October 27, 200323 yr Marlins in 2004 : Lineup : Pierre - CF Eckstein - 2B Pudge - C Guerrero - RF Cabrera - LF Lowell - 3B Conine - 1B Gonzalez - SS Starting Pitchers : Beckett Penny Pavano Redman Willis Bullpen Fox Looper Phelps Bump Tejera Helling Burnett Ph H'Worth Harris Castro Mordi I love this team ! :marlins , this team right here can really do some damage and i think we can afford this team ?
October 27, 200323 yr Guys, we're gonna struggle to be able and keep Ivan and Lowell both. What makes you think we'll be able to keep both them AND sign Vlad?
October 27, 200323 yr Guys, we're gonna struggle to be able and keep Ivan and Lowell both. What makes you think we'll be able to keep both them AND sign Vlad? Well how about this ? Pierre - Cf Eckstein - 2b Pudge - C Vlad - Rf Cabrera - 3b Johnson - 1b Conine - Lf Gonzalez - SS
October 27, 200323 yr It may be Vlad but to let go your popular 3B of Cuban Decent is not going to sit well IMO. In order to get Vlad you have to deal with the fact that Vlad has attachments to Montreal, and The Yanks and Possibly Cubs(If The Yanks steal sosa's) money.
October 27, 200323 yr David Eckstein blows and he is a SS I repeat, David Eckstein blows that being said, I hope we make a run for the duo of Soriano and Johnson and we could then put 9er in LF/RF and we wouldnt need Vlad just a dream.... JP Soriano Pudge Alex Lowell 9er Little Babe Cabs
October 27, 200323 yr Johnson has such resemblence to the Babe that i would rather see him stay in the house that Ruth build, but he's welcomed here.
October 27, 200323 yr Johnson in Miami would be intresting due to the fact that Uncle is THe Skip for The Phils
October 27, 200323 yr I made that little Deal i thought up earlier... Castillo and Enc are Resigned to prices the yanks would agree to. and you deal Looper for Soriano and Nick Johnson. Then you Deal DLee for a Closer
October 27, 200323 yr I just want Nick Johnson. He's going to be one hell of a player. Imagine the infield corner tandem of Johnson and Cabrera for the next 5 years.
October 28, 200323 yr What about the Corner IF of Lowell and Johnson and Cabs in Right Gotta trade someone for Johnson, and Mikey would be the odd man out. But imagine this infield: Ivan Rodriguez-C Nick Johnson-1B Luis Castillo-2B Alex Gonzalez-SS Miguel Cabrera-3B Can you say INSANE?
October 28, 200323 yr Imagine the Fielding of this: C: Pudge 1B: Nick Johnson 2B: Alfonso Soriano (We have great fielding coaches also could help him) SS: AGlove 3B: The "Hulk" LF: Conine CF: Pierre RF: Cabs.
October 28, 200323 yr I just want Nick Johnson. He's going to be one hell of a player. Imagine the infield corner tandem of Johnson and Cabrera for the next 5 years. He also has good pop from the left side and plays good D BTW: Remember we have Stokes who could be ready by 2005
October 28, 200323 yr SS: AGlove That just inspired a new nickname! Gon-Glove... Thoughts? Um.....needs work
October 28, 200323 yr He also has good pop from the left side and plays good D BTW: Remember we have Stokes who could be ready by 2005 Exactly. Left-handed power is exactly what we need. And Stokes COULD replace Conine in LF when he is ready to come up (Conine is here for 2 more years, Stokes will obviously be ready by then). That would enable to keep Johnson and have an automatic replacement for Jeff.
October 28, 200323 yr SS: AGlove That just inspired a new nickname! Gon-Glove... Thoughts? Um.....needs work That's what I was thinking. But it can be tweeked to perfection.
October 28, 200323 yr He also has good pop from the left side and plays good D BTW: Remember we have Stokes who could be ready by 2005 Exactly. Left-handed power is exactly what we need. And Stokes COULD replace Conine in LF when he is ready to come up (Conine is here for 2 more years, Stokes will obviously be ready by then). That would enable to keep Johnson and have an automatic replacement for Jeff. yea but I think stokes has had some injuries in the OF. So Johnson is the one that would need to make the change to LF
October 28, 200323 yr yea but I think stokes has had some injuries in the OF. He did. But can Johnson play the OF? Try Stokes again, see if he can hold it down the second time 'round. BUT, aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves here? We have to actually GET Nick first...
October 28, 200323 yr Yes but these are the effects getting Nick would make. Either way we are getting ahead of ourselves just a bit.
October 28, 200323 yr Some good ideas here: To some extent the fate of the 2004 payroll is linked to the current push for a new baseball-only stadium. The more good news on that front, the more money that is likely to be reinvested in a popular, resilient player pool. According to baseball people familiar with the Marlins' plans, the club has held internal discussions regarding several different scenarios. There are loose plans on how to construct next year's roster on a payroll that stays stagnant all the way up to $70 million. Most likely, the Marlins will spend between $55 million and $60 million on their Opening Day payroll next year. Herewith, several possible approaches the team could take: Plan A: $65 million This is the most optimistic scenario, with the Marlins increasing their payroll by about 30 percent from this year's $50 million. Plan A would require trimming about $21 million from the rolls. Start with a couple of easy ones. Reserves Todd Hollandsworth ($1 million projected salary), Andy Fox ($800,000), Lenny Harris ($600,000) and Gerald Williams ($310,000) and pitcher Rick Helling ($500,000) are allowed to leave as free agents. Fox and Williams weren't on the World Series roster, but the other three could be replaced by players making the $300,000 minimum salary. In addition, non-tendering arbitration-eligible pitchers Vladimir Nunez ($1.4 million), Almanza ($900,000) and Michael Tejera ($400,000) as well as backup catcher Mike Redmond ($1.2 million) could save another $3.2 million. Ramon Castro ($375,000) would take Redmond's place, while Tejera would give way to a minimum salary. That's $5.54 million in savings. Now it gets tougher. Letting second baseman Luis Castillo ($7 million) leave as a free agent and replacing him with someone such as Giants free agent Eric Young ($1.5 million) would save another $5.5 million and get the Marlins more than halfway to their target number. From here we could get down to the number in a couple of ways. One would be to let Pudge Rodriguez ($10 million) leave via free agency, but that's probably not very likely (or smart) at this stage. If Rodriguez re-signs for a hometown discount of, say, $24 million over three years, the Marlins could deal right fielder Juan Encarnacion ($5.5 million) and deposed closer Braden Looper ($2.8 million) for prospects and/or low-salaried alternatives and climb within $2.25 million of the number. Cabrera would take over in right field and free agent Chad Fox could be re-signed for $1 million. From there, what? You could non-tender Burnett, as many in the industry expect the Marlins to do, and save another $2.5 million. "They're going to have to let Burnett go," one rival general manager said. Or, with Burnett eyeing a May 1 return from Tommy John surgery, the Marlins could hold onto their former ace and deal Mark Redman ($3.2 million) or Brad Penny ($2.8 million) for low-cost bullpen help. For the sake of argument, let's say the Marlins non-tender Burnett and hold onto the two known quantities. Plan B: $60 million Sources close to Looper believe the Marlins will trade him this winter and use the savings in an attempt to re-sign Ugueth Urbina. But what if the market for Urbina exceeds what the Marlins are willing to spend? They could restore Looper to the closer's role and wave goodbye to Urbina, understanding his departure would leave a significant void in the Latin Quarter of the clubhouse. How to make up the remaining $7.2 million while adhering to the bench overhaul detailed above? Dealing Penny or Redman remains an option here as well, but the Marlins might prefer to make one of their corner infielders available through trade. Under this scenario, they would hold onto Encarnacion and deal third baseman Mike Lowell ($8 million) to the New York Yankees for outfielder Juan Rivera ($350,000), a couple of kid pitchers and the Yankees' top prospect, 19-year-old catcher Dioner "Pudgito" Navarro. Cabrera then moves to third, where he says he is most comfortable, and Derrek Lee stays put for another year. Rivera could be groomed as a successor for Conine or flipped to Anaheim for former Gator David Eckstein, who would start at second after a disappointing season with the Angels. Plan C: $55 million Thanks for playing, Pudge. It's been real. Best of luck. That's what a $55 million payroll could mean. After three years in mothballs, the Redmond-Castro platoon would be back in business at a fraction of the cost of what it would take to keep Rodriguez. Urbina probably goes, too, under this scenario. But here's an idea, from one of the sport's top agents: "What the Marlins ought to do is trade Mike Lowell to the Yankees and make sure Nick Johnson is in the deal," the agent said. "Then they can trade Derrek Lee for prospects and use the savings to keep Castillo. They have to keep that middle infield together." Johnson, 25, is eligible for salary arbitration for the first time. That should push his take into the $2 million range, but he's still a bargain with a bright future. With Cabrera at third and Johnson at first, the Marlins would have one of the best young corner combos in the game. If the Yankees part with Rivera as well, the Marlins have a future replacement for Conine. They also would have enough cash to keep Castillo and shortstop Alex Gonzalez turning slick double plays for another year. Another $2 million would have to be cut somewhere. How about Redman to his hometown San Diego Padres for young right-handers Brian Lawrence and Ben Howard? Best of all, this is the only scenario in which the Marlins might save enough to keep Burnett on the roster. Hey, the Marlins just won a World Series title with the game's 10th-lowest payroll. Who's to say they can't do it again? some good ideas here, but I think I can top them all. stay tuned... Does anybody have a link to the article?
October 28, 200323 yr Well Beinfest and Loria were creative when they put this team together, so I'm sure they'll have a few tricks up their sleeves this winter during the free agency period.
October 28, 200323 yr Well Beinfest and Loria were creative when they put this team together, so I'm sure they'll have a few tricks up their sleeves this winter during the free agency period. That's for sure. I'm am EXTREAMLEY confident that whatever Beinfest does will work. With that, remember this, guys: Players don't bring crowds, winning does. If Admin has to let one or more of those fan favs walk away, I'm confident that he'll be able to replace them with guys that will get the job done, and win.
October 28, 200323 yr Well Beinfest and Loria were creative when they put this team together, so I'm sure they'll have a few tricks up their sleeves this winter during the free agency period. Thats something I'm expecting. Maybe another three team deal. Who knows Beinfest is very creative.
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