Can you run that worst case scenario by me again, WildCard? If Ordonez/Drew/Delgado gets injured (which there is a equal or greater chance of happening than Gibbons and Martinez flopping), atleast Beinfest can shrug his shoulders and say 'We didn't pay for two pitchers who could have helped, but, ah, what was the point? We had no chance without Ordonez'? Shouldn't Beinfest put the Marlins in a position to win without betting on the health of three players who have missed time in recent years?639351[/snapback]

 

How can you say that there is an equal chance of Magglio Ordonez, someone who had never been on the DL before last season, getting injured than there is of Jay Gibbons and Tino Martinez flopping? Martinez already flopped in the NL, and even if Gibbons is productive he and Encarnacion will be nothing compared to Maggs, and I don't see how you can argue that.

 

And the two pitchers you can get will be no more than average. Why overpay for them and two platoon guys when you can have an elite offensive threat? Magglio has missed time in recent year. Singular. He is a low-risk signing, and the reward far exceeds the risk. Why not steal him while he's on the market now? Pierre-Castillo-Ordonez-Cabrera-Lowell-LoDuca-Conine-Gonzalez would be sick.

 

And hell, I'd like to give Hagerty a shot at the fifth starter spot. If he earns it he'll make the minimum and that kid has sick stuff in the fifth slot.

 

BTW: I don't want to bring this into the arguement because it has nothing to do with production, but how many tickets will average joes sell? How many will Magglio Ordonez sell?

It's not fair to say Magglio's health is any better shape than Tino Martinez' bat in the National League. First off, we don't have enough information on Ordonez although I think it's safe to say out of the three big names mentioned Ordonez has a better history. Secondly, Martinez was a good hitter in St. Louis. In his two seasons were 6% and 8% better than NL average according to baseball-reference's OPS+ statistic.

 

Magglio + Conine and two platoons is more or less a wash offensively IMO. This is more of a question of star power versus depth.

 

 

It's always bothered me that the Marlins or other teams have not compiled studies on this. It would be to their benefit to know what the trends of their fan base (and potential fan base). I think generally an everyday player with starpower does not cause an increase in attendance as much as a starting pitcher might. The numbers do suggest that winners will always draw fans. No matter how passionate the market is for the sport or their team, winning teams draw much better than losing teams.