TheAnswer

Embarrassingly, I read Lou's May wrap up right after posting and saw that he had labrum surgery. Mystery solved? (Perhaps it was never a mystery then.)

With the draft underway, I was digging through some of the picks from last year. Bryan Berglund, a Swede, was picked in the second round and 66th overall. An article I read says that he signed for about 500k and then went back to Sweden to compete in a national baseball league or something to that extent. Anyway, have we heard anything about him? His trail seems to go cold on Google, and I can't find him in the system. If anyone has information on him, I think it could illuminate not only his journey but also the potential paths of the newest talent that has come (and will come tomorrow) under our umbrella in this draft. Thanks for any help with the mystery!

http://deadspin.com/5480986/florida-marlins-the-team-that-time-forgot A wandering, silly argument about the marlins. Apparently Luis Castillo, Mike Lowell and Dontrelle Willis aren't remembered as Marlins. How lazy are fans if this is true?

Wait! The question: Can we take this silly opportunity to give Coghlan an awesome nickname? The answer: oh yeah we can. The nickname: Ransom.

It's pretty irrelevant how many innings per start he pitches in the minor leagues. No one gets on David Price because he doesn't get those deep complete games. If you're young, you are protected. There are a lot more pitchers who get into minor league games, and whatever your complaint against trahern is, i don't think you should rail against him because he is treated like a minor leaguer.

If I say "Well, atleast it was only me in the car during my car accident and not me and my girlfriend", does that mean I am being a meanie head to myself? No, it's just thankful that, while something bad happened to me, it didn't happen to someone else as well. You confused this by putting self-sacrifice in here...It's more like when your girlfriend has an accident and dies. Immediately after at her funeral, you say, well, I did get the best years out of her, and least I wasn't in that jalopy! Even if its true that you are happy you didn't croak, is it really appropriate to talk about those things when more important issues are at stake? Response to the other guy: Of course it matters that I like Dontrelle. No way I would deny this. There are a few players that are integral to the history of this club, and if you don't think Dontrelle is a good one to talk about, imagine doing this kind of grave stomping if Conine got hurt after we moved him to the Orioles. Point of all this: it would be disingenuous to say I don't know where you are coming from. I do. I'm also glad he got paid. The point of this though is that it sucks, and maybe other people should express that instead of expressing the positive that we can take from a sh*tty situation. After writing this, I think I'm realizing that I just hate that Dontrelle has fallen...I didn't mean to get on anyone else there, so sorry. No, it's more like if you were a Jew living in the Rheinland who moved out when Hitler took power and said "Wow, good thing I left before it got really bad." I wouldn't be happy for those who died, but I would feel thanks that I got the best of it. OK, I think that many will agree with me that it's not really like that at all. Dontrelle's DL stint bears little resemblance to the Holocaust. I just meant that we shouldn't celebrate the possible end to a career of a guy we like. He helped us a lot, everyone loved him...That's it. I perhaps overstated that, but I didn't want to bring Adolf into it. I fear sometimes we get jaded as Marlins fans because we love the trade more than the player because this is how we survive. I'm not hating the value we got for DTrain, but I just hate its the first thing we think about.

If I say "Well, atleast it was only me in the car during my car accident and not me and my girlfriend", does that mean I am being a meanie head to myself? No, it's just thankful that, while something bad happened to me, it didn't happen to someone else as well. You confused this by putting self-sacrifice in here...It's more like when your girlfriend has an accident and dies. Immediately after at her funeral, you say, well, I did get the best years out of her, and least I wasn't in that jalopy! Even if its true that you are happy you didn't croak, is it really appropriate to talk about those things when more important issues are at stake? Response to the other guy: Of course it matters that I like Dontrelle. No way I would deny this. There are a few players that are integral to the history of this club, and if you don't think Dontrelle is a good one to talk about, imagine doing this kind of grave stomping if Conine got hurt after we moved him to the Orioles. Point of all this: it would be disingenuous to say I don't know where you are coming from. I do. I'm also glad he got paid. The point of this though is that it sucks, and maybe other people should express that instead of expressing the positive that we can take from a sh*tty situation. After writing this, I think I'm realizing that I just hate that Dontrelle has fallen...I didn't mean to get on anyone else there, so sorry.

PWG: Yeah, it is mean. If you think of the Marlins in a very general way, of course you want them to win and get the most out of their trades of the players that you love. Especially as a Marlins fan, we have to care about the replaceable team that our owners have given us and not about individual heros. However, the reaction to a Marlin legend dealing with a serious, elusive problem should not be: well, at least we exploited him. We should care about him as a player because he was a Marlin. Caring about the Marlins for me is synonymous with caring about each Marlin. I want the Marlins to win. Who doesnt want the Marlins to win? But, we are fans for more than just this simple minded reason. We are fans because we care about players and we care about personalities and we care about stories. In that light, this story sucks. That Dontrelle can never save a team like he did for us in 2003 does not make me think: at least we won in 2003. That Dontrelle can't make another over the top smiley commercial with kids does not make me think that, well, at least he had those sweet commercials when he was with the Marlins and not with Detroit. If you care about the Marlins without caring about the players that they employ you like a uniform or Jeff Loria. I've been a Marlins fan for 15 years, and I can tell you that of all the attractive things we have to offer, the owners and the uniforms have traditionally not been among the top two of them. I feel terrible for Willis because he gave me memories, and I feel terrible for the Detroit fans who couldn't share those.

sounds mean but at least we got the most we could get for him. You're damn right it sounds mean. Because it's mean. Knock it off. I wish him the best, and I look forward to the day that he can make a comeback. I sincerely hope that day comes.

A) Expensive...we are going to be shedding salary at the end of the year with many of our players entering arbitration for the first time. We are all about taking risks, but not expensive risks. The players that we are willing to spend money on (Ramirez...well...only Ramirez) we do so because of the obvious lack of risk associated with them. B) The Tigers traded for both Dontrelle and Cabrera. As much as we'd like to say that egos don't come into these things and imagine that GMs make decisions in a logical bubble, Dombrowski is on the line in a big way. He will try and rehab Dontrelle as hard as he can, and the only way that he could move him is if he showed any shade of his previous value. As it stands, Dontrelle is a stock he bought on its decline. He's not about to sell until it exceeds its original value. Maybe not 2005 but certainly 2006. It would be a serious black eye for Dombrowski to trade Dontrelle to the Marlins 6 months after acquiring him FROM the Marlins at a far lower value. As much as we love the guy, he's not coming over here. He has some demons in his delivery to work out, but he will do so with the Tigers and not with the Marlins.

I know we still have a while until Anibal Sanchez returns from the DL (4-6 weeks I think ?) I think it will be closer to 4 weeks: C. Disabled List-Assignment to Minor League club (1) There shall be no assignment of a Player by a Major League Club to a Minor League club while such Player is on a Major League Disabled List; provided, however, that with the Player'swritten consent, a copy of which shall be forwarded to the Association, and with the approval of the Commissioner, a Player on the Disabled List may be assigned to a Minor League club for up to a maximum of twenty days (thirty days for pitchers) for each injury, or reoccurrence of an injury, for the purpose of rehabilitation, subject to the limits contained in Article XIII(H). Separate consent shall be required for a rehabilitation assignment for a new injury or a reoccurrence of an injury. No consent shall be effective for longer than twenty days (thirty days for pitchers). Players may not be reinstated from the Disabled List for purposes of assignment to a Minor League club until they are ready to play. Players who are injured and not able to play may not be assigned to a Minor League club. CBA Article XIX Section C He pitched his first MiLB rehab assignment on the 3rd. Unless he gets re-injured, he up no later than August 3. This was all interesting and stuff that I didn't know before, but Anibal doesn't obey these rules. Think Liriano injury and not David Ortiz injury. Anibal was sent down before his injury so he is technically still in the minor leagues and so doesn't have to obey 25 man roster rules. The reason he is in the minors is not because he is injured but because he was there in 2007. They'll take as much time with him as they need to make sure he's ready. No timetable controls their actions besides if they are trying to avoid an arbitration year, which would be another parallel to liriano.

Hanley doesn't really showboat much, and I agree that losing bases because of showboating would be bad. That being said, I would never be upset having Manny Ramirez on my team. Too much is made of his eccentric behavior and not enough about his bat. If Hanley could hit like Manny in his prime, he can act however he likes. If he loses a base once every ten bases, its a base that another SS wouldn't have even had a chance at. We should appreciate him for whomever he becomes because talent is much rarer than sportsmanlike conduct.

A pretty logical, low cost solution might be to find a buyer for mike jacobs and move him for a B level starting pitching prospect. Then put McPherson at 3b, who has better all around defense, and shift Cantu over to first, where he could be a modest improvement over Jacobs' defense. This scheme doesn't seem to subtract anything from the offense while the defense improves and we get a small prize with that prospect. The way we are going, we are just having a very good AAA, over the hill prospect. Time to bring Dallas up and see what he can do. He has over a 900 OPS away, and at home, well, its ridiculous.

We nearly ended Tom Glavine's career on a sour note, now we could have possibly ended John Smoltz's career on a sour note. :notworthy Too bad we still lost the game :confused Don't be a jerk; not only did the marlins have nothing to do with this but also its the end of a hall of fame career that we're talking about. He's a Brave, but he's still one of the ten most distinguished pitchers of his generation. Hope he can find a way to come back.

Pronunciation on Eulogio? I imagine it is ay-ooh-LO-hee-oh. Thoughts? I'm not watching the game.

I realized that I don't know that much about Andrew Miller's pitches. Does anybody know velocity/what he throws/ why we project him to be an ace? Thanks guys.

It's not a real power ranking...it's a power ranking based on the gossipy "page 2" qualifications. In other words, kyle kendrick's prank is better than the boston red sox's "no news" offseason, which placed them solidly in the middle of the pack. Obviously its humor, and Cody Ross is not ACTUALLY making us a contender by having technologically dubious hamstring surgery. I think that its a measure of how silly the power rankings' descriptions usually are that so many people thought this was a real power ranking.

Spring Training season tickets are already on sale. Here's a list of packages available. Individual game tickets go on sale on Saturday, January 26, 2008. For more info go to RogerDeanStadium.com Ok, thats great. I really appreciate your help on that one! Thanks!

I'm trying to get a nice present for my dad, and I was wondering whether anyone knew anything about when spring training tickets go on sale/ what kind of packages are available. It seems to me that they don't go on sale for a little while, but I thought that someone here would know more exactly than me. Thanks in advance!

frankly I'm less than impressed, another washed up veteran acquired by the Pods, like Piazza before him and Maddox now..... ok, maybe only 90 percent washed up....of course if he follws the Clemens work out regimen he'll get better as he hits 40 and win an MVP over there.... I mean, in light of recent days news, I think we should all take a step back before we congratulate Clemens on his workout regimen. I think that if Edmonds went on THAT he would be banned for fifty days.

I was looking on BA for organizational rankings and couldn't find them anywhere. Does anyone know when they are coming out or, in general, where to find them? I would be curious to know where we rank after the Cabrera/Willis trade and also curious to see where the diamondbacks are/were before their haren trade. Any help would be much appreciated!

Not such a great move. They could have gotten something better at that price! They could have had the Florida Marlins at that price!

Rferry I appreciate that you are looking at this from an open perspective, but I'm confused with a couple of points that I hope you can address. 1) You can prove easily that the Marlins have a bad business model and that if they had a normal payroll and did not have revenue sharing, they would make no money. That being said, those aren't realities. When 30 million comes in after a profit of 10 million (estimated), you aren't poor anymore. So, yes, bad business model. But no profit? Which leads me to my next point: 2) You waver between saying that the Marlins are operating at a loss and saying that there is no reason why they SHOULDN'T be making money because they have lost money in the past. Which one is it? Do you think they are recouping their losses or do you think they are actually in financial peril right now? 3) If you believe the former model that they are recouping costs, don't you think they have already done that? Your numbers are dishonest here, "proving" the losses of 2003 and the following years, but lets assume (and, again, its not correct to do so) that you are right. They would have made up for those losses in one year of operating in this slashed payroll. What's the excuse for three years? Is there no balance that you can see here? 4) Really, I just care about this question. 30 million dollars is a lot of money. Where do YOU think it goes. Honestly, where is all of that revenue sharing money going. If you really believe your losses argument, where is it going? It seems like there is a giant elephant in the room and instead of addressing it you reference forbes.com, etc. In your own words, where is all the money going if it is NOT going into fine art or into building a New Haven library wing? And finally, to emphasize, where the hell is the money going?

Uh oh, PECOTA is not that high on Maybin. Damn it, Beinfest! What are you thinking? http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfilter...91/?affiliate=3 Correct me if I'm wrong, but PECOTA doesn't normally like toolsy guys I mean, pecota was really down on hanley too from his minor league numbers. Of course, i think that he was more of an exception to statistical projection than the rule, but he does prove how, like you were saying, those tools guys can surprise. It's easy to look at some strikeout totals and be discouraged, but I do think that when there is such rapid progress through a minor league system, it's hard to differentiate between real weaknesses and adjustments to a new level. I think that Maybin is certainly in a better position to succeed than Hanley was.

And Swift is right. Barring a drastic turnaround in the level of drama in the current Fall Classic, this is perhaps the worst postseason I've ever seen. I think this is a joke but I can't tell. The inclusion of the Rockies iin the playoffs makes this, without a doubt, an exciting postseason. Anytime a team that is completely unknown can carry a storyline and make people care about them, I think it's good for baseball and engaging for the audience. Also, that Cleveland series, regardless of who you were rooting for, was awesome. Results from game 1 of the world series weren't what you wanted, but how can you say that this postseason is boring? Would you rather have the Cardinals beating the Tigers?! Now THAT postseason was ridiculous. I think that this is one of the BETTER postseasons in a while. Even with Dane Cook and Tim McCarver annoying me on a nightly basis.