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It's hard to maintain any kind of payroll when only 375 people show up to watch your games.
[QUOTE]FWIW;
311 games at 3B for Cabrera over the last 2 years with 40 errors.
309 games at 3B for Inge over the last 2 years with 40 errors.
However, I've never seen Cabrera play.
Spectacular plays or not, Inge's hitting was pretty atrocious last year, so I was hoping to get his bat out of the lineup. Sheffield can DH and Jacque Jones and Thames can platoon in left...?
It's hard to maintain any kind of payroll when only 375 people show up to watch your games.
I meant it more along the lines of they get prospects ready to trade to other teams. Once a guy gets good they trade him and they have no intentions of winning.
Except, of course, in the years in which they win.
yeah I know. I remember in the 1997 offseason when they made the Yankees look cheap. Their only goal was to win a World Series so they went out and got a ton of players, won the Series, then traded them all. They did a scaled down version of that in 2003 after they won the Series.
They have been trying to do something, ANYTHING, to get people in Miami to go to games. They tried upping the payroll and fielding a compe ive team through free agency. Miami yawned. They tried building a team of exciting young prospects and fielding a compe ive team that way. Miami scratched its scrotch and flipped over to the World Series of Poker.
So all that's left to do is to have as low a payroll as possible so they don't go bankrupt in the meantime, and see if somebody in Portland will build them a stadium.
Baseball in Miami has failed.
I'm not sure that the 1997 and 2003 teams were built in the same fashion. The 1997 team was a bunch of mercenaries; the 2003 team was constructed through good transactions, most of which were trades:
C: Pudge Rodriguez (free agent, winter 2003)
1B: Derrick Lee (acquired via trade for Kevin Brown)
2B: Luis Castillo (signed by Marlins as amateur free agent)
SS: Alex Gonzalez (signed by Marlins as amateur free agent)
3B: Mike Lowell (acquired via trade from Yankees)
LF: Miguel Cabrera (signed by Marlins as amateur free agent)
CF: Juan Pierre (acquired via trade from Rockies for Charles Johnson and others)
RF: Juan Encarnacion (acquired via trade from Cincinnati)
SP: Josh Beckett (drafted by Marlins 1999)
SP: Brad Penny (acquired via trade from Arizona for Matt Mantei)
SP: Mark Redman (acquired via trade from Detroit)
SP: Carl Pavano (acquired via trade from Montreal)
SP: Dontrelle Willis (acquired via trade from Chicago Cubs)
CL: Braden Looper (acquired via trade from St. Louis for Edgar Renteria)
RP: Chad Fox (signed as street free agent, mid 2003 after release by Red Sox)
RP: Ugueth Urbina (acquired via trade from Rangers in mid-2003)
RP: Rick ing (signed as street free agent, mid 2003 after release by Orioles)
That bunch wasn't a paid-for team; that was a constructed team made through a series of very good trades. I see very much the same thing going on with the Marlins right now. They couldn't afford to keep the established stars on their roster for very much longer; rather than letting those guys walk without getting anything back, the Marlins sought out the best prospects they could find. They'll play those guys along with the kids they already have: Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, Josh Willingham, Jeremy Hermida, and the stable of young arms they're developing down there.
I'm not saying that the Marlins are going to win another World Series in the near future; but as teams with messed-up economics go, the Marlins at least make shrewd moves that give them a chance -- far more than can be said for clubs like the Pirates, Royals, and Devil Rays.
Well the Marlins have the best scouting department in baseball hands down. That is what seperates them from the perennial losers of MLB.
The Marlins win for several reasons...
1. Once they decide to "rebuild", they are absolutely and adamantly dedicated to it - Dontrelle and Miggy were their only/last two trade assets
2. They rebuild with pitching - 6 of the 8 trade pieces were pitching prospects
3. They fill areas of legitimate need - CF Maybin and C Robelo
4. They let their prospects grow while playing MLB compe ion - Ramirez, Olson, Hermida...now Maybin
Actually, the reasons the Marlins had been one of the best clubs at scouting in baseball are now employed by the Detroit Tigers.
Miguel Cabrera may have been their best player, but Hanley Ramirez wasn't far behind....and he's still with the Marlins. They still have productive guys in Willingham and Uggla. And they still have a promising young talent in Hermida. Now add Maybin to the mix and they've got a solid young squad.
Also, any number of the Marlins starting pitchers (Olsen, Miller, Sanchez, Johnson, etc.) could be better than Willis was over the last two years.
Bottom Line: Give this squad two years to mature and jell, then add some "ringers" to fill the gaps and you're looking at another contender.
I think that's increasingly true in the NL East. The Mets seem to be a complete mess; the Phillies have all kinds of offense (at least until playoff time) but don't have much pitching beyond Hamels; the Braves seem to be stuck in mediocrity with no great young players coming up as they resort to Glavine to try to stablize their staff; and who knows what the Nats are doing?
I don't know that it's reasonable to think that Florida could contend in 2008, but if this group matures as it should and sticks together, the Marlins could be right back in that mix again, despite their terrible economics and the badmouthing of the way they ship out talent.
What does that have to do with what I said?
Marlins scouting was considered one of the best because of Dave Dombrowski and his scouting staff. Dave Dombrowski and many of his scouts that were with him at Florida now work for the Tigers.
I said nothing about how good or bad the Marlins might be in a few years.
edit: Oh, I get what you were saying now. I wasn't referring to players, Cabrera and Willis, when I said the reasons why Marlins were great at scouting are employed by the Tigers. I was referring to Dombrowski and his scouts. They made the Marlins one of the best scouting teams in baseball. They now work for Detroit.
Whoops!
Thanks for the clarification...
Does anyone know if they're planning on moving Hanley to 3B now that there's a vacany?
He clearly has a third baseman's body/power, and he struggled defensively at SS.
No, it's because Miami is one of the worst sports towns in the country.
Go Reds!!!!!!
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