7 minutes ago, taiwanmarlin said:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/04/marlins-trade-rumors-yermin-mercedes-white-sox.html

Mercedes !!!

Marlins definitely aren’t getting Mercedes now, not without Sixto and one other top prospect. 😂

He just seems lost every time he goes up.

Really sad up there. And his defense leaves much to be desired. I know @Photo-Realistic Billy said he’s been good at framing. I’m not overall impressed, though. 

32 minutes ago, mystikol87 said:

Really sad up there. And his defense leaves much to be desired. I know @Photo-Realistic Billy said he’s been good at framing. I’m not overall impressed, though. 

I'll say, it does look a bit like the framing is hurting him blocking-wise, which is not uncommon (Flowers has the same issue). But a good pitch frame can be with their weight in gold, so I'll hold judgement on Alfaro's defense until the framing data builds a little bit.

He's consistently costing the team runs.

He will never be a plus defender, but he needs to be serviceable in order to get playing time. 

7 minutes ago, SongInTheAir said:

That was a tough read but lets face it, management went all in on Alfaro and people bought into it, even with the deceptive push of him being the starter without a decisive spring.  Imagine going to battle without a general, well that’s what it’s like with Alfaro and Wallach right now.  

I made a point earlier this year about teams who spend or don’t, that it’s an owners choice and not some revenue power play.  Same with the player salaries, as long as there’s competition they will get paid.  Back to the main point. A catcher should have been top priority.  You don’t need to be belligerent and sign Realmuto either. A solid professional contributor like a Rojas would do wonders. 

35 minutes ago, jeffreysfishfry said:

That was a tough read but lets face it, management went all in on Alfaro and people bought into it, even with the deceptive push of him being the starter without a decisive spring.  Imagine going to battle without a general, well that’s what it’s like with Alfaro and Wallach right now.  

I made a point earlier this year about teams who spend or don’t, that it’s an owners choice and not some revenue power play.  Same with the player salaries, as long as there’s competition they will get paid.  Back to the main point. A catcher should have been top priority.  You don’t need to be belligerent and sign Realmuto either. A solid professional contributor like a Rojas would do wonders. 

Who bought into it?  I feel like everyone here wanted an upgrade.  Especially after he didn't have a decisive spring.

 

To be somewhat fair, it sounds like they did attempt to upgrade, but weren't willing to pay the prices asked.

 

I think the most frustrating thing about it all is that he seems to continue to get worse.  There doesn't seem to be a silver lining of "well, he's seeing the ball better/taking a walk here or there," or "he's hitting the ball hard at people" kind of thing.  It's just flailing at everything every AB.

Is there something he's not buying into maybe?

Alfaro every AB:

 

This team could get rid of him anytime, it's not like we owe him a big contract. 

3 hours ago, rmc523 said:

Who bought into it?  I feel like everyone here wanted an upgrade.  Especially after he didn't have a decisive spring.

 

To be somewhat fair, it sounds like they did attempt to upgrade, but weren't willing to pay the prices asked.

 

I think the most frustrating thing about it all is that he seems to continue to get worse.  There doesn't seem to be a silver lining of "well, he's seeing the ball better/taking a walk here or there," or "he's hitting the ball hard at people" kind of thing.  It's just flailing at everything every AB.

Is there something he's not buying into maybe?

I honestly think his plate appearances looked much better at the start of the year. I don't think the week off helped. It's frustrating as hell to watch, but I'm willing to give Alfaro another month or two before giving up on him.

Baseball is all about the long game, and if/when Alfaro gets hot, he's going to look like God's gift to humanity. In that way, he's kind of Duvall Lite back there. But if he can't put it together, that'll suck.

I'm not sure who y'all think they should have signed though. The only free agent catchers who are doing well right now are Ramos -- who I don't think anyone expected to do well and probably nobody expects to stay healthy -- and Yadi, who basically nobody had a chance to sign (heck, even the Yankees couldn't pry him away from St. Louis).

91 MPH meatballs down the middle that he couldn't hit. He is brutal in all facets this year 

Hindsight is 20/20 but it’d be nice to have somebody like Wilson Ramos right now.

Although most of us want to upgrade the catcher but I afraid the front office just didn't think so…

15 minutes ago, taiwanmarlin said:

Although most of us want to upgrade the catcher but I afraid the front office just didn't think so…

I think they did, just couldn’t get a deal done.

6 hours ago, rmc523 said:

Who bought into it?  I feel like everyone here wanted an upgrade.  Especially after he didn't have a decisive spring.

 

To be somewhat fair, it sounds like they did attempt to upgrade, but weren't willing to pay the prices asked.

 

I think the most frustrating thing about it all is that he seems to continue to get worse.  There doesn't seem to be a silver lining of "well, he's seeing the ball better/taking a walk here or there," or "he's hitting the ball hard at people" kind of thing.  It's just flailing at everything every AB.

Is there something he's not buying into maybe?

Alfaro may not be buying into himself right now.  Regarding the “we bought” comment, that goes deeper to the severity of the matter and not the obvious we could use an upgrade.  

You say, they tried to acquire a catcher, but that’s inconclusive.  We don’t know the value that defines managements “aggressive” attempt to acquire a catcher, so it’s hard to judge either way.    They also told us that the payroll was going to be up, I think around 100 mil? 

Look, management has done a nice job so far.  I’m not bashing them, I like the fact that they value our prospects. But at that position, it could be the difference maker.   For the record, I’m glad they didn’t trade for Contreras, I’m not a fan. 

8 minutes ago, jeffreysfishfry said:

 They also told us that the payroll was going to be up, I think around 100 mil? 

The Marlins never said that. Joe Frisaro guessed it.

3 minutes ago, SilverBullet said:

The Marlins never said that. Joe Frisaro guessed it.

Three years running now with that guess. Lol

1 hour ago, Erick said:

Hindsight is 20/20 but it’d be nice to have somebody like Wilson Ramos right now.

Speaking of 20/20.... does Alfaro have vision issues?  He doesn't see the ball well when he's swinging and how many times has he had trouble catching balls that should be caught?  

Current guys we could sign that would provide SOMETHING better than Alfaro/Wallach:

 

Jonathan Lucroy

Matt Wieters

Tyler Flowers

Josh Phegley

John Ryan Murphy

Renyel Pinto

A small net

A bucket resting behind  home plate

 

To be clear, none of these players are good. At all. But each one would bring something (defense, occasional power, framing, the ability to catch a baseball thrown directly at them) to the catching position that no one currently on the Marlins roster can. 

 

 

Edited April 14, 20215 yr by SongInTheAir

51 minutes ago, SongInTheAir said:

Current guys we could sign that would provide SOMETHING better than Alfaro/Wallach:

 

Jonathan Lucroy

Matt Wieters

Tyler Flowers

Josh Phegley

John Ryan Murphy

Renyel Pinto

A small net

A bucket resting behind  home plate

 

To be clear, none of these players are good. At all. But each one would bring something (defense, occasional power, framing, the ability to catch a baseball thrown directly at them) to the catching position that no one currently on the Marlins roster can. 

 

 

At this rate, Flowers is at least serviceable - go for it.

I have high hopes for Alfaro, but he's got to get some stuff figured out

2 hours ago, SilverBullet said:

The Marlins never said that. Joe Frisaro guessed it.

I found the 100mil payroll post and you are right, he was guessing or rather just hoping.  

22 minutes ago, jeffreysfishfry said:

I found the 100mil payroll post and you are right, he was guessing or rather just hoping.  

For the third year in a row.

12 minutes ago, Michael said:

For the third year in a row.

Visions of grandeur. 

Is Tyler Flowers available? I wouldn’t mind adding him. Or anybody who can catch, really.