August 4, 200323 yr Adam, you were SO pesimistic... I thought everyone would enjoy this. Why the Marlins will NOT win 90 Next Year December 7, 2002 You want to know why the Florida Marlins will NOT contend in 2003. Let me tell you why. It all starts at the top and it permeates all the way down throughout the organization. While teams such as the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies work to improve their team, the Marlins are stuck in neutral. I do not consider Juan Pierre and Tim Spoonybarger an improvement in any ways taking all things as a whole. The Marlins are still a long way from contending. The team does have a number of good hitters, but a team full of great hitters does not make a good team alone. You have to put it all together, and that is one of the biggest problems this team faces. They do not hit well when players are on base. You have some players that are red hot for one part of the season and ice cold the other times of the season. You can have all the homeruns in the world, but unless they are timely homeruns, they do not mean as much. Want proof of why stats alone do not make a winning team, look at the Texas Rangers, they have Alex Rodriguez and still come in last light years behind everyone else. The Marlins have all the potential in the world to succeed. However, they have yet to do this. Fans were told 2001 or 2002 would be the years the team becomes a contender. That never occurred, save for a mirage in May last year. The Marlins have pitchers like Josh Beckett, AJ Burnett and Brad Penny, but save for Penny in 2001; none of them has ever been healthy for an entire year. Burnett has struggled with ?freak? injuries and Beckett?s struggles with the blister are well documented, but he also had some arm trouble in the minor leagues. These are some warning signs to potential danger in the future. Another reason the Marlins will have troubles succeeding next year lies in their field general. Jeff Torborg is a nice manager for a rebuilding team, but for a team in contention he has no clue about how to properly manage a roster. Many of the players faded down the stretch last year. Why? Jeff Torborg NEVER gave rest to many of his players. Does Torborg realize what a bench is? Torborg failed in all his previous managerial jobs, he will fail in South Florida as well, and Torborg shows nothing to convince me, to signify him learning how to manage a team on the field. People downplay the importance of a manager, but in fact, a good manager pays great dividends. Looking at the front office, they have not shown the willingness to make the moves necessary to improve the team and take the team to the next level. All moves have been done with economics in mind. While an argument can be presented saying they have been wise moves, until the current regime opens up their pocketbook and secure their players long-term, many will remain skeptical regarding their ultimate goals. Fans will not return until they believe the regime becomes committed to putting a winner on the field. In many ways, this is a double-edged sword, because in order to put forth this mindset, the regime will have to spend money. Nevertheless, the old business principle remains, one must spend money in order to make money. Finally, building a team around speed, pitching and defense worked in the 80s. Today?s era disproves this way of building a team. I hope that the Marlins will buck the trend and prove to baseball that these qualities can win. However, recent history says this will not occur. Marlin fans, be prepared. Another .500 season is dawning as long as things remain the same.
August 4, 200323 yr Adam, you were SO pesimistic... I thought everyone would enjoy this. Why the Marlins will NOT win 90 Next Year December 7, 2002 You want to know why the Florida Marlins will NOT contend in 2003. Let me tell you why. It all starts at the top and it permeates all the way down throughout the organization. While teams such as the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies work to improve their team, the Marlins are stuck in neutral. I do not consider Juan Pierre and Tim Spoonybarger an improvement in any ways taking all things as a whole. The Marlins are still a long way from contending. The team does have a number of good hitters, but a team full of great hitters does not make a good team alone. You have to put it all together, and that is one of the biggest problems this team faces. They do not hit well when players are on base. You have some players that are red hot for one part of the season and ice cold the other times of the season. You can have all the homeruns in the world, but unless they are timely homeruns, they do not mean as much. Want proof of why stats alone do not make a winning team, look at the Texas Rangers, they have Alex Rodriguez and still come in last light years behind everyone else. The Marlins have all the potential in the world to succeed. However, they have yet to do this. Fans were told 2001 or 2002 would be the years the team becomes a contender. That never occurred, save for a mirage in May last year. The Marlins have pitchers like Josh Beckett, AJ Burnett and Brad Penny, but save for Penny in 2001; none of them has ever been healthy for an entire year. Burnett has struggled with ?freak? injuries and Beckett?s struggles with the blister are well documented, but he also had some arm trouble in the minor leagues. These are some warning signs to potential danger in the future. Another reason the Marlins will have troubles succeeding next year lies in their field general. Jeff Torborg is a nice manager for a rebuilding team, but for a team in contention he has no clue about how to properly manage a roster. Many of the players faded down the stretch last year. Why? Jeff Torborg NEVER gave rest to many of his players. Does Torborg realize what a bench is? Torborg failed in all his previous managerial jobs, he will fail in South Florida as well, and Torborg shows nothing to convince me, to signify him learning how to manage a team on the field. People downplay the importance of a manager, but in fact, a good manager pays great dividends. Looking at the front office, they have not shown the willingness to make the moves necessary to improve the team and take the team to the next level. All moves have been done with economics in mind. While an argument can be presented saying they have been wise moves, until the current regime opens up their pocketbook and secure their players long-term, many will remain skeptical regarding their ultimate goals. Fans will not return until they believe the regime becomes committed to putting a winner on the field. In many ways, this is a double-edged sword, because in order to put forth this mindset, the regime will have to spend money. Nevertheless, the old business principle remains, one must spend money in order to make money. Finally, building a team around speed, pitching and defense worked in the 80s. Today?s era disproves this way of building a team. I hope that the Marlins will buck the trend and prove to baseball that these qualities can win. However, recent history says this will not occur. Marlin fans, be prepared. Another .500 season is dawning as long as things remain the same. Eat Crow!
August 4, 200323 yr We haven't won 90 yet... Um..... You want to know why the Florida Marlins will NOT contend in 2003
August 4, 200323 yr Most of that was written thinking Torborg would be our manager. Also we didn't know much about a guy named Willis then, and we definetly didn't expect Lowell to be a prolific power hitter.
August 4, 200323 yr Author Most of that was written thinking Torborg would be our manager. Also we didn't know much about a guy named Willis then, and we definetly didn't expect Lowell to be a prolific power hitter. s*** happens... He predicted that we wouldn't win 90 games in retaliation to my article that was titled "Why the Marlins Should Win 90 Games" (that was also my first article, and was about 2 paragraphs long, with horrible grammer).
August 4, 200323 yr You take away Redman, Willis and Pudge, and Lowell doesn't have a breakout year and this is a pretty sorry team.
August 4, 200323 yr Author You take away Redman, Willis and Pudge, and Lowell doesn't have a breakout year and this is a pretty sorry team. Like I said, s*** happens. He spoke too soon. That's not my problem. :lol
August 4, 200323 yr Like I said, s*** happens. He spoke too soon. That's not my problem. :lol Yeah I guess you should wait till all the offseason deals are done to write off a team.
August 4, 200323 yr bite me josh. the marlins had done nothing in the offseason prior to that point. nice of you to point out some of my negative articles. with the team we had at that point, with the season this team had in 2002, what woudl anyone truly expect. name me ONE person who saw pudge arriving on this team. Or Willis having the season he hed. OR Torborg being fired. In actuality..... the reasons this team are contending stems from two people. Dontrelle Willis AND Jack McKeon Without both of them, this team sucks. So KMA.
August 4, 200323 yr Author Yeah I guess you should wait till all the offseason deals are done to write off a team. Welcome to my side of the fence! Isn't the grass much greener?
August 4, 200323 yr I still think we should cut him some slack because at the time things didn't look good.
August 4, 200323 yr *Raises hand* my a**.... you may have wanted him fired but you didnt see it happening... jackass
August 4, 200323 yr Author my a**.... you may have wanted him fired but you didnt see it happening... jackass When the rumors in ST surfaced that Torborg refused to fire Arnsberge, and that the team wanted both fired but would wait was the first indication. The second was how horrible the pitching was when Arnsberg was here (despite injuries). Again, the rumors surfaced that Torborg wouldn't fire him. Once Torborg started making those extreamely questionable decisions (particularly in NY against the Mets), I knew he would be on his way out soon. I thought Arnsberg was definately going to go, and it was in the back of my mind Jeff would go as well. I obviously can't prove I believed any of this (even though I did), because it was all in my head.
August 4, 200323 yr fool. this article you so question was not written in spring training. it was in december. all the questions i ask pertain to that time. wake up and get a clue instead of just being a pain in my a**.
August 4, 200323 yr wake up and get a clue instead of just being a pain in my a**. You might just need some Preparation-H. 94-year-olds can be prone to those kind of problems.
August 4, 200323 yr Author fool. this article you so question was not written in spring training. it was in december. all the questions i ask pertain to that time. wake up and get a clue instead of just being a pain in my a**. I was refering to articles in the Sentinal and Herald and Post that said Torborg had refused to fire Brad, ect. ect. Fool.
August 4, 200323 yr You might just need some Preparation-H. 94-year-olds can be prone to those kind of problems. just ask Zim
August 4, 200323 yr Author You might just need some Preparation-H. 94-year-olds can be prone to those kind of problems. :lol I've never seen this laid back Ross before...
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