugged, because they'd seen it before in his high school and American Legion ball days. "Off the field, I'm the calmest person you'll find," Olsen said. "When I get between the lines, it's a whole different world for me. I want to win as bad as anybody in the entire world. I hate losing. That just sets me off." Sanchez, the son of a Venezuelan trucking magnate, and Nolasco, who was described in one South Florida newspaper profile as a chapel-going "computer nerd," are hard workers who seem unfazed by high stakes. Marlins executives still marvel at the way Sanchez walked into Yankee Stadium before his big league debut and stared in for the sign against Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez as if he'd been doing it for a decade. In Miami, the concept of a learning curve is pass. Florida's starting pitchers rank fourth in the majors with a 4.28 ERA, and the kids make you forget that Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett and Pavano formed the nucleus of the team's 2003 world championship staff before leaving for the American League East through free agency or trades. Partly because of that exodus, the Marlins were expected to lose 100-plus games this season as Dade County's answer to the Kansas City Royals. Yet here it is, the middle of August, and the Marlins are still thinking wild-card push. Washington Nationals assistant general manager Mike Rizzo, one of baseball's most respected talent evaluators, thinks general manager Admin Beinfest deserves some Executive of the Year votes for building a competitive team on a $15 million Opening Day payroll. "When there's a track record of success, you never chalk it up to luck or good fortune," Rizzo said. "When you can turn over a club like they have and you're competing successfully at that payroll level, it's not an accident." "Cost efficiency," a watchword in big business, is a euphemism for making the best of a bad situation in baseball, and no one is more adept at adjusting than Beinfest, top assistants Michael Hill and Dan Jennings and the rest of Florida's front-office staff. Even when they don't have a dime, they can sure change course on one. When the Marlins' stadium problems prompted owner Jeffrey Loria to gut the payroll last winter, Beinfest traded Beckett and Mike Lowell to Boston, Carlos Delgado and Paul Lo Duca to the Mets, Juan Pierre to the Cubs, Luis Castillo to Minnesota and Ron Villone to the Yankees. "There's a lot of credibility with Dontrelle beyond the million-dollar smile and the bubbly personality." -- GM Admin Beinfest on Dontrelle WillisAll told, Florida acquired 15 young players in return in those deals. Of that total, 11 were pitchers. "That was definitely by design," Beinfest said. There's a difference, of course, between rushing young pitchers to the majors and creating the type of environment that allows them to thrive. How hard does a team push kids to fight through challenges while simultaneously limiting their exposure to psyche-bruising setbacks? It's a delicate balance, and one that Marlins management frets over daily. As Girardi tries to let his kids work out of jams, he also makes sure to monitor their workload. As a result, Florida's rotation ranks 15th in the majors in innings pitched. Rick Kranitz, Florida's new pitching coach, is a stickler for preparation -- watching videotape, reading scouting reports and conveying information while giving the young pitchers the freedom to be themselves. "Kranny has drilled into these kids' heads the importance of strike one," Jennings said. "They all came to him with stuff, and he took the stuff and made it usable." Relievers Joe Borowski and Matt Herges, along with Willis, play a supporting role in the nurturing process. By virtue of his World Series ring and his 22 victories and second-place finish in the Cy Young Award race last year, Willis is a natural stabilizer. "He's not just another peer," Beinfest said. "The other pitchers listen to Dontrelle and look at him and say, 'How did this guy do all these things at 24?' There's a lot of credibility with Dontrelle beyond the million-dollar smile and the bubbly personality." Like Willis, the rookies have thrived by embracing pitching subtleties. Johnson throws his fastball anywhere from 92-95 mph, but the Florida brass is even more impressed with the way he works the corners. Johnson has used that skill to beat Pedro Martinez, Livan Hernandez, Roy Halladay and John Smoltz head-to-head this season. Olsen has recorded a team-high 117 strikeouts in 121.2 innings.While Olsen has a reputation as stubborn, he was coachable enough to listen when minor league pitching coordinator Wayne Rosenthal altered his stiff-legged delivery and helped him to incorporate more of his body into his motion. Here's the scariest part: The Marlins are absolutely loaded with pitching in the minors. They have hard throwers, finesse types, former Mets prospects (Yusmeiro Petit and Gaby Hernandez) and erstwhile Red Sox (Harvey Garcia and Jesus Delgado) and Cubs (Renyel Pinto). They even have an Australian prospect in left-hander Paul Mildren. This spring, Jennings was watching the Greensboro Grasshoppers, a South Atlantic League club populated by Florida's top draft picks in 2005, and a veteran scout turned to him with his jaw open and a glazed look in his eyes. "He told me, 'D.J., I've been doing this for 30 years, and I've never seen a collection of arms like this in A ball,'" Jennings recalled. The hardest part might be finding room for everyone. The Marlins had no desire to trade Willis this season, and they continue to take that line even though his salary is $4.35 million and climbing. While we're at it, they have no plans to trade Cabrera, either. "You never want to say never to anything," Beinfest said. "We definitely have our challenges in this market. But we know what we have with these two guys. The rumors that were flying around this spring about Dontrelle that's all they were. Rumors." At least the contract talks will be streamlined. San Francisco-based agents Matt Sosnick and Paul Cobbe represent Willis, Olsen, Johnson and Nolasco -- 80 percent of the Marlins' rotation. Another Sosnick-Cobbe client, Sergio Mitre, began the season as a Florida starter before suffering a shoulder injury in May. "Matt must be on the phone with our general manager three times a day," Olsen said. Pretty soon other baseball executives will be calling, too, wondering if Beinfest might be interested in trading some of his young arms. Wish them luck. The Marlins took their lumps and followed a plan in stockpiling the most valued commodity in baseball. They're not about to give it back. Link

What about Devon White? White>Pierre

Why in the world is Lowe doing good tonight? Why couldnt he have an off day :pullhair . it helps that were swinging at everything

this is quite a pathetic display

that's funny I threw a no hitter with him today in MVP...

the percentages of hanley getting the bunt down are much higher than reggie stealing third How do you justify that? common sence

the percentages of hanley getting the bunt down are much higher than reggie stealing third

I do not understand this concept that the manager should not take into account the abilities of his players. Players do not have nor do they ever have the same level of skills in each segment of their game. Players are better at certain skills or situations than they are in others. It is the manager's responsibility to recognize these and utilize them to help the team win. Perhaps bunting hasn't quite become as recognized as the platoon (right/left) advantage or baserunning speed among fans, but it does exists and must be taken into account by the manager. If we truly hope to compete, Girardi must make the correct decisions. exactly

If the Marlins would have won the idea would have been geinus... Give it up... big deal, were lucky we got back in this game... Marlins played well and Joe managed the game well.... :notworthy

This is our A+ lineup. Hopefully we'll see the same one tomorrow, except incert Olivo

It's rediculous he got sent down. Hopefully after this game we trade Mo and Resop comes back up.