December 5, 201312 yr For what it's worth, Marlins Park was more of a hitter's park than Fenway was last season. Marlins Park was less of a HR park. I think it was less of a HR park because only Stanton and Ruggiano could hit them at home. I think Saltalamacchia will hit 15-20 homers for the Fish in 2014, even if he has to hit most of them on the road.
December 5, 201312 yr For what it's worth, Marlins Park was more of a hitter's park than Fenway was last season. Marlins Park was less of a HR park. If it wasn't for the fact that 50% of the time the worst hitting team in the league was on one of those fields in that comparison I'd be less surprised. As it is...says a lot about our ballpark (I personally think that the concept that larger outfields = pitcher parks is kind of silly, but that's for another day).
December 5, 201312 yr Anyone that has a problem with this signing should be forced to watch video of every game last year and watch Rob Brantly and Jeff Mathis play. BTW you are aware that Salty and Mathis strikeout at about the same rate? Are you aware that Mathis has a career batting average of .195, with a weak ass OPS of .565? That is over 570 major league games and 1,644 at bats. They have nothing in common.Did I say they OPSed at the same rate? I said they strikeout at the same rate people tend to ignore that until the season starts and you will see the postings all about the strikeouts like he never ever struck out before... I am saying it now SALTY WILL STRIKEOUT ALOT He has 156 more K than he does hits in his MLB career Dude, even if Salty strikeouts more than Mathis in 2014, he'll be a massive upgrade. You're so stuck on the strikeouts but you're neglecting the fact that when he doesn't strikeout, he'll be producing so much more offense than Mathis it's not even close.
December 5, 201312 yr A man that cannot get on base in a park that punishes power. Yeah, he'll be great. Better than Mathis is not the scale to measure a $7m/year player.
December 5, 201312 yr Anyone that has a problem with this signing should be forced to watch video of every game last year and watch Rob Brantly and Jeff Mathis play. BTW you are aware that Salty and Mathis strikeout at about the same rate? Are you aware that Mathis has a career batting average of .195, with a weak ass OPS of .565? That is over 570 major league games and 1,644 at bats. They have nothing in common.Did I say they OPSed at the same rate? I said they strikeout at the same rate people tend to ignore that until the season starts and you will see the postings all about the strikeouts like he never ever struck out before... I am saying it now SALTY WILL STRIKEOUT ALOT He has 156 more K than he does hits in his MLB career Dude, even if Salty strikeouts more than Mathis in 2014, he'll be a massive upgrade. You're so stuck on the strikeouts but you're neglecting the fact that when he doesn't strikeout, he'll be producing so much more offense than Mathis it's not even close.It's not that I am stuck on the strikeouts, I fully believe he will have a drop in his production because he is not really a contact type hitter...Would him hitting .230 and 12 HRs be sufficient? That just might be possible, as well him hitting .270 with 20 homers is also a possibility, however the first is probably more likely. I wish him the best in a Marlins uniform
December 5, 201312 yr Why would anyone stay to the end of the last year of a contract if the team is not currently in the race? Why would anyone sign any player without a good chance at the postseason.Because of the requirement to play 162 games
December 5, 201312 yr Anyone that has a problem with this signing should be forced to watch video of every game last year and watch Rob Brantly and Jeff Mathis play. BTW you are aware that Salty and Mathis strikeout at about the same rate? Are you aware that Mathis has a career batting average of .195, with a weak ass OPS of .565? That is over 570 major league games and 1,644 at bats. They have nothing in common.Did I say they OPSed at the same rate? I said they strikeout at the same rate people tend to ignore that until the season starts and you will see the postings all about the strikeouts like he never ever struck out before... I am saying it now SALTY WILL STRIKEOUT ALOT He has 156 more K than he does hits in his MLB career Dude, even if Salty strikeouts more than Mathis in 2014, he'll be a massive upgrade. You're so stuck on the strikeouts but you're neglecting the fact that when he doesn't strikeout, he'll be producing so much more offense than Mathis it's not even close.It's not that I am stuck on the strikeouts, I fully believe he will have a drop in his production because he is not really a contact type hitter...Would him hitting .230 and 12 HRs be sufficient? That just might be possible, as well him hitting .270 with 20 homers is also a possibility, however the first is probably more likely. I wish him the best in a Marlins uniform You are right, he could hit under .250 with 10-15 homers. On the Marlins, that's good enough to bat third in the lineup.
December 5, 201312 yr You are right, he could hit under .250 with 10-15 homers. On the Marlins, that's good enough to bat third in the lineup. That's one of the better catchers in baseball, actually.
December 5, 201312 yr I don't think of him as one of the better all around catchers. I think he's slightly better than average overall, but he is a HUGE upgrade for the Fish and I really like the pickup.
December 5, 201312 yr this deal is ridiculously cheap for a VERY thin market this year. I had to check the date to make sure it wasn't 4/1. all of you folks complaining about the deal will simply never be happy with any signing. Is Salty the second coming of Pudge or even CJ? no. but he's a noticeable upgrade for the immediate team and allows Mathis to fill the role he's intended to fill. Do we have other glaring holes? of course - but this fills one of them for now. Catching is a very weak position offensively across the MLB for the most part - currently Salty is one of the better ones out there.
December 5, 201312 yr this deal is ridiculously cheap for a VERY thin market this year. I had to check the date to make sure it wasn't 4/1. all of you folks complaining about the deal will simply never be happy with any signing. Is Salty the second coming of Pudge or even CJ? no. but he's a noticeable upgrade for the immediate team and allows Mathis to fill the role he's intended to fill. Do we have other glaring holes? of course - but this fills one of them for now. Catching is a very weak position offensively across the MLB for the most part - currently Salty is one of the better ones out there. I agree.
December 5, 201312 yr Keith Law agreed - and pretty much echoed what some other folks on here have said = ) [ATTACH]78.IPB[/ATTACH]
December 5, 201312 yr I can't believe anyone would be against this deal considering the lack of production behind the plate last year and the relatively frugality of the final numbers. I love it!
December 5, 201312 yr A man that cannot get on base in a park that punishes power. Yeah, he'll be great. Better than Mathis is not the scale to measure a $7m/year player. If he were a star he'd have gotten over 10m. I read somewhere that a starting position player right now is averaging around 6 mil. Plus he hit 40 doubles last season too. He's going to get double-digit homers regardless but if his ISO stays relatively close, I don't care as much if a lot of it comes from doubles rather than homers. I figured someone would wildly overpay for him but this seems pretty fair. I think Fangraphs had the going rate this offseason for a point of WAR from a free agent at around 6 mil. And look at what was out there... Navarro just got 4 mil for an okay year with the bat but he has durability questions and outside of last season basically sucked. But granted, Mathis should not be the bar for catchers.
December 5, 201312 yr I'm a bit concerned about his previous averages offensively, but unfortunately this is what I would call a 'bargain' for a FA catcher who isn't terrible. Since this was a major weakness for us I don't have a problem with it.
December 5, 201312 yr How can ANY true Marlins fan not like a move that improves the team? I don't EVER want to see a team as crappy as the one they put on the field last year. If they just had an average offense, they would have won 75-80 games based on how well the pitchers did.
December 5, 201312 yr Author How can ANY true Marlins fan not like a move that improves the team? I don't EVER want to see a team as crappy as the one they put on the field last year. If they just had an average offense, they would have won 75-80 games based on how well the pitchers did. Last year's team was more fun to watch than the 2012 team IMO.
December 5, 201312 yr Anyone that has a problem with this signing should be forced to watch video of every game last year and watch Rob Brantly and Jeff Mathis play. BTW you are aware that Salty and Mathis strikeout at about the same rate? Are you aware that Mathis has a career batting average of .195, with a weak ass OPS of .565? That is over 570 major league games and 1,644 at bats. They have nothing in common.Did I say they OPSed at the same rate? I said they strikeout at the same rate people tend to ignore that until the season starts and you will see the postings all about the strikeouts like he never ever struck out before... I am saying it now SALTY WILL STRIKEOUT ALOT He has 156 more K than he does hits in his MLB careerHe's a catcher, usually one of the weaker offensive positions. If he hits at least .260+ at the bottom of the order and plays at least around average defense, I can more than deal with the strikeouts. Also, he called 119 games last year and the Sox were 14th in team ERA. I'm pretty excited to see what he does with our pitching.
December 5, 201312 yr How can ANY true Marlins fan not like a move that improves the team? I don't EVER want to see a team as crappy as the one they put on the field last year. If they just had an average offense, they would have won 75-80 games based on how well the pitchers did. Last year's team was more fun to watch than the 2012 team IMO. A team that hits around .230 is never fun to watch.
December 5, 201312 yr How can ANY true Marlins fan not like a move that improves the team? I don't EVER want to see a team as crappy as the one they put on the field last year. If they just had an average offense, they would have won 75-80 games based on how well the pitchers did. Last year's team was more fun to watch than the 2012 team IMO. I agree with this. Tons of expectations going into one season with a huge let down, compared to going into the next season with zero expectations and watching some kids grow in front of our eyes. 2014 should be better, with a couple hopefully silencing some skeptics.
December 5, 201312 yr How can ANY true Marlins fan not like a move that improves the team? I don't EVER want to see a team as crappy as the one they put on the field last year. If they just had an average offense, they would have won 75-80 games based on how well the pitchers did. Last year's team was more fun to watch than the 2012 team IMO. Except for when Jose pitched, absolutely disagree. Last years product on the field was an abomination, like watching paint dry. Agree with those who say we should never be subjected to that kind of team again.
December 5, 201312 yr So you were more entertained by the 2012 squad? Absolutely, was frustrated by them but yeh. The 2013 team was just horrific, looking at the group we had in the infield and at catcher, could have very well been the worst assemblage of hitting in the history of the game.
December 5, 201312 yr I certainly enjoyed the 2013 victories more than the 2012 losses. :lol Yeah, there were so many of them.
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