Out of the Past

I was wondering about the season tickets numbers and looked it up this afternoon. "Season tickets are around the same number as last year, but the facts are, our attendance is going to go up because of what we're doing with our "Super Saturday" program," Marlins President David Samson said. Season tickets will be roughly in the 5,000 range. http://sportsbiznews.blogspot.com/search/l...orida%20Marlins

This is just what I've heard. I agree with BroncoBob and anotherrealfan. Where did you hear it? Sounds like excuse making nonsense to me.

Beinfest inherited a team stacked with young talented players and molded it into a WS with a series of great moves in '02 and '03 so he deserves a lot of credit for his work back then but from then on he's had a few hits and misses. He's a good GM but not among the elite. I think his career W / L as a GM is below .500.

Nolasco should get the start. ==================================== http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/content/pri...30/c1871011.jsp Marlins shake up rotation 03/30/2007 4:15 PM ET By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The Marlins are shaking up their rotation in a move that gives manager Fredi Gonzalez more bullpen flexibility. Barring something unforeseen, Sergio Mitre will now start the Marlins home opener on April 6 against the Phillies, while Ricky Nolasco moves temporarily into the bullpen. Initially, Nolasco was tabbed the No. 4 starter, with Mitre falling in line to make his first start on April 10 against the Brewers. An April 5 off-day enables the club to go with a four-man rotation until April 10. Mitre, who is starting the exhibition finale on Saturday against the Reds in Dayton, Ohio, will remain in line to start the home opener. Nolasco, who threw an inning of scoreless relief on Friday while facing the Mets, will be available for long relief beginning Opening Day on Monday at Washington. "Nolasco gives us flexibility in the bullpen," Gonzalez said. Nolasco has thrown relief in the past, and Mitre is bouncing back from a shoulder problem that caused him to miss most of 2006. The Marlins are carrying 12 pitchers, and Nolasco now will be used in long relief. His last available date to relieve is April 7, which would be his last day to throw before his first start. "I understand it's the best thing to do for the team," Nolasco said. Both Nolasco and Mitre have enjoyed strong springs. Nolasco threw 15 1/3 innings this spring, with a 3.52 ERA. Mitre has thrown nine scoreless innings in three spring starts. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

I honestly believe the Phillies are the only team in the division that have the potential, as is, for over 90 wins...so yeah, I'd say they're the team to beat. The Mets won 95+ games last year and now everyone pouints to their rotation as the weak link but I don't think their rotation is much worse than what it was last year. Last year they had real bums starting a lot of games. It would be no surprise if they go over 90 wins. i think atlanta is going to have a hell of a time trying to score runs this year and that will be their downfall Why? They were 2nd in runs scored last year and it's pretty much the same team except 1B and 2B. They'll probably lose something at 1B but I think Kelly Johnson should be an improvement over Giles. They'll score plenty of runs.

Those bastards seem to delete every video I really like. They recently deleted live versions of Sara ('80) and Go Your Own way ('77) by Fleetwood Mac and Lyin' Eyes ('76) by The Eagles. Luckily I had already saved them. I think I'll load them on youtube myself without a description so hopefully they wont find / delete them and I'll be able to watch them at work.

These are the OPS+ of the guy who played the most games @ 1B for each NL team: Delgado - 134 Howard - 170 LaRoche - 133 Johnson - 146 Jacobs - 106 Pujols - 180 Berkman - 161 Hatteberg - 106 Fielder - 111 Casey - 102 DLee - 111 Gonzalez - 125 Garciaparra - 120 Hillenbrand - 74 Jackson - 101 Helton - 119 Dude, by definition an OPS of 100 is average. Dude, the 100 refers to the average of all all players... not the average of all 1B. There's a difference, dude.

These are the OPS+ of the guy who played the most games @ 1B for each NL team: Delgado - 134 Howard - 170 LaRoche - 133 Johnson - 146 Jacobs - 106 Pujols - 180 Berkman - 161 Hatteberg - 106 Fielder - 111 Casey - 102 DLee - 111 Gonzalez - 125 Garciaparra - 120 Hillenbrand - 74 Jackson - 101 Helton - 119

Accounting for park affects his 798OPS ranks as a slightly above average 1B. (OPS+ 106 where 100 is average). DS ranks as one of the toughest parks for a lefty to hit for power. What the OPS+ of the average 1B? I think it's much higher than the 100 you mentioned.

you may be right I just dont see where your guess about the injuries comes from. Hammer is my favorite baseball player in MLB...this decision is purely on whta happened last season vs RHP and LHP. If it turns out differently then they'll make the adjustment. In the meantime the right decision is being made. Last year Hammer got off to a good start and hit well the last 2+ months. His slupm was wrapped around the DL stint and from what I remenber the hand bothered him before and after going on the DL.

What makes you think Jacobs won't also improve? I love how people make assertions based on gut instincts alone. So you like Hammer. Great. So do I. But I also think Jacobs is capable of improving quite a bit. I look for him to put up: .275/.340/.480. Jacobs could improve. I just don't expect or predict that he will because as I said before I don't think his slumps were injury related. BTW, the .820 OPS you look for out of Jacobs is pretty crappy for a 1B. And yes, I like Hammer a lot. In fact I like him a lot more than Jacobs because I think Hammer will be a better player.

yes, Jacobs was better last year vs righties. I still want Hammer batting behind Cabrera. stats don't always say the whole story what's the rest of the story The rest of the story... Just because Jacobs out OPSed Hammer vs RHP last by year (by .085) doesn't mean he'll do it again this year. I expect Hammer to improve this year but can't say the same thing about Jacobs. I think Hammer's hand injury was the cause for his slump last May and June. I don't think Jacobs' slumps were necessarily injury related. I think the .085 gap will be closed significantly and if the gap is negligible then it makes sense to keep Hammer 4th vs RHP just because he'll out OPS him by a mile vs LHP.

Maybe someone here can shed some light. Is anyone familiar with Media Mail? It's supposed to take 4 to 14 days. The USPS doesn't specify if it's postal days or regular days but I assume it's postal days. The thing is someone mailed me two packages from California to Florida on Friday the 9th. Today is the 14th postal day and I'm still waiting. He has sent me packages in the past and both times I got them in about 4 days. The questions are is it common for Media Mail take more than the 14 days and how worried should I be that I'll never get the packages because of a USPS screw-up?

Perhaps it's neither yes or no, but rather not yet. Batting him eighth gives him a chance to get acclimated to the MLB, and while he doesn't have the protection of Ramirez behind him in the BO, he'll get on, maybe move up a base during the pitcher's AB and then be in scoring position for Ramirez and Uggla, etc. Having our first series against the Nationals could be the perfect introductory experience for him. If I remember, the infield @ RFK is slow and the Nationals are, well, the Nationals. If over time he succeeds, and I'm sure we all want him to, and his OBP is high enough to justify moving into the leadoff spot, then Fredi has some options to try with the lineup. My favorite although I know that's very unpopular here, happens to be moving Jacobs up to third and Ramirez behind Cabrera if MR continues to be the offensive threat he was the latter part of last season, or perhaps moved Uggla down, or everyone down, or gosh so many possibilities open up if De Aza claims the leadoff spot. I would really hate taking away about 80 PAs from Hanley and that's what moving him to the 5th spot means. I think the most likely way De Aza moves up in the order is if he puts up a good OBP, say over .360, and Uggla struggles. In that case I could see De Aza leading off and Hanley hitting 2nd with Uggla moving down in the order.

Hopefully whoever platoons with Borchard can hit lefties and can hit 5th because as bad as Jacobs is vs lefties Borchard is even worse. To start the season I would let Jacobs play vs lefties rather than platooning with Boone just to see how he does.

Manager Fredi Gonzalez said he probably will bat the first baseman Jacobs fourth and left fielder Josh Willingham fifth against right-handed starting pitchers. Against left-handed starters, Willingham will hit fourth and Jacobs fifth. Not exactly a huge fan of that move there. I would much rather Jacobs earn moving up in the lineup. I don't really like it either but last year Jacobs hit better off righties than Willingham so I really can't argue against it.

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_baseb...a_starting.html De Aza starting CF The words haven't come out of Fredi Gonzalez's mouth yet, but Alejandro De Aza has won the starting center field job. This morning, the Marlins announced Eric Reed had been optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque and Alex Sanchez had been released. De Aza certainly earned the job, but I still question whether the Marlins aren't rushing him. He's played 69 games at Double-A and wasn't even regarded as one of the organization's top 30 prospects according to Baseball America. Considering how thorough BA is, you have to think De Aza surprised the front office as much as everybody else this spring. In other moves, the Marlins released Felix Rodriguez and Mike Koplove, and informed Jeremy Hermida and Taylor Tankersley they would open the season on the disabled list.

And as far as a boom in downtown. I'm not an expert on the subject, but from what I do know I think the boom is tied in with the general real estate boom that happened from 1999-2004. And that boom has turned into a bust. Who knows what's going to happen with the glut of condos downtown? It could be the prettiest sh$thole in history. I'm not an expert on the subject either and we may have a bust in the near future but so far we haven't had one. Condo prices in Miami-Dade continue to rise. Last week the February data came out and I forget the exact number but condo prices rose either 5% or 10% over last year. More people keep movign into Miami-Dade than out of it and I guess that may be keeping prices up.

I think Gonzalez is going with Owens as his closer and De Aza as his starting centerfielder. PPPPHHHHTT are you for real they aren't going to take a kid DE AZA and start him over a major leaguer REED your funny What qualifies Eric (I can hit the ball up to 60 feet if I really swing hard) as a MLeaguer? His 4 for 41 last year? I am not disagreeing with you that Reed with get the nod-just that he has no special experience separating him from the others. Good minor league numbers. Much better than De Aza's. I don't like Reed, but he deserves the job. You can't take a sample of 41 ABs and base judgement off of that. He has had a fantastic spring, and a great minor league career. You can't ruin him on 41 ABs. Over the last two seasons De Aza has better minor league numbers than Reed.. higher OBP and higher OPS. Last year they virtually had the same OBP(.344 to .346) and in OPS, Reed was at .782 to .720 of De Aza's 2005: .335/.739 vs De Aza .370/.764 You're forgetting about Reed's '05 Carolina numbers (.305 / .604). If you average their '05 and '06 minor league numbers you'll find that De Aza's OBP was about .036 higher than Reed's and De Aza's OPS was about .042 higher.

I think Gonzalez is going with Owens as his closer and De Aza as his starting centerfielder. PPPPHHHHTT are you for real they aren't going to take a kid DE AZA and start him over a major leaguer REED your funny What qualifies Eric (I can hit the ball up to 60 feet if I really swing hard) as a MLeaguer? His 4 for 41 last year? I am not disagreeing with you that Reed with get the nod-just that he has no special experience separating him from the others. Good minor league numbers. Much better than De Aza's. I don't like Reed, but he deserves the job. You can't take a sample of 41 ABs and base judgement off of that. He has had a fantastic spring, and a great minor league career. You can't ruin him on 41 ABs. Over the last two seasons De Aza has better minor league numbers than Reed.. higher OBP and higher OPS.

Another thing that is something to look at is the fact he (De Aza) has walked just once in 36 at bats this spring. He isn't working the counts and it's usually trouble when someone's OBP is almost dead even with their AVG unless they can maintain that .300 AVG full time. In the minors De Aza has a pretty good walk rate so wouldn't the "he doesn't walk enough" argument be more of an argument against Reed than De Aza?

Center fielder, closer two days away Manager Fredi Gonzalez told us this morning he'll name his closer and starting center fielder on Wednesday. He already has a closer in mind, but Gonzalez said he hasn't made a determination on the center fielder. On a separate note, Gonzalez revealed he'd use a platoon in right while Jeremy Hermida is out. ============== http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/sports_baseb...r_fielder_.html

Jeremy should be given at least 100 regular season ABs. If we don't get good production out of RF (.850+ OPS) I don't think we smell the playoffs and he has by far the highest upside of any of the RF options. If he has struggled after 100 ABs then a decision needs to be made but at least give him that.

This may very well be one of those "injuries" where they keep him out of the lineup so he can learn how to his a baseball again. *heads over to Bodog to bet the ranch on the under for the Marlins win total this year* What's the over / under? I think JJ's injury is bigger factor than this. They shouldn't trade Cody. I think Cody and Borchard may end up getting a lot of playing time at the same time.

"Malcontent liar" is just a bit harsh don't you think? It may be harsh but it's fair. In his contract demands he said he was giving a "hometown discount" and that's a lie. That makes him a liar in my book. He wanted over $10 million a year and that's A LOT higher than what his market value was. He ended up getting $6.5 million from the Mets. Usually when a player pulls the "hometown discount" card the player is full of crap and Clifford is a prime example that. He spent the '02 season complainign about money and critiquing management. That makes him a malcontent in my book.