Well, we aren't sure yet when Heaney will be up. I'm high on him long term, but we also don't know how he will perform. You can't automatically assume that he's going to perform out of the gates. But, yes, he'll certainly be an upgrade over Wolf, but the extent is still completely unknown.

 

Most of the overachieving hitters have regressed to the mean by now, yes, but my point is that the offense is now showing its signs of mediocrity. They just demoted the second best hitter in the lineup and replaced his production with Ed Lucas.

 

I'm also not sure what kind of production the Marlins can expect from Yelich down the stretch. I'm sold on him long term, but after a solid April, he's been pretty lousy since then. The line since May 1st has been .209/.319/.400/.719.

 

All of this is in addition to the bullpen woes.

 

The bottom line is that it's still too early to look at standings. It's early enough in the season that teams in the NL are still clustered together. Looking over the talent level of the team, it's really hard to see them as legitimate contenders.

 

I really have no idea what you mean by saying they just demoted the second best hitter... maybe I didn't get the joke.

His offensive production this year is quite a bit better than what you were expecting (and right about what I predicted). And his glove is not as bad as it's been, while he'll never be a gold glove winner, he's not as bad long term as he's been the past few weeks.

 

It's clear that he is a long term bat for us at second base. You can't admit that?

 

I like Dietrich just fine and think he deserves a chance, but it is absolutely NOT clear that he is a long term at bat for us. He has 345 career mlb ABs, ya know?

I like Dietrich just fine and think he deserves a chance, but it is absolutely NOT clear that he is a long term at bat for us. He has 345 career mlb ABs, ya know?

Considering there is absolutely nobody in our system at second base that looks like a major leaguer outside of Avery Romero, who is like 3 years away and not that good anyway, I would say he's the long term guy (long term being at least 3 years).

His offensive production this year is quite a bit better than what you were expecting (and right about what I predicted). And his glove is not as bad as it's been, while he'll never be a gold glove winner, he's not as bad long term as he's been the past few weeks.

 

It's clear that he is a long term bat for us at second base. You can't admit that?

 

The current line is slightly better than what I would have projected, but that owes a large part to the explosive first month he had. He has steadily been regressing since then.

 

His defense is bad enough to the point where it is clear that he cannot survive there long term. He's probably one of the worst defensive second baseman in the NL with his only rival being Dan Uggla.

 

Dietrich is what I said he was at the beginning of the season. A decent bat that looks great for a 2B until you realize that his defense isn't good enough for him to be a 2B. That reduces his value overall and makes him an unattractive option for the team long term.

Considering there is absolutely nobody in our system at second base that looks like a major leaguer outside of Avery Romero, who is like 3 years away and not that good anyway, I would say he's the long term guy (long term being at least 3 years).

 

If the Marlins stick with Dietrich much longer as the primary second baseman, it says more about the team's infield depth than it does his value as a second baseman.

They're over a third the way through the season. If you don't think that's significant, I don't know what to tell you. Fernandez is out, but for now Henderson Alvarez has been pulling Fernandez's weight.

 

Plus, if you're considering the team's future with Giancarlo, you better want this team to consider adding responsibly right now. Because I think he's made himself pretty clear, he's gone unless things change.

 

A third of the season isn't enough to indicate that they're legit, especially considering that Fernandez will no longer be around for the second half. You're remark about Alvarez makes no sense, either, because he was already in the rotation when Fernandez was healthy. In other words, you cannot say that Alvarez has replaced Fernandez's weight when he isn't filling his spot in the rotation. The overall talent in the rotation has not recovered from the Fernandez loss.

Considering there is absolutely nobody in our system at second base that looks like a major leaguer outside of Avery Romero, who is like 3 years away and not that good anyway, I would say he's the long term guy (long term being at least 3 years).

 

Let's hope he can develop average competence with that glove because if Avery Romero is the next best thing...

A third of the season isn't enough to indicate that they're legit, especially considering that Fernandez will no longer be around for the second half. You're remark about Alvarez makes no sense, either, because he was already in the rotation when Fernandez was healthy. In other words, you cannot say that Alvarez has replaced Fernandez's weight when he isn't filling his spot in the rotation. The overall talent in the rotation has not recovered from the Fernandez loss.

 

A third of a season is enough to say that players who have played in all of the games aren't just merely overperforming. That isn't to say that things are going to stay the same, but I'd say one third is a significant portion.

 

My "remark about Alvarez" makes sense if you want it to. Maybe you don't, I don't know. He's carrying the weight of Fernandez, i.e. he is now the ace. We aren't shorthanded at the high end, we are shorthanded at the low end. Alvarez had been a luxury until Fernandez fell, now he's pivotal.

Most of the players have regressed to the mean so there isn't as much overperformance now. My point was that the Marlins' overall record has benefited on the whole by overperformance. It's hard to project this level of production down the stretch with most of the hitters in the line-up now coming down from their April numbers.

 

What I'm saying about the Alvarez/Fernandez stuff is that the Marlins have not replaced Fernandez's value by a long shot. I don't see how Alvarez has anything to do with this because he's been on the roster all season long. Since the injury he's also been pitching just as well as he had before the Fernandez injury, so I don't see how he's "carrying Fernandez's weight."

So we actually CHOSE Morris over Jim Johnson: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/a-s-nearly-traded-former-closer-jim-johnson-to-marlins-for-39th-pick-in-14-draft-060414

Rosenthal tweeted out miami tried to acquire the a's jim Johnson.

That said Johnson isnt any good either. Give me Chapman

Jim Johnson isn't great, but he's a whole lot better than Bryan Morris has been.

Most of the players have regressed to the mean so there isn't as much overperformance now. My point was that the Marlins' overall record has benefited on the whole by overperformance. It's hard to project this level of production down the stretch with most of the hitters in the line-up now coming down from their April numbers.

 

What I'm saying about the Alvarez/Fernandez stuff is that the Marlins have not replaced Fernandez's value by a long shot. I don't see how Alvarez has anything to do with this because he's been on the roster all season long. Since the injury he's also been pitching just as well as he had before the Fernandez injury, so I don't see how he's "carrying Fernandez's weight."

 

There's some players still unwinding, at that. I expect Yelich to bounce up a little bit. Ozuna has watched his numbers level off but you could argue his production and discipline might've gotten a bit better as of very recent. No player is ever really averaged out until the season is over.. this team is still keeping 0.500 ball after averaging out, supposedly.

 

As for Alvarez, I could just as easily say he started off the season poorly with his first few starts. Alvarez doesn't "replace" Fernandez because Alvarez, like you said, was already there. However, in the event that your #1 goes down, you don't replace him ever. You shift and re-assign roles. #2 is now #1, etc... our new shifted rotation doesn't look all that off of what we had early on in the season.

FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that the Marlins nearly completed a trade for Jim Johnson before deciding to deal for Bryan Morris instead.

The deal would have been for the club's competitive balance pick -- No. 39 overall -- which they wound up trading for Morris. The A's would have included cash in the deal to cover some of Johnson's $10 million salary. An A's source told Rosenthal that the club isn't looking to move Johnson, but the Marlins "approached them about a trade while aggressively pursuing bullpen help last weekend." Johnson's role with the A's in currently in flux. Jun 4 - 3:38 PM

FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reports that the Marlins nearly completed a trade for Jim Johnson before deciding to deal for Bryan Morris instead.

The deal would have been for the club's competitive balance pick -- No. 39 overall -- which they wound up trading for Morris. The A's would have included cash in the deal to cover some of Johnson's $10 million salary. An A's source told Rosenthal that the club isn't looking to move Johnson, but the Marlins "approached them about a trade while aggressively pursuing bullpen help last weekend." Johnson's role with the A's in currently in flux. Jun 4 - 3:38 PM

If it was almost done, then why is a source saying the club wasn't interested? That makes no sense. Johnson would have been a much better option than Morris. Granted, Johnson is doing terribly over in Oakland, but, he's had some legit success, at least.

If it was almost done, then why is a source saying the club wasn't interested? That makes no sense. Johnson would have been a much better option than Morris. Granted, Johnson is doing terribly over in Oakland, but, he's had some legit success, at least.

 

I can pretty much guarantee dealing for Johnson didn't happen because the marlins would only be willing to take on the $1.4m of Johnson's salary.

I can pretty much guarantee dealing for Johnson didn't happen because the marlins would only be willing to take on the $1.4m of Johnson's salary.

That wouldn't surprise me. :|

Rosenthal says the A's were willing to pay Johnson's entire salary.

 

Our Front Office specifically CHOSE Morris over Johnson. Johnson has been bad this year, but has had a slightly above average career. Morris? Not so much. Gregg? We've all been on that ride before, and that ride sucks.

Gregg's our guy. Oh wait that was Julio... meh whatever.

It was because the Pirates paid the $1.4 million slot value for that #39 pick, while the A's would've forced the Marlins to pay that money.

 

As always, the decision came down to money, regardless of how good the player was or not (and yes, I understand Johnson sucks this year, but small sample sizes and a history of being good previously).

 

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/06/04/nearly-traded-reliever-johnson-to-marlins-for-3th-pick-in-draft/

 

Here's the full story.

Rosenthal says the A's were willing to pay Johnson's entire salary.

 

Our Front Office specifically CHOSE Morris over Johnson. Johnson has been bad this year, but has had a slightly above average career. Morris? Not so much. Gregg? We've all been on that ride before, and that ride sucks.

 

If the A's were really willing to pay all of Johnson's salary, then I think that shows you what the value of the 39th pick is.

There's some players still unwinding, at that. I expect Yelich to bounce up a little bit. Ozuna has watched his numbers level off but you could argue his production and discipline might've gotten a bit better as of very recent. No player is ever really averaged out until the season is over.. this team is still keeping 0.500 ball after averaging out, supposedly.

 

As for Alvarez, I could just as easily say he started off the season poorly with his first few starts. Alvarez doesn't "replace" Fernandez because Alvarez, like you said, was already there. However, in the event that your #1 goes down, you don't replace him ever. You shift and re-assign roles. #2 is now #1, etc... our new shifted rotation doesn't look all that off of what we had early on in the season.

 

The problem is that you seem to be basing much on this on the current W-L record of the team and not factoring in the actual talent of the roster, and factoring injuries. The W-L record two months into the season tells you nothing about how "for real" this roster is. The 2011 Marlins for example were 31-24 as of June 3rd, 2011 before the team started to skid.

 

The Alvarez stuff you are mentioning is purely semantics. It makes no difference who is being the number 1 or 2. All that matters is whether or not the Marlins have replaced Fernandez's value. Of course, they have not.

The current line is slightly better than what I would have projected, but that owes a large part to the explosive first month he had. He has steadily been regressing since then.

 

His defense is bad enough to the point where it is clear that he cannot survive there long term. He's probably one of the worst defensive second baseman in the NL with his only rival being Dan Uggla.

 

Dietrich is what I said he was at the beginning of the season. A decent bat that looks great for a 2B until you realize that his defense isn't good enough for him to be a 2B. That reduces his value overall and makes him an unattractive option for the team long term.

 

Bullshit. Before the season began you crushed Dietrich and said all he offered as a bat was slightly above average power. You did not think he would be hitting close to what he's hitting now.

The slightly above average power has been the root of his success thus far. He had a solid walk rate in April but it had fallen back to his 2013 rate since then. He will continue to regress toward the mean as he gets more ABs. He's had a .712 OPS since May 1st.

 

You can actually push it back even further and look at the hot first week and a half he had. He's put up a .688 OPS since April 18th. In other words, since April 18th, he's actually been a worse hitter than I expected him to be before the season started.

 

I stand by everything I've said about Dietrich. A two month sample size is far too small to suggest otherwise. If he maintains a .788 OPS and .342 OBP by September, I will certainly say that he exceeded my expectations offensively, but it is far too early in the season to praise him for his offense.