http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/baseball/story/802472.html

 

Posted on Sun, Dec. 07, 2008 Florida Marlins don't expect major deals at winter meetingBY CLARK SPENCERThe Marlins made major noise in Nashville a year ago, trading away Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis in what proved to be the deal of the baseball winter meetings.

 

Don't expect the Marlins to set off a blizzard of bells, whistles and blinking lights, though, when they gather on the Strip this week with other club executives.

 

''Are we going to steal the headlines?'' asked Admin Beinfest, the Marlins' president of baseball operations. ``It's not something I think is on the horizon right now.''

 

Like everyone else in Vegas, Beinfest said the Marlins will be in action the moment the meetings open Monday at the Bellagio Resort and Casino. But any deals they might make are likely to be mild to minor in scope.

 

For one thing, the Marlins have no intention of trading their biggest star. Shortstop Hanley Ramirez has a new, six-year contract. And, barring some outrageously sweet offer, it appears that second baseman Dan Uggla is also staying put.

 

For another, the Marlins have already done a fair bit of trading since the end of the season, giving up a starting pitcher (Scott Olsen), their closer (Kevin Gregg) and two starting position players (Mike Jacobs and Josh Willingham).

 

''We kind of got ahead of a lot of things early with the moves,'' Beinfest said, ``but we're still looking around.''

 

It's just that, with a 2009 payroll anticipated to be about $35 million, the cost-conscious Marlins are playing with a short stack compared to the majors' other 29 teams.

 

Money will dictate any acquisitions they might make between now and April to enhance the roster.

 

Thus, should they part company with veteran mainstay Matt Treanor, it's more likely they would look at a Gregg Zaun-caliber catcher as a backup to John Baker rather than a pricier alternative such as Ivan Rodriguez or Jason Varitek, especially the latter.

 

The Marlins might be willing to deal third baseman Jorge Cantu and right fielder Jeremy Hermida, whose names have popped up in recent trade rumors. With an excess of corner infielders, the Marlins could make Cantu expendable.

 

But Beinfest has also suggested the possibility of shifting Cantu to first base, perhaps sharing the position with rookie Gaby Sanchez, while Dallas McPherson receives playing time at third with Wes Helms serving as his backup.

 

Alfredo Amezaga, Robert Andino and newly acquired Emilio Bonifacio give the Marlins more utility infielders than they can possibly use, which could make Amezaga a trade possibility. But the Marlins prize Amezaga, could have Bonifacio start the season in the minors and might be more inclined to trade Andino, who is out of options.

 

Beinfest made one point abundantly clear to reporters in a conference call earlier this week: Don't look for the Marlins to make a splash in the free agent agent.

 

''Right now, our activity in the free agent market is very limited -- very limited,'' Beinfest said, repeating himself to underscore his point. ``It would have to make sense on two fronts, both financially and production wise.'' So the Marlins aren't getting anywhere near the maelstrom that includes Manny Ramirez, CC Sabathia and the like.

 

If Amezaga is not included in a trade Andino is gone. I believe Cantu will be traded, more now after these comments by Beinfest

I dont know about you guys but I found this article kind of offensive and condesending towards the Marlins and the front office...

 

I think many of us here do expect action from the Marlins at the Meetings...basically this article is saying don't expect the Marlins to go after a CC or Manny...well suck me sideways! Was that a surprise? No! I expect the Marlins to make a move that covers up the holes left by the trade with the Nats and probably address the catching situation.

 

Will the Marlins make HUGE moves? Of course not...but will they make moves in general? I definitely believe so.

 

Its like this article disregards our small moves just to poke fun at us not making huge moves...same old story, get over it.

I dont know about you guys but I found this article kind of offensive and condesending towards the Marlins and the front office...

 

I think many of us here do expect action from the Marlins at the Meetings...basically this article is saying don't expect the Marlins to go after a CC or Manny...well suck me sideways! Was that a surprise? No! I expect the Marlins to make a move that covers up the holes left by the trade with the Nats and probably address the catching situation.

 

Will the Marlins make HUGE moves? Of course not...but will they make moves in general? I definitely believe so.

 

Its like this article disregards our small moves just to poke fun at us not making huge moves...same old story, get over it.

Its Beinfest's own comments

The Miami Herald, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Palm Beach Post, all teetering on the edge of extinction, should be the last organizations talking about someone else sitting with the "short stack" at the table.

 

McClathcy is about to go belly up, Zell just hired a bankruptcy firm and matching attornies, and Cox is in such sad shape they are jettisoning everything from ValPak to their entire newspaper groups, and even if they do they'll be in more debt after the transactions than when they started, the value of the assets on the books is vastly overstated in 2008 dollars and there's no buyers anyways, we could conceivably be without a single daily newspaper being published in South Florida by April.

 

So when Clark Spencer ridicules the Fish for not being in the Jason Varitek hunt, laugh in his face. He's just hoping that his next paycheck doesn't bounce, if there is one. The Marlins, A's and a handful of other teams are going to be the ones who look like geniuses as the meltdown unfolds.

If Beinfeist wants action, he can always head out to the nightspots with some of the guys.