YearOneMarlinFan

So if he was really going to spend that much Admin, is he willing to spend it after not signing this guy ? Probably not, so he talks a big game, but in the end its worth about as much as the stuff floating around in the sewer system. So now, does he trade Morrison before the start of the year ? Or do you see him as more of a mid-season trade ? I can't see how there would be much interest in Morrison unless he improves. Maybe worth a mid-level prospect at best? If he has improved by mid-season and is therefore worth more, then I could see Loria making the move if the Marlins aren't going anywhere in the standings. That would just be business as usual.

You must be new to baseball because there is no need to "check" anything. :lol Now that's funny!

I thought the joke was funny. When I first read it, I chuckled. I mean, it's been told a million times already. Even the college kid who wrote that article about WAR not providing you the "real value" of a player (article that Broncobob cited indirectly from Wikipedia) told it.When I first read it from Perry Hill though, that was the first time I ever heard the joke. Honestly, I thought he made it up. Frankly I never heard it at all before I posted it. Obviously in the penguin's eyes that was a serious failing on my part. I should have checked Google and Twitter and YouTube and probably even the Baseball Encyclopedia first. If only I had known!

You know what that great old protest song says. " WAR, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!" You must be the first person to think of that one. Nice. Every douche who repeats that line probably thinks he's being really witty too. Oh, dear! If I had known it would be judged by the extraordinarily clever and witty standards of the penguin, I would never have posted it!

You know what that great old protest song says. " WAR, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!"

If he doesn't care about stats, he probably doesn't botherto check scouting reports for every hitter to shift his infield defense. Or does he not consider those types of things to be stats? Actually it has been reported that he does check scouting reports thoroughly to position infielders. Why are some of you so down on Perry Hill all of a sudden? We have seen in the past that the team's defense without him has been much worse than with him. And has anyone actually seen any specific evidence that he has anything to do with FO activities? Do you think that they invite all the coaches to participate? Loria just doesn't seem to work that way. The front office and the coaches work together. Every front office that uses a heavy dose of advanced statistics has a coaching staff that is open-minded to those statistics. Not that the Marlins have either of those things obviously. I'm not aware of what most front offices do - I'll have to take your word for that. My point was just that in a Jeffrey Loria front office it seems unlikely that he asks for a lot of input from more than a tight circle of people, and so it is unlikely that Perry Hill has a lot to do with final player selection. I'm just guessing, of course, but to me it seems like a fair assumption.

If he doesn't care about stats, he probably doesn't botherto check scouting reports for every hitter to shift his infield defense. Or does he not consider those types of things to be stats? Actually it has been reported that he does check scouting reports thoroughly to position infielders. Why are some of you so down on Perry Hill all of a sudden? We have seen in the past that the team's defense without him has been much worse than with him. And has anyone actually seen any specific evidence that he has anything to do with FO activities? Do you think that they invite all the coaches to participate? Loria just doesn't seem to work that way.

Since this topic has the word 'Hill' in it, let me add that Perry Hill has added WHIP to his list of useless stats that don't mean anything. His current argument: you don't hear about them during the playoffs because they aren't needed to win in the playoffs (or some other asinine s***) Having a higher WAR or lower WHIP doesn't mean you cruise through the playoffs, sure. Mostly because all the teams at that point are very good. GETTING TO the playoffs however, that's another story. And jesus I wish people wouldn't be so defensive about them. No one is demanding that coaches stop teaching and gm's have no actual work to do short of handing out 5 million per WAR point or whatever. All people are saying is pay give some attention to these things. It's not magic. No, actually some respected veterans of this board have argued in effect that stats are the only meaningful way to evaluate players.

But of course the real point, which I made on another thread and is being made here, is that MOST players will go with the money. Wilson wanted to go with someone close to his home-grounds, as will some others. Wilson going elsewhere most likely didn't say anything at all about Loria or the Marlins, as he would likely have refused more money from anyone else not in CA, too. Two other possible elements in decisions -- 1) The dollars are more likely to be effective with guys who haven't had a big FA pay-day before and who didn't get huge money in their arb years, that is, the kind of guys we are more likely to go after, and 2) Florida has the advantage of being a no-income tax destination. This is what bothers me - these mid-level FAs who the Marlins typically go after are more likely to be willing to sign here and are less likely to make a big difference to the team in the end.

He's our new John Baker. Remember when John Baker used to hit and you used to hate him? Never hated anybody. In Baker's case, I always said he had a nice bat but was terrible at defense. Nothing more. Not many agreed openly with that.....Until he was gone. What's the difference between what you used to say about Baker (or Gaby Sanchez) and what I'm saying about Hechavarria? Hechavarria is a lot like one of your other favorites, Emilio Bonifacio, who has moved on to have quite the mediocre career (just traded for nothing not so long ago). Perhaps Hechavarria is better than his defensive #'s. No one has ever said that defensive #'s are perfect. They're flawed, but at the same time, I see no reason to fully ignore them. And while we're at it, while defensive #'s are far from perfect, offensive #'s are pretty accurate. Hechavarria's offensive #'s pretty much put him in a category of: "he has to be Ozzie Smith defensively to have any type of relevant value because he can't hit for s***." You seem to defend defensive, toolsy players who can't hit a lot more than solid offensive players with no position. I don't know why that is, but you have a history of doing that. Maybe because sh*tty offensive players are written about more on here, and you like to be the contrarian at all times. It seems like you only post on here now to critique other members of the board. In fairness, there are one or two others who are consistently contrarian, and Bronco Bob doesn't usually resort to insults to strengthen his position. Besides, once 6 or 8 posters have said the same thing about a player, I like reading another point of view, even if I don't agree with it. By posting this in BB's defense, I guess I have become a contrarian too!

That's a lawsuit waiting to happen. What is? Valaika not being called up out of spite? It may be childish and unfair, but I can't think of a likely contract provision that would cover that, can you?

I was at the game today and lost track of how many DPs they hit into. What was it, about 5?

When Loria has put extra bucks or even extra effort into signing veterans for specific roles, it's clear that every one of his past managers, and now Red, has been told to keep using them, even after the idea has clearly failed. Bell, Helms, Lee, Pierre, Polanco, ... I'm sure we could think of other past examples. That's one reason for some of the questionable lineups, past and present.

Backloaded contracts are common throughout MLB and teams holding them are always considering the possibility of trading the player before he gets too expensive. What sets Loria apart is his perfect record of always trading them away.

This move should have been made at least a month ago, spending three weeks in New Orleans isn't going to do much for Brantly. I'm glad he's being sent down but he's got to work on his game hopefully he play some winter ball. This. But Red said one problem was game-calling, and how do you work on that while handling minor league pitchers who haven't mastered breaking balls?

Why did it take them 2 months to do this? I think we all know the answer to this question. pls elaborate Don't know exactly what el penguino had in mind but I'm thinking it's that the FO, presumably Loria, seems to stay too long with young players they proudly acquired who then didn't pan out. If that's it, I would have to agree. Seems like whether Brantly would prove to be a great acquisition was always a roll of the dice. If Olivo was still available, I agree that bringing him back would have been a good idea. Certainly better that Hill, who seems like nothing more than a place holder.

The only person with potential on this rotation is Jose and maybe Sanabia. The rest are a buncha old hats. I probably missed the brunt of this conversation so perhaps you're including our guys on the DL? If so, then I agree. If not, then I disagree. I originally included both pre DL rotation and post DL. In all the hoopla, others have warped the point I was making. Thanks for realizing what in saying.We didnt warp it. We pointed out why including them and excluding Josh Johnson(who was in the rotation less than a month into the season and was one of the best pitchers in the league that year) and Anibal Sanchez(who wasnt in it due to injury himself) is absurd. Ignoring all the insanity in this debate, I thought it was pretty clear that Piazza was always talking about the potential of the team on day one. Comparing it to the potential of the 06 team a month or more into that season is apples and oranges.

The problem w/ these lists is that there's never a clear rubric for the selection, and even if there is, people generally can't agree on the criteria (for example, Mike Lowell has the longevity w/ the team and position as well as the defense, Miggy put up the better offensive #'s but not all at 3B; which is more important in terms of the best franchise 3B?) That's why these are fun. If it were a precise formula, there wouldn't be much room for discussion. And I would say that the duo of Castillo and Gonzalez belong there in place of Uggla and Ramirez. Only about half of Hanley's time with the Marlins was exceptional. And how about adding a category for TV and radio broadcasters? Of them all, Rich and Tommy are my TV choices, although I thought Len Kaspar was pretty good too. I'm not sure who I would pick for radio.

75 wins is within the realm of possibiity...i'm thinking 70-92. You're not taking much risk with that prediction - that range potentially covers everything from last place to division champion. That's his overall record prediction. Not 70 wins to 92 wins. Oh, yeah. Thanks, I should've seen that! Sorry, nbace.

75 wins is within the realm of possibiity...i'm thinking 70-92. You're not taking much risk with that prediction - that range potentially covers everything from last place to division champion.

Found this on amazon. I suggest everyone order one. Will definitely come in handy the next decade or so. They will wind up on some avid collectors' shelves, for sure. Just try to find one a year from now! But then I have to admit, somewhere I have a Wheaties box with the 1991 World Series Twins on it.

You point out he had a ton of passed balls (which is true), so how does that mean that he was "rock solid at blocking the plate?" I think he meant blocking the plate from sliding base runners, which is true as I recall.

Ticket sales are 100% profit. Concessions have a cost. Marlins make more money selling a $20 ticket than on someone spending $20 on hot dogs. That statement is inaccurate. The home yield on a dollar of ticket sales seems to be about 77 cents -- they have to pay the other club. Programs, hats, other clothing, beer, liquor, soft drinks, hot dogs, everything with the possible exception of some of the more exotic food is sold at gross margins higher than 77% -- much of it at 90 to 95%. That's not how it works though. The marlins don't sell concessions directly. The marlins take a large % of all concession sales from Levy Restaurants and the other smaller concessionaires. That's right. That's exactly the definition of how concessions work.

This is starting to sound like a Marx Brothers routine!

We can blame Loria for the bigger cost of of the garage...a burden the community will have for decades. And it does seem like it would be in Loria's best financial interest to turn a blind eye to what his financial team saw going on...why should he care as it behooves his finances for folks to buy food at his concessions on stadium site over the ones he doesn't get a nickel from in the garage. Offhand, I'd guess Loria would much rather see all of that space fully leased than sell a few more hot dogs because it isn't. Tons of empty space does not leave a good impression -- and their name is on the park for now. If Loria had gone to them and said something like "let us handle it, we'll get it leased at, say, $20/ft and we'll pay $15/ft on anything we can't get leased within 12 months and pay that until it's leased," they'd have told him to get lost. For all we know, he did try it. Maybe more than once. But, politicians and bureaucrats never give up their absolute power over anything voluntarily -- unless it's become an embarrassment. Another year of abject failure and they may want to be rid of the problem. I'm surprised to see you throw in pure speculation, having insisted on sticking to facts. Loria might have come to the rescue and government would have turned him down, and "more than once"?