Posted October 27, 200915 yr Facing the fact that the Marlins aren't going to spend money this winter it looks like these are the kind of guys that might sign with them: Frank Catalanotto, Tony Clark, Eric Hinske, Doug Mientkiewicz, Kevin Millar, Chad Tracy, Jerry Hairston, Bobby Crosby, Tony Pena, Joe Crede, Troy Glaus, Rocco Baldelli, Brian Giles, Gary Sheffield, Xavier Nady and Jason Giambi. From the pitching side of things: Joaquin Benoit, Elmer Dessens, Kelvim Escobar and Justin Speier. Depending on who leaves I think that Chad Tracy, Troy Glaus or Brian Giles would be good fits. Escobar and Benoit seem like the kind of pitchers the Marlins like to roll the dice with. I have a feeling that Escobar will probably be out of the Marlins' price range but maybe not.
October 27, 200915 yr Personally, I think they'll go after Jason Grilli for a return performance in the BP.
October 27, 200915 yr Facing the fact that the Marlins aren't going to spend money this winter it looks like these are the kind of guys that might sign with them: Frank Catalanotto, Tony Clark (HASN'T HIT HIS WEIGHT SINCE 2006, LOOK UP AGING NO-BAT DH/1ST BASEMEN IN THE DICTIONARY, THERE HE IS), Eric Hinske (BANGHEAD), Doug Mientkiewicz(BLOWN SHOULDER, DNP 2009, 4 homers in six years, ANOTHER AGING FIRST BASEMAN, CAN"T PLAY THIRD ANY MORE, 5TH OUTFIELDER), Kevin Millar (SCAB, .223/.311), Chad Tracy (.237/.306 FIRST BASE), Jerry Hairston (GEE WE SURE NEED ANOTHER AGING UTILITY GUY), Bobby Crosby (THAT .225/.295 LINE SHOULD A BIG HELP TO THE FISH), Tony Pena (THAT .098/.195 LINE in 2009, .169/.189 in 2008, .267/.284 in 2007 REALLY MAKES MY TOES TINGLE) Joe Crede (BONIFACIO PUT UP BETTER NUMBERS AT THIRD THIS SEASON), Troy Glaus (THAT'S WHAT NEED AT THIRD, A SURGICALLY REPAIRED THROWING SHOULDER WITH NO RANGE), Rocco Baldelli, Brian Giles (MAYBE WE COULD KEEP MAYBIN DOWN IN THE MINORS AGAIN AND GO WITH GILES IN THE OUTFIELD. MAYBE. LOL), Gary Sheffield (I LOVE YOU BUT NO), --- I GIVE UP ---Xavier Nady and Jason Giambi (OMG). From the pitching side of things: Joaquin Benoit, Elmer Dessens, Kelvim Escobar (ANOTHER BAD SHOULDER, HAS NOT RESPONDED TO REHAB POST SURGERY BUT STILL CASHING IN TO THE TUNE OF $10 MILLION IN 2009) and Justin Speier. Depending on who leaves I think that Chad Tracy, Troy Glaus or Brian Giles would be good fits. Escobar and Benoit seem like the kind of pitchers the Marlins like to roll the dice with. I have a feeling that Escobar will probably be out of the Marlins' price range but maybe not. Seriously I appreciate the effort with starting new threads when it's DOA around here but this is really, really stretching it. Good try though. There might be someone here that matches up with the Fish but it's hard to see where.
October 27, 200915 yr Author I don't think Carl Pavano or Aubrey Huff will be cheap enough for the Marlins' taste.
October 27, 200915 yr The Marlins have to set a payroll figure before anyone can decide what is in their price range. Also several names are on the list that I believe are already out of the acceptable limit for payroll, what they'll get against what they are actually worth. Finally the Marlins wouldn't need a lot of the players on the list as they wouldn't fill a hole. That brings up the topic of what are the teams needs? Are they going to let effective relievers pulled off the scrap heap get away and hope they can find other cheap replacements? We'll all find out when the Fish set the budget....
October 27, 200915 yr Author The one thing that the Marlins can offer free agents is a chance to get at bats and innings on a 1-year deal to improve themselves pay wise down the road likely with another team. That's why so many guys like Glaus and Nady were on that original list.
October 27, 200915 yr The one thing that the Marlins can offer free agents is a chance to get at bats and innings on a 1-year deal to improve themselves pay wise down the road likely with another team. That's why so many guys like Glaus and Nady were on that original list. And other teams can't offer that?
October 27, 200915 yr Bad teams can. The Marlins also offer the chance to win along the way. It's all about where your needs are. Even good teams have needs, and I'm sure many of them would like to have at least a couple of those players. The only position we are desperate for right now is 3B, which really puts a limit on the number of affordable free agents that would fit this team.
October 28, 200915 yr My pick is Brian Giles. Lefty, Veteran, Conner OF and Great OBP machine like Nick Johnson. He has concerned about his own playing time, not a price. So, Here is some prediction. Giles-Maybin-Ross as regular OFs. BC-Boni(also, Petersen) as backup OFs. How about that?
October 28, 200915 yr Let's hope the starting pitching improves next year. Honestly it has nowhere to go but up. JJ will probably put up the same type of numbers barring an injury. I doubt Ricky gets off to a bad start like he did this year. Volstad will probably figure out the secret to not giving up HR's all the time. Miller will probably make strides towards getting a consistent delivery. RVH seems like a solid 4th/5th pitcher if he can remain healthy. Anibal could be a #3 pitcher if he regains his '06 form. Not to mention, we have Clay Hensley in the minors who probably deserves a good look in Spring Training.
October 31, 200915 yr there are also some non tender possibilities out there like kelly johnson of the braves. if uggla is traded he could be slotted in at 2nd and have a comeback year.
November 1, 200915 yr What about Jason Giambi this offseason? He's likely not looking at getting a starting gig anywhere else after putting up a .725 line. Maybe someone like Pit picks him up and tries to "Hinske" him, but fact remains he aint getting much interest. But if you look at his season line. He still hit for power. He still walks an absolute ton. The problem is he finished the year with a .230 BABIP. You even that out to his career .300 rate, we're talking about a .249/.382/.430/.812, which isn't great but room to grow in SLG from moving from massive Oakland Coliseum to Landshawk (His ISO in Oakland was .171. In COL, it was .292). I don't think it's that far fetched to say he could possibly rise back up to the mid 800 OPS range, though certainly shouldn't be expected. And maybe that doesn't even out, maybe his talent has gotten horrible and he can't hit for any semblance of average anymore. He's also someone who can hit LHP, so it's not like we have to worry about a platoon situation, but it also gives us a situation of easing Gaby Sanchez into 1b, since Giambi certainly aint playing 162 games, and Sanchez can see a lot of LHP, which he mashes and could raise his confidence about hitting at this level. But the other big thing is: Let's say he busts again, or Gaby Sanchez breaks out, or Logan starts tearing it up. He has a career PH OPS of .302/.397/.540/.937 and was awesome this year for COL. Yeah, it's just 73 PA, and a lot of that came from when he was great. But we're still talking about a guy who's talent transition to a bench role, we're not talking about a Luis Gonzalez situation here. So worse comes worse we move him to the bench, where he could match Ross Gload's 700 OPS. And yeah there's the problem with his defense, but he's not TERRIBLE out there, he's just pretty god damn bad and better suited for DH. The million dollar question is of coarse how much does he cost. But he's not gonna make the 5m he had this past season. If we offer him something like, 1 mil with 2 mil in incentives, does he take that because we give him a place to start? At best we pay 3 mil for Giambi as a good starter. At worst we pay 1 mil for Giambi as a bench bat. I mean maybe we have to do something like 2 mil with 3 mil in incentives, and at which point it really starts becoming "so what's our payroll going to be", but real interesting to me. And there's also the glaring fact that we'd still have a hole at 3b while spending money elsewhere.
November 1, 200915 yr What about Jason Giambi this offseason? He's likely not looking at getting a starting gig anywhere else after putting up a .725 line. Maybe someone like Pit picks him up and tries to "Hinske" him, but fact remains he aint getting much interest. But if you look at his season line. He still hit for power. He still walks an absolute ton. The problem is he finished the year with a .230 BABIP. You even that out to his career .300 rate, we're talking about a .249/.382/.430/.812, which isn't great but room to grow in SLG from moving from massive Oakland Coliseum to Landshawk (His ISO in Oakland was .171. In COL, it was .292). I don't think it's that far fetched to say he could possibly rise back up to the mid 800 OPS range, though certainly shouldn't be expected. And maybe that doesn't even out, maybe his talent has gotten horrible and he can't hit for any semblance of average anymore. He's also someone who can hit LHP, so it's not like we have to worry about a platoon situation, but it also gives us a situation of easing Gaby Sanchez into 1b, since Giambi certainly aint playing 162 games, and Sanchez can see a lot of LHP, which he mashes and could raise his confidence about hitting at this level. But the other big thing is: Let's say he busts again, or Gaby Sanchez breaks out, or Logan starts tearing it up. He has a career PH OPS of .302/.397/.540/.937 and was awesome this year for COL. Yeah, it's just 73 PA, and a lot of that came from when he was great. But we're still talking about a guy who's talent transition to a bench role, we're not talking about a Luis Gonzalez situation here. So worse comes worse we move him to the bench, where he could match Ross Gload's 700 OPS. And yeah there's the problem with his defense, but he's not TERRIBLE out there, he's just pretty god damn bad and better suited for DH. The million dollar question is of coarse how much does he cost. But he's not gonna make the 5m he had this past season. If we offer him something like, 1 mil with 2 mil in incentives, does he take that because we give him a place to start? At best we pay 3 mil for Giambi as a good starter. At worst we pay 1 mil for Giambi as a bench bat. I mean maybe we have to do something like 2 mil with 3 mil in incentives, and at which point it really starts becoming "so what's our payroll going to be", but real interesting to me. And there's also the glaring fact that we'd still have a hole at 3b while spending money elsewhere. Interesting. I think it's worth comparing that potential deal to Nick Johnson's potential deal, though. If we gave him 2mm + 3mm incentives, you have to ask yourself if a 5mm Giambi, even if he gets into the mid-800's, would be better for the team than Nick Johnson, who may indeed command a similar contract. I'd rather have Nick for 162 than a Giambi who proves to be a viable "everyday" starter.
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