Berardino basically says the whole thing's a sham, they're only keeping Lowell because they couldn't deal him, blah blah blah.... Cancel the celebration because Castilllo and Lee will be traded blah blah blah..... I hate everyone blah blah blah.....

 

Lowell Saga Not Over Yet

 

Lowell saga not over yet

Published July 2, 2003

 

This is how far our expectations have dropped. Here's what passes for commitment in this, the saddest of baseball markets.

 

The Marlins actually called a news conference Tuesday afternoon to announce they aren't trading their best player ... this season.

 

General Manager Admin Beinfest said the Marlins are willing to "think about multiyear opportunities" for a widely respected third baseman who leads the National League in home runs. Oh, and they want Mike Lowell to "think about" those opportunities, too.

 

That's pretty bold stuff all right. When's the parade?

 

Lowell clearly was relieved to learn he no longer is the most coveted player on the July trade market. You could see that from the smile on his face, the bounce in his walk, the quiver in his voice.

 

"It's status quo for me," Lowell said. "I'm still going to keep playing hard. I'd like to see if this team could surprise some people."

 

Which says a lot about the hometown star.

 

Lowell stood to make a killing had he been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners or any of the other big-revenue clubs that were lining up for his services.

 

Even though he can't be a free agent for another season and a half, any club that gave up premium young talent to get him almost certainly would have first signed him to a four- or five-year deal. Likely price range: $40 million to $50 million.

 

With a trade, he might have parlayed the best half of his career into a financial bonanza. Instead, with Tuesday's announcement, Lowell ostensibly must stay put through this season. (Unless Marlins management reneges on its promise.)

 

Not so, Derrek Lee and Luis Castillo. The right side of the Marlins' infield received no such guarantees, even though their 2004 salaries figure to fall in the same range as Lowell's.

 

Hmmm. Maybe that's why 20-year-old phenom Miguel Cabrera will soon start taking ground balls at first and teams inquiring about Triple-A second baseman Kevin Hooper have been told he's not available.

 

Sorry to crush your buzz, Fish fans. After all, at first glance, the Marlins pretty much went for the cycle Tuesday.

 

The Lowell announcement. Josh Beckett's impressive return after a nearly two-month absence. A second straight blowout win over the Atlanta Braves.

 

Even Mike Hampton, the Marlins' steepest payroll obligation at $7 million, got rocked.

 

Somehow, though, I can't quite bring myself to dip into the fireworks stash a few days early and run out in the street to set off some bottle rockets. Sooner or later, Lowell's Independence Day is going to come.

 

Marlins management views multiyear contracts the way sailors view scurvy. Only one Marlin (Juan Pierre) is signed beyond this season, and that deal was cut when he was in Colorado.

 

The last time a Jeffrey Loria-owned club handed out a multiyear deal? January 2001, when Loria still owned the Montreal Expos and Jose Vidro got $19 million over four years.

 

"I'm pretty realistic about this team and being a low-market team and what you have to do," Lowell said. "I'm willing to listen to whatever they have to say. I don't know how realistic it is for them to offer me [a contract]. I don't know what they're going to come in at. I have no idea."

 

You'd like to believe the Marlins wouldn't have taken their most marketable commodity out of play without some reasonable assurance at least a three-year extension could be done. Then again, maybe they simply came to the conclusion their trade options weren't as attractive as once thought.

 

The Dodgers have tons of young pitching, but some scouts question whether Joe Thurston, likely the key cog in their offer, is an everyday second baseman. Plus, they weren't finding any takers for current third baseman Adrian Beltre.

 

The Mariners are stacked with prospects as well, but first they would have had to unload Jeff Cirillo. Again, no dice.

 

The Cubs? They seemed a fitting trade partner until Marlins scouts decided Bobby Hill, the former University of Miami standout, wasn't good enough to replace Castillo.

 

"What the heck can [Hill] do?" one of those scouts said this week. "He's a second-division ballplayer."

 

The final straw might have come with last week's shoulder injury to Double-A right-hander Angel Guzman, often compared to a young Pedro Martinez. According to industry sources, the Marlins would have demanded Guzman, the Cubs' top prospect, in any deal for Lowell.

 

Guzman spent Monday in Birmingham visiting Dr. James Andrews and could miss the rest of the season. Less than 24 hours later, Lowell was magically taken off the trading block.

 

Coincidence? What do you think?

 

Mike Berardino can be reached at mberardino@sun-sentinel.com.

oh hell, i'll just rip it apart myself. yeah that's right, I'm replying to my own f-ing post.... :mischief

 

Eat this Mike:

 

The Marlins actually called a news conference Tuesday afternoon to announce they aren't trading their best player ... this season.

Once again, I fail to see what's so wrong with this. In a market where most fans, not to mention the media and the rest of the country already figured him for a goner, it tells your fans their best player isn't going to be dealt in the middle of the season. What is the big f-ing sin here?

 

General Manager Admin Beinfest said the Marlins are willing to "think about multiyear opportunities" for a widely respected third baseman who leads the National League in home runs. Oh, and they want Mike Lowell to "think about" those opportunities, too.

 

That's pretty bold stuff all right. When's the parade?

Hey, from a group who up to now seemed totally against multi-year deals, I welcome the change of heart. You can argue whether it's genuine or not, but then you're just saying all they do is lie, and I'm not ready to do that yet.

 

 

Lowell clearly was relieved to learn he no longer is the most coveted player on the July trade market. You could see that from the smile on his face, the bounce in his walk, the quiver in his voice.

 

"It's status quo for me," Lowell said. "I'm still going to keep playing hard. I'd like to see if this team could surprise some people."

 

Which says a lot about the hometown star.

It's called class Mike. Lowell gives the same effort no matter what's going on. I like how here Berardino basically tells you Lowell doesn't want to play here anymore. I mean he just couldn't want to play here, right? Nope, only for a top team. Look, if he doesn't want to play here, it'll get worked out after the season.

 

Lowell stood to make a killing had he been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners or any of the other big-revenue clubs that were lining up for his services.

 

Even though he can't be a free agent for another season and a half, any club that gave up premium young talent to get him almost certainly would have first signed him to a four- or five-year deal. Likely price range: $40 million to $50 million.

 

With a trade, he might have parlayed the best half of his career into a financial bonanza. Instead, with Tuesday's announcement, Lowell ostensibly must stay put through this season. (Unless Marlins management reneges on its promise.)

I didn't realize he had become Mike Lowell's agent! What's the f-ing difference whether Lowell signs here or if he goes somewhere else after arbitration he's still going to get a huge deal you shitforbrains!!!!!

 

Not so, Derrek Lee and Luis Castillo. The right side of the Marlins' infield received no such guarantees, even though their 2004 salaries figure to fall in the same range as Lowell's.

 

Hmmm. Maybe that's why 20-year-old phenom Miguel Cabrera will soon start taking ground balls at first and teams inquiring about Triple-A second baseman Kevin Hooper have been told he's not available.

Ok this is valid, but anyone with a LICK of sense knows Lowell is more valuable than either one of these players. I've said it a million times: if a team wants to pay a leadoff hitter 7 million, be my guest. As for Lee, yes he's not as bad as we make him out to be, but Marlins fans aren't going to revolt from Derek Lee being traded.

 

Sorry to crush your buzz, Fish fans.

It's ok, you can't crush it. I know that you're trying your best though.

 

Somehow, though, I can't quite bring myself to dip into the fireworks stash a few days early and run out in the street to set off some bottle rockets. Sooner or later, Lowell's Independence Day is going to come.

Oh for christ sakes....ham it up a little more could you?

 

Marlins management views multiyear contracts the way sailors view scurvy. Only one Marlin (Juan Pierre) is signed beyond this season, and that deal was cut when he was in Colorado.

 

The last time a Jeffrey Loria-owned club handed out a multiyear deal? January 2001, when Loria still owned the Montreal Expos and Jose Vidro got $19 million over four years.

Well you've got to start somewhere. And nowhere did they say "we WILL give Lowell a multiyear deal after the season." They simply said they'll try it. What is wrong with saying they'll try it? You can say a deal won't be worked out, ok fine but they're not saying it will either necessarily.

 

You'd like to believe the Marlins wouldn't have taken their most marketable commodity out of play without some reasonable assurance at least a three-year extension could be done. Then again, maybe they simply came to the conclusion their trade options weren't as attractive as once thought.

 

The Dodgers have tons of young pitching, but some scouts question whether Joe Thurston, likely the key cog in their offer, is an everyday second baseman. Plus, they weren't finding any takers for current third baseman Adrian Beltre.

 

The Mariners are stacked with prospects as well, but first they would have had to unload Jeff Cirillo. Again, no dice.

 

The Cubs? They seemed a fitting trade partner until Marlins scouts decided Bobby Hill, the former University of Miami standout, wasn't good enough to replace Castillo.

 

"What the heck can [Hill]do?" one of those scouts said this week. "He's a second-division ballplayer."

 

The final straw might have come with last week's shoulder injury to Double-A right-hander Angel Guzman, often compared to a young Pedro Martinez. According to industry sources, the Marlins would have demanded Guzman, the Cubs' top prospect, in any deal for Lowell.

 

Guzman spent Monday in Birmingham visiting Dr. James Andrews and could miss the rest of the season. Less than 24 hours later, Lowell was magically taken off the trading block.

 

Coincidence? What do you think?

I won't waste time saying ok break out all your conspiracy theories Mike, because you know what? It's wise to listen to all the offers you're getting for Lowell. It's wise to consider the packages teams are offering. It's wise to weigh all the options and prospects out there. If a team was going to offer an overwhelming deal for Lowell, I believe they would have taken it. I believe they considered trading Mike Lowell coming into the season. Let's face it, Lowell's a nice guy and all that, but third basemen who hit 20 homers and 80 rbi's are a dime a dozen. I doubt many of us expected him to take this leap in production. (Yes OF COURSE I would rather they had locked him up last year.)

 

Steve Goldstein on the morning WQAM show is ripping Berardino's article and I couldn't be happier about it. I'm not suddenly this big fan of our ownership okay? But if you can't give people the benefit of the doubt for making good steps sometimes, I think you've lost perspective. Everyone's got their own opinion and Berardino and anyone else can write what they want.

 

Me? I'll be at the game tonight.

It's pretty clear Mike B has been frozen out by Marlin management. He gets no inside scoop anymore (see Torborg firing). Beat writers have to walk a fine line between criticism and support, and Mike has clearly crossed it. He will not be the beat writer next year.

Mike B = Bitter Idiot

Gee, how things change! Just a few short months ago, or so it seems, Mike B. seemed to be the darling of Marlin fans (here especially), for not being super negative, and critical like Labastard, and others.

 

I have not read him in a while. What has brought about this sudden change of heart?

I heard the Hooper thing a few days ago and I believed then , as I do now, that the reason they don't want to trade him is NOT BECAUSE of Castillo being traded, its because Andy Fox will be traded for pitching. Hooper can play 2nd, SS and third - he's got a terrific arm.

 

Fox makes $800k this year, upwards of $1 mil next. If the Marlins want to hold onto their core group of players, they are going to have save money on their fringe/utility players (at least as a start). Hooper would make $300k next year, $340k the next. That's a million dollar savings over two seasons. You get the picture.

 

As for Mike's column, there's nothing to say except I'm disappointing in him, not as a reporter/columnist but as a person. He is obsessed with destroying the credibility of the FO and the existence of this franchise but it's his own credibility he's destroying. If I say he needs psychiatric help I don't mean to be hurtful, he needs help! He is on a fast train to nowhere, career-wise, and with every column he becomes more and more irrelevant.

Berardino is just bitter that Lowell didn't go to the Cubs, which would have put the Cubs over the top into the playoffs, and raised his stock in his employer, Tribune. He lost money because the Cubbies didn't improve.

 

Tribune owns Sun-Sentinel and Chicago Cubs.

Berardino has no objective voice anymore concerning the MArlins.

Well, remember last night? Same thing on BT with Pettie Gammons...

 

He kept talking about how Loria and Bienfest and Samson all have this baseball history of lying, like thell Felipe Alou he would be staying, same ith Floyd, and now we have this...

 

Thing is, they had never held a press confrence to announce they would be staying. They actually never told Cliff anything, so they never lied to him, really. And I had heard they told Alou privately he would stay, and was then fired. But this is much different..

I have not read him in a while. What has brought about this sudden change of heart?

Could be any number of reasons I guess. Either Marlin2266's theory (see above) or Cape Fish's (see above), who knows? I know he was digging up most of the dirt on the front office hiding AJ's elbow problem, I think he's just convinced himself that this group is flat out evil and he's not going to budge. A lot of us enjoyed reading him because he's pretty knowledgeable, but he must be taking lessons from Dan LeBatard lately.

 

You want to read a great optimistic column on the Lowell news?!!

 

Hooray for the Palm Beach Post!

 

Marlins win over fans with philosophy shift - Dave George article

Dang, if Fox is gonna be paid $1M next year, dump him...The majority of the bench isn't worth a million dollars...

 

Instead of building up the FISH, this guy Mike is tearing them down..He should be doing articles like: MARLINS VASTLY IMPROVING WITH ROOKIE ADDITIONS, MARLINS SHOW COMMITMENT BY KEEPING LOWELL, or maybe even MARLINS NEED TO BOLSTER BENCH AND BULLPEN BY TRADE DEADLINE FOR SERIOUS WC PUSH..but ya won't see any of that...

The Palm Beach Post has done some very good Marlins reporting this year. Looks like we have a third newspaper in South Florida.

 

Herald, Sun-Sentinel, and the Post. Yea!

George is great. I always enjoy reading his stuff, and another great piece...

The Palm Beach Post has done some very good Marlins reporting this year. Looks like we have a third newspaper in South Florida.

 

Herald, Sun-Sentinel, and the Post. Yea!

thats a great article :thumbup

I emailed Berardino a long time ago and told him he was destroying his own credibility. He basically didnt care, and seems to be bent on some kind of personal tirade. He deserves this, and I hope the Marlins re-sign Lowell just to watch B eat mroe crow. The guy is ridiculous.

I e-mailed Bernadino this morning and told him what I thought of his article. I am so sick of all these reporters being so negative of the Marlins. They are negative whether the ownership does something positive or negative. I hope that he loses his job reporting on the Marlins next year.

Lets all email that sack of sh#@ and let him know what we think. I'm gonna blow up his email box today. :chair

It's funny- the columnists complain about Marlins attendance being so far down, yet they continue to bash the product, causing fans who read to think "this team stinks, I'm not going to watch." Do these guys REALLY want baseball to succeed in South Florida? Because they sure don't sound like it.

They're all plants in bud seligs evil plan to contract us.

Would you guys just stop reading and posting Berardion? I stopped reading him and stopped receiving the Sun-Sentinel because of his comments. I rely on Florida Marlins.com and this board for my fish news. I have been happier ever since, both sites have balance and have good stories and articles.

nice quote from the palmbeachpost article

Is the old-school skipper, 27-20 at Florida since replacing Jeff Torborg, talking about picking up some games or picking up more good players?

 

"Both," he said, alternately blowing smoke from a thick cigar and congratulating himself for predicting two weeks ago the Marlins wouldn't move Lowell.

Berardino is supposed to be a reporter, he is acting like all he writes are editorials. Most of his "articles" are opinions instead of facts and quotes. He isn't reporting, he is distorting.

Berardino, to be fair, writes commentaries (as well as reports from time to time). The SS lists him as a "sports columnist" and as such he is supposed to give his opinion.

 

I think he's all wrong, trying to out LeBatard Lebatard isn't going to do his credibility much good if they keep winning, which I certainly hope they do.

 

Dan has gone over to the dark side. It's a shame, but its true.

LeBatard has written more positively this year of the Marlins than Berardino.

Dan = error = Mike sheesh grrrrr

at least LeBastard can write.