Solano and Hech are going to be the opening day middle infield. I doubt they even have a competition in spring training.

Solano and Hech are going to be the opening day middle infield. I doubt they even have a competition in spring training.

 

If this is the case, I will take a hiatus for the entire 2014 season.

Rugganio has been decent overall. 17 homers and 47 RBI...

Wow, way to cherry pick your stats. Ruggiano has been pretty bad. He has an OPS of .696 (down from .909 last year). That is well below average for all hitters, much less outfielders.

I'd modify that to say that they have two great players.

 

Plus potentially Yelich. Plus two average OPS guys in Lomo and Ruggs.

 

And a lot of unproven guys. And a lot of rejects who won't (or at least shouldn't) be here next year.

 

Good thing they have a lot of pitching and maybe an excess OFer or two available to trade. Good thing that they will have 32-33 mill to spend next year that they didn't have this year. If they don't acquire some decent bats one way or another, next year will be the same struggle.

Ruggiano will be 32 next year and its highly likely his performance will be closer to what he did in 2013 than what he did in 2012 from here on out.

 

He is a 4th outfielder.

Ruggiano has been a good defender, though! We cannot deny that.

Defense replacement in the 9th? I can dig it.

Ruggiano will be 32 next year and its highly likely his performance will be closer to what he did in 2013 than what he did in 2012 from here on out.

 

He is a 4th outfielder.

 

 

OK.

 

All I said was that he was an average OPS guy. Which is more than one can say about 85-90% of this team. He was much better than that last year and this year his 0-fer-42 was apparently due to him playing sick with something or other.

 

"I had a virus. It was a mono-related virus that is just no fun. Basically it zaps your energy levels," Ruggiano said Tuesday before the Marlins began a nine-game, three-city trip. "Our training staff got on top of it for me and got me some vitamins that has helped me move on from it and get over the hump to where I feel much better now."

 

 

 

"That stretch I went through 42 [hitless] at-bats was pretty brutal. It was hard to go to sleep some nights," said Ruggiano, who battled the illness for about 1 1/2 months. "No excuse. It's not like it's a crutch for me. But during that time I didn't feel too great. I think I hit rock-bottom in Colorado where I really couldn't show up at the field for one day.

 

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-08-27/sports/fl-marlins-notes-0828-20130827_1_justin-ruggiano-christian-yelich-giancarlo-stanton

 

So this year's average guy is really a bit better that. But, as he's old, he's still part of the Marisnick-Ozuna-Ruggs trio of potential excess outfielders. Throw Cogs in there, too, since they don't really seem to want to see what he can or can't do at 3B. Only so many of them can wind up as bench guys.

 

He's got limited value, but it ain't zero. I'd prefer they include him in a trade for some other piece -- 2B-3B-C -- take your pick.

You did claim last season he could be a 1.000 OPS guy.

 

And just for proof purposes:

 

 

And plenty of power right behind him, namely Stanton and Ruggiano. Two guys capable of putting up a 900-1000 OPS.

Yup, I did. And he was. Last year.

 

:lol

And he was also the luckiest hitter in all of baseball, by a wide margin.

Actually, he was only a .909 guy last year. Lucky or not, he was better than anyone on this year's team to include Stanton, which is kinda sad.

You said that Ruggiano would be a .900-1.000 OPS player in seasons beyond 2012.

I'd have to say "capable of" usually indicates you believe he'll do it consistently.

Also, what the Penguin said.

I'd have to say "capable of" usually indicates you believe he'll do it consistently.

Also, what the Penguin said.

 

 

The context in which he made those remarks suggests that he believed that Ruggiano was capable of .900-1.000 production beyond the 2012 season.

 

It's a pretty dumb/embarrassing thing for him to say and I'm not surprised that he's trying to twist his words around.

You did claim last season he could be a 1.000 OPS guy.

 

And just for proof purposes:

 

 

 

 

And plenty of power right behind him, namely Stanton and Ruggiano. Two guys capable of putting up a 900-1000 OPS.

 

 

 

 

Now that you've modified your original one-line post after I responded, I'll merely point out that what I said was that he was "capable of," not that he would.

 

And he was certainly capable of .900-1.000 in '12 -- he did it. .909, lucky or not.

You did claim last season he could be a 1.000 OPS guy.

 

And just for proof purposes:

 

 

 

 

And plenty of power right behind him, namely Stanton and Ruggiano. Two guys capable of putting up a 900-1000 OPS.

 

 

 

 

Now that you've modified your original one-line post after I responded, I'll merely point out that what I said was that he was "capable of," not that he would.

 

And he was certainly capable of .900-1.000 in '12 -- he did it. .909, lucky or not.

 

 

 

 

I actually modified it before you posted, but let's not grasp for straws.

I'll merely point out that what I said was that he was "capable of," not that he would.

 

 

There really isn't much difference. Either way, suggesting that Ruggiano is capable of .900-1.000 OPS performance after a season where he performed well in a limited number of ABs is just as idiotic. The sample size was far too small and his luck was clearly beginning to run out by the end of 2012 to claim that he was capable of .900+ in future seasons.

You did claim last season he could be a 1.000 OPS guy.

 

And just for proof purposes:

 

 

 

 

And plenty of power right behind him, namely Stanton and Ruggiano. Two guys capable of putting up a 900-1000 OPS.

 

 

 

 

Now that you've modified your original one-line post after I responded, I'll merely point out that what I said was that he was "capable of," not that he would.

 

And he was certainly capable of .900-1.000 in '12 -- he did it. .909, lucky or not.

 

 

 

 

I actually modified it before you posted, but let's not grasp for straws.

 

 

 

OK. What I saw was your original one-line post. Sorry that I didn't reload every 5 seconds while I was typing.

 

:lol

In September of 2012, he OPSed .676. 0 homers.

Ruggiano wasn't even close to having his 2012 numbers qualify, either. He had roughly half of the PAs in 2012 that guys on the OPS leaderboard had.

 

To claim that his 2012 numbers are indicative of him being "capable" of anything is just plain dumb.

Now, to be fair, Ruggiano's OPS was 1.023 when ellipsis made that claim.

However, the fact that it dropped over .100 points over the final month and a half is alarming.

 

Or did he have the flu then and therefore it should be discredited?

Again, sample size. It was so small that a slump lasting only a couple of weeks could easily drop an OPS by .100 points. When making such a claim, you need to factor in the reliability of the numbers. The sample size was so small and Ruggiano's performance was so inconsistent that it's rather ridiculous to use them as indicators of what Ruggiano was "capable of" doing in future seasons.

I still remember people getting on me when I said he'd regress cause he doesn't adjust at all to breaking balls / off-speed away.

At least he still crushes lefties.