Fish Dynasty

I don't see the game on ESPN. Is it only me? It's tomorrow. And it will probably be blacked out down here, anyways. Could be wrong, but I thought only TBS games were blacked out down here?

Sunday, September 27 Jacksonville at Houston (1:00 PM) Tennessee at N.Y. Jets (1:00 PM) Kansas City at Philadelphia (1:00 PM) Washington at Detroit (1:00 PM) Cleveland at Baltimore (1:00 PM) N.Y. Giants at Tampa Bay (1:00 PM) Green Bay at St. Louis (1:00 PM) Atlanta at New England (1:00 PM) San Francisco at Minnesota (1:00 PM) New Orleans at Buffalo (4:05 PM) Chicago at Seattle (4:05 PM) Miami at San Diego (4:15 PM) Denver at Oakland (4:15 PM) Pittsburgh at Cincinnati (4:15 PM) Indianapolis at Arizona (8:20 PM) Monday, September 28 Carolina at Dallas (8:30 PM) 12-4

What's wrong with someone being back in the top 25 when you beat the #7 team in the nation at their house by 26? Absolutely nothing. I know, I was responding to the original poster.

Believe it or not, some casual fans have never heard of Hanley. Same goes for many other great players on small market teams (Greinke, Longoria, Adrian Gonzalez, etc.) How casual do you mean?!?! I find it hard to believe "baseball fans" are unaware of Hanley who leads the NL in batting average and is a top 3 fantasy player and Grienke who should win the AL Cy Young this year. By casual I mean non-fantasy baseball players. If you simply watch ESPN, which doesn't televise any Marlin games, and whose shows barely talk about the team, if at all, you really don't hear about those players.

Believe it or not, some casual fans have never heard of Hanley. Same goes for many other great players on small market teams (Greinke, Longoria, Adrian Gonzalez, etc.)

Oh, I wasn't trying to say that Sanchez's 2006 was merely lucky. I understand that the LD% is reflective of hitting the ball better. It was an amazing, although there was probably a bit of luck involved, as there probably was in Uggla's 2008, for the reasons you mentioned. 2006 was Uggla's rookie year, obviously, and I'm just saying that if you compare them over the last 3 years and just throw out Uggla's first full season, then he looks like a much stronger player. I do think it's logical to compare the full 4 seasons, since that's the largest sample we have, I was just saying that the more recent 3-year trend shows Uggla a good bit higher-valued than Sanchez when compared to the 4-year trend. Not sure why Freddy's defense was bad last year - maybe a by-product of struggles at the plate, or just a fluky sample? I don't think it's a fluky sample, since he played for over 1,000 innings, so I would go with the by-product guess. And I used Uggla's 2006 numbers because, like you mentioned, I didn't have that many years to work with, and he was also 26 in his rookie year. If he were 22 or 23, and his power had not yet fully developed, then it would have been different.

What's wrong with someone being back in the top 25 when you beat the #7 team in the nation at their house by 26? I also feel bad for Grothe. I would have rather seen him on the field for this weekend's game. Now I think this has a chance at being a blowout.

If he doesn't ever get to the 200+ inning mark, how do you expect the ACE to get used to the workload? This is like what the Yankees are doing with Joba Chamberlain. I think it's pretty silly. Johnson has thrown over DOUBLE the amount of pitches he threw last year. For someone coming off of major surgery, he shouldn't be throwing 3,000+ pitches in a season. You like to raise the amount as he goes along, but not by that much.

Actually, FishDyn, I may rethink that. I think the gap is larger than I thought. Over the last 4 years, their values: Sanchez - $44.5 milion Uggla - $60.5 million WARs: Sanchez - 11.1 Uggla - 14.4 And that's even if we include Sanchez's outrageous 2006, where he had a .364 BABIP (and a 27% LD%?!?!?!?). And Sanchez's season was horrible last year. I know Uggla had a terrific 2008, to be fair. Sanchez's .324 OBP this year, and below .300 last year, is tough to get past. And again, we should expect Sanchez's overall numbers, especially fielding, to begin getting worse as he gets older, and that's the main source of his even being in the same conversation with Uggla. With the new info, I change my mind to say he's a good bit better than Freddy, but I'm still not sure he gets anything more than an Alderson-type in a trade. I don't think that was Freddy's real value - I just think Sabean screwed up. If you're going to bring up his 2006 season, then you also have to bring up last year, where he had a BABIP .035 below his career average. 2006 doesn't seem like a pure luck season though. His BB/K was much higher than his career average, which isn't a sign of luck, and stats like ISO and HR/FB%, which are usually higher than normal during a lucky season, aren't that high. His ISO in 2006 was nearly identical to his normal ISO, and his HR/FB% was actually lower than normal. A higher LD% also doesn't mean he was lucky, but he was hitting the ball better, which resulted in a raise in his BABIP. That season, his BABIP was .043 above his career average. He had an LD% over three percent higher than normal, and he also had a higher FB%, which is usually better for someone who doesn't have a ton of speed. Can his whole BABIP inflation be related to those factors? Possibly, but not guaranteed. If you want to say that a little bit of luck may have been on his side, then you may be right, but to say that his season was a total fluke is wrong. 2008 is easier to tell that it was a fluke season due to his LD%, GB%, and FB% all being on par for the most part, and the only thing that drastically decreased was his BABIP. I also am not sure what happened to his defense that year, considering that it was his only full season in which he had a negative UZR. Maybe there was an unknown cause for his poor performance. Uggla's 2008 was also a little questionable, when you realize that his ISO, BABIP, and his HR/FB% were all above his career average, while his GB, FB, and LD%s were all roughly the same. Again, I'm not doubting that Uggla is the more valuable, but Sanchez isn't that far behind him. .070 OPS points better plus being slightly worse defensively = better, but not by that much.

I've said this once and I will say it again. If Uggla cannot get us at least a B+/A- Prospect plus a young C+ prospect, I wouldn't even consider trading him. You saw what the Giants traded (Tim Alderson) to get Sanchez, who doesn't even put up nearly as good of numbers as Uggla has in terms of production. The best move for the Marlins would be to take Uggla to arbitration, keep him until July 31st 2010, at which point teams are in dire need for a bat (an Uggla type hitter), and will give up a prospect better than Alderson's caliber for Uggla. That would help us in rebuilding our starting pitching depth in the minors. Actually, Sanchez has been more valuable than Uggla in two of the four years since he joined the league, and Uggla has barely been more valuable than Sanchez this year. So Uggla has been more valuable in 2/4 as well Sanchez will be 32 next opening day, and $8 MM next year and then is a free agent. Uggla will be 29 next opening day, should make about $9 MM next year, and is still club-controlled after that. On balance, I would say Uggla is more valuable, but not necessarily by a massive amount. Your last sentence was exactly what I was trying to say. Uggla has been more valuable, especially when you factor in his age, but not by a huge amount like Dim said.

How often do you attend Marlins games? About ten per year. How would you rate your overall experience(s) at Landshark Stadium (please consider pricing, seating, concessions, comfort, etc.)? Pricing is a little high for the overall product. The only good seats in the house are either club level, infield box (center), and maybe the first few rows of the upper deck. Sitting anywhere else will most likely strain your neck. Overall, I'd give it a two or three out of ten. Are you satisfied with the effort of the Marlins organization, in terms of their commitment to the fans and their commitment to winning baseball? Yes. They're in the process of building a new stadium, and they're payroll is about as high as it can go for the amount of revenue they receive. Do you feel that the new stadium will greatly enhance the overall experience? Well, it can't get much worse, so yes. No more rain delays every other game, no more 100 degree heat on Sunday afternoons, and everything else about it looks good so far. What would you like to see the Marlins do to improve your enjoyment as a fan of Marlins baseball? Show that they're committed to winning, which I think they have for the most part in the past. It will only get better when the new stadium comes.

I've said this once and I will say it again. If Uggla cannot get us at least a B+/A- Prospect plus a young C+ prospect, I wouldn't even consider trading him. You saw what the Giants traded (Tim Alderson) to get Sanchez, who doesn't even put up nearly as good of numbers as Uggla has in terms of production. The best move for the Marlins would be to take Uggla to arbitration, keep him until July 31st 2010, at which point teams are in dire need for a bat (an Uggla type hitter), and will give up a prospect better than Alderson's caliber for Uggla. That would help us in rebuilding our starting pitching depth in the minors. Actually, Sanchez has been more valuable than Uggla in two of the four years since he joined the league, and Uggla has barely been more valuable than Sanchez this year.

Florida is still ranked 1st, what a joke. Yeah, but who else would you put there? #2 Texas beat Texas Tech, who while unranked, was 28th in AP votes and 27 in USA Today. And it wasn't a little 10 point victory either. Texas also played Louisiana-Monroe and Wyoming before beating Tech. Both of them beat cupcake teams their first two games, and then beat decent unranked teams by 10. Even if the Longhorn's wins are slightly better, I'm not complaining about it. The first two were cupcake, I'll give you that, but the third game wasn't, they beat TT by 24 points. Florida was a 28 point favorite and won by 10. For the record I don't hate UF like Dim claimed, I hate the system and have been harping on UF because I think it shows the problems inherent in the system. Texas beat TT by 10, not 24. Both of them have had nearly identical schedules, so I don't have a problem with UF being number one.

Florida is still ranked 1st, what a joke. Yeah, but who else would you put there? #2 Texas beat Texas Tech, who while unranked, was 28th in AP votes and 27 in USA Today. And it wasn't a little 10 point victory either. Texas also played Louisiana-Monroe and Wyoming before beating Tech. Both of them beat cupcake teams their first two games, and then beat decent unranked teams by 10. Even if the Longhorn's wins are slightly better, I'm not complaining about it.

Florida is still ranked 1st, what a joke. Yeah, but who else would you put there?

Just because he has had one good year, or because he isnt getting older doesnt mean he isnt a bad defender. He is flat out bad. I dont even know how you guys think other wise. A ball to either of his side he barely gets to. Even a ball right at him, he usually bobbles it. Because I'm not an ignorant, uneducated "fan" like you? The stats dont lie buddy. He isnt that great defensively this year. How does any of this make me uneducated? And what makes you think im not a fan? The stats show that he has been a slightly below average defensive player the past four years. This year, he has been bad, but judging defensive stats off of one year isn't a good way to measure performance. Normally, the people who tend to ignore stats and simply create uninformed opinions (i.e. Hermida is worthless, Maybin is terrible, etc.), are the same people who are bandwagon fans.

Just because he has had one good year, or because he isnt getting older doesnt mean he isnt a bad defender. He is flat out bad. I dont even know how you guys think other wise. A ball to either of his side he barely gets to. Even a ball right at him, he usually bobbles it. Because I'm not an ignorant, uneducated "fan" like you?

If Erick was a manager the Marlins would be 162-0. First he would look at the box scores. If the starting pitcher got the loss he would say, he doesnt belong on the team, and should be in the majors. If a reliever gets a loss, he would say he would have used another pitcher that would have pitched a scoreless innings. Because he knows when and who to use in every situation to make scoreless innings. And If a batter when 0 for.. then he would have had him sit that day because he though he needed a break. Second guessing baseball coaches. Got to love it. Some people, like you, make it seem like a manager has more of an impact on the game than the actual players. I'd like to see you come up with a few things that Fredi has done, that most (educated) people on this board wouldn't have done. The difference between baseball and many other sports is that games are played by the stats. If you know the stats, and know how to make educated decisions based off of them, then I don't see how there would be that big of a difference between Fredi's managerial moves and an educated fan's. Of course, you can always just take the obvious stance and say that a fan couldn't do better than the actual manager like you are doing now, without even realizing the impact of a managers moves and how he makes his decisions.

http://www.fangraphs...on=2009&month=0 tells me Uggla is bad at playing D This year, at least. He's really just been inconsistent. In his four years, he's had one good year, one above average year, and two bad years. So what can you draw from that? Probably a slightly below average defensive player, but not horrible. Don't forget though, that as he starts to age, his range is going to keep on decreasing.

Awesome game for the Noles. This should get us back in the top 20.

I was the first guy to introduce Cot's to the mb.com. Yeah, it was either you or someone else that presented Coghlan to us at the beginning of the 2008 season as the "good hitter, average plate discipline, low power, terrible terrible defensive player". All I remember from all the reports was the Coghlan was terribad at 2B, just goes to show how sometimes scouts are dumbshits in evaluating players. I don't get this post. We haven't even seen Coghlan play second base, so why are you already calling the scouts idiots? There were scouts that mentioned Coghlan played every position below average defensively, but I think its safe to say without even watching Coghlan play at 2B that they were idiots. So you're telling me that you can magically predict the future and say that Coghlan won't be a bad defensive second baseman? There isn't even any type of basis for your argument, considering the only position we have seen him play, he hasn't played well at.

I was the first guy to introduce Cot's to the mb.com. Yeah, it was either you or someone else that presented Coghlan to us at the beginning of the 2008 season as the "good hitter, average plate discipline, low power, terrible terrible defensive player". All I remember from all the reports was the Coghlan was terribad at 2B, just goes to show how sometimes scouts are dumbshits in evaluating players. I don't get this post. We haven't even seen Coghlan play second base, so why are you already calling the scouts idiots?

No reason to have surgery if he plans to retire, so he's not retring A torn rotator cuff can often require surgery. Also in answer to another comment, Hampton was significantly better than average. He was good for a little while, but not great, even if you include his .650 career OPS as a hitter.

Four points per TD is standard ESPN scoring.

I thought he was a +10 in RF this season? Last time I heard, he was a little below that, but that was probably over a month ago. I don't know where to find season stats for +/-, so I used UZR. Regardless, I know he hasn't been a great defensive player according to +/- in the past.