May 24, 200620 yr Marlins down ... but not out posted: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 At least two general managers did their due diligence Monday and called Admin Beinfest to ask if he would discuss trading Dontrelle Willis. They got the same answer: "He is not available." As of this point, Beinfest insists that not one name has been discussed with another GM for Willis. Not that Willis won't be available near the trading deadline if -- and it is a major if -- some of the horde of young Florida pitchers progress the way right-handers Ricky Nolasco and Josh Johnson have developed thus far. Beinfest's modus operandi is to plan out where he can get what he would need and focus on a handful of teams; that's what he did when he went to trade Josh Beckett, attaching Mike Lowell's $18 million commitment and zeroing in on the player he wanted from the outset, Hanley Ramirez. Ramirez has turned out to be, in Beinfest's words, "even better than I ever could have expected." After Monday night's game, the astoundingly athletic 22-year old had a .411 on-base percentage, .344 batting average and a .901 OPS. "Ramirez can do anything," says Beinfest. "There are very few players with his kind of talent." Aside a 23-year old, Miguel Cabrera, who has had a Hall of Fame start to his career, the Phish have the makings of an All-Star left side of the infield -- and rivals the Mets' David Wright and Jose Reyes -- for a long time to come. When Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria decided after three very good years to strip down and start over again and Bienfest convinced him that it's best to go to the bare necessities and that there is little difference between losing 95 and losing 105 games, they took their payroll down to $15 million. But GM's across the industry insisted that the talent Beinfest got back in his trades was far better than many realized. "I think," says Beinfest, "that while we have had some tough losses and our (12-31) record is bad that we're aead of where we thought we'd be." Florida has half of a contending positional lineup with Ramirez, Cabrera, second baseman Dan Uggla and left fielder Josh Willingham. The latter has an .878 OPS, slightly better than Chipper Jones, while Uggla has hit .310 with six homers and an .842 OPS. "Uggla was supposed to be a nobody, [was] on no top 10 prospect lists, [was] nothing," says Beinfest of his Rule V draft pick out of the Arizona organization. "He's fought as if he knows that he could always be sent back to Double-A with the Diamondbacks." If Willis is put on the market, the consensus is that there are three organizations with the skilled young players -- two position players and one pitcher -- that the Marlins would need back. The D-Backs, Dodgers and Angels are the organizations with the best prospects. Each has a young catcher. Each have power bats. But they are a long way from even discussing a deal, and will continue to run young arms in and out of the rotation with Willis to see who sticks. It is apparent that Nolasco and Johnson are in. Right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Anibal Sanchez will get their shots at some point. In the meantime, they have to suffer. "We look at it two ways," says Beinfest. "First, we are competitive, we're in most games. Second, we're watching young players improve." Third, they are not the Royals, who last week had a starting lineup that averaged 32 years old.
May 24, 200620 yr Gammons is a genius i tell u! guy truely knows what he is saying, WILLIS IS NOT AVAILABLE!! YAHH
May 24, 200620 yr Author He forgot to mention hermida as "half of the marlins contedning positional lineup"
May 24, 200620 yr I think he was going by this season's stats. But, I agree... great article. Smart baseball people know what's really up w/ the Marlins.
May 24, 200620 yr I saw this thread and just had to post. Nothing directed at the previous posters, but it always amazes me that fans of a particular team in any sport only like a media member when they say something nice about their team. If a media members says anything negative about the fans team, as Gammons has done several times - as is his job, he's supposed to call it as he sees it, not to make fans like him - the fans jump all over him and say the guys is an idiot, call him names, etc. But if the same media member says somthing nice about said team, all of a sudden the media member is a good guy, yada, yada. To use an example from another sport, when the ESPN College Gameday crew say anything negative about UM, my brethren over on those message boards are frothing at the mouth and spewing hate. But when they say something nice (or something bad about a UM rival), well, you get the picture... :blink: I just had to laugh.
May 24, 200620 yr I saw this thread and just had to post. Nothing directed at the previous posters, but it always amazes me that fans of a particular team in any sport only like a media member when they say something nice about their team. If a media members says anything negative about the fans team, as Gammons has done several times - as is his job, he's supposed to call it as he sees it, not to make fans like him - the fans jump all over him and say the guys is an idiot, call him names, etc. But if the same media member says somthing nice about said team, all of a sudden the media member is a good guy, yada, yada. To use an example from another sport, when the ESPN College Gameday crew say anything negative about UM, my brethren over on those message boards are frothing at the mouth and spewing hate. But when they say something nice (or something bad about a UM rival), well, you get the picture... :blink: I just had to laugh. Isnt that the point of bing a fan? Fans Always want to hear the good things. :thumbup
May 24, 200620 yr The D-Backs, Dodgers and Angels are the organizations with the best prospects. Billingsley? :shifty Say, in theory, Dontrelle was to be traded to one of these three teams. What kind of prospects would we be getting in return?
May 24, 200620 yr The D-Backs, Dodgers and Angels are the organizations with the best prospects. Billingsley? :shifty Say, in theory, Dontrelle was to be traded to one of these three teams. What kind of prospects would we be getting in return? A catcher, a big bat, and a top flight pitcher. All would be top 100 prospect types. Most likely one of them top 20 if not two.
May 24, 200620 yr catcher and centerfielder are the two positions the Marlins are lacking quality prospect players. add in a solid bullpen arm, and I say do the deal. With Olsen, Nolasco, Johnson, Petit, Sanchez, Pinto, Vargas, Volstad, Thomson, etc... Willis is expendable, and can get us the most of any in a trade, especially in a time of high demand, ala trade deadline.
May 24, 200620 yr Willis is expendable, and can get us the most of any in a trade, especially in a time of high demand, ala trade deadline. I pretty much agree, I really like Willis and I think his leadership on the club right now is invaluable, but the amount of uber prospects he could command is starting to sway me on my stance of Dontrelle being untouchable. For example, We could go after Billingsley and Russell Martin from the Dodgers, the outfield prospects of the diamondbacks.. :o
May 24, 200620 yr The D-Backs, Dodgers and Angels are the organizations with the best prospects. Billingsley? :shifty Say, in theory, Dontrelle was to be traded to one of these three teams. What kind of prospects would we be getting in return? If the Dodgers offered Billingsley and Russ Martin, I pull the trigger with no hesitation. The D-Backs, Dodgers and Angels are the organizations with the best prospects. Billingsley? :shifty Say, in theory, Dontrelle was to be traded to one of these three teams. What kind of prospects would we be getting in return? If the Dodgers offered Billingsley and Russ Martin, I pull the trigger right away.
May 24, 200620 yr if Willis is expendable than you all should not be breathing the same air as everyone else
May 24, 200620 yr The D-Backs, Dodgers and Angels are the organizations with the best prospects. Billingsley? :shifty Say, in theory, Dontrelle was to be traded to one of these three teams. What kind of prospects would we be getting in return? A catcher, a big bat, and a top flight pitcher. All would be top 100 prospect types. Most likely one of them top 20 if not two. WOW ! :thumbup
May 24, 200620 yr The D-Backs, Dodgers and Angels are the organizations with the best prospects. Billingsley? :shifty Say, in theory, Dontrelle was to be traded to one of these three teams. What kind of prospects would we be getting in return? A catcher, a big bat, and a top flight pitcher. All would be top 100 prospect types. Most likely one of them top 20 if not two. WOW ! :thumbup he is better then that even though. You all need to understand he is a marketing Dream! The first black Ace pitcher in 20-30 years is a marketing dream for Major league Baseball. He is national face and name already. He is perhaps the most charismatic guy in major league baseball. He is the type of guy you build a franchise around a face like that! Hence why he is wonderful to have.
May 24, 200620 yr As mentioned above, Dodgers catcher Russ Martin would make things very interesting indeed. Problem is, its very doubtful the Dodgers would part with him. When Martin has been behind the plate for the Dodgers this year, they have a 14-3 record. The deal i'd take for Willis if offered would be Martin, CF Matt Kemp, and Jonathon Broxton or Scott Elbert. I'd throw in Olivo to give the Dodgers another catcher. Doubt there is any chance of that coming to pass though. I would though be more than happy to keep Willis:) The only deal is if it packed with talent and hits all our needs. If the stadium deal gets done sooner rather than later I would expect Willis if he is still here to be taken off the market permanently, so he is ready for opening day at the new ballpark. I feel the need to add that Miguel Cabrera must NEVER be traded. Any deal involving Cabrera is a mistake, because the chances of us getting a player of that quality at that kind of position (3B) again in the next decade are slim and quite possibly none. With pitchers though its always different, as the chance of injury and performance slippage is far greater.
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