DownRodeo

It's a big deal because the Marlins are getting a reputation as a team that treats its players like crap. You don't think players from around the league take note of what happens here? Free agents are going to think twice before signing.

vazquez is holding this team back. we can't keep throwing games away every five days. take him out of the rotation, stash him at the end of the bullpen. we got a couple starters in the minors, buente and koehler, who are pitching well. give one of em a chance, see what they can do. they're not going to be worse than vazquez.

...with all the touting of the new stadium being immune to rain delays, supposedly drawing more fans on the notion they'll stay bone dry inside while the deluge continues outside...Does it not appear on every rendering thus far that there will be no protection whatsoever from the elements for that walk from the garage to the gate? And if umbrellas, like at Sun Life, also won't be permitted at the new park, who's going to want to sling around dripping-wet ponchos for the duration of the game? Seems like they're missing a key piece to this puzzle (besides Metrorail)...I would expect it'll take just one instance sitting cold and wet for two and a half hours to really turn off a lot of people from coming down again. Why build a retractable roof and garages if they're not going to follow through with the experience? well, i assume that the reason they don't allow umbrellas inside the ballpark now is because they don't want everyone popping open their umbrellas and blocking the view of the other fans. but if the stadium has a roof, no one will be doing that anyway. so just let the fans bring umbrellas to use from the garage to the stadium. bam, problem solved.

we're not a playoff team if vazquez and volstad are starting 40% of our games. both have been horrible, but volstad probably has a slightly better chance of getting his act together. vazquez...stick a fork in him. the back end of the rotation is holding this team back.

how many more starts does javy get? i'd like to say none but i figure realistically two more bad outings will get him out of the rotation. jay buente is pitching well down in new orleans.

Edwin's managing the last two games has been masterful, I don't understand how anyone could find fault with his moves. His substitution of Cousins for Stanton for defense probably won us the Braves game, as Stanton would not have caught up to Freeman's fly ball (I know he does this in all close and late games, but it's a good move and I haven't seen anyone praise him for it). He also didn't leave Nolasco and Vazquez in longer than necessary when it was clear they didn't have their best stuff. And today, a subtle move, in the sixth when faced with a pinch-hitting situation, he knew not to waste Dobbs in case a more critical at-bat presented itself later in the game which, sure enough, is exactly what happened. Edwin gets five stars for his managing the last two games.

It's impossible from the information given to calculate the exact number of walks issued when ahead in the count. You'd have to add the number of 'After 0-1 walks' with the number of 'After 1-2 walks' where the count started 1-0. But there's no way to figure out how many 'After 1-2 walks' started with the count 1-0. The best you can do is say that the number of walks is greater than 174 but less than 290 (174+116). Drawing a Venn diagram would help illustrate the point. And before anyone asks, yes, I was a math major.

yeah i live in south florida and i'm getting the rays game, not the fish. lame.

It doesn't matter. He wants to make the same mistakes in Afghanistan. The surge is a tactic. Obama really isn't anti-war or else he wouldn't keep voting to finance it. This is so plainly obvious, and the fact that very few people see it just goes to show how successful the American propaganda machine has been. Everything else you mention is spot-on as well. I would also add that Obama's comments about the Iraqi people "taking responsibility for themselves" is appalling and repugnant. The U.S. invaded Iraq (illegally), murdered over 1 million of its citizens, destroyed its infrastructure, drove millions more from their homes, installed a puppet government, and orchestrated deals to take their oil -- but the Iraqis are at fault for "not taking responsibility for themselves."

Who is the better player Shammy, from an offensive production standpoint? Player A: .317/.402/.456, 19 HR, 114 RBI, 7 3B, 36 2B, 4 GIDP, 56 K Player B: .274/.358/.597, 44 HR, 87 RBI, 1 3B, 52 2B, 11 GIDP, 125 K Before anyone goes looking for who they are, I just invented them right now Player B is clearly the better player, but your point is moot because you invented those stats anyway, and that's kind of the point. A player who hits under 20 home runs will rarely have over 110 RBIs. Maybe you could find a couple players here and there over the past decade (Matsui had 16 HR and 106 RBI a couple years ago, but he hits in perhaps the most offensive lineup), but for the most part, it's the sluggers who get the big RBI numbers. On the flip side, a player who hits over 40 home runs will almost always have over 100 RBIs. In fact, from 2000 to 2004, only one player hit 40+ home runs without 100+ RBIs, and that was Barry Bonds. Lots of homers = lots of runs. ::crawls back into hole::

Dont the marlins have an option on Uggys contract? If they decide to to keep him how much would he make next year? Not exactly. Urbina will be a free agent at season's end. The Fish can choose either to offer him arbitration or not offer him arbitration. If they don't offer him arbitration, then he can sign with whomever he wants. If they do, Urbina can either accept that offer and resign with the Fish, or decline it and choose to sign with whomever he wants (except in this situation, we get a draft pick if he signs with another team). Urbina managed to grab a $4.5 million deal last offseason in an extremely tight market. The market won't be as tight this offseason, and he's coming off his best season in about 5 years. My guess is some team will be willing to shell out at least $6 million for his services. As good as Urbina has been, the Fish can't really afford a $6 million reliever. Almost all our players are expected to get raises next season, so I seriously doubt Urbina will be back. But every year there's always a few solid, lesser-known relievers who are available cheap (kinda like Herges this season). And both Neal and Almanza were pitching with injuries this season, so it's certainly feasible that they both perform a lot better next season. I don't think our bullpen is in too bad shape. Our real concern this offseason will likely be resigning all our position players. I'm certainly curious to see what'll happen with Pudge. Before these playoffs, I didn't think resigning Pudge next year would be possible or even particularly necessary. But after he almost single-handedly won the NLDS, I suppose things are a little different now. This offseason will be interesting to say the least.

Here, for you stat-zombies, Enc has more total bases than Bobby Abreu this year. And he's not far behind Lance Berkman, and even Chipper Jones. All with comparable at-bat numbers. A totally independent stat. Happy? Total bases is a decent indicator of a player's hitting ability, but it has a huge flaw in that it doesn't include bases on balls. Throw walks into the equation, and Abreu has 70 more bases than Encarnacion. Berkman has 69 more. And Jones has 70 more as well. That's a big difference. The thing that holds his stats back is his low walk count. That leads to low on-base %, and thus a lower OPS. You say this so matter-of-factly, as if it's not his fault that he's not a patient hitter. The fact is, until Encarnacion learns to be more patient at the plate, he'll never improve himself as a hitter.

lol someone actually said something like that. I'm glad he's starting to get hot right before the playoffs, but offensively, he is one of the worst right fielders in baseball. There's just no getting around it. Among right fielders, he ranks near the bottom in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and home runs. The only major offensive category he's above average in is RBI, a team-dependent stat. Two solid games does not erase a season's worth of numbers. Hey, I hope he catches fire and carries the team through the playoffs. But it won't change the fact that he had a very below average season for a right fielder.

Watching Looper pitch tonight, it definitely seemed like he was overthrowing, as almost all his fastballs sailed high. It looked like he was trying to make up for his previous poor outings by throwing every pitch as hard as humanly possible, which obviously had bad results. I agree with others, I was more sad than angry to see him struggle because you know he was trying so hard. Someone has to get him to relax and remember to pitch, not throw. I think the best thing for him would be to pitch in a blowout, non-pressure situation to regain his confidence. Hopefully he'll get that chance before the regular season ends. At any rate, Looper at his best still was never as dominant as Urbina, so perhaps his struggles are a blessing in disguise, since now McKeon will go to Uggy in most pressure situations. The whole situation is rather ironic, since the guy who's stepping up during Looper's struggles, Chad Fox, blew some important games with Boston at the beginning of the season. Now it seems like Fox's confidence is at its peak, while Looper's is the lowest it's been all season. Perhaps Looper should talk to Chad to figure out how to regain his confidence. And I know I rag on the Marlins front office a lot, but acquiring Fox was one of the best midseason moves in all of baseball this season. Not only has he pitched great, but he's pitched great when it's been needed most. In the short time he's been here, he's pitched... - a scoreless 13th in a tie game vs. the Dodgers. Fish went on to win 5-4. - a scoreless 10th in another tie game vs. the Dodgers. Fish win 2-1. - a scoreless 7th while losing 3-1 to the Pads. Fish come back to win 6-3 - a scoreless 7th while winning 5-3 to the ' Spos. Fish win 5-3. - a scoreless 7th in a 1-1 tie vs. the Pirates. Marlins win 5-1. - a scoreless 7th while winning 4-3 to the Mets. Marlins won 7-3. - two scoreless innings while losing 3-2 to the Braves. Fish win 5-4. - two scoreless innings while winning 6-4 to the Phillies. Fish win 11-4. - a scoreless two-thirds of an inning in a 5-5 tie vs. the Braves. Fish win 6-5. - a scoreless 8th while winning 6-3 to the Braves. Fish win 6-3. - tonight's scoreless outing saving Looper's butt. That's 11 outings where he completely shut down the opponent in high-pressure situations. If we make the playoffs, a huge reason will be because of Fox's pitching. So kudos to Fox, and kudos to Beinfest to have the foresight to pick him up (and hopefully keep him around for next season). If a late-inning pressure situation arises in the playoffs, we now have two relievers who I have complete confidence in: Urbina and Fox. In a short series, sometimes that's all you need.

Encarnacion seems like the perfect player for the Marlins. He doesn't do enough to get noticed, but he's solid. Lee is a superior player, but I don't think the Marlins can afford to keep him on. Encarnacion shouldn't be nearly as expensive. I wouldn't consider Encarnacion 'solid'. I'd say he's far less than solid. Offensively, he's one of the worst right fielders in baseball. Look at how he ranks compared with other right fielders in baseball: AVG: 18th out of 22 RFs who qualify OBP: 21st out of 22 RFs who qualify SLG: 17th out of 22 RFs who qualify HR: 19th RBI: 7th The only stat he's even respectable in is RBI, and that has more to do with the hitters in front of him than anything else. He makes about 3.5 mil this season. My guess is he'll make about 5 mil next season after arbitration. 5 million dollars for a below average right fielder is not financially sound.

Derrek Lee is playing for Derrek Lee right now. He knows he's gone. It took his own economic self-interest to finally get him going, but if that's what it took my hat's off to him. Considering the way he's ending this season, I'm thinking more and more that perhaps it won't be Lee but Encarnacion who is gone this offseason (with Conine taking over in right).

The Sosa comparison isn't fair because Sosa has triple digit RBIs most of the time anyways. Again, read my post above. That's exactly my point. Players who hit 40-some homers every year will almost always get triple digit RBIs. Players who hit 20 to 25 homers every year will never consistently get triple digit RBIs. If you'd rather take the 120 RBI man, you'd be foolish, because no one who averages 20 homers a season will consistently get 120 RBI. Who would you rather have.....Marcus Giles (20 jacks, 68 RBIs) or Mike Lieberthal (13 jacks, 80 RBIs)? Marcus Giles. Don't you think a huge reason he doesn't have as many RBIs as Lieberthal is because he usually bats 2nd while Lieberthal usually bats 5th (directly behind Jim Thome and Bobby Abreu)? Just another example of how RBI are so dependent on the hitters around you.

Sosa also bats .310 and drives in 120 a year... Sosa to Matsui isnt a fair comparison Ah, but you see, that's part of the point. A player who hits 40 homers every year will almost always drive in around 110, 120 runs. But a player who hits 20 to 25 homers every year will never consistently drive in 110, 120 runs.

Let me pose it this way: Would you rather have a two-run single or a 450 foot solo shot? The hitter with the two-run single got to bat with two runners on base, while the hitter who hit the 450 foot solo shot got to bat with no one on base. You're giving credit to the hitter merely because he was lucky enough to have two hitters before him reach base. Is it solo-shot-guy's fault that no one was able to get on base in front of him? Here's a better question: If, during a season, one player hits .290 with 40 HRs and 95 RBIs, and another player hits .290 with 20 HRs and 120 RBIs, who would you rather have on your team in the future (assuming the players are the same age and play the same position)? Here's another question for those who favor RBIs over home runs: Who would you rather have on your team, Hideki Matsui or Sammy Sosa?

Cincy just took a 4-3 lead over Philly and still have runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out. Just to let everyone know.

Where did this idea come from that giving up 2 runs on a good pitch is not as bad as giving up 2 runs throwing poorly? I know what youre saying, but giving up runs is giving up runs. If you give up a run on a 300-mph forkball, it doesnt make me feel any better and it still counts the same on the scoreboard. The pitcher who gets burned on a 300-mph forkball is less likely to give up runs in the future than the pitcher who gets burned by walking hitters and generally being wild. That's the issue here. Yeah, both Urbina and Looper gave up runs today. But who is the better pitcher and, thus, the one less likely to give up runs in the future? It's not Looper.

Skipping Willis isn't the craziest idea in the world...the only reason I wouldn't do it is that, who exactly is worth bumping up? The two hottest pitchers, Beckett and Penny, are already pitching in the Philly series. Who would you want pitching the third game? Both Pavano and Redman were fairly ineffective in their last starts. Let Willis pitch against Philly, then, hopefully if we've already clinched by the last game of the season, rest him against the Mets.

Stay with Looper as closer. He's done it for us all the way, he's our man -- for better or for worse. After this game I think McKeon really has to re-assess the bullpen situation. What annoys me the most out of Looper's latest poor outing is that he got beat by Vinny Castilla, Julio Franco, and Mark DeRosa. Against the Braves it doesn't get any easier than that.

I always enjoy listening to Hutton and Kasper do play-by-play. Like the posted article mentioned, Hutton and Kasper seem to have that sincere passion and enthusiasm for baseball that really shows during the broadcasts. Their calls during big moments this season (Cabrera's first homer, Mordy's extra-inning homer, etc.) always enhance the event. Hutton's insight is for the most part interesting and informative, and he isn't afraid to question a managerial decision (i.e. bunting with runners on 1st and 2nd) like other broadcasters are. Definitely one of the better broadcasting teams in baseball that I've heard (and a far cry from the Cubs broadcasters, who make me want to gouge my eyeballs out with a fork).

Of course Down you're right. But then you're always right, exclusively right. Pitchers should never give up hits or heaven forbid walk someone. If they do they deserve to burn in h*ll. God's (that's a pretty impressive pedestal you've enshrined Lee on isn't?) like DLee never make errors in judgement, if they don't catch it then it couldn't be caught, it's always someone elses fault. I suppose it's easier to make someone's argument look foolish by putting words in their mouth. I never stated or suggested that pitchers should never give up hits, or that DLee never makes errors in judgment, or that nothing is DLee's fault...all of which you seem to have attributed to me. If you feel like debating a point with me, then debate the comments I make, and not the comments you invent for me. I clearly stated that Lee's botched defense caused two runs to score--two runs that would not have scored if he had made the play. But to focus on one play and say it cost us the game trivializes everything else that happened in the game. Like I said earlier, two runs also would not have scored if Willis does not walk Polanco, or if he doesn't give up a single to Abreu. Now, just because I bring this up does NOT mean I am claiming that the two runs were all Willis's fault, so stop writing as if I'm taking all the blame for Lee and placing it elsewhere. I'm not. On the contrary, it's you who is taking all the blame for everyone else's poor play and placing it all on Lee. You're the one who suggested that it was not Fox or Willis who lost us the game, but Lee. You're the one who stated that Fox was not to blame because the home run he gave up was "almost pre-ordained." It seems that you're the one who is deflecting blame, not me. The fact is, Lee's defensive miscue, Willis' pitching, and Fox's pitching ALL played a part in the loss today (as did Pudge and Luis going a combined 0 for 9), and all carry part of the blame for the loss. But to say: "That's where the game was lost. It wasn't Dontrelle, it wasn't Fox, if it was anyone it was Lee" is, like I said before, absurd. When our starting pitcher gives up 7 hits and 3 walks in 6+ innings, our relief pitcher gives up the winning home run, our #2 hitter goes 0 for 5, and our #3 hitter goes 0 for 4, I have a hard time believing that someone can "lay the blame, if blame should be laid anywhere, on Lee."