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"Furci" (with a "k" sound) as Redmond is now referring to him is 3 for 16, .188. How exciting. He's not going anywhere, soon. Not even to SS. Too bad, an accurate relay throw (from the SS) would have easily nailed that last PIT run at the plate. Unlke, say, that wildly off-line (by 8 or 10 feet) throw by Hech. I'm not a big WAR-type stats guy, but I can already hear the whir of the WAR calculators revving up. And it ain't good for the Hech.

Yep. Deadspin's expose was BS. Correct, minus your mistaken sarcasm. The fact that it's release Ah, that's "its," not "it's." But, considering your lack of ability to decipher or understand financials, or to recognize BS from other people who don't know what they're talking about when it comes to financials, I wouldn't expect you to get elementary punctuation right, either. just happened to coincide with a well publicized mandate from MLB to the Florida Marlins to stop operating how they had been was just a pure coincidence. That statement is laughable. Not to mention totally false. There was NO "well publicized mandate from MLB" to anyone, never mind to the Marlins "to stop operating how they had been." There was a press release by the MLBPA which was nothing but spin by the MLBPA, trying to divert attention away from their failed attempt to compel the Marlins to do anything whatsoever: In response to our concerns that revenue-sharing proceeds have not been used as required, the Marlins have assured the union and the commissioner’s office that they plan to use such proceeds to increase player payroll annually as they move toward the opening of their new ballpark,� Michael Weiner, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, said in a statement. The statement was totally meaningless and had no effect whatsoever on the Marlins. They "assured" everyone that they were going to do exactly what they always said they were going to do anyway, none of which had any legal effect on anything. There is not one word that says the Marlins have ever done anything but abide by baseball's Basic Agreement. Not. One. Word. A total joke. You, of course, thought that a BS, meaningless PR statement from the MLBPA actually meant something. Not just deadspin either, pretty much every report ever about the Marlins, their finances, and how they operate, points to the same thing. Really? Every report? Quote ANY "report" that says any such thing other than one quoting the idiots at Dead Spin. But we as fans are supposed to ignore it and take the word from a random message board poster(who never actually provides any substantiating evidence himself) Believe whatever you want, but you're mistaken about me and evidence. There's been plenty. You just chose to ignore it and continue to do so. who has really done nothing but be an apologist for Jeffrey Loria since the moment he joined the board. That's just your mistaken opinion. Counts for nothing. My words and the facts I've cited are all here in the record.

So horrible they only managed to make huge profits each year. Amazing how other teams with similar finances to the Marlins ... You know, I've been ignoring your "huge profits" BS for a long time now, but, I guess unsurprisingly, you persist in trying to peddle it. I'm sorry that you place so much credence in Dead Spin's surface-analysis baloney and neophyte financial rubbish, but that's your choice. It was ripped into a pile of feathers and is total crap. If you continue, I'll just have to dredge up the numbers and footnotes that prove your claims to be totally inaccurate. They're all here, somewhere.

Just do it, already. And while they're at it, there are about 6 other guys who need to go. I'm looking at you, Hech, Solano, Furcal and Mathis. And pick 2 of Hatcher/Jennings/Dunn. As far as I'm concerned, they could dump Turner, Wolf, Slowey, Hech, Solano, Mathis, Furcal, Hatcher, Jennings and Dunn. No matter who they replace them with, it can't be worse and it might be better. It's just tiring watching the same guys fail over and over again exactly when and where you expect them to fail. Time to bring up and/or trade for some new blood. 40% of this team doesn't belong on any MLB roster. Of course, next we get Kevin Gregg. That would bring the percentage up except that he'll replace someone else who also doesn't belong on an MLB roster. Time for wholesale changes if they expect to do anything other than play 500 ball (if that) for the rest of the year.

Twine will tie them into knots at 2B or SS. So to speak. Or so we might hope. He seems to be a talented athlete, maybe he'll work out. Meanwhile, speaking of his namesake in terms of some totally off-topic esoterica, the last time I drove by the world's largest twine ball in Darwin, Minnesota (pop. 300, no traffic lights) on Highway 12 in about 1974, the ball was sitting in the guy's front yard, maybe 75 yards off the highway and it looked like this: https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTQOEapHjzRXQDsB90ndZIsfAlu60NsHQw1DrcpnxUD2vIINSzN The first time I saw it I thought "Hmm, that's a BIG friggin' ball of twine. Weird. Why would anyone do that?" Today, I'd think that whoever rolled it better hope that some kid doesn't come by with a can of spray paint or a butane torch. The guy who rolled it (since 1950 or 1953, accounts vary) died and the town of Darwin wound up with it (no pun intended) in 1989 and they turned it into a tourist trap, complete with gift shop: https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT4bW18CIwxeonxAN0QBdW-jX-dekYXbPTHbgPvj4N4aSyw4Lg9lQ And now it looks like this: https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ-ownfLcYbf5S0roGnMiDHQoyCpJXm_-2xjaGT9iBRw5SxQtvl7w Safe from spray painting and/or torching. Considering that the thing weighs about 20,000 pounds and the name of the town that it's in, it would have been more Darwinian if it had rolled over and crushed him at some point. Better story, too.

Aaron Attaway? It's ridiculous how hard a simple list of all 40 rounds is to find on a search. Lots of articles, no links to the full list. For anyone who cares, here's one: http://www.mymlbdraft.com/2014/mlb-draft-results-round-1

The Marlins simply f***ed up majorly by not offering Cabrera an extension when he was in his pre-arbitration years. But, they didn't, so they were hoist on their own petard. After figuring out that they couldn't even afford Delgado (at least Loria tried) because of the crummy attendance, they had to dump Cabrera lest he walk away for nothing. Paying him and Willis another year of arb? Forget it. Moving Willis, the soon-to-be total bust turned out to be a very smart move to the tune of at least 10 mill. DET got 2 wins for their 29 mill/3 years. Cabrera? What? Maybe 50 to 100 mill of stupid, defining "stupid" as how much under his value he could have been signed for on a 10-year deal back in '03 or '04 or even '05? 10/100 when he turned out to be worth 10/150 or 10/200? Something like that. Amazing how some people (not referring to you) completely forget (or never knew and maybe still don't know) how horrible the financial deal was in the football stadium back then. In any case, in hindsight you're quite right, a long-term deal would have been wise. Imagine a world where they'd been somehow able to retain Cabrera and Ramirez (minus their youthful attitudes) to go with Stanton and Fernandez, not to mention Yelich and Ozuna, with Heaney on the way imminently. Instead, they have to go forward with those last 5 home-grown guys plus Alvarez, Eovaldi, Cishek, Ramos, Capps, some stop-gap FAs and a pretty good minor league system including Marisnick, Moran, Dietrich and Realmuto (never mind that he's up for the moment) that's loaded with pitching, fortified by making 100+ million of bad FA signings. At least idiocy has some recompense. So, it ain't all bad, mistakes notwithstanding, we still have a solid core of a team that can do a lot of damage in the next few years. All we really need is a SS.

What's sad is that this guy who is supposed to be making progress, isn't. Not good to have a gaping hole when you're a borderline, maybe-in-contention team. Bring Dietrich back, move Furcal to SS and send Hech to AAA. That can't possibly be worse, and might be better.

Which is very atypical of the Marlins. Typical, not atypical. Picking up his entire remaining nut in return for prospects would have been atypical.

The point is that 251/313/347/660 in 800+ ABs is better than 235/272/303/575 in 778 ABs. Not a lot better, not a solution, but better. Less gnashing of teeth. Definitely an upgrade. Not a big upgrade, not a long-term upgrade, but an upgrade nonetheless. Not hilarious. Sorta sad. But, not to worry, they won't do it. They love the Hech.

Like Amezaga, Furcal is 36. Probably the same deal: Better than Hech by 100+ OPS. Bring back Dietrich to play 2B and let Solano ride the pine in AAA. But, they won't. Yet. Maybe someday soon.

Volstad pitched 3.5 years for us. Mostly every 5 days. That's approximately .7 year of full-time play or 113 games. Hech has played 212 games and still sucks in a Volstad-like way, that is to say, generally and convincingly. In any case, by the Volstad measure, his time is more than up, yet he's still here. Hey, just for fun, Amezega is 36 and playing in the Mexican League. He'd be minimum salary cheap and more fun to watch. He'd make the occasional great play and probably put up a 100 point better OPS. Plus, he knows how to actually steal a base. Trivia: Volstad is now pitching in Korea for the Doosan Bears. He still sucks, only worse. 62 IP, 6.13 ERA, 1.82 WHIP, 6 HBP, 86 H, 6 HR, .339 BAA, the awfulness just goes on and on. Doesn't look like he's gonna pull a McGehee and return to MLB any time soon.

I wonder how long they'll let him crash and burn. Surely, there's a limit.

Catcher: (After moving glove toward plate after catch) Did you see that, Mr. Ump? Ump: Yeah, I saw it. That was out. Front of the plate. Catcher: I know, I've never fooled anyone except this one guy who was drunk in Little League, but I bet I made every commentator blabber on about framing for at least 15 seconds. They love it, it's good filler after a ball. Ump: You're trying to sway public opinion against the competency of umps. We have enough problems without that sh!t, so knock it off.

And one more -- Rich and/or Tommy are surprised when a catcher (ours or theirs, doesn't matter) tries to "frame" a pitch to get a strike called and, lo and behold, it doesn't work. IT NEVER WORKS. Are these guys ever going to learn? Umps call pitches at the front edge of the plate -- as Rich never tires of telling everyone -- they don't give a crap when the catcher tries to fake them out by moving his glove an inch or two. It happened right in front of them, they're not fooled. Why do they bother yakking about total BS, that is, "framing"? Do they really think umps are that stupid? Granted, some of them aren't very good, but they're not stupid. Just. Stop. It.

And another strange surprise -- after 65 games Tampa has the worst record in all of MLB. They're on pace to lose 2 more games than the Marlins lost last year. Go figure.

Here's another surprise -- or mystery, such as they are. Carl Pavano was hired on 4/15/14 by Fox Sports for Marlins games. I saw him once or twice on the pre/post-game shows, once with Tommy and Rich during a game. He's since disappeared. Poof! Whatever happened to Carl?

"as if the gap never happened." Makes sense.

We technically don't have to re-sign him, just negotiate a fair contract. Hmm. According to Cot's he was "signed by Miami as a free agent 12/18/13." 1.1 mill. How, exactly, he became a FA is a bit of a mystery since he's been around MLB since very late 2008 and spent 2013 in Japan. He was an arb guy in 2012. '09-'10-'11 minimum MLB salary, '12-'13-'14 normally arb years. Signed with MIL in '12, avoiding arb, but then he took off for Japan in '13. So, '14 should have been an arb year, but for some unknown reason he was a FA. Did not signing with any MLB team in '13 blow up his arb status and turn him into a FA? If he has a 3rd year of arb available (the 6th year of 6 years (1st 5 being '09-'10-'11-'12-'14) of MLB service,) that would definitely be '15. But, he apparently wasn't an arb guy in '14, his upcoming 5th year of MLB service. How does a guy with 4 years of service before signing as a FA in '14 become not-a-FA with 5 years of service for '15? Or, put another way, if he wasn't an arb guy for '14, how does he become an arb guy for '15? Maybe by playing a 5th year of MLB? 'Tis a puzzlement. Anyway, if he is an arb guy for '15, I'm sure that they'll be happy to work something out with him. Trivia -- PIT traded McGehee to the NYY straight-up for Chad Qualls in '12.

I tend to think that everything they do is within budget constraints as Loria tries to figure out how to sign Stanton long-term while keeping him happy short-term. The main money to do so is the national TV (24-25 mill/yr) money, but every mill counts. So far, they've done well with their minor FA signings, McGehee, etc. and not too bad with Salty. Gregg, well, we'll see. He'll just be a minor mistake like Marmol if he doesn't work out. Bring up Heaney for a real surprise. Next year? Fernandez, Eovaldi, Alvarez, Heaney, whoever (and whoever will be pretty good)? With Stanton, Yelich, Ozuna? Maybe resign McGehee while waiting for Moran, Dietrich will be back up, Jones at 1B, maybe Hech improves a little? That's a pretty good team. Realmuto may turn out to be a very pleasant surprise -- I'd love to see him turn Salty into the back-up. Good-bye Mathis. The biggest non-surprise? Furcal. Notice how nobody even mentions him? He wins the non-surprise prize. 3.5 mill wasted, or at least 1.75 at this point.

I've been 6'5" 220 for decades. When you're a #2 pick, 102 mph, 18 year-old fire-baller, you grow an inch and 25 pounds in a week. :lol

Jones IS painful to watch in the field. Not too long ago, he threw to the covering pitcher (I forget who it was) overhand (way behind him) and that turned into a disaster. Then, he tries underhand with no velocity. Could he have thrown it any softer? Girls who play softball can sling it underhand at 60 mph. What's next? Hike it? The guy has almost 400 MLB games at 1B. He should of learned this stuff years ago. Good thing he can hit. Paging Perry Hill...

Well, we'll find out who was over-or-under-slot after they've signed (hopefully all of) them. They scouted Kolek multiple times over many months, and were highly impressed. I've seen nothing that even hints that the FO ever liked Rodon over Kolek. They wanted Kolek, they got him. In any case, if they had really wanted Rodon, since Loria is almost universally (although often unjustifiably) known as "cheap" (or worse) it would have been no big deal for them to say "we were equally interested in (or even would have preferred) Rodon but were concerned about signing him."

Nope, no evidence at all that they really wanted a guy who can throw 102 in high school. Stan Meek, Marlins’ VP of scouting: “There were some other guys that we had interest in, too. But in the end we targeted this as the guy we hoped fell to us.� Besides the fastball, Kolek throws an 80-82 mph curveball and 88-90 mph changeup. “His delivery jumps out at you,� Meek said. “For such a big man, he’s got a very quiet easy delivery which should equate to a plus strike-thrower. The one thing that we’ve got to do is get his breaking ball a little more consistent.� When asked for comparisons, Meek naturally went to another hard-throwing Texan from the Houston area, Roger Clemens. “You hate to put these kinds of names on him,� Meek said. “But you kind of see some Roger Clemens in his delivery, in the power delivery that he has … He’s just way bigger than Roger.� Meek said the closest thing he had seen to Kolek from a high school pitcher was Jose Fernandez, who hit 98 mph. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/sports/marlins-select-hard-throwing-high-schooler-with-no/ngFf2/ "88-90 mph changeup." Randy "My fastball hits 90 on a good day" Wolf, eat your heart out. Meanwhile, the desire to trash Loria continues unabated.

Unfortunately that would only mask the problem, the front office. I dunno. Maybe Gregg has pictures. Then again, maybe it's a hopeful sign. That is, the FO realizes that the rest of the junk in the BP is so bad that Gregg would represent some sort of minimal improvement. In which case, perhaps we could look forward to some sort of wholesale junking and improvement next year. Better yet, this year, but I won't hold my breath.