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Willingham picking it up recently with somewhat steady playing time. Will always be a credible trade from the salary point though. We couldn't keep them.

Baker Cantu Hermida Hanley Uggla Ross Maybin Bonifacio/Coghlan Pitcher Our biggest run producer in the 2 spot? I don't think I can agree with that or Hermida as the number 3 hitter, he is more suited for the lead off spot or hitting 2nd, given that his OBP is really high while his SLG is not that high, I don't think he can hit in the 3 spot. Cantu is not our biggest run producer, Hanley is. And Hermida in the 3 because, while the 3 spot is important, it is much less important than typically assumed. The #3 hitter comes to the plate an unusually high number of times with 2 outs and no one on base (according to noted sabermetrician Tom Tango in his book "The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball"). Here's what Sky Kalkman says about constructing batting lineups, so I kinda followed that. In plain English (sort of), we want to know how costly making an out is by each lineup position, based on the base-out situations they most often find themselves in, and then weighted by how often each lineup spot comes to the plate. Here's how the lineup spots rank in the importance of avoiding outs: #1, #4, #2, #5, #3, #6, #7, #8, #9. So, you want your best three hitters to hit in the #1, #4, and #2 spots. Distribute them so OBP is higher in the order and SLG is lower. Then place your fourth and fifth best hitters in the #5 and #3 holes, with the #5 spot usually seeing the better hitter, unless he's a high-homerun guy. Then place your four remaining hitters in decreasing order of overall hitting ability, with base-stealers ahead of singles hitters. #3 and #4 should be slugging guys because their at bats are more likely to be either with men on base or with 1 or 2 out. #3 should definitely be an average-OBP, all-slugging guy. Uggla or Cantu are better fits for #3. Baker maybe for situational hitting, but recall that your #3 is more likely to bat with 1 or 2 outs. Therefore a big bat has the most value. Hanley and Hermida don't fit that stereotype - their OBP value is wasted coming up with 1/2 out. Batting 2nd maximizes Hanley's awesomeness (granting him more at bats) and versatility (playing second leadoff hitter, slugging them in, speed on bases). Although for the strategy to work, your manager has to resist being an idiot and taking the bat out of his hands to situational hit. The role of the 2nd hitter in the lineup is not merely to advance the leadoff runner. The role of the 2nd hitter is to continue to the rally and allow your big bats a chance to bat in succession and knock someone in. Sacrificing outs for bases prevents teams from reaching that 5th or 6th guy in the order and truly frustrating the opposing pitcher.

Got to put him on the playoff roster by August 31st

Missing "W''s on the schedule page

why do people always suggesting calling people up and puttign them in a different postion? people have said call up morrison and put him in the outfield when hes a first baseman and now people are saying call up chris when the marlins are commited to having him play second. why do people always do this. Miguel Cabrera

They are nice to look at, but they don't tell you much about the season the player had if you don't look at them in context. Case in point, Joe Carter had two seasons where he had an OPS+ under 100 (below league average) and had 100 RBIs. He also had 7 seasons of 100 RBI and an OBP under .315. Those are not good years, despite the RBIs. The guy had a f***ing .681 OPS in 1997 with 100+ RBI because he batted 3rd or 4th 157 times that year. 1990, 30 years old, peak of his career, MVP candidate. 115 RBIs with a .681 OPS. Any wonder why no one behind him in the order had 60 RBIs and his team was under .500.

ok, now this is the mindset of a person who has been brainwashed by the marlins bullsh*t over the years. It's a good mindset...especially when you consider the corner infield depth in the organization. yes, because we have seen that the lack of experience in the infield over the years has led to this team consistently making the playoffs Fine. Then we'll pick up an experienced .800 OPS corner infielder on the cheap. Those are easy to find. See Helms, Boone, Cantu.

Seriously. A good bullpen offers many types of pitchers. All things being equal, batters have a difficult time adjusting to a new look late in the game. Thus we should send down 1 of the 3 for a guy who throws in the 70s.

Teams make drastic changes to get better bats on the field. Teams only move great bats when absolutely necessary. Teams don't go changing franchise players to accommodate temporary current roster needs. Unless that franchise player is Craig Biggio. The 25-year old franchise player at catcher who they moved to second base to play 162 games a year injury-free or the 37-year old who they moved to accommodate a MVP candidate?

Teams make drastic changes to get better bats on the field. Teams only move great bats when absolutely necessary. Teams don't go changing franchise players to accommodate temporary current roster needs.

LandShark would make for a good name for the baseball stadium. HomeDepot or Publix Stadium would be lame.

Good riddance. I'd always been a skeptic and never saw any reason to think otherwise. He's sort of like Robert Andino. A player in your system you know isn't going anywhere. You don't care where he goes or what you get back. You just want him gone. Not at all fair to Andino. If we didn't have Hanley Ramirez, Andino would have probably been our starting SS in 2006, and I think he would have done ok. More Alex Gonzalez than Hanley Ramirez at the plate, but Andino had his moments as well. But the difference is that Andino was held back in our organization by the fact that Hanley Ramirez is on our roster while Logan Kensing was held back by the fact that he's just not very good at the only thing he does. And Matt Treanor was our starting C. What does that tell you? Andino was a filler. 4 spring trainings to make the team. Never earned even a steady bench spot. Filler. That was Kensing too. He was brought up because we wouldn't risk promoting our other prospects after their seasons had already completed. Gunderson will be lucky to reach the AAAA-level those two did, but he's got a chance. His numbers are impressive even for his age.

Still think it's ironic that Taylor is taking Kensing's place on the roster. 5 years ago Kensing came up for similar reasons as Taylor.

Please change the lineup. Hanley gets nothing to hit when Gload is the one on deck. Move Uggla, Hermida or Ross up to the clean up spot.

Logan Kensing, you know without the August pennant race thing

Call them what you want, but 1997/8 was a power play and 2005/6 was financially necessary and appropriate. There's really no equating the two.

Marlins lineup: Bonifacio 3B Hermida LF H. Ramirez SS Helms 1B Uggla 2B Paulino C C. Ross RF Maybin CF Nolasco SP Hanley needs protection. Bump Uggla up on days when Cantu sits. No chance opposing pitchers give any thing to Hanley when all they have to fear is a single from Gload or Helms.

Shell has awesome stuff, but no poise. If we needed bullpen help, I'd consider him. He also has no job, he was DFA'd. (random thoughts and wild-azz speculation ~~~>)Would Pedro join Dunn in DC? Would the Lerners' spend the money? Who can they trade (Anderson Hernandez? Dukes?) to fill out their pitching needs? Acta, at one point says, "We should have already won the series..." talking about the two games previous and Marlins fan or no, I think we all know that's has a shred of truth to it. Frankly I hope they get better in a hurry and beat up on the rest of the NL East since we don't see them for a couple of months. Kind why I brought it up. The team president runs the show in DC. He's the guy that helped build the Braves dynasty. Wouldn't expect too many moves until the Nats have some depth in their farm system.

Shell has awesome stuff, but no poise. If we needed bullpen help, I'd consider him.

Dibble is a major homer for the Nats. Take his hating on EB as a compliment. EB and the Marlins have gotten under the skin of all Nats fans.

No one's saying Bonifacio is perfect. There's things he could work on. However, as a leadoff hitter, the ultimate goal should be a good OBP. If changes in his approach/swing/etc. result in fewer strikeouts and a bad OBP, then that would be terrible. The last thing you want to do with a unique talent is push them through some rigid mold.

Regarding Bonifacio, a leadoff and supposedly contact hitter striking out 7 of 10 at bats. Isn't this some kind of record, even for HR hitters like Uggla. That's just wrong. Otherwise, I agree, play Gload more often. Unless the OBP drops below, strikeouts for leadoff batters don't matter. It's not like they're failing to push base runners across the bases. Much of theime, it doesn't matter if they get out by a fly out, strike out or ground out.

Whoever that guy was wearing #42 today. AMAZING job by him. I agree, you know, that #42 also did suck. I mean #42 also gave up 10 runs to those MARLINS Would have given up more if #42 hadn't recorded those 27 outs

I heard Rich mention something about it. Bugs Boni This is baseball, not porn

Already had a good parking spot