Is It That Important ESPN?

Earlier today, I was over at ESPN.com and while reading the sports headlines I noticed a link to a

story about a fan site that is trying to keep Manny Ramirez. The site is called KeepManny.com. Now, I think it’s great ESPN is covering a fan site being the media powerhouse that it is…but why this one? We as Marlin fans are organizing a site to save the whole baseball team from relocating! Once we get the actual domain name established,(I already have SaveTheMarlins.net) it will take off for sure. Right now, someone has a geocities site that has some great info on it.

The question is will MLB.com, ESPN.com or any other of the big dogs support us once we go live? If they can give Manny Ramirez fans’ a HUGE plug on the front page, why can’t we get the same luxury for trying to save an entire team?

I’m just glad I can at least get it of the ground here at MLBlogs.

Let’s hope it all leads to the Marlins staying in Florida.

Great Idea

I just wanted to give this quick plug about the 1 Second Film which you can read about HERE. I donated a buck to be an actual Asst. Producer of the film. My name, along with many others will be listed in the credits. The proceeds go to a great cause, more specifically the Global Fund for Woman. So to become a producer and give to a great charity, you all should give this a go.

Thanks.

The End Is Near

I go on vacation for a week and the biggest Florida Marlins news blows up and I’m not here to blog about it. I’ll be getting my laptop soon so that should help, but until then, I’ll deal.

After multiple blogs about how the Marlins have no where to move and it wouldn’t happen, it appears I have been mistaken. The events that have taken place over the last week is just repulsive for a Marlins fan. Just coming in this morning from North Carolina and driving 13 hours straight, I’m still trying to get all of the info on what has taken place. I had bits and pieces, but being up in the Smoky Mountains and enjoying time away from the world, my info was limited. Of course I can count on my friends at Marlinsbaseball.com to quickly fill me in on the bad news.

First off, the Beckett deal. It seems the only way to get rid of Lowell’s contract was to give up another future financial burden, Josh Beckett. Didn’t see this one coming, although it makes sense moneywise. The only good that came from this as a Marlin fan is that we did get some great minor league prospects and I can see at least two of them, Anibal Sanchez and Hanley Ramirez in the bigs next year. Not that they would necasarily make a huge splash, but would offer some help and hopefully some excitment. At least we didn’t get garbage in return and the duo of Beckett and Lowell didn’t go to another NL club, specifically the East.

On that note, I am saddened to see Carlos Delgado is not a Marlin anymore. What’s worse however is that he was sent to NL East rival NY Mets. In this deal, we recieved some decent prospects and I’ve heard Mike Jacobs has the best shot as our first baseman next year.

Look, I can go on and on about what is happening to our beloved franchise, but I have said what I feel here and in other posts on "Deep Fried" over the last few months. I’d like to give the readers here some other Marlin Fans perspectives…the real fans. Most of us at Marlinsbaseball.com have been together for over five years and have been through so much emotionally, good and bad. Take the time to read these over, as these are not from bandwagon fans that pop up right around playoff time, but fans that have been loyal even through the rough years. I hope as non Marlin fans, you will see some real passion and understand why baseball in South Florida is a need for most of us. The perception of all South Florida fans as being unsupportive is just not legitimate. Even myself living now in New York State, I support the Fish by blogging here and paying my fee to do so. I am also a subscriber to MLB.tv so I can watch them now that I’m away. Not sure if any of that goes to the Fish, but in some way, would imagine it does. Heck, I even went to see a Mets game when the Marlins came to town… three hours away from where I live.

So, here are some links to how a few other Marlins fans feel. I think you will all see what true Fish fans are about and what our point of view on things are.

Adam, aka Das Texan

Expo Fans Chime In

On The Beckett Deal

Other Fans

Thanks for reading and there will definetly be more to come on my end for sure.

Save the Marlins From Extinction.

Why Haven’t I Paid Attention?

That’s a really good question. I really don’t know. I mean, you’re looking at the brightest stars out there. It’s like a futures game spread out over a micro season. I can honestly say that I have never listened to, watched or cared at all about one of these games.

This is sad because I could have seen Lastings Milledge play a little more. At least I was able to see him in Binghamton.

Congrats to the Phoenix Desert Dogs btw for taking the championship.

And yes, next year I will fill my baseball cravings by taking in this off season classic.

More Like A George Foreman Grill

The biggest news from the GM meetings from today is…..Nothing! But let’s have some patience. I have a feeling this will be a decent off season as far as trading goes. As for the Fish, looks like our core has the chance to be no more. According to a Miami newspaper which I don’t really care for, so I’ll credit Marlinsbaseball.com for the info, the Marlins are dangling Delgado, Lowell, Pierre and LoDuca. Fine, not that I would like this, but get rid of LoDuca and Lowell. I for one hope Mike goes somewhere and gets his groove back. But JP is a great leadoff guy and to have someone like Carlos in our lineup producing the way he has is a blessing. If any of these players do get traded I would hope we would get quality prospects that are just about ready for the bigs. To gut this team would surely put a dagger through any fan base the Marlins have left and would mean a move would be imminent in the eyes of many.

Which brings me to this little side note. Where would the Marlins move if this were to take place? Lets see.

I can’t see how any other city in the US can support the Marlins any better than we do here. Who are the choices? Indianapolis, uh, no. New Orleans, sorry. Nashville, Utah, San Antonio, Memphis, Buffalo? Get real. Buffalo might have a shot with the heavy support the AAA Bisons get, but I doubt it. Oh and Las Vegas as an option? Give me a break, that support might last a year and all that would happen is it would turn into some lame showgirl thing where baseball would be a side event. So, the Fish aren’t moving.

Moving on, it would also be nice to see Javier Vazquez in teal. Not sure what we would have to give up but if it was fair, I would take it. I drool at what what our rotation would look like.

Why would anyone pay Trevor Hoffman $25.5 Million over three years? Yes sir you had Hall of Fame type numbers over the years and truly deserve the respect of everyone that loves the game, but at age 38, you should have taken that 2 year/ $10 mil deal the Pads offered you buddy. End your career with an up and coming team and the team that you shined with for so many years.

Being a Marlins fan, I can tell you the closer postion is somewhat overrated. It is a skilled position, but the Fish just roll these players out like the Broncos in the NFL do running backs. Some to point out over the last few years, not including Bryan Harvey because he was already established:

Braden Looper
Trevor Hoffman

Robb Nen
Matt Mantei
Antonio Alfonseca
Armando Benitez (comeback)
Todd Jones (comeback)
Ugueth Urbina

did I forget anyone? probably.

So anyway, here’s to having a great off season and a knock on wood the Marlins don’t purge the team into Les Expos.

Shafted, But Respected

I waited all day for the news, but I knew deep down that the Dtrain wasn’t going 
to win the Cy Young this year. You know that feeling that no matter how hard you plead your case that everyone has their mind made up.

However, with Dontrelle getting 112 overall points and eleven first place votes it shows me that the voters gave him the respect he deserves. This guy did it all for us this year and without him the season would have been lost sometime in mid summer. The Cardinals on the other hand would have been just fine without Carpenters performance. One could say that issue should be dealt with the MVP award and not the Cy Young the way D kept us alive, but there are only a few league MVP’s that were pitchers in recent memory.

With that said, Chris Carpenter is a worthy recipient of this award. His stats are elite and he only had one bad month. Congrats Chris, you deserve it.

And hey, I look at it this way, the way Dontrelle looked this year he will have plenty more opportunities to win. I suppose the next few title runs we make will bring him up a notch.

Thanks for a great season Dontrelle, I can’t wait to see what next year brings.

To All of My Visitors!

Having a stat counter is great. About once a week, I go to my account at StatCounter and check on who is coming to my site. Now, obviously it doesn’t give me the names of the readers, but I can see what city/state the reader is from along with what led them to my page. One of the funniest things I see is a Google search done on "what kind of fish to fry" or just "deep fried fish". I can only imagine what the person was thinking when they clicked the link, maybe expecting a recipe for fried cod and then getting the rundown on why Dontrelle should win the NL Cy Young. So again, thanks for stopping at my blog….even though the majority(this week 80.4%) only stays for 0-5 seconds. I did have someone on for over six hours though!

Back to Baseball

I just read an article on MLB.com about the Tigers possibly getting in on the A.J. sweepstakes. It looks like the chronic complainer is going to be getting a huge payday from someone. Good for him…I suppose. The more I study the economics of the game, the more I realize that most players get big bucks just for their potential. We all know A.J. hasn’t done really anything spectacular, sans the no-hitter a couple of years ago. Take Carl Pavano. The guy was nothing but potential, had a decent year with the Fish and got paid. Jarret Wright with the Braves, to the Yankees same thing. I know A.J. has special "stuff" and one day can be a great pitcher, but the risk seems kind of high. Give a guy $10 mil plus a year for potential seems a bit weak. Eric Millton comes to mind as well. He always seems to have a winning record but the ERA is astronomical.

For instance. Take Brandon Webb:

Over the last three years, Webb has compiled a losing 31-37 record with a better than average 3.35 ERA

Compare it to Milton’s last three:

23-21, a winning record with a putrid 5.70 ERA. And, if you look over his career, his ERA is 4.99 and yet still has a winning record of 79-72. The Phillies gave him a one year deal for $9 mil, but the Reds were wise and signed him for only about $5 mil this past year. In return, he finally showed his true colors by posting an 8-15 record and a predictable 6.47 ERA. Meanwhile, Webb has been in the DBacks organization for about 5 years and finally made just over $1 mil. I can only hope players like Webb get their due, and that’s usually the case. Hey, I even feel Dontrelle should have another great season like the one he just had before he sees the green.

/rant

have a good day.