yandro

It's believed to be 2011. Also, it looks like they won't break ground until late in the year, probably October or November.

That's funny...I don't recall seeing the sign for the Marlins, but I do remember seeing a sign as soon as you enter Georgia that says "Welcome to Georgia, Home of the 1995 World Champion Atlanta Braves".

For those of you wondering, yes, the Marlins would become the Miami Marlins "prior to the beginning of the 2011 season".

I believe we could have offered the same deal and he would not have come back.

The last of that (the contract thing) is "...if eligible for salary arbitration", not "once". He still is under the control of marlins for another 5+ years. I believe the idea is if he were in a position to make more $$$ under arbitration than the contract would provide, he can choose to divorce himself from the contract and go to arbitration. I'm not sure I understand. Due to his service time, he is under club control for three full seasons, correct? So wouldn't he be eligible for arbitration after the 2010 season?

Tigers definitely rushed him, he only got 85 IP in the minors after being drafted 18 months ago. The low WHIP and BAA was there though, and sometimes K/9's can be overrated. It was in his contract that he had to get a call up to the Tigers in 2006. You know what else? Miller has the right to opt out of his contract once he's eligible for salary arbitration! Just wanted to pass on the info... http://www.mlb4u.com/profile.php?id=1231

You have to figure Justin Miller will be on there, somewhere.

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Evel Knievel, the hard-living motorcycle daredevil whose bone-breaking, rocket-powered jumps and stunts made him an international icon in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 69. Knievel's death was confirmed by his 21-year-old granddaughter, Krysten Knievel. He had been in failing health for years, suffering from diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs. He had undergone a liver transplant in 1999 after nearly dying of hepatitis C, likely contracted through a blood transfusion after one of his many spills. Longtime friend and promoter Billy Rundel said Knievel had trouble breathing at his Clearwater condominium and died before an ambulance could get him to a hospital. "It's been coming for years, but you just don't expect it. Superman just doesn't die, right?" said Rundel, organizer of the annual Evel Knievel Days festival in the daredevil's Butte, Mont., hometown. "I lost a good friend and a guy who was like a father to me. I'm just glad he doesn't have to suffer anymore." Krysten Knievel, daughter of Knievel's daredevil son, Robbie, said she had grown closer to her grandfather in the past couple of years since his health began declining rapidly. "It's just pretty much a shock to all of us," she said. "We come across so many people who's lives he changed." His death came just two days after it was announced that he and rapper Kanye West had settled a federal lawsuit over the use of Knievel's trademarked image in a popular West music video. Immortalized in the Washington's Smithsonian Institution as "America's Legendary Daredevil," Knievel was best known for a failed 1974 attempt to jump an Idaho canyon on a rocket-powered cycle and a spectacular crash at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. He suffered nearly 40 broken bones before he retired in 1980. For the tall, thin daredevil, the limelight was always comfortable, the gab glib. Always, he welcomed the challenge whether in sports, at work or play. To Knievel, there always were mountains to climb, feats to conquer. "No king or prince has lived a better life," he said in a May 2006 interview with The Associated Press. "You're looking at a guy who's really done it all. And there are things I wish I had done better, not only for me but for the ones I loved." He garbed himself in red, white and blue and had a knack for outrageous yarns: "Made $60 million, spent 61. ...Lost $250,000 at blackjack once. ... Had $3 million in the bank, though." Although he dropped off the pop culture radar in the '80s, Knievel always had fans and enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in recent years. In later years he still made a good living selling his autographs and endorsing products. Thousands came to Butte, Mont., every year as his legend was celebrated during Evel Knievel Days. "They started out watching me bust my ass, and I became part of their lives," Knievel said. "People wanted to associate with a winner, not a loser. They wanted to associate with someone who kept trying to be a winner." He began his daredevil career in 1965 when he formed a troupe called Evel Knievel's Motorcycle Daredevils, a touring show in which he performed stunts such as riding through fire walls, jumping over live rattlesnakes and mountain lions and being towed at 200 mph behind dragster race cars. In 1966 he began touring alone, barnstorming the Western states and doing everything from driving the trucks, erecting the ramps and promoting the shows. In the beginning he charged $500 for a jump over two cars parked between ramps. He steadily increased the length of the jumps until, on New Year's Day 1968, he was nearly killed when he jumped 151 feet across the fountains in front of Caesar's Palace. He cleared the fountains but the crash landing put him in the hospital in a coma for a month. Robbie Knievel successfully completed the same jump in April 1989. In the years after the Caesar's crash, the fee for the elder Knievel's performances increased to $1 million for his jump over 13 buses at Wembley Stadium in London - the crash landing broke his pelvis - to more than $6 million for the Sept. 8, 1974, attempt to clear the Snake River Canyon in Idaho in a rocket-powered "Skycycle." The money came from ticket sales, paid sponsors and ABC's "Wide World of Sports." The parachute malfunctioned and deployed after takeoff. Strong winds blew the cycle into the canyon, landing him close to the swirling river below. On Oct. 25, 1975, he jumped 14 Greyhound buses at Kings Island in Ohio. Knievel decided to retire after a jump in the winter of 1976 in which he was again seriously injured. He suffered a concussion and broke both arms in an attempt to jump a tank full of live sharks in the Chicago Amphitheater. He continued to do smaller exhibitions around the country with his son, Robbie. Many of his records have been broken by daredevil motorcyclist Bubba Blackwell. Knievel also dabbled in movies and TV, starring as himself in "Viva Knievel" and with Lindsey Wagner in an episode of the 1980s TV series "Bionic Woman." George Hamilton and Sam Elliott each played Knievel in movies about his life. Evel Knievel toys accounted for more than $300 million in sales for Ideal and other companies in the 1970s and '80s. Born Robert Craig Knievel in the copper mining town of Butte on Oct. 17, 1938, Knievel was raised by his grandparents. He traced his career choice back to the time he saw Joey Chitwood's Auto Daredevil Show at age 8. Outstanding in track and field, ski jumping and ice hockey at Butte High School, he went on to win the Northern Rocky Mountain Ski Association Class A Men's ski jumping championship in 1957 and played with the Charlotte Clippers of the Eastern Hockey League in 1959. He also formed the Butte Bombers semiprofessional hockey team, acting as owner, manager, coach and player. Knievel also worked in the Montana copper mines, served in the U.S. Army, ran his own hunting guide service, sold insurance and ran Honda motorcycle dealerships. As a motorcycle dealer, he drummed up business by offering $100 off the price of a motorcycle to customers who could beat him at arm wrestling. At various times and in different interviews, Knievel claimed to have been a swindler, a card thief, a safe cracker, a holdup man. Robbie Knievel followed in his father's footsteps as a daredevil, jumping a moving locomotive in a 200-foot, ramp-to-ramp motorcycle stunt on live television in 2000. He also jumped a 200-foot-wide chasm of the Grand Canyon. Knievel married hometown girlfriend, Linda Joan Bork, in 1959. They separated in the early 1990s. They had four children, Kelly, Robbie, Tracey and Alicia. Knievel lived with his longtime partner, Krystal Kennedy-Knievel, splitting his time between their Clearwater condo and Butte. They married in 1999 and divorced a few years later but remained together. Knievel had 10 grandchildren and a great-grandchild. RIP Evel Knievel. Thanks for the memories!

WOW...Incredible. Thoughts and prayers go out to the Kennedy family. What a way to ruin Thanksgiving....

Here's a little piece of article from ESPN.com... Although there were lots of reports that the Phillies made a four-year offer to Mike Lowell over the weekend, that isn't quite true. They were prepared to make that offer if Lowell had told them he wanted to be a Phillie. But instead, Lowell was so intent on going back to Boston, he called the Phillies and told them it wouldn't be right to even ask for an offer. Just one more example of how one of the classiest humans in baseball operates 24/7. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stor...&id=3121887

The Fish today purchased the contacts of Jai Miller and Scott Nestor. I believe they would have been eligible to be picked up in the Rule V Draft.

Add Todd Helton to the list. He had a .999 AVG and still did not get it.

Speaking of the Castillo trade, what's the latest on Travis Bowyer?

1. Risk vs. reward It will be fascinating to see where Miguel Cabrera ends up ? and for what price ? now that the Marlins have apparently indicated that they are willing to listen to offers for the enigmatic 24-year-old slugger. At the moment, Cabrera is the sweet-swinging embodiment of high-risk, high-reward player. On one hand, he has the ability to be the Manny Ramirez of the next generation; the only two players in the baseball who have more combined Win Shares the past three seasons are Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols. On the other hand, he now looks like he swallowed Billy the Marlin whole, and by some estimates he's put on as many as 70 pounds since arriving in the big leagues late in '03 He's probably too talented to eat himself out of baseball, but at the rate he's going, he's going to be a Cecil Fielder-sized DH before he's 30. Thus, the questions that keep general managers awake at night: Would you give up Clay Buchholz and/or Jacoby Ellbury for him if you were Theo Epstein? Should Brian Cashman part with young Yankees Philip Hughes or Joba Chamberlain? Does Ned Colletti dare to offer Clayton Kershaw, James Loney, or assorted other jewels of the Dodgers' farm system? Let the bidding ? or given the risk involved with Cabrera, perhaps we should say gambling ? begin. http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7401470 It seems others have noticed his incredible weight gain as well....

Not even for $1 Mil. He's done.

I believe the manager is allowed to choose his staff. Girardi wanted Kranitz instead of Wiley. Welcome back, Mark!

He had a little smirk there during the post game comments

I wonder if he'll keep his 2 new rides after winning the MVP. I'll be glad to take one off his hands

Way to go Mikey! Well deserved!

Ken Rosenthal just made the announcement on Fox now.

Nolasco update from the AFL... MIAMI -- Some life has returned to Ricky Nolasco's fastball. Pitching for the Peoria Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League, Nolasco's fastball was clocked recently in the mid 90s, according to his agent, Matt Sosnick. Nolasco, one of four Florida rookies to reach double-digits in wins in 2006, had an injury-interrupted '07. Twice he went on the disabled list with inflammation in his right elbow, and he finished up the season pitching at Triple-A Albuquerque. At the Fall League, the Marlins are looking for Nolasco to log some lost innings. After some initial soreness from inactivity, Sosnick said of Nolasco, "Now he's throwing in the mid-90s." In four AFL starts, Nolasco still is showing signs of rust. He suffered the loss on Thursday night, giving up three runs over three innings while throwing 45 pitches. He is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA for Saguaro, and on the positive side, he has struck out 10 in 11 2/3 innings. http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/articl...sp&c_id=fla

Does ellsbury now have to deal with the nickname of taco? His name shall now be Taco-by Ellsbury :notworthy

Yea, it sucks to be a small market team when no one knows you. There's plenty of Collector's Edition DVDs out there for the Yankees, 2004 Red Sox, heck, even the 1987 Minnesota Twins!

I walked a lot today and I'm a little tired and groggy, but did Buster Olney just mention the Marlins as a team that could pick up ARod? Or did I hallucinate that? P.S. How awesome would that be? :thumbup Not that I don't believe you, but did you where did you get this info? I don't see anything online.

Loria needs to open the checkbook for Leo. I'm assuming he and Freddi have a solid relationship based on their time spent in ATL together. Definately right! We need to get Camp Leo 2008 started! Let's get these guys ready even before ST begins.