Dontrelle Willis isn't going anywhere. That's what the Florida Marlins are telling anyone who inquires about the personable and gifted lefty. The Yankees did call and so did the Mets and they were both told the same thing. At long last, the Marlins - this time with the direct involvement of commissioner Bud Selig - are making progress on getting a new stadium deal in downtown Miami, which would preclude any more payroll-dumping by them. Besides, Willis isn't costing them a whole lot right now and they have him under control for two more years.

 

http://www.benmaller.com/#mlb_rumors_notes

Dontrelle Willis isn't going anywhere. That's what the Florida Marlins are telling anyone who inquires about the personable and gifted lefty. The Yankees did call and so did the Mets and they were both told the same thing. At long last, the Marlins - this time with the direct involvement of commissioner Bud Selig - are making progress on getting a new stadium deal in downtown Miami, which would preclude any more payroll-dumping by them. Besides, Willis isn't costing them a whole lot right now and they have him under control for two more years.

 

http://www.benmaller.com/#mlb_rumors_notes

 

:headscratch

Dontrelle Willis isn't going anywhere. That's what the Florida Marlins are telling anyone who inquires about the personable and gifted lefty. The Yankees did call and so did the Mets and they were both told the same thing. At long last, the Marlins - this time with the direct involvement of commissioner Bud Selig - are making progress on getting a new stadium deal in downtown Miami, which would preclude any more payroll-dumping by them. Besides, Willis isn't costing them a whole lot right now and they have him under control for two more years.

 

http://www.benmaller.com/#mlb_rumors_notes

 

:headscratch

 

yup, that's news to me

think they mean with mlb helping the negotiations and all downtown.

Selig's got nothing to do with it at the moment, and any reports to the contrary are erroneous.

I think not listening to Willis trade offers is foolish, unless they plan on signing him long term with a new stadium or not

YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

I think not listening to Willis trade offers is foolish, unless they plan on signing him long term with a new stadium or not

 

I happen to agree, but I think he's one player we can afford to wait until next offseason.

 

Here are my reasons why:

 

1) He's an established player. There's little he can do this season that can hurt his trade value substantially this year to next. Even next year, he'd be under any club control for at least 2 seasons at a "reasonable" price.

 

2) Long term deals with pitchers are a dicey proposition. History has shown that any deal in excess of 5 years is just not a good idea as the pitcher is rarely both healthy and effective for the duration of the contract. For every Arizona Randy Johnson that makes it look like a good idea, there's a Mark Prior whose path to hell was paved with good intentions. If we were to offer Dontrelle a deal now for let's say 4 years (a safe figure) we'd only end up buying out one season of free agency from him...hardly worth the inflated proration we'd pay him from '07-'09. Any deal we'd offer him would probably have to average at least $12 million a season, that $36 million through '09 would probably be several million more than the prorated share of his arbitration salary.

 

Giving him a four year deal following this season would cost us more annually, but it would also buy out 2 seasons of free agency...which makes a lot more sense for us. For a team like us, with a pitcher, it only makes sense to buy out the full arbitration schedule (like I pray we will with Olsen and Sanchez) or wait until free agency is approaching and buy out an arbitration year or two and several free agent years.

think they mean with mlb helping the negotiations and all downtown.

Meaning getting Knucklehead Samson out of the negotiations!