mystikol87

First of all, not some of our guys have replacements. ALL of them do. Second, when we trade those guys we're moving, we can RECEIVE pitching in return. And some of the prospects that we're replacing these guys we're moving are just average? Did you ever stop to realize that most of the guys we're MOVING are ALSO very average? Why is "receive" capitalized? lol.

Gaby does not have much speed. I'd consider him in the Josh Willingham mode of base running smarts over speed. Stolen bases in the minors can be deceiving. I'll take your word for it. Either way, his speed doesn't compare to Bonifacio's in reality

Yeah let's pull out the Tarot Cards MarlinsLou. I predict Hermida will get injured again next season and still be nothing special. I predict you to make uneducated opinions on the board. I predict a nooby named Rambo McDonald to twist the factual disappointment of Hermida into wishful superstardom. He will be traded like all others under this cheap franchise.So basically If he get much better, he is gone. :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead Really? Really???? REALLY?!?!??!??!?!? Honestly, it's getting really tiresome doing this crap about Hermida "sucking" over and over again. How the heck can you compare Bill James' statistical predictions to Tarot Cards? Ridiculous. By the way, does anyone know Bonifacio's minor-league LHP/RHP splits?

Beinfest is more in love with the speed and defense principle. He sees Bonafacio as having it (whether we agree about that or not), and Gaby and Dallas don't, not that either of them should be faulted for it. I'm guessing his thinking is that if he's going to introduce a newcomer, with no to relatively little MLB experience, to our infield, he wants a speed and defense guy. Makes sense as with Cantu, Uggla and Ramirez the power and extra base hits are already there. Cantu moves to first as that's where he's servicable defensively, and of course Bonafacio's absense of power at 3rd, a major negative, is couterbalanced by Uggla's huge power numbers at 2nd. All decent if Bonfacio hits at least 270, with at least an 360 OBP. Of course, I doubt he does that. I certainly don't think he should be taking major AB's from McPherson against righties. We'll need a lefty power bat. Not looking at 2010, where much of this may change. I don't see Cantu or Uggla being traded before or during the 2009 season, unless our 2009 season goes in the toilet early. Gaby I'm afraid will be starving for AB's, and will have to get them in NOLA. The only thing that can change this dynamic is for him to have an off the charts spring training performance. Gaby has very good speed and is considered a very good defender, so that doesn't hold water.

You touch on it in the end and I know you know this of course (I hope I'm not sounding condescending) but isn't it possible that our scouts/FO had high grades on a P.J. Dean and he is the young starting RHP that we've been wanting? Maybe he has been a guy they have really liked for a long time and he does seem to fit into the Beinfest mold pitcher - I.e. tall, lanky, young, good control, projectable arm...who knows? maybe also they've been targeting Smolinski since the 2007 draft and badly wanted to nab him in the third round and when the Nats offered him up, even with the injuries they loved the bat so much they wanted him in the system enough to pull the trigger on the deal? Again, I know you know this but maybe this is a situation where our scouts had different grades on a couple of prospects than the BA, Sickels, BP's of the world??? Absolutely. But it's not like Beinfest and 30% of scouting, news, 'expert,' and other sites are on the same side. It's everyone in the world thinking Beinfest is crazy on a player spectrum, versus Beinfest pumping up these guys in the media. It's highly unlikely everyone is wrong and Beinfest is right. Where there is smoke, there is fire. I think it's a little hyperbolic to say everyone thinks Beinfest is crazy on the player spectrum, mainly because I think people around the league did not give much value to Olsen or Willingham. If neither player had much value as I believe, how can anyone expect us to get back anything more than what we got? I agree that maybe we could have waited for something better that may have come, but again...maybe our scouts just really, really like something in P.J. Dean or Smolinski and we had them targeted for whatever reason? I don't think that is that far fetched even if the majority of the media is against the deal, which makes sense seeing as how neither guy is considered a top 10 prospect, which is what the media (even the good ones usually lump their lists the same way) will generally base things like this off of. This might be a poor gauge, but usually when most of are agreeing (and we do at least agree on this, right) that we probably wont miss the guys we traded; that means usually the return won't be that great. It's interesting circular reasoning, but I can't fault it. If any GMs thought they were worth more than what we got, then they would have offered more. And if they would have offered more, Beinfest would have taken it. Hey, I'm learning this stuff in my symbolic class: Beinfest didn't take another deal, therefore no one offered more. And, no one offered more, therefore GMs did not think they were worth more than we got. This is all very neo-classical-economics-like..........but it makes sense. Potential holes in this line of reasoning? 2, as I see it. 1) The market for Olsen-type and Willingham-type players was already saturated, lowering both demand and price (I doubt this; 200 IP young lefties and good-to-high-OBP 1B/OF under team control for 3 more years aren't extremely common) 2) The value of our commodities could fluctuate in the short-run, AKA after the free-agency period begins, and we should have held and sold later. There may have been potential buyers who didn't know they'd be buyers until after they lost out on the FA's they wanted.

We got a major-league quality infielder, who posesses the skillset we're looking for, and two low single-A prospects who are to be determined in value (but this franchise has too many ML-ready guys, and needs to continue to build in the lower levels). We're replacing these two players with BETTER in-house options. That is not a salary dump. Sorry. You're mostly right, but you can't say this franchise has too many ML-ready guys. We need another 1-2 legitimate SP prospects that could be ML-ready soon as well as a right-handed catcher (unless we pick up an FA). Also, our outfielders are only borderline ML-ready (Raynor et al)

Also, LOL at two solid sources. I bet this is a prank the scouts decided to pull on the writer, that would be funny. Damnit Dim, I have to scroll so far when you post! See how it feels? Although Chalmers is awesome. End Transmission.

It seems like we have a bunch of RP arms, graded C- or better. This makes me happy, as the hope is that a couple of them turn into decent middle relivers or 7th inning guys, to be paired with Lindstrom, Nunez, Pinto, Tucker, etc. Is this a typical spread for most teams minor league rosters? Or are we better/worse than average. Am I expecting too much to hope that one or two of those guys could likely go with the aforementioned 4 guys to make a solid 6-man bullpen?

This is the bottom line. People aren't upset because of the people we got rid of. People are upset because of the FO intentions of making this trade. It wasn't done to help our team, it was done to save every possible penny possible. That has been this teams motto for years. It's sad we can't maintain a $40 million payroll. If we kept Scott Olsen, that would've allowed us to move a guy like Anibal to the bullpen and be an insurance pitcher and safety spot just in case a guy like Olsen did bad, Miller wasn't ready to be a starter or one of the top three got injured. Now that Olsen is gone, I feel that we are on thin ice when it comes to starting pitching. We do not have an insurance pitcher in case one of our guys flop or gets injured, we would be stuck putting in a Ryan Tucker or a Rick Vanden Hurk into the rotation. If we were going to trade Olsen, we would've liked it to be for a catcher, because like it or not, that is a position of need for us. I'm surprised we needed to add Willingham to get this deal done. I would've thought Olsen could've comanded those three players easily. All I am trying to say here is that we dug ourselves into a potential whole here, and we may look back at this trade later on next season and say this is what cost us a shot at the playoffs. An insurance pitcher can be signed, in free agency. Those aren't difficult to find. Re: Dan Meyer, Rick VandenHurk

I'm a Florida Panthers fan. I, unlike you, thank God that I'm a Marlins fan. This team should be competitive in 2009. This isn't a huge trade...it's a minor trade for us, in which we didn't get good value in. Beinfest has made more good trades than bad. You talk as if being a Marlins fan is the worst thing in the world. 2 World Series titles in 15 years is something most organizations would love to have. Just ask a Cubs fan...they're still "doing it" after one whole century. Ask the Pirates or Royals fans how they "do it." A fan is a fan through the high's and the low's. I don't even know why I'm saying this either b/c I still fully believe this team can contend for a playoff spot next year. Erick, I'm a Florida Panters and a New York Jets fan..........so I have you beat :confused . But seriously, you're right on target. One thing I will say, though, is that while the 2 WC's in 15 years were amazing and some of the most fun times I had growing up, it was still better to be lucky than good. Obviously those teams were talented, but play out the same things leading up to 1997 and [especially] 2003 in a bunch of parallel universes, and this team certainly isn't winning every time. Of course, when something does happen, the probability is 100%, and I get that. But I'm just saying that the reputation of our FO might be a little inflated because we are playing the results. Again, I know that World Series titles are the most important thing, but it's a little like judging a pitcher based on his W-L record as somewhat of a bottom line. That's not an accurate way to look at things. But, really Marlins fans can't complain about the championship-level success. The most frustrating part about this offseason was the rumors of the $40mil+ payroll and the ability to keep any of the arby's we wanted - I know management has to try and portray an image to get max value in return for trades, but letting that get public (and, oh yeah, talking about the possibilities it created endlessly on here) makes it sting a whole lot worse when you find out that it is not true and salary dumps will continue to be the norm. Remember that line about the FO having permission to not trade any arby-eligible guys unless it makes the team better? Um, yeah......

I still like my projected lineup, and indications point to it being exactly as I wrote. Uggla in LF is something we must try, Hanley and Bonafacio make a better DP combo, and will make our infield what it use to be when Alex and Lui roamed it, while still having that offensive edge we had last year. I don't hate Uggla in the outfield, and I really don't understand everyone's reasoning for the "Uggla will NEVER play the outfield" comments. He will lose value, sure. But if you actually want to make this team better, he has the range and arm to play out there. I like the players you have on that lineup, but I would order it differently: vs. RHP 1) Maybin CF 2) Baker C 3) Ramirez SS 4) Cantu 1B 5) Uggla LF 6) McPherson 3B 7) Hermida RF 8) Bonifacio 2B vs. LHP 1) Maybin CF 2) Baker C 3) Ramirez SS 4) Cantu 1B 5) Uggla LF 6) Ross RF 7) Helms 3B 8) Bonifacio 2B So Gaby Sanchez stays in AAA? Personally, I'd plug him in against lefties while either sliding Cantu to 3B or letting Helms platoon over there (career .819 OPS vs LHP for Helms vs .773 for Cantu).

Am I the only one who knows anything about Bonafacio, am I the only one who actually did some research? This guy is going to pan out in the big leagues THIS YEAR, he is a beast in the base paths, he is a true contact hitter who was recently moved to the leadoff role but is catching on real quick. Only reason he batted so low was cause he was adjusting to his new role. The guy is getting more experience right now as we speak. He will be nice to have in the 2-hole for now with Maybin Leading off. Uggla in LF? Yeah, cause where else would we put him? I think he can adjust to the outfield, if you have actually played the game you would know that it's not hard to go to LF from any infield spot. Here, read this exchange. that's funny, all i can see at the bottom of Bonifacio's MILB page is how he's been a midseason and postseason allstar every year at every level..... If Bonifacio comes in, plays awesome defense, gets on base at a .360 clip and steals 50 bases,,,,,,, wait, that's Luis Castillo. I'll be happy That would be good, yes, but he has yet to post an OBP over .348 in any one of his ML or MiL stops (except for one .500 OBP stretch in 31 ABs at AAA in 2008). Stolen bases are overrated; I'm more interested in his high ceiling with the glove. He was .375 over 546 at bats in 2006, and .361 in 2008 (this year) http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/B/E...Bonifacio.shtml http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/st...&pid=466988 He has stolen 40, 41, 55, and 58 bases in a season, for his career he's .341 and has shown marked plate improvement as he's moved up to harder competition. First off, I clearly hope he turns out to be great. I missed that .375 year, so I stand corrected - still, as a 21 year old in A+, i'm not too impressed. As for 2008, you are correct that his Minor-League OBP was .361; however, the majority of his ABs (367) were in the PCL, where he only compiled a .348 OBP, which really isn't anything special. And his .296 OBP in 169 ML ABs is Mike-Jacobs-bad. He is young, so hopefully it'll improve with time and more seasoning. But, this guy will never hit for power. His defensive ceiling is high, thankfully, although he's made plenty of errors throughout his career (I know this isn't a great measure of defensive skills). But OBP needs to be his calling card if he's to be an everyday ML player. If you don't get on-base, you can't steal. Plus, steals aren't that great. And, for the record, I don't buy that "adjusting to his new role" crap. You don't hit differently as a leadoff hitter - you just do your best, and it's that simple. What, was he trying to get on base more as a leadoff guy? Well, that would imply that getting on base wasn't as important to him when he was in other lineup positions............and that's just plain dumb. If you can hit, you can hit anywhere in the lineup. In fact, I would expect numbers to improve when you bat leadoff - your only job is to hit well (at least in the 1st inning). You're not worried about moving runners over of hitting sac fly's, the types of "situational hitting" that might drop a player's BA and OBP.

For the record, a DMac/Helms platoon could be better than All-Cantu and better than a DMac/Cantu platoon (at 3rd base - I'm not necessarily considering Gaby in this equation). Here's why: Cantu's LHP/RHP career splits...... vs. LHP: .269/.313/.773 vs. RHP: .277/.318/.779 He's basically the same hitter against either righties or southpaws.

I think Jorge Cantu (not Dan Uggla) is gone. I think you're going to being seeing more of Wes Helms than you think. I think it's foolish to think with the "limited payroll" the Marlins have, that they'd pay Wes Helms the amount of money they did (for not 1, but 2 years) to just sit on the bench and pinch-hit / come in as a defensive replacement, every once in awhile. I think Cantu is gone, and what we're going to see (not saying I like it) is Gaby Sanchez playing 1B...and Dallas McPherson and Wes Helms platooning at 3B. I think the front office has taken this whole pitching and defense thing...kinda to the extreme. Why else would they trade a 24 year old lefty, semi-proven in the big leagues (whether you fail to admit it or not...those aren't easy to find) + an OF'er capable of producing solid #'s, if he can stay healthy (note, "Hammer" looked like "Hammer" again in September) for a Bonifacio, who really just projects to be a utility player? In other words, a guy who can improve the defense anywhere you put him, late in the game? It was clear that the Marlins could afford to let Olsen and Willingham go...we're just surprised at the return, obviously. Regardless, I think you're gonna see this: C - John Baker / RH hitting catcher who can provide solid defense (I'm with Rab on this one now...I'd like Brad Ausmus) 1B - Gaby Sanchez 2B - Dan Uggla 3B - Dallas McPherson (hopefully producing Mike Jacobs type #'s with a slightly better .OBP and better defense, of course) / Wes Helms (D-Mc against righties...Helms against lefties, hoping that he goes back to the Wes Helms of a couple years ago) SS - Hanley LF - Cody Ross CF - Cameron Maybin RF - Jeremy Hermida (4th OF'er...a guy like Rocco Baldelli to sign? Perhaps they stay within the organization and you see a John Raynor sighting for this role) SP - Nolasco, JJ, Volstad, Miller, Sanchez And then you got your relievers...Lindstrom, Nunez, Pinto, Nelson, (insert whoever you'd like afterwards...a battle in Spring Training). And then you got guys like Bonifacio & Andino off the bench. (Again, I'm fairly certain that the Marlins don't sign Amezaga for about a mill a year to play a role that two other guys on the team can probably play, at this point). I guess you also have to consider the Kevin Gregg trade...and if they let go of Cantu (as I think they will), I'm pretty sure they'll try and trade him, as well. I'm not sure what Kevin Gregg would bring back in return, simply b/c I would expect Olsen by himself would bring back more in a deal...but I guess you never really know what kinds of deals teams are willing to make. If the Marlins can wait until KRod and Fuentes sign somewhere, you'd still have about a handful of other teams who would want a closer (or a guy who has closed, before), so the return for Gregg could be fairly nice. Erick, I think this is accurate. As for nitpicking, I hope they put Hermida in LF and Cody in RF, but I don't know if that will happen. But, I've been leading toward trading Cantu, instead of trading Uggla, as well. According to Lou's payroll figures, actually have Cantu making 100k more than Dan Uggla. And Uggla is a better hitter and a better fielder, and his value as a 2B is much greater than Cantu's as a 3B/1B. Also, moving Cantu now is the epitome of buying low and selling high. Interestingly, his OPS was .808 both in his previous best year (2005) and this year. [As an aside, I don't know why the Reds didn't hang on to him after 2007 (.298/.382/.873 in 64 PA with 7BB/10k - a small sample, I know, but it seemed like he might have been on his way back even then).] I admit not having a huge understanding of his peripherals, although I understand his BABIP of .297 means he seemingly wasn't too luck, or too unlucky. Either way, as a fan who watched all the games, my feeling is that I don't see him improving that much over last season. I think he had a great year, but aside from maybe cutting down the Ks and taking a few more walks, I just felt like he was pretty much at his ceiling. Watching him all year, he felt like a more than .808 OPS guy, so people will probably be disappointed with the haul he actually brings back, as well. Hopefully some GM out there sees him as a "clutch hitter" with improving defense, versatility (1B/3B), and a young guy under team control with a chance to improve. (I probably only agree with the versatility and team control parts, but hopefully someone else will think more highly of the guy.) All that being said, Helms is .819 OPS career vs. LHP, and conventional wisdom is that Dallas with mash righties, so that platoon could be rather potent. And if DMac can play some first base, he can spell Gaby a bit so we can ease him into things a bit more (maybe).

Bonaficio- 2B Amezaga- CF Hanley- SS Cantu- 1B Uggla- 3B Ross / Mcpherson- LF Hermida / Ross- RF Baker- C I don't see Hermida staying here, Bonaficio, Amezaga and Hanley would provide great speed at the top of our lineup, and I didn't put Maybin in CF because the FO doesn't want him up here yet, although a great Spring could easily earn him a spot up here. I want Baker at the bottom of the lineup due to his knowledge of finding spots to move runners. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. .500/.543/1.106 in September >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> "a great Spring" Even if it weren't, duhhhhhhhhh :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead :banghead

Bonaficio- 2B Amezaga- CF Hanley- SS Cantu- 1B Uggla- 3B Ross / Mcpherson- LF Hermida / Ross- RF Baker- C I don't see Hermida staying here, Bonaficio, Amezaga and Hanley would provide great speed at the top of our lineup, and I didn't put Maybin in CF because the FO doesn't want him up here yet, although a great Spring could easily earn him a spot up here. I want Baker at the bottom of the lineup due to his knowledge of finding spots to move runners. Oy, the logic. :banghead :banghead :banghead

When I was much younger, maybe 10-12 years ago, my family boarded a plane with Jeff Conine, his wife and his daugther. My grandparents were sitting across from them in the same row. We recognized him right away, but he really wasn't very friendly. We attempted to engage him in conversation, but had very little success. Conversely, when my dad was taking my grandma to the airport even before that, he ran into Chuck Carr; he had nothing else to write on, so he took out a picture of my sister and me, and Chuckie signed that. That has nothing to do with Niner, I just like that story. Probably had to do w/the fact he was w/ his family. After almost 20 yrs of autograph collecting, one thing I've learned is ballplayers don't like to be bothered when they're with their wives and kids. Nor can I blame them; when I'm looking for some private time w/ my loved ones, the last thing I want is to be harrassed by a telemarketer or interupted at dinner. Or maybe he's a bad flyer. It's a bummer your personal exposure to Niner was a negaive one; all I can say is all mine have been extremely positive. He was still always my favorite (and later Mikey Lowell). I'm fairly sure this was in the offseason in a mid-90s year. It was certainly before 1997. 1994-1995 would have been my best guess (I was only 8 in 1995). No one else tried to speak to him that we noticed, although I certainly respect that he wants to not be bothered when wish his family - just bad timing on my part, I guess.

I think I voted for Pat Buchanan :confused I voted for Nader, because a vote for Nader is a vote for............never mind.

It really makes me sick that you morons continue to doubt Admin and the rest of the FO. Are you people serious?????????? Yea the trade doesnt look great on paper but in case you ignorant idiots have been in a coma Admin BEINFEST AND MICHAEL HILL ARE ARGUABLY THE BEST FO DUO IN BASEBALL. What gives you guys the right to question their moves. :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy :notworthy IN Admin WE TRUST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Um, as fans, and as American citizens (no offense, yokofox - although you may be just visiting, I don't know) we pay these guys salaries and have a constitution which gives us the right to free speech. So, um, yeah we can say whatever the hell we want. They are good, but far from perfect. Honestly, I've had to use/heard people using the phrase "Beinfest has done well, we have to trust him and the FO" a lot more times in the last 18 months. I don't want to push the thread a different direction (wait, maybe I do), but as much as a I like Maybin's and Miller's ceiling, they're going to have to just about achieve that for me to feel alright about giving up Miggy. And moves like this leave most fans scratching their respective heads, or at least having to search hard and grasp for reasons why this makes sense.

Here it is, the dagger http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20...8&fext=.jsp Ok, now I might change my dinner plans to the Japanese buffet so I can eat myself into oblivion or something. To be fair, we have adequate replacements for these two. But, it feels like we were so robbed. And the Nationals gain was much larger than our loss. They insert one everyday starter and a top-of-the-rotation guy immediately (we lose one of our 6 SP and our 4th OF).........but, so sick On second thought, maybe I'm not hungry at all. On third thought, mmmmmmmmmmmm...........sushi.

This trade makes no sense. And why would they move Uggla to third? We already have Cantu there. My sentiments exactly. Is our IF gonna be Ugg/Hanram/Emilio/Gaby..........uggh what a downgrade. I guess DMac, Alfie, Gregg all shipped out, too. But, honestly guys, I'm excited to resign Treanor. He's clearly poised for a breakout year.

P.J. Dean better be the incarnation of Josh Beckett this has got to be the worst trade I could have imagined ... well, I guess that we are going from a "surprisingly fun" offseason to a very long one Ok, I'm pissed too. But let's not forget - we only traded Olsen and Willingham - you don't get a Beckett for those two guys. But............you do get a Max Ramirez or at least a hell of a lot more than this.

depends if the OF talent is something like gonalez (A's) or like A delmon young but there is no way we get a talent like that imo. I would love a right fielder with a cannon for a arm, but it is a luxery for a team not a necessity. (could then put hermida to LF). I would personally agree a catcher (salty) + an arm (hurley perhaps? his stock has been down but he has good talent). any chance we can do Gregg + Olsen for Adam Miller + Santana? I doubt it but a man could dream. Cody is an excellent outfielder. He may not have a "cannon" but he is very good in all 3 spots and good fundamentals and cutting off balls can help make up anything he might lack without a Brett Favre arm out there.

Does anyone think Baker could be a franchise player? I am talking about a franchise player in the sense that he will stay with us and our FO and coaching staff will understand that their main goal is to develop him into our catcher of the future. Pretty unlikely, although he may be a solid platoon or a strong backup type. Especially because he's a lefty. We still need to acquire more youth at catcher. The Marlins are doing the right thing looking for someone new. I honestly don't see anything wrong with a platoon with a veteran free agent that can mash lefties and mentor for a year or two or three while we wait for Skipworth. That would allow us to deal Olsen/Gregg for some corner outfield talent. Maybe I'm just too much of a Baker homer. Sure, Baker would probably be a great platoon partner with a vet who can match righties. Those are hard to come by for a reasonable price in this catchers market right now, though. Also, Skipworth is a tremendous prospect, but he is no lock. And, he is our only depth at catcher. We have more depth at the corner outfield positions at the ML and MiL levels. If we platoon Baker but he gets hurt, for example, we are stuck platooning the other guy with Rabelo......that stinks (if they pick up a veteran FA, they won't bring back Treanor). Whereas should Hermida get hurt or stink, we can sub in Willingham, Raynor, and possibly Cousins (assuming starting outfield of Hermida/Maybin/Ross). Of course, we could use more depth almost everywhere (although I think we're okay first base) - who couldn't. And believe me, I'd like more depth at the corners as well, but catching depth is still a more pressing need.

agree with mystikol87. If Baker was a younger franchise type guy, bringing in Pudge might make more sense. But particularly if you can add Ramirez to the equation, Pudge is just taking at-bats away. And no way we're carrying 3 catchers. Seems like at this stage he's an injury risk, is on the downside, and still may not come cheap. estan's question about Baker being an integral part of the team's future.... that's a tough one. Although he's not young, 28 next season certainly isn't old, and if he were here for 3 or 4 seasons that's a relatively long time in catcher terms. Would be enough time to keep the seat warm for Skipworth for example, if that was the long-term thinking. I think the questions are: a) was 2008 close to what we can expect from him? b) defensively he's still not quite what you want in a starting catcher c) is he more suited to be a platoon player? Now granted, (b) is a heck of a lot easier to deal with if the answer to (a) is yes. and as for 'c', defensively I don't know whether durability is an issue with him or not, but at the plate he mashed righties, so even if you platoon him it seems you'd still want to give him a majority of at-bats. If Baker is next year what he was this year, he and Ramirez would be exceptional. If he isn't, Ramirez is still expected to be a fantastic full-time backstop offensively. No worries. Well, one worry.......we still have to pull off the trade. :thumbup