Bucklin12

How did this get so ugly, so quick De Aza's bad fielding and D-Train unable to finish off Rollins Yeah, kind of a rhetorical question.. but thanks!

How did this get so ugly, so quick

I'm black. Am I like Luis Castillo? I'm sorry. I can't lie. I'm white. Damnit, I'm like Brian Moehler.

Yeah, this definitely sounds like a full season injury to me, with Johnson. I know they keep saying 2 months, but they said 10 days about a month ago. He is throwing off flat ground though. I'm sure they will bring up Gaby or Obermueller (although, De Aza is starting on Opening Day, so maybe we will say Gaby sooner than later, if he produces) or someone by July, if he isn't ready, and the back end of our rotation is falling out.

The Mets. I think the Mets are growing into our rival, more and more every season. Partly because of the fans, but mostly because of the on field matchups. Jose Reyes and Hanley will be fighting for the SS All Star Spot for years to come. Miggy and David Wright are the 2 best young 3B's in the league. I covet their outfield for the Marlins, and I'm sure Mets fans long for our rotation and pitching depth. I think these next couple years, it will be Marlins and Mets for the Division in September. The Phils can't possibly hold on to Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Jimmy Rollins contracts for that long. Some one will come by and take them.

Hit- Hanley Ramirez Double- Miguel Cabrera Triple- Hanley Ramirez HR- Mike Jacobs RBI- Josh Willingham Run Scored- Hanley Stolen Base- Hanley Caught Stealing- Alejandro De Aza Error- Miguel Cabrera Win- Dontrelle

Our bats will be fine. Even though it was only ST, we had the worst batting totals in the Grapefruit League. Probably why there's cause for concern. Yeah, I can see the reason for concern. But the thing about baseball stats is every season is such a large sample. It's the same with FG% in Basketball, it usually stays around the same year in and year out, for most players. If our bats stay the same, barring injury, our offense will be fine. Pitching is the significant variable. We need outstanding pitching, since our offense is not in the outstanding stratosphere.

Our bats will be fine. The pitching in the NL isn't good enough to hold us to under 4 runs a game. If our rotation stays healthy as well as our key position players (Miggy, Hanley), we might be there in September.

impressive work by Thompson today...nice to see the pen seal the deal...despite the 3 hits...good win by the fish 4 Hits.. De Aza tripled... any pen can work with 4 hits! Ha.

While I will be rooting for him, he isn't ready for the show yet. He is going to struggle mightily in his first few months before being sent down. Then again, I don't believe Eric Reed would have done much better. I am not expecting anything from De Aza. I like him as a prospect, but he needs more time. If I am wrong, I will eat a truckload of crow. What a terrible off season Eh, as you say he'll probably put up just as good numbers as Reed would. If De Aza fails I trust that will be enough incentive for the front office to actually go out and find a permanent solution. Unless De Aza puts up solid numbers this season there is a chance he might not be a regular with this club to any capacity in the future. That's what I'm worried about. This seems like a desperation pull of a 22 year old kid, and these things usually end up being a "do or die" kind of situation, so for De Aza's sake, I really hope he performs decently, so he is given the chance to do it again.

Man... Juilo is taken, Petit is sent, and Vanden Hurk gets the start tomorrow? Beinfest is really showing himself this week. Whats wrong with Vanden Hurk starting? This is a good opportunity for the kid to show what he's got. I might just make the drive to Ft. Lauderdale to get a look at big Vanden Hurk. No, I am excited that Vanden Hurk is getting the ball, don't get me wrong. Beinfest has always been alarmingly open about how much he likes Vanden Hurk, and how indifferent he is towards Petit. It's just interesting how Petit leaves, and Vanden Hurk gets a start in the same day. Beinfest is either showing off Vanden Hurk as a favor to one of his GM friends, or making a statement saying now that Petit is gone, Vanden Hurk will get the same shot as Volstad, Gaby, or Sean West... and he should.

Man... Juilo is taken, Petit is sent, and Vanden Hurk gets the start tomorrow? Beinfest is really showing himself this week.

yep, 5 scoreless, 3 hits. And against the Cards starters too. Welcome to the #5 starter spot. He's really been on his game this spring. I know Freddi said that Petit's troubles last game "didn't hurt his chances" but then what is spring training for some of these guys if it's not a tryout?? Here comes Koplove, to ruin the afternoon. I feel like Fredi is trying to give him every chance to make some good, and it's just not happening.

it's like I want to root for Reed but striking out with a man on 3rd with 1 out is unacceptable 0-0 after 3 I feel you, Ramp. I'm getting all giddy, looking at Mitre's line.

3 scoreless for Mitre thus far 3 hitless as well.

Eckstein grounds out. Edmonds grounds out. Pujols strikes out. Mitre 1.0 / 1 K / 0 ER Reed grounds out Uggla singles Cabrera hits into DP (all 3 of them, swung on the first pitch) bottom 1: 0-0 Scott Rolen flies out Chris Duncan lines out Spiezio walks Kennedy Strikes out Mitre 2.0 / 2 K / 1 BB / 0 ER / 0 H

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.

Man, I hope Mitre throws well today.

Reed will definitely receive the CF job. He deserves it. Owens, Lindstrom, or Gregg for the closer. De Aza will go back down to AA.

I haven't seen him play at all, so I am asking those who have and those who actually know what they are talking about... Is De Aza someone who will likely develop into a decent starting outfielder for a major league club? In other words, not an Aguila, Abercrombie, Reed, etc? I agree in principle that consistent playing time would help him perhaps develop as a player (to what extent, I do not know). But I am more concerned about the well being of the Marlins rather than the player. If it is likely he will not be part of the future or a valuable trade commidity, would it not be more beneficial for the Marlins to have him spot start in the OF at the major league level. Especially since there are no good options for CF, Hermida is sucking and ailing, all of the bench options are weak, Helms is gone, Aaron Boone will likely prove to be a bust signing, and Jason Wood is not fit to be on a major league roster. I don't know if De Aza will prove to be an OMG Nunez or if he will be the real deal. However, if his future is unclear the Marlins should milk him for what he's worth now. And if Reed is going to be the opening day CF, I would almost rather have De Aza play CF and get most of the starts. I think we all know what Reed's capabilities are and they aren't very promising. I have seen De Aza play twice, and in the cage a couple of times as well. Fredi is right whenever he tells the media that "something happens, whenever he is in the game." Attribute this to talent if you would like, but I would say it is more of an extreme hunger for the major leagues. I think De Aza is definitely playing above his "ability," right now because the majors are just outside of his finger tips. The good news about him, is that he is quick, a fantastic athelete, and actually has a very good, quick swing with surprising power. He turns his hips more rapidly than most, which enables him to hit pretty hard balls. I think he is slower than most are saying. I think he deceives us because I noticed he accelerates very quickly out of the box and off the bases. It's not that he has tremendous speed, but that he accelerates quicker than others, which is a good thing for stealing bases. The bad news about De Aza, is his head. He tails off towards the end of games. His production dramatically decreases after the 6th inning. He can adjust this. The thing that scares me about De Aza is that, like Ramp said... he has only walked once this Spring, and his OBP is not high for a guy with his type of skills. He rarely gets past 4 pitches at an AB, and players that have this lack of plate discipline are usually never able to change it. He needs to learn more about himself as a hitter. He needs to focus on protecting the holes in his strike zone and not swing at stuff that he can't hit well. He really adjusts very well in his swing, as he makes a lot of contact, but that's because he is swinging at low and away balls below his knees and grounding them to 2nd base. He has tremendous skill, and has fantastic athletic sense... but he needs to improve his ABs. He's not like, Reggie though. Reggie has no idea who he is on a baseball diamond, I think De Aza has some kind of clue... he just needs to maximize it. I'm not a fan by any stretch of Eric Reed's but he has earned that spot in CF, not only for his spring, but for what he has done at almost every level. If he can't hack it in a month or month and a half, then thats fine, but he only got 40 at bats last season. And at this point, Reed is probably more advanced than De Aza anyway. I completely agree.

I'm in the camp (probably the very small camp) that thinks De Aza needs more time in the minors I'm with you, Ramp. This isn't the first time a young guy blossomed in camp, and it definitely wouldn't be the first time, that young guy got brought to the big league, followed by 5 years of toiling back and forth between the minor and major leagues, aka, Kool-Aid 3 years from now. It looks like this kid could be good. Possibly, really good. I mean, if we really think he can take us from an "almost post season team," to a "post season team," we should do it. But, I don't believe he alone can do that, though, at least not yet.

whats happening now?

Ok no one else is going to say it so I will Reed/ center De Aza/ right Uglla cab willy jake olivo andino/hanley/ Ok lets have it why the %$# NOT maybe swap jake and willy in the order EXPLOSIVE We should also think about putting Boone at 3rd and make Cabs the 4th OF.

Does anyone know how to get ahold of the minor league game stats for the Spring. I am just interested to watch a couple of guys. Apparently, Mitre threw good ball today, going 4 1/3 with 3 hits and 1 run. No walks. 6 K's. I know it's a Minor League game, but strikes are strikes.

Why not? Look at what happened with all the other closers who came here. put the money to someone else we have better arms in our camp right now I agree with Ramp... we have at least arms who would do a decent job closing, maybe even a great job. We need to save our money for an OF deal, somewhere in the coming months. I don't think it is likely for Ross to make camp, so I would expect him and a pitching prospect or 2 going for a halfway decent CF somewhere. We could clear Ross's salary and save a million bucks by sticking with what we have in the relief department.