Leo really shouldn't stay.

 

As you can see, I left out Hensley on the original list by mistake, and the pen still looked good enough. This bullpen would be fine without Leo Nunez.

Leo's going to make ~$4 million next year, and the team still has some holes left to fill.

 

Let Hensley or someone else win the closer's job in Spring Training; it's not as if Leo has proven that he can be a great closer, anyway.

How about trading Nunez for a lefty bench bat and a prospect and give Jennings a shot at being our second lefty in the pen?

What'd really be great is if we could somehow move Nunez for a team w/a big bullpen need (mostly every team) for a starting pitcher prospect, preferable a lefty who'd be starting the year in AA/AAA. That would put us in a really nice position for next year when Vazquez moves on.

What'd really be great is if we could somehow move Nunez for a team w/a big bullpen need (mostly every team) for a starting pitcher prospect, preferable a lefty who'd be starting the year in AA/AAA. That would put us in a really nice position for next year when Vazquez moves on.

 

 

I gotta believe theres a solid enough market for Leo. Even with this faults, plenty of teams would be upgrading their bullpen by adding him.

team morale is at an all time high. MAYBE TOO HIGH. f*** it. i'm a braves fan.

I'm never going to certify Beinfest trading Uggla for the return he got, but pulling in a starting pitcher who could be solid or could be much better is the right thing to do to give this team a chance next year. This has been a move that I wish we would have had the resources to make all those other years.

I'm never going to certify Beinfest trading Uggla for the return he got

 

but Mike Dunn had 19 SOLID! innings last year....

 

 

....

 

 

 

....

:confused

I'd rather have Clay be the closer...I can't give numbers to back it up but I don't feel comfortable giving the ball to Leo in the 9th

Absolutely. For the last 3 weeks of the season, Hensley WAS the closer, precisely because Edwin and who knows who else lost confidence in Nunez, and rightfully so.

 

Barring major problems in ST Hensley will once again be the closer. The guy can do it all. He was in the mix for a rotation spot in ST; because he can start, he's capable of a little long-relief in a pinch (his longest '10 outing was 3 innings on April 30;) he was an effective set-up guy through August (21 holds) and an effective closer in September, although it's a small sample. Even so, 7 for 7 ain't nothing to sneeze at.

 

He pitched 75 innings, more than Nunez or Hopper and at 2.16 had the best pen ERA of anyone who threw more than 5 innings, which was better than JJ with essentially the same WHIP. He's an incredibly good find and value.

 

It seems to me that the best-educated guess is that Nunez won't be a Marlin in '11, as 4-5 million is way too much for this team to spend on a 60-70 inning set-up guy, particularly in view of all the other inexpensive talent now in the BP, perhaps the Hopper won't be around, either. That 4-6+ million will be much better spent on a LOOGY and/or a lefty bench bat and/or a CF.

 

Probably more interesting deals to come. As Loria said AFTER the Uggla deal "And I'm not finished with that bullpen yet, either" and "There's nothing off the table" and "We need to make some changes" and "We're not fooling around, either."

 

So far, I don't see any reason not to take the guy at his word.

 

FWIW, and just a possible reading of the tea leaves, but I take ""And I'm not finished with that bullpen yet, either," considering that we had already added 3 relievers when the comment was made to mean that Nunez will definitely be gone and replaced by a lefty. Suits me just fine.

I like this signing of Vasquez. Just nice to see us spending money on free agents for a change.

There is an insiders article by Buster Olney on this signing and the importance of Vazquez being in Florida. If any of you cool insider cats can give us non-insiders the gist of the article I'd greatly appreciate it. I read the first 2 paragraphs that was alloted. =/

There is an insiders article by Buster Olney on this signing and the importance of Vazquez being in Florida. If any of you cool insider cats can give us non-insiders the gist of the article I'd greatly appreciate it. I read the first 2 paragraphs that was alloted. =/

 

 

That's what seriously pisses me off about ESPN. Almost all their articles now are Insider Only.

There is an insiders article by Buster Olney on this signing and the importance of Vazquez being in Florida. If any of you cool insider cats can give us non-insiders the gist of the article I'd greatly appreciate it. I read the first 2 paragraphs that was alloted. =/

 

 

That's what seriously pisses me off about ESPN. Almost all their articles now are Insider Only.

 

Yeah and some of their best writers are insider only... lame.

That's what we call "selling a product", my friends. ESPN is a master of money, for sure.

Last offseason the Braves traded Javier Vazquez and Boone Logan to the Yankees for Melky Cabrera, Mike Dunn, and Arodys Vizcaino.

 

Who would've thought the two guys in bold would end up in South Florida on the same team one offseason later? :o

If you search on the first 25 or 30 words of any article's public teaser, it will often turn out that someone has violated the copyright and posted the entire article somewhere. Such is the case with this article.

All I have to say is...UGGLA....Who? Oh yeah, we finally won the NL EAST after he left....

For Vazquez, it's more than location.

 

Javier Vazquez always has preferred to pitch on the East Coast, to be closer to his homeland of Puerto Rico, to put himself into position to get back with one flight.

 

 

 

So the carrot that the Marlins dangled to sign him was significant: He has a full no-trade clause as part of his one-year, $7 million deal, a sign of just how much Florida wanted him. And Vazquez wanted Florida. In fact, he'd received three offers that were greater than the deal he agreed to with the Marlins, and one was for $18 million over two years with an additional $2 million in makable incentives. But this is what Vazquez wanted. The ballpark in Florida is well-suited to his style of pitching, and he has a good relationship with Marlins owner Jeff Loria and GM Admin Beinfest.

 

 

 

If Vazquez is what the Marlins hope he will be in 2011, his return to the National League will help him rediscover his success of the second half of the 2009 season, when he was a dominant force with explosive late life on his fastball for the Atlanta Braves. He racked up 238 strikeouts in 219.1 innings, issuing only 44 walks, and he held hitters to a .216 batting average with runners in scoring position.

 

 

 

But the Marlins are taking a leap of faith that this can happen, because Vazquez was nothing less than awful for the Yankees in 2010. At age 34, that good fastball simply deserted him.

 

 

 

Vazquez's month-by-month fastball velocity of the past two years:

 

 

 

2009

April: 89.2

May: 91.1

June: 90.5

July: 91.1

August: 91.1

September: 90.5

Season: 90.7

 

2010

 

April: 88.8

May: 88.8

June: 88.8

July: 88.8

August: 87.9

September: 88.5

Season: 88.6

Vazquez's fastball

Javier Vazquez's heater cooled significantly last season.

 

 

2009 2010 Pct. in zone 60.5 54.6 Swing-and-miss pct. 18.9 13.3 Strikeout pct. of AB 19.7 12.1 Walk pct. of AB 6.4 13.1 Opponents' BA .265 .256 Opponents' OBP .315 .357 There are other troubling barometers of performance as well, as John Fisher of ESPN Stats & Information writes: "He clearly didn't locate his fastball nearly as well this season. His percent of fastballs in the zone dropped six points, leading to a lot fewer swings-and-misses, a lot fewer strikeouts on his fastball and twice as many walks. So even though the opponents' batting average went down a little bit, their on-base percentage shot up."

 

 

 

Vazquez had diminished stuff in 2010, Justin Havens writes.

 

 

 

But the Marlins now plow ahead in what will be a very important season for them, because their on-the-field performance could translate into fan interest as they move into their new ballpark in 2012, and if Vazquez bounces back, their rotation could be pretty good:

 

 

 

1. Josh Johnson

2. Ricky Nolasco

3. Vazquez

4. Anibal Sanchez

5. Chris Volstad (who threw better in the second half of the season)

Remind me if he pitches poorly not to hate the guy.

 

I have gained a huge amount of respect for Vazquez. Someone who wants to be here, and is willing to accept less money to be here. Props to him.

Wow, he turned down 2Y/$18M to come here? That's crazy. Also, I can't believe someone offered him that.

What kind of draft pick is he going to cost?

 

 

Won't cost us one. The Yankees do get an extra pick but we keep ours.

 

He's a type B, right? Only the first round pick is protected, so wouldn't it be a second? Just wondering.

What kind of draft pick is he going to cost?

 

 

Won't cost us one. The Yankees do get an extra pick but we keep ours.

 

He's a type B, right? Only the first round pick is protected, so wouldn't it be a second? Just wondering.

 

 

The Yankees get a supplemental first rounder; the Marlins don't give up a pick. Only time the team has to give up picks is for Type A free agents; it's the reason I didn't want A.J. Pierzynski, and I'm sure was part of the reason why the Marlins also chose Buck over Pierzynski.

Based on articles I read today (ESPN and Fangraphs) it looks like his lost velocity is not likely to come back so he likely wont be good.

Wow, he turned down 2Y/$18M to come here? That's crazy. Also, I can't believe someone offered him that.

 

I'd be willing to bet that the team in question is the Washington Nationals. They seem like the type of team that would offer that and then get turned down.

Based on articles I read today (ESPN and Fangraphs) it looks like his lost velocity is not likely to come back so he likely wont be good.

 

This is what is preventing me from getting excited about this signing. I know he had a poor year in 2010 but any chance of returning to a shadow of 2009 seems unlikely if his velocity has tailed off that much.