Alexdw85

I like Obama but I dont think he should waste political capital here on such a contentious issue. The Israeli (and Palestinians for that matter) have no intention of making any deal so whats the point. Failure in talks has generally led to intifadas and wars in that region and failure is certainly coming with these talks so why risk it. I get the feeling Obama is trying to give the allusion of movement on that front in order to build a consensus to bomb Iran. I say its not worth it.

I lived in orlando for a couple years and unless somthings changed ur gonna be getting Jacksonville. For whatever terrible reason the NFL has designated Orlando a "Jags city" and therefore the Jags get first priority there. Ull get Bucs games too since they are on a separate network but ull have to hope for no Jax scheduling conflicts with Fins games to get those. i recommend checking out one of the many sports bars located in the area. Even though I thought the city itself was kind of blah, I really enjoyed the atmosphere at the sports bars on Sundays. Something thats hard to find in SoFla.

My contention is that they intend to sell the team at a substantial profit once they build the new stadium. Wouldn't the team be worth alot more with a new stadium plus the bonuses of making a profit on concessions and parking?

I know he was a fan favorite and hes was a good fielder but the one thing Im tired of seeing with this team is dumb at bats and tons of strikeouts. This core group of guys (Uggla, Ross, Hanley, Cantu, Jacobs, Hermida, Willingham, etc the post 06 guys) isnt/ wasnt good enough. to get the job done and I dont mind seeing most of them go. Pick the ones who have a future here (hanley and uggla) and dump the rest. The MO of this group has been lots of homeruns, tons of strikeouts, poor fielding and some resilience. I dont mind seeing Ross go because hes essentially a 4th outfielder. If we brought him back as such, I wouldnt mind. That being said, it was real dumb to not move him at the deadline and then let him go for nothing. At least if u even bring him back for next year you can move him in the offseason or during the season. But we got absolutely nothing for him when we could have got more before and maybe even after. They did this to save a million dollars. A million dollars inexplicably spent on keeping Wes Helms. This is poor team management either by Beinfest or Loria or whoever didnt want to deal ross at the deadline and give helms an extension. I want to keepBeinfest but I REALLY cant wait until the art dealer and his little minion are gone from baseball for good.

Dan Uggla is not a great player. Hes a good hitter who plays bad defense. Hes a good #5 hitter. Hes not even amongst the best in baseball as a five hitter because in spite of his power hes really not a great RBI guy. And Id love to give him a 3 year extension, I just wouldnt give him any more than that. I also would spend more than 10 million a year to keep him. I really wish we would move his position too. And people say you cant replace his production as a second baseman which is fine and all but I dont really care what position he plays, moreso than where he hits in the lineup. His position is irrelevant. If we could find an OFer to give us what Uggla gives us than I would gladly move Coghlan to second and sign that guy. Its the guys production, not his position that matters.

I agree with not going over 3 years for any extension for Uggla. Hes a below average fielder at an important position and he makes a lot of mental mistakes through the course of the year. In spite of the fact that he leads the team in RBIs hes not as good of an RBI guy as he should be given his power. (On that note, ive seen him 5 times in the last few weeks come up with a runner on third and less than 2 outs and hes failed to get the guy in each time) That said hes def worth a 3 year extension that we dont pay him too much and we can get him to another position cuz hes one of the worst defensive second baseman in the game.

Im dont really buy the whole " you cant replace his type of power for a 2nd baseman" argument. if he was at 3rd base what would u say then about him? if u let him go and add some more power with a veteran at 3rd or even 1st then his power production can be accounted for. The position he plays is irrelevant. Its where he hits in the lineup. Its nice that hes a second baseman with power, but if we can get that production at some of the other positions than again it doesnt matter what position he plays. Im not bashing the idea of keeping him, I just dont like that argument at all. (If you tell me that Gaby Sanchez has limited power and it will be difficult to make up for his production through signing a veteran at 3rd or for the outfield than I view that as a legit argument) besides defensively hes not a good second baseman either as he struggles turning double plays and has very limited range. we already have above average power at SS and Mike Stanton has plenty of it as well. If we are overspending on Uggla and in lieu of spending money on another starter, bullpen help or a veteran hitter then I have a problem with extending him If we are gonna spend money AND resign Uggla longterm than Im all for that as I think hes an excellent 5 or 6 hitter who will afford Stanton protection. (I just wish we would find him another position).

I know there have been recent talks about signing him to a longterm deal, and Im not entirely opposed to that, but I have some reservations. For one I think hes an ok defensive player but he doesnt have great range and he struggles in turning double plays. Our defense is abysmal to begin with and I think we desparately need an upgrade in that department. Uggla, while not horrible like cantu, is still in my mind a below average 2nd baseman. Is there any way he can play another position like 3rd? Or does he lack the arm? If we could honestly move him from 2nd to somewhere else, id feel alot better of signing him longterm. My second reservation has more to do from an organizational point of view. Given that the FO is real cheap and likes to spends its money wisely, is it really wise to spend this money on resigning Uggla? I like Uggla and like his production but its not like what he does is so spectacular that it cant be replaced. hes a 30 HR, 90 RBI guy who will have an OBP of 350-360 or so and K about 120-150 times a year. Given that we tend to be cheap would it not be better to spend the money we are going to spend on Uggla on some other area of need? I mean we could certainly use a veteran hitter and a decent closer or setup guy or lefty out of the pen. These areas strike me as much more pressing than retaining Ugglas power given that we already have Stanton up and by all accounts hes gonna hit a ton of homers. If I had faith our organization would spend money elsewhere on FA's as well, and would be willing to resign Uggla, Id feel better about the movie. But if the organzation continues to just extend current roster guys, and spend nothing on FA's then I feel this team will continue to be where it is into the forseeable future. I wouldnt mind trading Uggla if we could get something in the way of top pitching prospects or MLB ready pitchers and some veteran hitters. He has value, unlike cantu, helms and even ross. We could also use the money we save from Uggla on some FA's in the offseason.

How do you know that the Marlins would not have signed them long term? If Maybin had been playing well in 2009 and 2010, I guarantee the Marlins would be considering buying out his arbitration right now. Because they didnt do the trade. Those guys were closer to not being under arbitration and the Marlins would have needed to make a financial decision regarding how long they could have those players and whether or not they were willing to give them an extension in the near future. By getting maybin and miller they could stall that process out for a few years (perhaps until they got a stadium). All those players were proven major leaguers who even under arbitration at that point were gonna make a decent amount of money. Given the way the marlins operate its easy to see how they could take the riskier albeit cheaper Tiger option.

The reason the marlins did the tigers deal as opposed to the Dodgers was because as usual they were being CHEAP. Kemp, Billingsley, Loney and Eithier already were in the majors at that point (and had proven they could play at the major league level) and were therefore one year closer to not being arbitration eligible. The Marlins knew this and figured they could control Miller and Maybin a little longer because they had no intention of resigning anyone from the Dodgers deals longterm. The Dodgers deal was better, and so was the Angels but the Marlins are cheap and took the cheaper riskier move instead. Now they look dumb because they traded a HOF player and essentially got a decent long middle reliever and a guy who at the very very best could be Mike Cameron but probably wont be. They may have been saving money in the long run, but it's worth noting that Andrew Miller signed a major league contract out of the draft, guaranteeing him millions before he ever threw a pitch. Now his salaries were only a couple million in the years since the trade, which isn't that much, but that still was 2-3 times as much as a young player getting the minimum would be making. Yeah but i think by that point Kemp and Billingsley and to a lesser extent Loney were getting larger and larger salaries because they had produced at the major league level. I know Miller got a nice contract but almost immediately I think the Marlins would have been paying more for all those guys. Add in LaRoche too (as Im pretty sure he was a major part of that deal) and u can see how the tigers were the cheaper option.

The reason the marlins did the tigers deal as opposed to the Dodgers was because as usual they were being CHEAP. Kemp, Billingsley, Loney and Eithier already were in the majors at that point (and had proven they could play at the major league level) and were therefore one year closer to not being arbitration eligible. The Marlins knew this and figured they could control Miller and Maybin a little longer because they had no intention of resigning anyone from the Dodgers deals longterm. The Dodgers deal was better, and so was the Angels but the Marlins are cheap and took the cheaper riskier move instead. Now they look dumb because they traded a HOF player and essentially got a decent long middle reliever and a guy who at the very very best could be Mike Cameron but probably wont be.

lol @ those thinking we cant get rid of helms because of 'leadership' or 'chemistry'. This team has won nothing. Helms is only a leader on this team because he just so happens to be the veteran on the team. And the reason hes that is because the Marlins are too cheap to go out there and get anyone else. Its by default, not because hes some great team mentor. I think you lead by example. My friend likes to me tell me helms is nice because he gives a 'professional' atbat each time out there. first off, helms strikes out a ton, is not a good situational hitter and makes mental blunders more than the average major leaguer. So considering those are his attributes and hes a 'leader' on this team, its no wonder that our team cant situationally hit, strike out a ton and make mental mistakes consistently. The leader of ur team should also never be a bench player who is at best a mediocre spot starter. And to those who think trading away Helms is giving up on the season, EXACTLY. First off Helms means nothing in terms of wins or losses on this team. Second, this team is going nowhere. They have been the same team now for 4 or 5 years and they havent won anything. Theyve gotten older which has meant a little uptick in wins but they still are making the same dumb mistakes (errors, strikeouts, bad at bats, NO situaltional hitting) they have for 4 or 5 years. They simply arent good enough nor will be good enough to get to the playoffs until the FO decides to spend money on some veterans (preferably intelligent hitters with a resume of being good starters) from outside the organzation. So getting rid of Helms for anything is a good deal in my book. Ive lost interest in this season (though I will still go to games) because i have no faith in this current group to do any better.

for some reason hes really fond of bonerface. even tho he just got a 2 rbi single, im dreading having to watch this guy leadoff for a month before this manager realizes hes a terrible leadoff hitter. hes been saying in the media he wants to give bonifacio more chances at leadoff and this doesnt sit well with me. that and the whole competition thing irritate me. the marlins problems under fredi have been their complete lack of urgency. they tend to have an attitude that they dont get down on one loss too much cuz they can just make it up later. thats nice cuz they dont panic but they havent won anything to warrant this attitude either.

Coghlan looks atrocious. In spite of his recent 4 game hit streaks hes managed to strike out 7 times during that stretch. Hes being impatient and chasing garbage. It might be time in a week or so to send him down to get his head on straight. Hes obviously way off.

It was only a matter of time before Volstad got owned. His GB 2 FB ratio has been pretty awful this year which means hes not keeping his stuff down. Hes earned a couple more starts but they should have a very short leash. Vandenhurks pitched well down in AAA and he pitched well last year down the stretch. That and the more I watch Volstad the more convinced I am he doesnt have good stuff and should spend at least a year in the minors refining himself.

He doesnt have to nibble. He can just go after these guys instead of falling behind

He knows how to throw strikes but every time he faces a decent lineup he always tries to nibble and doesnt go after them. Then he ends up falling behind guys and he gets hit cuz he has to throw fastballs over the middle. Victorino's at bat is a microcosm of him. He jumped up 0-2, and the instead of going after the guy, proceeded to try and nibble and walked him. He needs to go after goys and this is what happens when u dont. he piches like a scared little school girl

GO AFTER THEM!!!!!!!!

He always tries nibbling and he ends up falling behind guys and against good lineups u cant do that

Hes too short to be a 1B. Given who our infielders are Id rather have a bigger target for them. Uggla and Cantu sail throws and Hanley had issues with that as well prior to last year. I think the whole not stretching thing is a product of him being short. If he stretches that target gets smaller. Maybe they told him to try and not stretch as much. He did give a few very good at bats today though which is nice. But as far as defensively I really dont think hes that good. To those who may know, whats the issue with him at 3rd?

Fire St Clair!!!!!! There I am officially the first person to say it

Eh, a manager doesnt make that big of a difference in a season, maybe like + or - 5 games. The bigger issue I have with fredi is that he manages scared.

I would take Mark Hendrickson over this. He might not have been good last year but he did chew up some innings.

Eh i think that if you can get Johnson and Nolasco to pitch well plus Volstad can be solid/good and one other guy (West or Sanchez or whoever) gives you something to keep you in the game constantly then we have a decent shot. Thats a lot to ask for from this staff and to be honest the one I have the most reservations about is Volstad. It looks to me likes hes wearing down and if he cant pitch well then we dont have much of a shot. right now hes the X factor on how much of a run we can make.

We need starting pitching help. Volstad is getting worn out and we have 2 question marks at the 4 and 5 spot. Plus Nolasco was atrocious today ina game where we REALLY needed him to go late in the game. Doug Davis?