Malman

Interesting...do you have any background on Jesse? His last name? Where is he from? How does he know Ramp? etc... Thanks!

Who is Jesse??? :mischief2

Well, the Marlins finally won a one-run game despite the completely ineffective offense, improving our record in one-run games to 8-14. Also, with tremendous starting pitching on this roadtrip we managed a 7-5 record. 827182[/snapback] Yeah, they suck. :banghead

Where are you getting this? Yahoo, ESPN, and MLB all are without lineups so far. It strikes me as somewhat strange they'd be around an hour previous to game time. 826684[/snapback] I'd tell you...but I'd have to kill you. I have access to the AP's lineup files. The lineup is generally posted here first. There is an occassional late scratch or change...but it is 99% correct. :thumbup

With the Atlanta series coming up, considering how banged up he is I'm surprised Jack didn't give LoDuca a day off. 826674[/snapback] Me too. I know he hit the ball very well last night...might have been a good choice to DH today.

No Lenny, no Willy, no Treanor. Easley in for Lowell. Niner at DH, Enc in Right. :thumbup

Doubt any deals are imminent -- Willingham just serves more of a purpose on the bench than Dillon with Lo Duca ailing. Don't like the Olsen call up one bit -- rushing yet another kid? Idiotic. 823593[/snapback] Rushing Olsen? yeah right. This guy can pitch. Why not let him have a start against the worst team in baseball, Tampa? If Willis and Cabrera can thrive from AA, so can Olsen. He has that much talent! 824018[/snapback] Looks like you were right on target in this post. Can't wait to see Olsen on the mound again. :thumbup

Enc in Right, Willy DHing batting 8th, Niner on the bench. :thumbup

Enc in Right, Conine DHing. :o

From the Indianapolis Star: Greg Oden plans to play basketball at Ohio State University, a person close to Oden confirmed Thursday... Reached by phone Thursday night, Oden's mother, Zoe, said no official decision has been made... Word of Oden's college choice came two days after the NBA changed its rules for the draft, requiring that players need to be at least one year out of high school. Oden -- widely projected as the No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft before the rule change -- has said all along that he wanted to play college basketball, recently narrowing his choices to Ohio State, Indiana, Wake Forest and Michigan State. :o

.059 :thumbup

I've said often we need some Major Surgery, not First-Aid. This is exciting, and bewildering. Glad I'm not in charge. 823957[/snapback] Thant makes two of us... :lol

:plain 822567[/snapback] :lol

So essentially Robinson was a good hitting coach in 1986 and 2003...and in the other years he forget what he was doing. The guy has won two rings...a lot more than a lot of other coaches and managers. I understand "fans" and ownership need to blame someone for their team's faults...unfortunately it's the hitting coach that often bears the brunt of this criticism. In all honesty, do you really think a hitting coach makes that big a difference...one way or the other? :confused

Teal Shadow is more of a speculator than an insider 822337[/snapback] Not true...

TealShadow/Edcanes...what are you hearing? Are there any imminent moves on the horizon? Inquiring minds want to know. TIA. :mischief2

If we turn into sellers, no way in hell am I renewing my season tickets. There is no effort on this team, from our players all the way up to the front office. 822156[/snapback] Yeah...that's it...the front effort isn't putting forth any effort. What a ridiculous comment...get a clue...I'm sure the front office is far more perplexed and frustrated as all of the amateur GM's on this board. The last thing we want is for them to make a rash decision and discard some of our top prospects in desperation. I would imagine changes are in the works. Beinfest has proven to be extremely creative and rational...have a bit of faith. :whistle 822205[/snapback] I agree with Malman. FO is working, but lagging dangerously. Sorry, but I put the onus on Jack McKeon. 822207[/snapback] I put the onus squarely on the players...especially Lowell and JP. They are two of the supposed leaders on the team. Their performance to date has been abysmal. The difficult question the front office faces is whether or not to give up on them. I'm sure the Phillies are glad they had faith in Pat Burrell when he was struggling a couple of years ago. I'm not sure what the answer is...however a trade of Enc and Mota might be a good start.

If we turn into sellers, no way in hell am I renewing my season tickets. There is no effort on this team, from our players all the way up to the front office. 822156[/snapback] Yeah...that's it...the front effort isn't putting forth any effort. What a ridiculous comment...get a clue...I'm sure the front office is far more perplexed and frustrated as all of the amateur GM's on this board. The last thing we want is for them to make a rash decision and discard some of our top prospects in desperation. I would imagine changes are in the works. Beinfest has proven to be extremely creative and rational...have a bit of faith. :whistle

Its all f***ing Bill Robinsons fault. 821375[/snapback] Right...pass whatever you're smoking over here...like the hitting coach makes that much of a difference. It's Robby's fault that Lowell & JP forgot how to hit. :whistle

can you imagine the numbers Willingham would put up in Coors? 820622[/snapback] I'm guessing something similar to what he's doing in Albuquerque 820655[/snapback] Interesting take...don't you think the pitching in the ML is a better than the pitching in the PCL? Wouldn't the improved pitching staffs cause Willingham's numbers to decline? :mischief2

yeah Ramp posted that on Maverickball. It's a shame he didn't get a shot when so many lesser pitchers were called up before him. 820133[/snapback] Interesting...I wonder why he was never called up? Was our front office blind to his talent? Did our Minor League Director not see how he could help us? How about the pitching coach in Alburquerque? What about Rosey...didn't he see anything? Was he even close to getting the call? Why would they call up so many lesser pitchers when this talent was right in front of their faces? :mischief2

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For the life of me I don't understand why so many people here think Josh Willingham "deserves" (operative word in this post) anything, nevermind being catapulted over established major league players to start in right field when he isn't getting a second's playing time at that position at Albuquerque. By now some people reading this are fuming, so be it. I'm not anti-Willingham, and the guy is doing an extraordinary job at AAA this season, but he doesn't "deserve" to be on the major league active roster anymore than anyone else who is playing well, for example Chris Aguila who is outhitting him by 30 points and has proven he can play the position "deserves" to be. The Marlins have made their decision about who will be catching now and in the future, it's Paul LoDuca and Matt Treanor. There's no room for Willingham for the foreseeable future. Better to let him continue to put on the offensive display he has so far this season at Albuquerque (although he's showing signs of cooling off, batting .167 in his last five games) where he may draw interest from a ML GM in search of a backup catcher who he believes he can mold into a future everyday player, and hence have value, than to be the number three guy for the Fish or worse, come up, play out of position, struggle at the plate and ruin any chance the Marlins have of trading him for someone of value. I used Chris Aguila as an example (above) for a reason. He should be a good example to all of us, batting .368 since returning to the PCL, that hitting in the bigs and hitting in AAA are two entirely different things. I like both players but unless Admin Beinfest plans on blowing up the Fish and starting over, neither are going to get any significant playing time here in 2005 (or at least until the September call-ups). It isn't that Jack misuses rookies, it's just in a choice between (assuming Encarnacion is gone at the time either of the kids come up) them and Jeff Conine in right field, Niner is going to win out regardless of who the manager is. The same is true of Dillon. There isn't a manager in baseball who is managing a contending team, who would sit down Lowell and not put Cabrera at third before Joe Dillon. Just isn't going to happen. And it isn't going to happen for Willingham either, certainly not in right field. And probably not in left either. 818948[/snapback] Amen. :notworthy

I don't want Lowell "benched." I certainly do not want him traded. He is going through a curious early-season offensive slump. He'll get back in the groove. But, if you bring up someone like Dillon and let him stagnate after the triumphant cry of "Run, Joe, Run" you are doing a disservice to the player and the team. As I said above, how will Jack abuse Willingham if he deservedly is brought up? No simple answers here. But, if you bring up a producing Minor and keep him on the bench... there is no progress. And a weekly pinch-hit AB does nothing to help. I've really become disillusioned with Jack. 818794[/snapback] This is exactly why Lenny Harris is on the team and Willingham is better off playing every day in Albuquerque. I'm sure everyone on the boards would agree that Willingham would put up better numbers than Lenny if they were both thrust into starting roles...however Lenny is far more suited to his time on the bench as a role player. The Phillies are going through a fairly similar situation/dilemma with Ryan Howard. Until an injury occurs or a trade is made don't look for much roster movement. As for Dillon, he is what he is, a bench player. In all honesty, I'd rather give his extra AB's to Easley. Also, I'm fairly certain Dillon would not trade a second of his time on the bench in Florida in exchange for his quest to become the next "Crash Davis." :hat

beane also doesnt draft high school pitchers yet he did a lot of that a couple weeks ago. 816742[/snapback] This a great point Das. I read this the other day. i was hoping someone would mention this. I hope Moneyball read this. :thumbup 817487[/snapback] Had you read Moneyball, you'd know that one of main reasons why the A's focused on college pitchers were that their stats - which in their view is a telling sign of future success - could be cheapily evaluated by the level of competition and sample size. Thus cutting back on scouting costs. It's much like how some teams focus on specific areas of known baseball talent (i.e. Braves and Georgia pitchers) rather than scout the entire country. 817843[/snapback] Well...I did read the book. I thought Das' point was that perhaps Beane was beginning to alter his stance on the very subject you alluded to...that was all.