May 25, 200422 yr From the Herald: The Marlins will have to move someone to create a roster spot for Burnett, but McKeon said the team might demote a position player and carry 12 pitchers for a while. ''There's a possibility of carrying 12 [pitchers] for a short period of time ,'' he said. ``You're not going to rule it out.'' Complicating matters is Oliver's status. Although the left-hander has relief experience, he's not excited about the prospect of returning to the bullpen, and McKeon isn't sure how he'll use him. But because the Marlins signed Oliver as a free agent, they can't trade him without his permission before June 1. He also can refuse a demotion to the minors, and if the club releases him, it must pay the remainder of his $750,000 salary. Link to Article Reading between the lines it looks like the team will keep Oliver on the roster until June 1, then look for a trade.
May 25, 200422 yr Author Who in the right mind would trade a bucket of sunflower seeds for Oliver? He could be packaged in another deal...just so we could dump his salary. Otherwise, why not just go ahead and release him right now?
May 25, 200422 yr Because we would have to eat the whole contract. Might as well try and do something first before you take a bite out of the checkbook.
May 25, 200422 yr Trade him to the Yankees for cash and Contreras. Contreras contract far too much and the Yanks I doubt are that desperate to get rid of Contreras. I guess you gotta try to trade the guy, but it would have to be in some sort of package because no one will take him straight up unless it were for a ticket to see a movie. Who wouldn't want that?
May 25, 200422 yr Author You got it. :thumbup Oliver won't accept a demotion to the minors.....Jack doesn't know how he will use him......we don't want to eat his $750K salary.... So we are forced to keep 12 pitchers on the roster, and will do so until we can work out a deal to trade him elsewhere. Nobody wants him.....so he will have to be part of a package. Now the question becomes, if we don't release Oliver, who do we send down to the minors when AJ returns?
May 25, 200422 yr Author Sutton goes down. Would agree....as Sutton doesn't really fit in, other than to pinch hit. Conine is going to platoon at 1B against lefties until Cordero returns, so Sutton doesn't really have a position to play.
May 25, 200422 yr Oliver's terrible, but we've got some shaky bullpen pitchers as it is. they're definitely going to keep him in the 'pen for a while, if for no other reason than we don't have a whole lot of options that are better right now.
May 25, 200422 yr Author Oliver's terrible, but we've got some shaky bullpen pitchers as it is. they're definitely going to keep him in the 'pen for a while, if for no other reason than we don't have a whole lot of options that are better right now. It can be easily argued that any option in the BP today is better than Oliver.
May 25, 200422 yr It can be easily argued that any option in the BP today is better than Oliver. I would agree with you, but the truth is that we haven't seen what he can give us coming out of the pen. Let's give him a chance.
May 25, 200422 yr I think that when June 1st comes we should trade him along with someone else so we wont have to pay off his salary...we should have never goten ourself's into this mess...Oliver isnt worth the money we pay him at all.
May 25, 200422 yr What's funny is that he could go somewhere else and do really well. Look at Benitez. I agree Oliver needs to go though.. just not a good fit for us.
May 25, 200422 yr Well I don't think there are a lot of places where Oliver can go and do really well. I mean he hasnt been really good in any of his starts this year.
May 25, 200422 yr I think what pisses me off most is his seeming attitude about being too good to pitch out of the pen. Making comments like he's not comfortable with it, not sure if he can contribute, etc.. You'd think somebody stinking up the place he is would be happy just to have a roster spot. He should be salivating at the chance to prove himself as a reliable lefty specialist because at this point his chances of getting a starting job around the league would look to be slim to none.
May 25, 200422 yr He should be salivating at the chance to prove himself as a reliable lefty specialist because at this point his chances of getting a starting job around the league would look to be slim to none. And I think slim just left town. :lol BTW: We have our lefty specialist in Perisho. Sorry, but the guy has yet to give up a hit to a lefty, and he's faced some extremely tough guys this year. Until he slips in that role, it's his. Oliver will have to succeed as a middle-long releiver or else he'll be gone.
May 25, 200422 yr He should be salivating at the chance to prove himself as a reliable lefty specialist because at this point his chances of getting a starting job around the league would look to be slim to none. And I think slim just left town. :lol BTW: We have our lefty specialist in Perisho. Sorry, but the guy has yet to give up a hit to a lefty, and he's faced some extremely tough guys this year. Until he slips in that role, it's his. Oliver will have to succeed as a middle-long releiver or else he'll be gone. Perisho gave up a hit to a lefty in the D'Back series. I think it was Chad Tracy.
May 25, 200422 yr Author He should be salivating at the chance to prove himself as a reliable lefty specialist because at this point his chances of getting a starting job around the league would look to be slim to none. And I think slim just left town. :lol BTW: We have our lefty specialist in Perisho. Sorry, but the guy has yet to give up a hit to a lefty, and he's faced some extremely tough guys this year. Until he slips in that role, it's his. Oliver will have to succeed as a middle-long releiver or else he'll be gone. Perisho gave up a hit to a lefty in the D'Back series. I think it was Chad Tracy. It was a dribbler through the hole. Castillo barely missed it.
May 25, 200422 yr As i mentioned before he will be released. I really cant see Oliver in the pen, he just makes it worser than it is now. He is struggling way to much and just doesnt fit in our bullpen.
May 26, 200422 yr BTW: We have our lefty specialist in Perisho. Sorry, but the guy has yet to give up a hit to a lefty, and he's faced some extremely tough guys this year. Until he slips in that role, it's his. Oliver will have to succeed as a middle-long releiver or else he'll be gone. Perisho's walked almost a third of the lefties he's faced. I don't think McKeon is going to use Oliver in matchups. He'll be mopping up after Willis' bad starts like Bump and Phelps have been doing.
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