Bring in the fences?

[AeroFishOne]

Seriously, out of all this stuff that happened this past year we are going to start hating on Stanton because he's showing emotion on the field and because he and others including Lomo mention they want the walls in?

 

I love how everyone is supporting the team for this philosophy they have about speed and hits. It's really seems to be working this past two seasons. This is some boring ass baseball. If you guys like it, then y'all can have it but I'm ready to start seeing some runs and would like to see a few more home runs.

[AeroFishOne]

Is everyone drinking the haterrade today? Did I miss something like Stanton murdering a litter of innocent kittens.

[Michael]

I'm with CanesCop here. They're really not saying anything wrong, and I thought it was good to see Stanton show some emotion this year. He's had a frustrating season, as has the entire team [save Fernandez], and he's justified in being pissed off at himself. He's probably more angry at his season than we are, because he knows, like we all do, that he's better than that.

[Wild Card]

I love how everyone is supporting the team for this philosophy they have about speed and hits. It's really seems to be working this past two seasons. This is some boring ass baseball. If you guys like it, then y'all can have it but I'm ready to start seeing some runs and would like to see a few more home runs.

 

 

The past two seasons our offense has been absolutely horrible because of the players in the batting order. It has absolutely nothing to do with the field dimensions

 

A good example of why the Marlins built the field this way? Look at the team that's won two of the last three world series. Built on pitching, playing in the hardest ballpark to hit a homer other than ours.

 

Stanton needs to keep his emotions to himself in my opinion. Too many of his feelings and actions are simply negative. You know mothers old saying, if you don't have anything nice to say...

[AeroFishOne]

I love how everyone is supporting the team for this philosophy they have about speed and hits. It's really seems to be working this past two seasons. This is some boring ass baseball. If you guys like it, then y'all can have it but I'm ready to start seeing some runs and would like to see a few more home runs.

 

 

 

The past two seasons our offense has been absolutely horrible because of the players in the batting order. It has absolutely nothing to do with the field dimensions

 

A good example of why the Marlins built the field this way? Look at the team that's won two of the last three world series. Built on pitching, playing in the hardest ballpark to hit a homer other than ours.

 

Stanton needs to keep his emotions to himself in my opinion. Too many of his feelings and actions are simply negative. You know mothers old saying, if you don't have anything nice to say...In my opinion, Building a park to cater almost exclusively on one style of play is extremely short sighted. Styles that win come and go. Just like when the nhl came back from the mid 2000's lockouts. Carolina came out playing an aggresive game that really took advantage of the new rules but teams adapted over the years.

 

Build your stadium to be a neutral setting and don't waste what little money your willing to spend on crap pitching and that's a start to having a more interesting team. Have good pitching and all is great but if you can't score you aren't winning games. Your taking away some of your better hitters run scoring talents by building a large play area and then count on shit hitting bats to get you a single whenever they arent grounding out.

 

I don't understand this sudden turn on Stanton from a lot of people. We normally agree on most stuff but I can't get behind this. Your making staton sound like Hanley Ramirez. The guy has put up with some BS this past two seasons. We kept hearing things about them building the team around Stanton. Well how stupid is that when he has no one to hit around him and no signs at all of a contract in the future and the best skill you had is neutered in part because of the walls. I would be a little pissed to but I would say Stanton has been pretty tame about it. I personally had more problem with things redmonds had to say then Stanton this season.

 

Do I think bringing in the walls will make us win another 20 games. Hell no. But it really shows how lacking the vision when there are no major signs of a change of philosophy anytime soon.

 

 

Edit: changed some things for clarification and better wording.

[Wild Card]

I like that they've built our future, and ballpark, on pitching and defense. It's a solid strategy considering that, for as long as I have been following the team as an adult, they have constantly built the farm up on pitching prospects and good young pitchers are easier for us to acquire than big time power hitters.

 

As everyone knows, Beinfest's motto is "you can never have enough pitching". They draft pitching, pitching, pitching and trade for pitching. It's a solid strategy, considering enough pitchers are going to fail, so you're going to need a volume of good arms. And if enough of them succeed you're going to have a really good team with just an average offense (again, see SF Giants).

[Erick]

If they're going to continue being cheap, the best thing they can do is keep the dimensions the same. Power is expensive. This way they can acquire strike-throwing pitchers at a lower cost and make them look better than they really are which has actually happened this year in a way.

 

What they need to do is get better hitters. Like, hitters who at least belong in the big leagues. It's really not that difficult.

[Wild Card]

If they're going to continue being cheap, the best thing they can do is keep the dimensions the same. Power is expensive. This way they can acquire strike-throwing pitchers at a lower cost and make them look better than they really are which has actually happened this year in a way.

 

What they need to do is get better hitters. Like, hitters who at least belong in the big leagues. It's really not that difficult.

 

 

Absolutely my point.

 

And exactly right.

[AeroFishOne]

If they're going to continue being cheap, the best thing they can do is keep the dimensions the same. Power is expensive. This way they can acquire strike-throwing pitchers at a lower cost and make them look better than they really are which has actually happened this year in a way.

 

What they need to do is get better hitters. Like, hitters who at least belong in the big leagues. It's really not that difficult.

 

 

But do any of you have faith that beinfest, Jennings, loria or whoever can actually do that?

 

I have faith in our current pitching prospects but our entire infield basically could use a swapping out. That's a lot of work.

[greenhat]

"I want the normal ones, too," Stanton said. "Where I don't have to crush it 500 feet all the time."

 

Considering that he hasn't hit a single ball 500 feet in any game in the last 2 years, he comes off as more than a bit uninformed and self-interested, not to mention egotistical. But then, nobody ever said baseball players were smart.

 

Pitching is obviously this team's only strength as it stands. Leave the fences where they are until that balance changes.

 

 

Or it could just be obvious hyperbole on Stanton's part.

 

I read it and understood what he likely meant without having to do a psychological dissection of a sentence.

[Sirspud]

The fences being so darn far is one of the many reasons why I just lost interest in the team. Very, very far down on the list, but it is there all the same. I didn't want the new field to be a bandbox, but Joe Robbie Stadium had always had the reputation of being a pitchers park without eliminating the threat of the longball. It was uneven, with righties having an easier time than lefties, but that's part of the fun of baseball parks. In Marlins Park, the longball is so heavily restricted that it not only isn't really fun, it just feels dishonest. Part of the thrill of watching baseball is seeing a pitcher work to hit his spots, and then make a single mistake pitch that a good hitter capitalizes on. At Marlins Park, way too many of those mistake pitches are just 400 foot outs.

 

For those of you who are such baseball purists that you are too cool to be affected by the lack of home runs, congratulations, you can register on mlb.com to collect your prize and are officially more of a "real" baseball fan than I. I'm not ashamed to say that I would be more interested in watching games where good hitters are capable of hitting home runs on bad pitches.

[greenhat]

I don't see a reason to get mad at Stanton. A reporter asked him about the dimensions of by far the park that is the hardest to hit a homerun in and he answered the question. I would give the same answer if I was a hitter on the team.

[Wild Card]

The fences being so darn far is one of the many reasons why I just lost interest in the team. Very, very far down on the list, but it is there all the same. I didn't want the new field to be a bandbox, but Joe Robbie Stadium had always had the reputation of being a pitchers park without eliminating the threat of the longball. It was uneven, with righties having an easier time than lefties, but that's part of the fun of baseball parks. In Marlins Park, the longball is so heavily restricted that it not only isn't really fun, it just feels dishonest. Part of the thrill of watching baseball is seeing a pitcher work to hit his spots, and then make a single mistake pitch that a good hitter capitalizes on. At Marlins Park, way too many of those mistake pitches are just 400 foot outs.

 

For those of you who are such baseball purists that you are too cool to be affected by the lack of home runs, congratulations, you can register on mlb.com to collect your prize and are officially more of a "real" baseball fan than I. I'm not ashamed to say that I would be more interested in watching games where good hitters are capable of hitting home runs on bad pitches.

 

 

I don't disagree that it makes the team less interesting. Justin Ruggiano is a perfect example of that, I think of his 18 HR's something like only 1 or 2 are at home. I made the point, before his like 0-for-42 skid, that he could be a big impact bat at the deadline to a team in a hitter friendly ballpark. He could be capable of hitting as many as 30 HR's as a full-time player in a lot of places.

 

I just don't agree that it would be best for the franchise. Look at the dominating numbers Jose Fernandez posted at home this year. How exciting was that? As Erick and I attempted to point out, it's a better philosophy for a team that doesn't have the cash to buy big bats...

[mrchainsaw]

This team has only hit 36 home runs at home this year. Wow. That means the center field abortion has only tripped out 36 times in 2013. I feel like that's for the better, therefore the fences are fine as they stand.

[Erick]

If they're going to continue being cheap, the best thing they can do is keep the dimensions the same. Power is expensive. This way they can acquire strike-throwing pitchers at a lower cost and make them look better than they really are which has actually happened this year in a way.

 

What they need to do is get better hitters. Like, hitters who at least belong in the big leagues. It's really not that difficult.

 

But do any of you have faith that beinfest, Jennings, loria or whoever can actually do that?

 

I have faith in our current pitching prospects but our entire infield basically could use a swapping out. That's a lot of work.

 

 

No, not really.

 

But I do think that even someone who doesn't know the game can clearly see that this offense sucks.

 

Like I said, it's not difficult because the problems are so obvious.

 

It's like in real life when someone hits rock bottom. There is nowhere to go but up at some point. Mathis, Polanco, Hechavarria, Solano, etc. have all gotten far too many AB's this year. The list really goes on and on of terrible hitters with little to no upside on the team this year. It's like they tanked on purpose because they did not know what they had before the year.

 

They really don't have to spend much to improve this offense because this offense is one of the worst of all-time. There is nowhere to go but up.

[Admin]

If they're going to continue being cheap, the best thing they can do is keep the dimensions the same. Power is expensive. This way they can acquire strike-throwing pitchers at a lower cost and make them look better than they really are which has actually happened this year in a way.

 

What they need to do is get better hitters. Like, hitters who at least belong in the big leagues. It's really not that difficult.

 

 

I don't think that would help the Marlins win any more games. The dimensions make opposing pitchers look better than they really are too.

[pollythewog]

If they're going to continue being cheap, the best thing they can do is keep the dimensions the same. Power is expensive. This way they can acquire strike-throwing pitchers at a lower cost and make them look better than they really are which has actually happened this year in a way.

 

What they need to do is get better hitters. Like, hitters who at least belong in the big leagues. It's really not that difficult.

 

But do any of you have faith that beinfest, Jennings, loria or whoever can actually do that?

 

I have faith in our current pitching prospects but our entire infield basically could use a swapping out. That's a lot of work.

 

 

No, not really.

 

But I do think that even someone who doesn't know the game can clearly see that this offense sucks.

 

Like I said, it's not difficult because the problems are so obvious.

 

It's like in real life when someone hits rock bottom. There is nowhere to go but up at some point. Mathis, Polanco, Hechavarria, Solano, etc. have all gotten far too many AB's this year. The list really goes on and on of terrible hitters with little to no upside on the team this year. It's like they tanked on purpose because they did not know what they had before the year.

 

They really don't have to spend much to improve this offense because this offense is one of the worst of all-time. There is nowhere to go but up.

 

 

 

 

GREG DOBBS!!!!

[Backin2008]

I don't think the Marlins should move in the fences. I do think that they should add speed and defense over the winter, which comes a lot cheaper than power on the free agent market.

[Entendu]

I like big, cavernous ballparks. If we really build a team around pitching and defense it could prove to be an asset. If we're going to keep running a piece of shit out on the field year after year, it doesn't really matter where we play.

[Wild Card]

I don't think the Marlins should move in the fences. I do think that they should add speed and defense over the winter, which comes a lot cheaper than power on the free agent market.

 

 

I like the speed and defense they have. They really need power... lol

 

Two of our three OFers next year, whether they Be Yelich and Marisnick or Ruggiano or Ozuna, have speed. Our SS has speed. We have enough speed, really. The defense really isn't bad, any of the OFers above are above average defenders. Nobody really stands out as bad defensively from within the organization.

 

This team just needs some real hitters. Derek Dietrich is going to help. Whoever they get to play 3B and Catcher should help, no matter who they are. A full year of Yelich will help. But the key is who they add to fill those two big gaps (SS is a big gap too, but we all know that's not changing) and we don't need speed demons, we need runs batted in.

[Erick]

If they're going to continue being cheap, the best thing they can do is keep the dimensions the same. Power is expensive. This way they can acquire strike-throwing pitchers at a lower cost and make them look better than they really are which has actually happened this year in a way.

 

What they need to do is get better hitters. Like, hitters who at least belong in the big leagues. It's really not that difficult.

 

I don't think that would help the Marlins win any more games. The dimensions make opposing pitchers look better than they really are too.With the type of team this organization has put together, it makes zero sense to move the fences in. These hitters are garbage regardless of the dimensions.

[mystikol87]

If they're going to continue being cheap, the best thing they can do is keep the dimensions the same. Power is expensive. This way they can acquire strike-throwing pitchers at a lower cost and make them look better than they really are which has actually happened this year in a way.

 

What they need to do is get better hitters. Like, hitters who at least belong in the big leagues. It's really not that difficult.

 

 

I don't think that would help the Marlins win any more games. The dimensions make opposing pitchers look better than they really are too.

 

 

I think there's something to be said for integrating all the parts of your business, especially when doing so can exploit some sort of market inefficiency. It's a really imprecise practice, though. This is the based idea of what I'm thinking:

 

- The Marlins don't have spend a lot of money.

- They need to look for inexpensive inefficiencies.

- Speed and defense are typically less-valued on the market.

- Pitchers who don't dominate via strikeouts

- The Marlins can create a stadium environment where, at least for 81 games, speed and defense are more valuable. And in such an environment -- along with speed and defense -- they can get by with pitchers who don't dominate via strikeouts.

 

Imagine a Manny Ramirez or Miguel Cabrera playing Left Field. They are probably more valuable in a smaller park -- mostly due to defensive issues, although the hitting stuff is arguable -- and less valuable in a big park. Denard Span probably adds more value in a large park where he can take full advantage of his defensive abilities. They can also spend less for similar results if they get pitchers who don't strike out as many hitters, which is important given the low payroll.

 

Now, this team seems to not be willing to spend consistently in free agency, where it's much easier to project players. So, building to a certain model through the draft/trades is very risky. It's far from guaranteed to work well, but if the team is going to continue having sub-$50MM payrolls, I think there's a reasonable argument that this might be the best general strategy to pursue.

[Admin]

If they're going to continue being cheap, the best thing they can do is keep the dimensions the same. Power is expensive. This way they can acquire strike-throwing pitchers at a lower cost and make them look better than they really are which has actually happened this year in a way.

 

What they need to do is get better hitters. Like, hitters who at least belong in the big leagues. It's really not that difficult.

 

I don't think that would help the Marlins win any more games. The dimensions make opposing pitchers look better than they really are too.With the type of team this organization has put together, it makes zero sense to move the fences in. These hitters are garbage regardless of the dimensions.

 

 

 

 

I'm basically saying that the dimensions will have little effect on the number of wins either way.

[BroncoBob27]

If they're going to continue being cheap, the best thing they can do is keep the dimensions the same. Power is expensive. This way they can acquire strike-throwing pitchers at a lower cost and make them look better than they really are which has actually happened this year in a way.

 

What they need to do is get better hitters. Like, hitters who at least belong in the big leagues. It's really not that difficult.

 

 

I don't think that would help the Marlins win any more games. The dimensions make opposing pitchers look better than they really are too.

 

 

Exactly. Some people seem to forget that the other team also gets to bat.

[BroncoBob27]

I don't think the Marlins should move in the fences. I do think that they should add speed and defense over the winter, which comes a lot cheaper than power on the free agent market.

 

 

One big problem with that. I think the number of FAs that would actually want to come here is VERY limited. If we manage to do it then it's going to have to be in trades for players that don't have any type of no trade clause in their contracts, not through FA.