bobbob1313

lol, that's my own post & I think it sucks. You're maverick? I am. and Hotcorner did that piece though Oh, ok. Love that site. lol, that's my own post & I think it sucks. You're maverick? No, he's hotcorner. Ah, I see. And Who's on first, right? :blink:

lol, that's my own post & I think it sucks. You're maverick?

This is from the Marlins Minor League Blog Maverickball, and I happen to agree with them: "Ok the 100-loss talk in the media has inspired me. That ?98 team lost 108 games. This team has so much more potential. We?re starting off the season in much better shape not only for the future but the present as well. Fans should not mistake this team for 1998. This argument doesn?t really need to be made anyway, but I?m bored so? Here we go: 1998 team vs projected 2006 team. To be fair, the ?98 team had top prospects on it as well, and in some respects I?m sure they had the same thing in mind; they?d be a team of young talented kids that could grow together and contend quickly. By the time 2003 rolled around most of these starters were gone, but nevertheless? for your enjoyment: Catcher:Greg Zaun/Charles Johnson/Mike Redmond vs Josh Willingham/Miguel Olivo The ?98 trio hit 14 homers combined. Greg Zaun (300 at-bats) and CJ (100) had batting averages of .188 and .221 respectively (yes you read that correctly, Greg Zaun had 300 at-bats and batted .188). CJ slugged .451, and Zaun slugged ?. well I shan?t repeat it for the sake of decency. Mike Redmond contributing his usual steady 100 at-bats is the only thing saving that group from complete embarrassment. Matt Treanor alone could probably beat out the ?98 group (okay that might be stretching it). He is unproven defensively but by any reasonable projection of offensive output Josh Willingham should easily top the ?98 catchers. Edge: 2006 First Base: Derek Lee vs Mike Jacobs Remember this is the 1998 version of Derek Lee we?re comparing? the one who lost his job a year later to Kevin Millar. Lee was Baseball America?s #47 prospect going into the season and did hit 17 home runs, but he managed just .233/.318/.414 at the plate. Mike Jacobs just hit 11 homers in less than a quarter of the at-bats Lee had that year, while batting .310/.375/710. I don?t expect him to keep up that pace obviously, but I do expect at least 17 homers while batting better than .233. Derek didn?t really hit his stride until he was 25, two years later. Jacobs is already 25 and while he?s behind defensively, he may be a bit further along than DLee was at this stage. (Ryan Jackson also logged some time at 1B and had similar stats. If Wes Helms platoons with Jacobs this only increases the ?06 lead, as he?s historically been great against left-handed pitching.) Edge: 2006 Second Base: Craig Counsell/Luis Castillo vs Dan Uggla This wasn?t the Luis Castillo you kids remember. This one hit .203. Craig Counsell actually had the majority of at-bats & hit .250. They combined for a whopping 5 homers and miniscule slugging %. The comparison?s a tougher one though, since the ?98 guys were leadoff-types & weren?t expected to produce runs, whereas Dan Uggla will hit in the back of the order somewhere and hack away. He?ll outslug the ?98 group, but Counsell knew how to take walks & get on base. Uggla may also have some defensive issues, where Counsell was pretty steady. We?ll call it even. Edge: Even Shortstop: Edgar Renteria vs Hanley Ramirez If Hanley can match the .282 average Edgar put up I?ll be thrilled. But Renteria hit just 3 homers and 18 doubles over a full season of at-bats. That ain?t much. That?s Luis Castillo-type slugging numbers. And this isn?t your father?s National League anymore when light-hitting Ozzie Smith shortstops were the norm. Based on what we?ve seen from Hanley, he?s bound to surpass the 1998 version of Edgar in home runs and slugging. He?ll bat leadoff to begin with, so it?s his on-base ability that may be most scrutinized. Hanley Ramirez has a higher ceiling and is a higher prospect than Ramirez ever was. Edgar was an All-Star in ?98 so I?ll give him the benefit of the doubt but I?m being generous. (Also since we haven?t had an extended look at Hanley defensively). Edge: Even Third Base: Todd Zeile/Kevin Orie/Bobby Bonilla vs Miguel Cabrera Next. Edge: 2006 Left Field: Cliff Floyd vs Chris Aguila Finally! A win for the ?98 bunch! Floyd actually had an entirely healthy season that year & put up?. well, good numbers at least, .282/.337/.481 with 22 homers. Chris Aguila won?t match that output, however he?ll be less surly. Edge: 1998 Center Field: Todd Dunwoody vs Reggie Abercrombie Ah, the long awaited coming out party for Todd Dunwoody. BA?s #87 prospect went out and hit .251/.292/.380, with 5 homers. Okay they can?t all turn out to be stars. If Reggie Abercrombie swings at every single pitch the entire season he?ll run into more than 5 homers just by accident. Even if he can?t manage to hit .250 his power should produce better slugging numbers. If he can?t hit at all, they?ll move Aguila to center & he?ll outhit Dunwoody too. Take away pinch-hitting over the past 2 years and Chris is a pretty solid hitter. Edge: 2006 Right Field: Mark Kotsay vs Jeremy Hermida Kotsay actually was a bright spot for that team. He was Baseball America?s #12 overall prospect going into the season, so the Hermida comparison is pretty apt. The .279 average was nice for a rookie, but it?s the moneyball stats where Hermida should best him. Kotsay had a .318 on-base % and slugged .403. Hermida will walk a ton and almost certainly will hit more than 11 homers. Edge: 2006 Starting Rotation: Hernandez/Meadows/Sanchez/Larkin/Medina/Dempster/Ojala vs Willis/Moehler/Vargas/Johnson/Mitre/Olsen The 1998 rotation was essentially all rookies. Livan was coming off the world series MVP, but he wasn?t near what Dontrelle is right now. After that it?s (brace yourselves) Brian Meadows, Jesus Sanchez, Andy Larkin, Rafael Medina, Ryan Dempster and Kurt Ojala vs Jason Vargas, Josh Johnson, Sergio Mitre, and Scott Olson. Throw in Brian Moehler who?s coming off a season as good as anyone had in ?98. Now to be fair, a couple of the ?98 guys (Medina in particular at #72) were top 100 prospects as well. Sanchez and Ojala pitched well enough but ultimately didn?t last in the league, the rest of them had disastrous seasons. Jason Vargas comes in with about as much experience as Livan did, and has shown he can pitch up here. With Olsen, Johnson, Nolasco, Petit, Mitre, and possibly Annibal Sanchez all likely to get starts, you?re talking about 4 of BA?s top 100 prospects, plus 2 others who are highly regarded in their own right, all in competition for two rotation spots. I like those odds. I?m going with the ?06 bunch, where they?re better at the top and overall have the deeper, more talented group of young arms. Edge: 2006 I?m not going to get into the bullpens. Matt Mantei had a good season closing in ?98 but otherwise it was a pretty mixed bag. If you?re going to tell me the ?98 team was better because of the bullpen, we probably shouldn?t even be having the conversation. Let?s just call it even and move on. So even being rather kind to the ?98 team at a couple of positions (2B and SS where I think the new players will be better offensively), the 2006 team should be much better. The ?06 staff should be better as well. I don?t know how many games improved from 106 losses they?ll be, but my guess is it won?t be close. I?ll throw out 72-90."

I honestly cannot see how it could be any other way. This is not a movie, so you can be damn sure they aren't trying to sabotage the team in order to get them to move.

I doubt that. It isn't in their best interests, as the other cities courting them are smaller markets than ours. Then how is this abomination playing on the field right now in their interests ? I'm telling you that if you think a new stadium will be the panacea for this team you are nutz. It will help, but it won't be the cure. Attendance will increase for the first few games, but after the novelty of the new stadium wears off we'll be left with our $ 15 million AAA team and losses piling up in a shiny new ballpark, with Loria laughing all the way to the bank. Man you just don't get it. Loria and company basically said "f*** this year." I seriously doubt they really care how many or how few come to these games. They are going to bring in a profit no matter what. Fact is Miami follows winners. That's the bottom line. He knows that. When they get their new stadium deal in place to the payroll will steadily increase. The team will get better and begin to compete again. The fans will come back like sheep because oooooo the team is winning hurrraaay. Loria is going to make his money this year. He is going to get a stadium this year. The team will be better next year. Attendance will increase slowly but surely and peak when the new stadium opens. You said it much better than I did. :notworthy

Oogie!

I doubt that. It isn't in their best interests, as the other cities courting them are smaller markets than ours. Then how is this abomination playing on the field right now in their interests ? I'm telling you that if you think a new stadium will be the panacea for this team you are nutz. It will help, but it won't be the cure. Attendance will increase for the first few games, but after the novelty of the new stadium wears off we'll be left with our $ 15 million AAA team and losses piling up in a shiny new ballpark, with Loria laughing all the way to the bank. The ballpark will not be done until about 2010, at the earliest. This will be one of the best teams in the league for 15-25 million. By that time, he can pick up some nice free agents and this team will be contending in their new stadium. Honestly, can you guys not see how this whole fire sale thing is really the best thing a baseball team can do in the long run? If they keep that team together, they lose money, and they have almost no shot of making the playoffs. Now, with this team, they can actually gain money, and in 3 or 4 years, they will be contending again. I'd much rather have this than the Royal, Pirates, Rockies, or Mariners, or any other team who is rebuilding with old, no upside, expensive talent.

Sadly, who else in our bullpen has been doing well? Keep in mind, Nolasco is the one who gave Herges the bases loaded (not to mention the homer to Rollins). And don't forget to put some blame on Helms whose indecisiveness in the field cost them the third out. It snowballed from there.

- Am I the only one who thinks Dan Uggla can not only be our second baseman of the future - but a pretty damn good one at that? His defense is shaky - but man can he hit - even his outs are hit hard for the most part. I never even heard of the guy until we plucked him a few months ago....but so far so good. his minor league stats look pretty good as well. is he capable of being a legit .280-20-70 type hitter? - I know i'm not the only one who thinks this...but what in the world is Girardi doing? why is Matt Treanor playing every other day? Olivo has played pretty well - let the damn guy play every day and see how he does! His bullpen management is just brutal as well. STOP PUTTING IN MATT HERGES IN TIGHT SPOTS! give German a shot...Wellemeyer...ANYONE! - I don't like Hanley in the leadoff spot at all - and not only because he has been struggling as of late. put him in the 2 slot - let Amezaga start in center and use let Amezaga lead off. Put Uggla in a run-producing position as well. CF - Amezaga SS - Ramirez 3B - Camrera LF - Willingham 2B - Uggla C - Olivo 1B - Jacobs RF - Aguila/Abercrombie until Hermida returns thats all for now.... If they have Hermida it should be: Hanley Hermida Miguel Hammer Uggla Jacobs Olivo Abercrombie

I think they can win 73 games. I see them being like the Rockies or Rays last year with a really good second half.

Gotta love that moehler is still in the rotation though. Vargas seemed to be pitching better, and remember he did 1 hit the cubs before Johnson promptly blew it for him.

I said it before and I'll say it again. FO has a plan...Tear up team...demonstrate S. Florida is a poor baseball market and MOVE!!! If the team was held together for the most part; there would be an avg of 20 - 25k fans per game. It would be difficult to convince MLB that moving the fish with this type of support is a resonable move. NOTICE how over the past few years attendance grew. FO could not afford to let THAT happen. Hmmmmm, are you for real or being sarcastic ? Cuz I agree with you. I doubt that. It isn't in their best interests, as the other cities courting them are smaller markets than ours.

My biggest problem with Joe is the fact that he keeps using Matt Herges. The guy is a black hole. He comes in and just sucks the life out of the team.

If a catcher gets more than 450 AB in a season, it's usually a good season. They need the most time off. Olivo is getting his time off. Remember he is now the everyday catcher so he'll need more breaks.

They are playing it safe. There is absolutely no reason to bring him back if there is any question. I mean, it is the 2nd months of a lost season. There is no pressure.

I have to say that for the people saying international players have a higher percentage of success in the majors, that is simply not true. I think something like 2/3 of the players in the minors leagues are from the Caribbean, so the high number of major leaguers from the carribean is a result of the high number of carribbean players overall. It is probably the same ratio.