# The Roof is on Fire: According to reports published on Tuesday, the Miami-Dade County commissioners office has voted 8-3 in favor of the preliminary plan to build a 38,000 seat, retractable-roof ballpark next to the Orange Bowl for the defending champion Florida Marlins. Unfortunately for the Marlins, however, this vote fails to bring any more money to the stadium project, which is being forecasted to cost in the $370 million range--leaving the team roughly $40 million short of the cost of the stadium. At the moment, financing for the project looks a little something like this...

 

 

Millions

Marlins $157

Miami-Dade County $120

City o' Miami $ 28

Parking Revenues $ 20*

------------------------

Total $325

Cost $367*

 

* Projected

 

Of course, none of this would be a problem if the Marlins opted for a stadium, sans retractable roof. As we discussed in a micro-study back in March, while retractable-roof stadiums do have their benefits (most notably the ability for the in-house deejay to cue Strauss's "Thus Spake Zarathustra" every time water trickles down from the heavens) they're also, on average, more than $100 million more expensive than their open-air counterparts. Nevertheless, retractable-roof stadia have become all the rage in the 21st century, and for all intents and purposes, it appears that that element is absolutely vital to the Marlins' proposal, as determined by owner Jeffrey Loria & Company. Never mind that, despite all the old people and the humidity, south Florida is a fine place to play baseball, and that the weather would most likely accomodate a team without a retractable roof. The Roof is what the Fish want, and The Roof is most likely what the Fish will get in the end.

 

# More Than Just a Productive Out: Perhaps it's time to eat some crow. After all, who would have thought, after all those years of riding him like a rented mule, that Juan Pierre would turn into something resembling a productive centerfield on a competitive ballclub? Certainly not us, and certainly not anyone who saw the man post adjusted OBPs of .305, .344, and .304 while taking half his at-bats at Coors Field. Nevertheless, Pierre has at least started 2004 as a true sparkplug for the Marlins--and the best hitter overall, according to VORP--and for that he deserves commendation.

 

How has he done it, you ask? Through our sometimes estranged friend "batting average," of course. Pierre is currently fifth in the league in BA, at .359, but with just seven (or 15%) of hits travelling for extra bases--the fewest of any player in the top 10 in BA. Combine that 85% singles rate with some speed (10 stolen bases, three caught-stealing) and plenty o' contact (just six whiffs as of this writing) and you've got yourself a receipe for... well, lots of balls in play, which sometimes turns into a decent BA, particularly if you're quick getting down the line.

 

Will it last? In the end we're guessing "no," at least not to this degree, while conceding he's probably the best candidate to go all Ichiro! on the league and Punch & Judy his way to stardom. A .376 BABIP is awfully high, after all, especially when we're talking mostly about balls hit on the ground. In fact, check out the similarities between Pierre's start so far and Ichiro's seminal year of '01, for which most fans remember him...

 

 

AVG OBP SLG XBH% SB% G/F

Ichiro! .350 .381 .457 20% 80% 2.63

Pierre .359 .425 .435 15% 77% 2.29

 

Sure, a few more walks here, and a little less power there, but the skeleton is at least in place. For now we'll acknowledge that Pierre's done at admirable job at making himself useful, but point to the fact that he's heavily reliant--even more so than his Japanese counterpart now residing in the Northwest--on the almighty single to maintain his value, which isn't always a safe bet (see: Suzuki, Ichiro 2004).

Kind of a backhanded compliment.

Prospectus has been one of more kindly sabremetric-minded blogs to the Marlins' financial position.

Their opinion on the team's style of play and scouting is a whole another thing.