AGonzalez11

AGon was batting .340 not too long ago, so I think we all know he has the skill to do it...It's just a matter of confidence right now. He had a good night last night, especially the AB Where he got a double after fouling off 6 pitches. If Alex could regain his confidence these last three games(Last night was a good starting point), you guys could be right.

yea but is he perfect in his career? no. thanks anyway I don't think anyone was actually implying there was sucha thing thing as a perfect closer. Gagne has been as close as anyone can possibly get to being perfect and if you're trying to argue that you're the only idiot here. Every reliever will blow some games, but Looper has blown back to back huge games and that IS NOT ACCEPTABLE when you're in a race like we are in right now. Urbina has been lights out for the most part as a Marlin. Did he give up a few runs up tonight? Sure, but he didn't beat himself with bad control like Looper has been, a good player beat a good pitch, and theres nothing anyone can do about that. Looper's lost all his confidence and if you're still willing to stick with him because he bailed Vladimir Nunez out of a game three months ago, you should be the last person pointing the finger when talking about idiots.

Agreed FF. Fox should not have been in that game, ESPECIALLY with JIM THOME Coming to bat. I Would have understood if he was facing the bottom of the order. You want your best to face their best in crucial situations, and Urbina is the best we have in the Pen. There's not one reason why he shouldn't have been pitching Not to mention he put in Mike Mordecai to pinch hit in the 9th when he has Ramon Castro batting .429 with a 1.355 OPS vs. lefties. Not trying to hate on Jack because he's done a hell of a job here, but lately some of his decisions have been questionable to say the least.

Did you ever realize that other people may have a different opinion than you? Youve got a lot of nerve calling people names because they disagree with you. Not critizing McKeon at all, just hoping he notices who should and who shouldn't be pitching the 9th inning for us in the stretch run. Everyone who disagrees with me, answer me this: Who would you rather be pitching the 9th inning with a 3-2 lead in game 7 of the world series? Urbina or Looper? I don't dislike Looper, but it's just common sense that Urbina is a better pitcher and should be closing

Did you ever realize that other people may have a different opinion than you? Youve got a lot of nerve calling people names because they disagree with you. your sarcastic remarks are just as insulting as any name, so don't try and point the finger at me as instigator.

Yeah, our 64 wins over the last 100 games shows how badly our bullpen has been used. give me a break. we dont have have gagne, we dont have smoltz, looper is not perfect, but ill take him day in and day out. Are you illiterate or just incompitent? IM NOT TAKING SHOTS AT LOOPER OR THE BULLPEN Urbina is without a doubt a better pitcher/closer than Braden Looper and i dont think anyone here is dumb enough to try and even argue that. IF we were in a game 7 in the playoffs, I'd feel alot more confident with Urbina out there protecting a one run lead than I would Looper. And BTW, not trying to comare the two in any way, But Urbina has a 1.15 ERA as a Marlin, lower than Gagne's. He's pitched as well as anyone and should be rewarded for it.

tell me... what did Looper do Friday and Saturday night vs this same Braves lineup? Urbina is doing great as a setup guy.... WHY CHANGE WHATS WORKING? Tell me... How much pressure did Looper have in last nights game? Protecting those 5 run leads are real tough. And the whole point of having a "closer" Is to have a guy who can consistently shut down the 9th inning...are you trying to say you've be happy with a guy who converted 2/3'rds of his chances? I'm not trying to take shots at Looper because he HAS pitched pretty well all year long,but the fact remains that Ugeth Urbina is just a flat out better pitcher and if you try to say other wise you're just insane. If Looper came in the 8th and was obviously not on(like today) McKeon could just pull Looper after the first two hits and let Urbina pitch two innings. Urbina isnt as prone as looper is to these big innings, and his 1.15 ERA shows that.

I'm obviously not going to complain about the job McKeon has done here, because it's one of the best turnaround stories ive ever seen. But one of the few decisions I haven't agreed on is leaving Looper in as closer over Urbina, and today it's quite obvious why. Looper always seems to struggle against teams with half decent lineups, he just isnt overpowering enough to keep throwing his fastball and get away with it. We're in a wildcard race, and if we do make the playoffs, you're going to face lineups that will sit on his fastball like the Braves did today. Urbina, on the other hand, has a great fastball, but also has two other great pitches(change/slider) that make it that much harder for any team to hit him. He cruised through the 8th like nothing. I understood why he didn't give Urbina the job right off the bat, i mean, Looper had done a respectable job all year long...But it's quite obvious Urbina is the much better pitcher and has EARNED The honor to close games. Time to step up Jack, The lat thing we need is Looper blowing another huge game vs the Phillies.

Brad Penny 13-10, 181 IP and 4.22 ERA Carl Pavano 11-11 184 IP and 3.96 ERA Hampton 13-7 178 IP 3.69 ERA One of Pavano or Penny would not be here if Hampton was, and both have pitched exctremely well this season. It's a shame Spooney hasn't been healthy, but it was a good move and silly to even bring up with 17 games left in the season.

I was hoping for a move today, but that move i was hoping for was a move that was made with some sanity involved. I'd prefer taking a shot with Banks in LF(who has played well when called upon), than overpay grossly for a 37 year old who has suspect power. Even if we DO make the playoffs, Anything short of a world series victory will make this trade extremely tough to swallow So, you would have preferred Banks, a 32 year old journeyman who is batting 243 with 23 RBIs and 4 HRs to an established player like Conine, who is batting 290 with 80 RBIs and 15 HRs? Give me a break!!! :banghead Learn to read...I'd rather play Banks and still have Bautista/Levinski in our system than Conine alone. I bet the optimists trying to justify this trade will be the same ones b***hing their guts out 3-5 years from now when they see Bautista/Levinski holding down the O's staff.

Bad trade. Are we a better team NOW than we were yesterday? Yeah, Obviously, but was that improvement worth the price we payed? IF Bautista and Levinski turn into half the pitchers they're supposed to be, that question will be answered with a very painful "no" If this team doesn't make a move and then does not make the playoffs, I bet you would probably be saying that we should have made a move. This is no guarantee that we are going to get there, but if gives us a better option than Banks and Hollandsworth... I was hoping for a move today, but that move i was hoping for was a move that was made with some sanity involved. I'd prefer taking a shot with Banks in LF(who has played well when called upon), than overpay grossly for a 37 year old who has suspect power. Even if we DO make the playoffs, Anything short of a world series victory will make this trade extremely tough to swallow.

Bad trade. It's not a matter of who we do and dont still have in our system, it's a matter of value and it's quite clear that we didn't come relativley close to getting fair value for Denny Bautista and Don Levinski. Hell, If Lowell would have gotten hurt last week, We could have had Brian Giles for them, seeing that the Pirates traded him for less. Are we a better team NOW than we were yesterday? Yeah, Obviously, but was that improvement worth the price we payed? IF Bautista and Levinski turn into half the pitchers they're supposed to be, that question will be answered with a very painful "no" On a sidenote, Florida signed Conine through 2005. Before consummating the trade, the Marlins reworked Conine's contract and they now have him signed through the 2005 season. While specifics of the deal were not released, the Marlins did not receive any cash from the Orioles. The trade was finalized within a half hour of the midnight, Aug. 31 waiver-trade deadline. from floridamarlins.com

Stay with what we have? Put Cabrera at 3B and trade for an OFer? or try and get a 3B? I think the best scenerio would be to get a good OFer and stick Miguel at 3B. Reggie Sanders maybe? Tony Batistia is also made it through waivers didnt he?\ Hopefully Mike is OK, But but the looks(and sound) of things, It didn't look very promising.

Let me also ad that Willis had a 7.07 ERA for the first three games of the season. If the "Willis was only successful because of his delivery" theory was true, wouldn't he have had that success right off the bat?

You guys are just amazing. If you honestly thought a 21 year old rookie would come in here and post a 1.90 ERA and hold it the entire season YOU WERE KIDDING YOURSELF ALL ALONG. I said it when he was called up and when Cabrera came up, KIDS THIS AGE WILL HAVE THEIR UPS AND DOWNS, its UNFAIR to a expect a kid to dominate on a consistent basis. Calling Willis an average pitcher is one of the biggest jokes i've read on this board and I've heard alot of those regarding Alamnza. Willis' struggles have NOTHING to do with his stuff deteriorating or other teams adjusting, It's just a young guy being a young guy and MAKING MISTAKES like ALL young players make. He's struggled with his control and even a guy with amazing stuff like Kerry Wood gets shelled when he doesn't hit his spots. Is willis the 1.90 ERA guy we saw before the AS break? probably not, But calling him a #4 starter over a stretch of 5-6 bad games is absolutley ridiculous. You guys are the most fickle fans on this planet, and you better believe i'll be the first one laughing and pointing when Willis regains his true form.

No wonder he was struggling.... from the sun-sen After the game, the Marlins announced left-hander Armando Almanza would undergo season-ending arthroscopic elbow surgery today to remove a bone spur. Dr. James Andrews, who examined Almanza on Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala., will perform the operation. The Marlins placed Almanza on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Aug. 20 with shoulder and elbow soreness.

BTW. What numbers were Harris and Helling wearing?

I've always liked Helling alot...No doubt he's been awful all year long for the O's, But you never know what a change of scenery can do. Helling has always been prone to giving up HR's so maybe Pro Player will help him out some there. This team is sturggling badly right now, We used to have a guy step up in a critical situation and we arent getting that right now. Looper last night, Fox tonight. They better get their act together, and soon. PHillies are now 1 1/2 up and Arizona is inching closer.

As for SS, thats up in the air, Jimmy Rollins or Alex Gonzalez could very well win it, as well as a few others like Renteria, Furcal etc. Furcal?????? WE talking about the same Furcal that has 28 errors? Rollins has the least errors out of all of the mentioned, But he also isn't as flashy as Renteria or Gonzalez. Renteria will win it though, He's so hyped up it's hard to imagine a "No name" like Agon winning it. Thome may only have two errors but he isn't nearly as good as Snow, Lee or Helton. Helon is having a rough year with 11 errors so he won't win it. Again, my pick at 1B is SNow but only because he's hyped up and Lee isn't. Pudge probably DOESNT deserve to win it and just may, just because he's Pudge Rodriguez. Matheny has 0 errors and only 3 passed balls Pudge gas 6 errors and 8 passed balls I love Pierre, But Jones and Edmonds are pretty much locks, so that only leaves one spot to fight over. Doies anyone know if outfield assists also count into the voting? IF so, that will definatley hurt his chances since he has a very weak arm. Castillo also has a good shot at it I Think, He's made a name for himself and there's no clear cut winner at 2B.

Even if we somehow could afford Tejada, Why would you want to replace Gonzalez? Is that how you reward your guys who have career years? By replacing them? 1B, 2B and the bullpen will be the biggesr priorities this offseason because i doubt any of Castillo Lee or Urbina return next year.

Almanza STILL SUCKS. HA. Grow up....And on a side note, I nominate your sig for the worst sig on this board. I don't think sigs supposed to be used for stating the obvious.

might be a bit too early to start proclaiming him "back" dude... but i've been rooting for him too. hopefully he can get a few more low-pressure situations like last night (except i'd prefer to have the lead, lol) so he can get that confidence back. Maybe, But just watching him pitch you can tell he's not fighting to get an out, He's had control and his pitches are moving. Last nights game was low-pressure, but the two before the game was still within question, hopefully he gets back to last years form where we could use him in tight situations for some big outs.

WOW. 1 good game, Lets see the rest. Umm probally will go and blow the games again. He pitched 4+ innings in one game? Wow, pretty good endurance for a setup man.

his last 4.1 innings have been scoreless. Why? Simple, He's using his curveball and only has 2 BB during that span. Almanza is an effective pitcher when he has those things going for him, and we need him now more than ever with PHelps looking to go on the DL. You can't have Tejera as your only LH pitcher no matter how well he's been pitching. Hopefully Armando keeps it up, But like I said before, I've never jumped off his or any other players bandwagon over a couple of bad months. Some of you are the most fickle fans ive ever seen. Hell, when Encarnacion was in a minor slump last week I saw some "Juan E Blows" posts going around.

Penny 4.07 overall, 2.83 in july, 0.00 in August Pavano 4.35 ERA overall 3.38 in july, and around 3 in August All are pitchers are doing well when it matters, even the beloved Almanza is turning himself around.