From Jayson Stark's latest article:

 

"? The clause that wasn't: The Marlins kept it quiet, but it turns out they pretty much agreed on that extension with Hanley Ramirez weeks ago. So what held it up? A two-month fight about a no-trade clause. The Marlins eventually won that tug o' war, because a no-trade clause (or any other perk outside of award bonuses) can't be found anywhere in Ramirez's deal."

 

 

And about Uggla:

 

 

"Dan Uggla: In the wake of Hanley Ramirez's six-year, $70 million extension, you might expect the Marlins to follow the lead of that sign-'em-all team across the state (Tampa Bay) and lock up everybody in sight. Uh, not so fast.

 

There are no indications the Marlins have any imminent plans to lock up anybody else. Not Uggla. Not Scott Olsen. Not even Billy the Marlin.

 

Club president David Samson declined to discuss any of the Marlins' negotiating plans with Rumblings, other than to repeat what owner Jeffrey Loria said at Ramirez's press conference -- that GM Admin Beinfest "hasn't approached us about [extending] anyone other than Hanley."

 

But cohorts of Samson and Loria say they're actually philosophically opposed to just about all deals like this, unless it's for a "special player" -- and not for any pitcher. So even though Uggla is on pace to become the first second baseman since Rogers Hornsby to have back-to-back 80 extra-base-hit seasons, it looks as though he'll catch Hornsby before he catches Hanley Ramirez. "

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/stor...;page=rumblings

Both are the right moves. The Marlins do NOT give no-trade clauses, never have and never should. You just never know what might happen. As far as signing Uggla, I know we already have a huge thread on this but it's just not the right move IMO.

 

If we didn't have a Chris Coghlan waiting in the wings, then maybe. But Coghlan is going to be a cheap replacement who has skills that will translate very well to the bigs. Uggla is just too streaky of a hitter to risk a long term deal on. The money saved by plugging in a Coghlan next year at second will hopefully be spent elsewhere on bigger needs, like a catcher or a third baseman.

But cohorts of Samson and Loria say they're actually philosophically opposed to just about all deals like this, unless it's for a "special player" -- and not for any pitcher.

 

 

I didn't see this part in my initial scan of the article, but I love that philosophy. Signing a pitcher long term is just too risky, and why you see us draft so many arms early on in drafts. A healthy starting pitcher is worth so much, they are often extremely overvalued in the market, so why not try to play the numbers game by taking talented arms early on in drafts and having those arms under team control for 5-7 years?

 

I remember getting into this debate often with TSwift and others, but we are going to see the huge dividends a draft like 2005 will pay off starting next season when it is likely that Ryan Tucker and Chris Volstad will be in the starting rotation making minimum wage, while still having guys like Sean West, Aaron Thompson and Kyle Winters to develop. That is huge and gives us so much flexibility to spend money and/or trade one,two of our surplus arms for a position of need.

If this is the business model they're gonna have once they're in the new stadium, the fanbase is gonna remain small.

Agreed. Beinfest has done his best work when finding bargains and using the appropriate leveraging. The Hanley deal is another fine example of that.

it is not necessary to sign Uggla long term at this point , we still have the rights to him for 3 more years after this one .

it is not necessary to sign Uggla long term at this point , we still have the rights to him for 3 more years after this one .

 

Take this post and the Godfathers post on Uggla, add them together, and that's the bottom line. And the right thing to do, IMO.

I love it...I don't believe in no-trade clauses; I think they are stupid.

Nor do I believe that any other player should be signed long-term RIGHT NOW.

 

I trust this front office...they know what they're doing.

I wish I could say the same thing for my other favorite team...