October 4, 200520 yr I'm not really doing this so we have another "let's all be positive" post about the Marlins, but I must say that I'm pretty excited about this off-season. I was utterly disappointed with this season...to be honest, it's truly the first season that I've felt we were bona-fide disappointments. But... Even if we're going to "purge" all this payroll, I still think it's going to be an exciting process. The FO still wants to win. This isn't going to be 1998 revisited. We're still going to keep our core, and in the process completely revamp our bullpen (which couldn't be much worse no matter how little we spend), bring up some of our young top-prospects as inexpensive replacements, possibly bargain hunt for a few key offensive reserves, and try to find a new coach (and staff) to bring it all together. Are we going to have to trade Luis, LoDuca, or Pierre to dump Lowell (if we want to get rid of him)? How much money are we willing to spend on AGonz? Are we willing to have Johnson, Olsen, AND Vargas comprise 3/5 of our rotation? Is it Andino time? Hermida time? Willingham time? Are we afraid to hire Piniella because we want more of a "players" coach after McKeon? Anyway, I know I'll get ripped for asserting that these are "the questions" needing to be answered, but my basic point is that we're going to have an unpredictable, exciting off-season. It'll be interesting to see what the FO does. As much as I like our current roster, we'll still be able to field a competitive team with Cabrera, Delgado, Willis, and Beckett as our core...no matter who we lose. GO MARLINS!
October 4, 200520 yr Am I the only one who thinks this offseason is going to be much ado about nothing once the manager is hired? We'll try to trade Lowell, we'll fail to find a team willing to take him at a 60/40 split, and we'll find that teams won't exactly like the idea of adding a ton of payroll to take Luis or LoDuca with Lowell, and I don't think we deal Pierre as part of Lowell's dump. We'll offer arbitration to Gonzalez and Burnett, and Gonzalez'll likely accept it, and then wham-o, off-season over.
October 4, 200520 yr Author Am I the only one who thinks this offseason is going to be much ado about nothing once the manager is hired? We'll try to trade Lowell, we'll fail to find a team willing to take him at a 60/40 split, and we'll find that teams won't exactly like the idea of adding a ton of payroll to take Luis or LoDuca with Lowell, and I don't think we deal Pierre as part of Lowell's dump. We'll offer arbitration to Gonzalez and Burnett, and Gonzalez'll likely accept it, and then wham-o, off-season over. Maybe. But, the Red Sox may be interested in taking on payroll if LoDuca is available and they don't hang on to Varitek. And I can see many teams wanting Luis...maybe even enough to take Lowell. So, basically...if we're able to dump Lowell, the off-season could be VERY unpredictable. Also, I believe I read a few articles saying that we might not offer arbitration to Pierre anyway, considering that he is actually due for a hefty raise - even after his dreadful season.
October 4, 200520 yr But, the Red Sox may be interested in taking on payroll if LoDuca is available and they don't hang on to Varitek. They went long-term after last season ended, and he's the captain in Boston. At least check major facts before speculating.
October 4, 200520 yr There is way too much offseason for the amount of issues that you listed. Regardless of the intrigue, it's going to be a loooong 5 months.
October 5, 200520 yr But, the Red Sox may be interested in taking on payroll if LoDuca is available and they don't hang on to Varitek. They went long-term after last season ended, and he's the captain in Boston. At least check major facts before speculating. Only after inquiring of LoDuca's services. But it's a moot point. Tek's signed.
October 5, 200520 yr But, the Red Sox may be interested in taking on payroll if LoDuca is available and they don't hang on to Varitek. And I can see many teams wanting Luis...maybe even enough to take Lowell. Would you really trade Castillo away to get rid of Lowell? Yikes.
October 5, 200520 yr I'm really not expecting Loria to gut the team. It's quite possible he'll bump payroll modestly, perhaps just above $70M. Loria is committed to growing baseball in So. Florida and he can't afford to be seen as cutting payroll if he wants to continue growing the fan base. Ticket prices are going up again. Attendance is improving. TV Revenue is up. We're going to have a new manager and coaching staff. We'll replace a few free agents and add a few rookies to the lineup, bench, rotation and bullpen. Expect a normal level of off-season activity. I just hope Loria can find enough $$ to sign Beckett to a multi-year contract. It's time.
October 5, 200520 yr I just hope Loria can find enough $$ to sign Beckett to a multi-year contract. It's time. And that, my friends, should be priority #1 for this offseason.
October 5, 200520 yr I..I think that t..the Marlins wil be sold t...to M..M..Mi..Miami.. F..Florida.. Or somethin like that that
October 5, 200520 yr Author But, the Red Sox may be interested in taking on payroll if LoDuca is available and they don't hang on to Varitek. And I can see many teams wanting Luis...maybe even enough to take Lowell. Would you really trade Castillo away to get rid of Lowell? Yikes. No...but it doesn't mean it won't happen. If we want to purge payroll, Luis would be a prime candidate to pair with Lowell, because he's one of our highest paid players and has great trade value. I think most teams in the league would love to have him. Anyway, it's just something to ponder. I hope Loria keeps Luis (and the rest of the team for that matter), but I don't see how he can continually lose the amounts of money he claims to lose without dumping some salary...and I don't see how you can dump salary (like Lowell) without giving up something of value too.
October 5, 200520 yr we really should start a thread with countdown to spring training in it, pin it up and use that for comments for the offseason like what is happening day to day, perhaps each day the news articles from the major 3 papers down here? Each day remove another day from it what do you all think? Perhaps it will pass the lonely time before March rolls around?
October 5, 200520 yr we really should start a thread with countdown to spring training in it, pin it up and use that for comments for the offseason like what is happening day to day, perhaps each day the news articles from the major 3 papers down here? Each day remove another day from it Someone suggested it in another thread, it's not practical... would get cluttered. New threads for each topic is fine and there will be a countdown up top near the header like last offseason very very soon.
October 5, 200520 yr But, the Red Sox may be interested in taking on payroll if LoDuca is available and they don't hang on to Varitek. And I can see many teams wanting Luis...maybe even enough to take Lowell. Would you really trade Castillo away to get rid of Lowell? Yikes. No...but it doesn't mean it won't happen. If we want to purge payroll, Luis would be a prime candidate to pair with Lowell, because he's one of our highest paid players and has great trade value. I think most teams in the league would love to have him. Anyway, it's just something to ponder. I hope Loria keeps Luis (and the rest of the team for that matter), but I don't see how he can continually lose the amounts of money he claims to lose without dumping some salary...and I don't see how you can dump salary (like Lowell) without giving up something of value too. Given the amount of money that a team taking both players would have to take on ($30 million between the two of them) I'd say it's doubtful that any team values Luis Castillo enough to take a $30 million gamble on Lowell returning to 70% of what he once was. Lowell would be most attractive to teams if he's paired with a young player with a high ceiling and a small contract...that leaves Jeremy Hermida (not likely) Miguel Cabrera (haha, yeah) Jason Vargas (maybe) Josh Johnson (maybe) and Scott Olsen (maybe, but the most likely considering we've tried to trade him before and the F.O. questions his mental makeup and physical durability) as the potential add-ons. If the Brian Giles ordeal from a few seasons ago showed anything, it's that a player, no matter how desireable, will not be acquired if a bad contract is attatched (Jason Kendall).
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