From his ESPN.com chat today 6/2.

 

Chris (Oxford, England): Should the Marlins deal Willis? If so, Arizona or LA?

 

SportsNation Rob Neyer: They not only should, they MUST. Maybe not today. But as soon as he puts a few good starts together. Because by the time they're ready to win, they won't be able to afford him.

 

 

 

He's got a point, but it's hard to let go of Dontrelle because of the intangibles. I'm torn - I don't think I'd be incredibly upset either way...

I don't think they should trade Dontrelle because if they do then we might not make the playoffs because he will win at least 15 games for us this year and I dont think anyone in the minors can match that. We CAN win NOW!!!! :thumbup

we should be ready to win in 2 years we will still have him under contract then. Why move him if we dont need to?

 

2008, 2009 are the target years I think most will agree

Just a hunch, but I'm guessing the starts he's been having have made him a tad more affordable next year. Plus, we're probably not going to keep payroll at $15 million. You'd figure at some point Loria'll spend a little more than 1/4 of his MLB welfare check.

Willis' value will be so high at the deadline that it'll make it tough to pass up on trading him...

 

If the offer is a steal, you have to do it because the bottom line is the Marlins have so much depth at starting pitcher, albeit young depth. (Johnson, Nolasco, Olsen, Petit, Sanchez, Pinto, Volstad, Thomson, Vargas, Mitre). They all can't start!

 

And trading one of them will not get the same kind of package in return. And I'm not sure they aren't/won't be better than Dontrelle.

maybe i am naive but i think willis will give the marlins a home team discount , if a stadium deal is announced in a year or so . we stink now but we are not that far from contending on the cheap , johnson will have have his ups and downs but looks like he is a legit #2 , one of the many rookies we have wil turn into a 3 , so in two years we have 3 front line starters , position players we need a 1b , cf , probably lf , and a catcher . bullpen is were we are going to have to spend some money but it is plausible even with willis making 10 million a year we could still have a cost effective payroll by mlb standards and compete . The only way you trade willis is if you are overwhelmed with 3 top flight mlb ready prospects and i doubt they would get offered that even then i am not sure we should trade d-train for public relations reasons . what really need is to trade jeffrey loria's bank account for steinbrenners

maybe i am naive but i think willis will give the marlins a home team discount , if a stadium deal is announced in a year or so . we stink now but we are not that far from contending on the cheap , johnson will have have his ups and downs but looks like he is a legit #2 , one of the many rookies we have wil turn into a 3 , so in two years we have 3 front line starters , position players we need a 1b , cf , probably lf , and a catcher . bullpen is were we are going to have to spend some money but it is plausible even with willis making 10 million a year we could still have a cost effective payroll by mlb standards and compete . The only way you trade willis is if you are overwhelmed with 3 top flight mlb ready prospects and i doubt they would get offered that even then i am not sure we should trade d-train for public relations reasons . what really need is to trade jeffrey loria's bank account for steinbrenners

 

 

why a LF?

if anything we can move Willy to 1B, and then we'd need a LF, but then we wouldn't need a 1B...

 

 

you think the Hammer's gonna get traded?

maybe i am naive but i think willis will give the marlins a home team discount , if a stadium deal is announced in a year or so . we stink now but we are not that far from contending on the cheap , johnson will have have his ups and downs but looks like he is a legit #2 , one of the many rookies we have wil turn into a 3 , so in two years we have 3 front line starters , position players we need a 1b , cf , probably lf , and a catcher . bullpen is were we are going to have to spend some money but it is plausible even with willis making 10 million a year we could still have a cost effective payroll by mlb standards and compete . The only way you trade willis is if you are overwhelmed with 3 top flight mlb ready prospects and i doubt they would get offered that even then i am not sure we should trade d-train for public relations reasons . what really need is to trade jeffrey loria's bank account for steinbrenners

 

 

why a LF?

if anything we can move Willy to 1B, and then we'd need a LF, but then we wouldn't need a 1B...

 

 

you think the Hammer's gonna get traded?

 

I like willingham for this team i am just not sure if i like him 2-4 years down the line as a starting lf or 1st baseman , i am not sure if he can make it through a full season , i like him more as a 4th outfielder , emergency catcher type player , a pinch hitter with a bit of pop . I 'd rather have more speed and defense out there but i would also like a million bucks doesnt means i am going to get it. I dont think he is going to be traded no incentive to move him he doesnt make any money so that is a plus for the marlins and hasnt proven he is a talent through the course of a mlb season that other teams would want to part with some prospects for .

Hammer can hit. Period, end of story. If Hermida gets a free pass, so too should Willingham.

I have to agree with Swift. Hermida is getting the benefit of the doubt without doing anything....at least Willingham is putting up some numbers.

with respect to willingham , jermey is 22 josh is 27 , jh also imo has alot more upside than willingham . the purpose of my post was not to knock down willingham in fact he has done a solid job as an everyday player, he would be an excellent 4th outfielder but i am not sold on him as the answer everyday in left .a host of factors speed , defense , durability have led me to this conclusion but i hope willingham can prove me wrong and turn into a very good player over the long haul for the fish

What the hells wrong with Jacobs at 1st base? He's been hitting the sh*t out of the ball lately. What makes you think he's not the future 1st baseman.

I agree. Jacobs has been hitting well lately. The problem with Willingham and Jacobs is that they both look like their best positions would be designated hitter, I think they both are awful fielders.

He'd be a moron to stay, other teams are willing to grossly overpay for him, certainly he will get more elsewhere than here, at least under this ownership group.

He'd be a moron to stay, other teams are willing to grossly overpay for him, certainly he will get more elsewhere than here, at least under this ownership group.

 

Speaking of morons, it should be noted Willis is contracturally bound (CBA) to the Marlins for at least more season (2007-2008 and I believe 2009) and while he will see his compenation increase markedly, he has zero say in where he plays so long as he's paid.

 

What I didn't like about Neyer's statement is that it's built on a false premise.

 

The Marlins are not in such a financial bind that they HAVE to trade Willis and won't be in 2007 when both he and Cabrera will be going to arbitration (if they aren't signed long term). Neyer forgets that a) in 2007 a whole lot of $$$ comes off the balance sheet for deferred compenation - Pudge, Leiter, Delgado, etc. - b) that at their current payroll level for most of their (rookie, non-arbitration eligible) players, swallowing Willis and Cabrera's pay should be relatively easy and certainly won't increase payroll by much more than $10 million next season and c) he acts as if there is a gun at the owner's head when there isn't one. MLB has seen to that with revenue sharing.