At the end of the end, Marlins closer Todd Jones hugged owner Jeff Loria in the clubhouse, thanked him in what sounded a lot like good-bye and then said he was sorry for blowing the game for Dontrelle Willis.

 

And how is that for symbolic punctuation on this lost season?

 

A Marlin issuing an apology wrapped in a good-bye?

 

At the end of the end, Willis tried to explain his discomfort in taking a reluctant curtain call while his team was losing and added that he didn't want to come out of the game even after throwing 120 pitches because, in his words, ``I signed on for all 162 games. I'll heal later.''

 

And how is that for symbolic punctuation on this strange season?

 

STILL NOT ENOUGH

 

Willis giving all the excellence he had, even at the risk of his health, and it still not being enough?

 

At the end of the end, after an afternoon that was both sunny and rainy, triumphant and dreary, Marlins manager Jack McKeon and Marlins management pretended that McKeon was leaving his position on his own terms even though he had lost this team so profoundly that Juan Encarnacion showed up late yet again Sunday even after an assortment of warnings.

 

And how is that for symbolic punctuation on this undisciplined season?

 

The team fighting its beaten, tired leader to the bitter end?

 

After the Marlins had produced their first sweep of a team since June on Sunday, winning the most when it mattered the least, Jeff Conine was asked to describe the season in a single word.

 

''Disappointing,'' he said.

 

A second word?

 

''Monumentally,'' he said.

 

Conine, a two-time champion, thought that, on paper, the 2005 Marlins were the best team on which he had ever played. They barely wheezed to over .500. And if you had told Conine before the season that A.J. Burnett and Josh Beckett would be healthy, Willis would be better than either of them, Carlos Delgado and Miguel Cabrera would be mauling monsters, Jones would have a career year and four Marlins would hit over .300?

 

''Print the playoff tickets,'' Conine said.

 

He shrugged. ''Baseball is funny,'' he said.

 

And cruel.

 

So instead of playoff tickets, the season ended with the odd scene of a manager quitting, even though he was just two seasons removed from a championship and had two winning seasons since. You won't find a lot of precedent for that. McKeon bunted and yelled too much and soothed too little, and so now he is gone. Hard to believe all the good was undone by the underachieving by Juan Pierre, Mike Lowell and Al Leiter, but it was. McKeon will manage again if another team asks, which tells you that his time isn't done as much as his time is simply done here.

 

MORE GOOD THAN BAD

 

''More good times than bad times,'' Pierre said of McKeon's tenure.

 

Pierre looked down at the floor, even after a five-hit game that included the game-winner. He is obsessive-compulsive about his work. This offseason will haunt him.

 

''If I could have done my job,'' he said. ``I let everyone in here down. We never played well for a stretch. We never got hot. There were so many times we could have won if I had just done something.''

 

Pierre classified McKeon's crusty style as ''a little stern,'' so the next voice isn't likely to be as loud or caked in curmudgeon. It is more likely to sound like the Spanish of Atlanta third-base coach Fredi Gonzalez, who would like to be here, than it will like the hardened rage of Lou Piniella. But that's just one of the questions the Marlins need to answer in an offseason bulging with them.

 

We don't know how long this team will be here, if at all. We don't know how it can afford to keep any of its expensive players or how its owner can continue to bleed money. We don't know who will be next season's third starter, closer, right fielder, first baseman, shortstop, third baseman. Conine, Mr. Marlin, is like many others who have no idea if they'll be invited back. Jones sounds like he's gone when he says that teams weren't afraid to offer him a minor-league deal when he stunk last season so he won't be afraid to ask for plenty of cash now that he was good this offseason.

 

And then there is the curious case of Cabrera, as loopy and talented as his idol, Manny Ramirez. Team president David Samson uses the word ''concerned'' when asked if he is worried about his stud prodigy's attitude. Cabrera is great, but he is young and surrounded by temptation, and he isn't as professional and mature as Willis. So we'll see soon enough if his desire matches his gifts.

 

WHAT AN END

 

Afterward, Willis said ''My heart bleeds for him'' when talking about Jones. Jones, brilliant as he was all season, blew Sunday's lead, Willis' emotional chance at 23 victories and maybe even his Cy Young Award. Jones' reaction? He said he wanted to vomit right on the mound.

 

And how's that for symbolism at the end of the end?

 

Florida's two best pitchers broken and bruised, giving just about everything they had inside and being left outside nevertheless.

 

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/12803993.htm

I like Jones, and it's not to say that I don't want him back, I simply don't think the likelihood of him repeating this season is slim, and with that in mind, anything over $2 million is probably over-paying for a pitcher who bounced around from team to team with good reason over the last few seasons. However, it's nice to see he cares so damn much.

With Dempster getting a 3 year/5 million per from the Cubs (guaranteed), I don't even want to know what Jones is going to make

you are listening to LE Bastard. hes a freaking moron. this guy probably slanted everything every player said to make his stupid ass article sound different than every other one out now!

Good article overall though... All I can say is it's going to be an interesting as hell offseason and hopefully a good one

this guy probably slanted everything every player said to make his stupid ass article sound different than every other one out now!

 

LOL, that is so true.

Some of you are so bias against certain writers you don't even bother to read the articles anymore. Get off your high horse and don't insult Le Batard just for the sake of insulting him. Insinuating he changed what people said just because you have a problem with him is downright wrong as well.

Who else would close games for us next year?

Who else would close games for us next year?

 

 

Mota, Alfonseca, Urbina, with Resop as a distant-darkhorse, and BJ Ryan as my personal dream.

I dunno man...

 

Alfonseca as our closer??? Excuse me while I puke.

 

You think Urbina will be cheaper than Jones?

 

Resop.. not yet.

 

BJ Ryan? Stud, but that won't happen.

I dunno man...

 

Alfonseca as our closer??? Excuse me while I puke.

 

You think Urbina will be cheaper than Jones?

 

Resop.. not yet.

 

BJ Ryan? Stud, but that won't happen.

 

 

Urbina will be cheaper than Jones given the money that Dempster signed as a closer. Urbina didn't have a great year as a set-up guy in Philly (but we know what that ballpark does to pitchers), and it doesn't look like he's the top target for teams who have identified relief as a priority (Mets, Yankees, Red Sox)...all of those teams figure to go crazy on Billy Wagner, and to a lesser extent, BJ Ryan, although I hear he's willing to take less money/reduced roles (IE, set-up) to go to a place where he can actually win.

 

And as for Alfonseca as the closer; no he wouldn't be elite, but if Jones showed me anything this year, it's that it's not particularly hard to come into a game to start the ninth inning with a 2 run lead and simply get 3 outs before surrendering 3 runs, even at the end of the year, Jones wasn't lights out with a narrow lead in a "tough" save situation...so why not save $5 million if we're not getting an "elite" closer? Even Mota, for as bad as he is/was didn't do horribly as our closer at the start of the year...it's just finding a role for players that affords them the best opportunity to succeed, and for Alfonseca, that's coming into an inning with no one on base.

I don't think the Marlins will hand out Dempster type money for a closer. I rather sign solid middle relievers with that money and do a closing by committed if needed (or if Mota continues to suck).

Who else would close games for us next year?

 

Hopefully someone earning a small enough paycheck so we can afford the relievers who will actually pitch when the game is at risk.