It begins with firing Rick Kranitz. Even if you don't believe he's at fault, a message needs to be sent that this type of performance is not acceptable. Period.

 

I think JJ and Sanchez are exhibits 1 and 1A for precautionary MRI's when "no throw" gets used with a player.

 

I also think JJ and Sanchez exemplify how serious the 80 IP bump from one year to next is, and how seriously we need to stick to it.

Kranitz is 100% at fault, don't kid yourself.

Can't disagree. Aside from rubber arm Dontrelle (who has regressed/underperformed a lot under Kranitz), every other arm is either dead or I expect them to be dead next year. What scares me the most about next year is that once RVH & Mitre also end up on the DL next year, who is gonna be left to pitch for this team?

Everyone seems to forget, or it is barely ever mentioned, that Mitre spent the winter unable to even throw, nevermind pitch, and the uncertainty about his readiness for 2007 was one of the things that hampered Beinfest's options in being more aggressive on the trade front.

 

In hindsight the Marlins should have more severely limited his innings this season as a number of people have said, my hope is he's shut down for the remainder of the year. If he can bring that sinker back and make 25 starts next season this team will be a lot better prepared to contend in 2008.

The second half of the season a person would have to blind to *not* see the improvement Jacobs has shown. He is still a work in progress and I wouldn't debate that but now that he's healthy and not up every night with his new kids (remembering what D Lee looked like after the birth of his) I see, and I think the numbers lately show there is something there worth holding onto at least into the near future.

 

To call him the worst first baseman in the NL insulting and wrong. He's hitting lefties like crazy this season (.354) which was of course the big complaint last season, since the ASB his numbers are up, his he's gotten settled in after returning from injury and going through the transition to father, his numbers are up in almost every offensive category, he's hitting .311 over the last thirty days, his OPS for the period is over .800 and his defense is greatly improved.

 

Swift, this is not me looking for a fight but sometimes there is value in looking at both sides of the coin and recognizing when a player, especially one who played almost an entire season hurt in 2006 and then was injured again in 2007 (plus the kids) is showing improvement. Improvement is a good thing. Improvement should be recognized.

 

Since settling in and putting a couple of bad (offensive) streaks behind him he's trending up.

 

In the long run I can't say you'll be proven wrong but I submit you are off-base (no pun intended) by being ready to throw him out with the bath water. This is a much improved player than we saw last season and let's at least see what the remainder of September brings before we rush to judgment.

 

Inclined to agree with you on this one. I see alot of improvement in Jakes glove, with alot more needed. Especially the way he holds his glove catching throws from the pitcher on pick off attempts. He is settling in with his glove and at the plate. With Andy getting to know his players individually now, I can forsee improvement all around the IF for next year. Right now about the only way I would trade Jake is that if someone can convince Miggy it is his idea to move to 1B.

Everyone seems to forget, or it is barely ever mentioned, that Mitre spent the winter unable to even throw, nevermind pitch, and the uncertainty about his readiness for 2007 was one of the things that hampered Beinfest's options in being more aggressive on the trade front.

 

In hindsight the Marlins should have more severely limited his innings this season as a number of people have said, my hope is he's shut down for the remainder of the year. If he can bring that sinker back and make 25 starts next season this team will be a lot better prepared to contend in 2008.

That's exactly my point. Mitre has basically tripled his IP from last season (where he should've perhaps gotten more starts in the minors to build him up). And I don't feel optimistic about him being healthy next season. Same for RVH. I fear that when next season begins the situation won't be any better than it is now. D-Train will be the only one healthy, maybe Oly, and that's basically it for any of the young guys we've pushed the last 2 years.