Winter Marlins

Maybe I was hoping for a Christmas Miracle of some kind. Maybe it was all the holiday cheer 🎅 and glee 🎋 that had me thinking wishfully. But the more we delve into this winter wonderland that is the Baseball ‘Hot Stove’ 😅, the more we see, or at least I do, it’s still the same hot, mucky, Marlins that can’t seem to get out of their own way. Don’t get me wrong, my Fish HAVE begun to move a little this offseason. But for crying out loud Derek Jeter, this is year number 3 under your ownership group!!! We now have to settle for “baby steps” after you and you’re Yankee buddies really did a number on the Major League ‘🎄 tree 🎄'. I mean Roster 😉.

I really liked the Jesus Aguilar move. A 2018 All-Star coming off a down year, but someone who still has legit power, and was an RBI machine 1 year ago. A ballplayer that should be highly motivated to try and emulate what was a monster season with the Division Champ Brewers, especially when he’s in the midst of contract years. These are exactly the kind of guys Florida should look for, as he'll still have a modest salary in arbitration, while having plenty of incentive to improve. He's still relatively young, and not at all far removed from being a high caliber talent at the Major League level. The Marlins were masters of this back in the day. The “Jorge Cantu’s”. The “Joe Borowski’s”.. The “Pudge Rodriguez’s” 🏆 of the world… It’s on your talent evaluators to do just that. “Evaluate” actual “talent”.. Talent that can still produce at this level, and won’t cost the Marlins an arm & leg, which they don’t have anyway. My Fish have let Teams like the Rays, their neighbors on the other coast 🌴, show them how it’s suppose to be done. Jeter was and is absolutely right when he was quoted as saying “You can’t throw money at a problem and dig a deeper hole”. That’s also true because the Marlins don’t have much money to throw 🙈 in the first place. It’s imperative that the little they do spend, they spend on the right guys. Money in the game is not as important as having a smart baseball Front Office with the right baseball people in place upstairs. What money does do however, is allow you to Overspend, and miss on a big-time player or 2 that doesn’t pan out. Kinda like the Yankees 🤔. I hate to keep bringing this up. But all Jeet’z did and continues to do is bring his people from New York over here into the decision-making chairs. How will these gentlemen do in a completely smaller market?! Where they don’t have as many safety nets as the one’s the luxurious desks at Yankee Stadium have to offer?! The Tampa Bay Rays have spent less money on their payroll than my Marlins the last 2 seasons. Yet won 90 & 96 games. Florida lost 98 & 105 🙉..

From the Lewis Brinson trade, to the Victor Victor Mesa singing, to Don Matingly’s extension. You can see where so much skepticism for Jeter’s men stems from. So when they pluck a Jonathan Villar from Baltimore, where all they truly have to do is pay his salary, Which will be in the neighborhood of 10 Million Big Ones 😨 btw, I do get a little skeptical. Villar’s coming off a career year, yes. 40 Steals, 33 Doubles, 24 Bombs. Yet for what ever reason the O’s didn’t want to pay ‘em?! With the Marlins you’ve heard talk about him being a leadoff candidate (Though his .OBP was a little low last year 🤔). You also have to ask yourself Will the power play up in Miami? I know they're bringing in the fences a tad, but Marlins Park sure as hell is not Camden Yards! Again, for a Team that does not have the resources to go above and beyond on the payroll front, you wonder if they're best allocating their mula.

The Offense is, was, and will be the biggest need for this Team. However it was the Bullpen that was the weakest link during the 2nd half of the season. That only became the case until post trading deadline when the Fish not only traded Segio Romo (whose contract was expiring and are now trying to resign), but also Nick Andreson, who had Over 5 years of control LEFT, and helped lead Tampa Bay into and during the Postseason. The Marlins netted 2 top prospects in those deals (and if you wanna throw in Reliever Ryne Stanek 🙈🙉🙈). But the Bullpen was left high and dry following these moves as apparent to their ERA being one of the worst in the League during the 2nd half. Which is where I'm left scratching my head early this Offseason. Unable to find a Roster spot were my Fish for a guy like Tyler Kinley?! Who also has 5 years of control LEFT, and possess the best Slider in you're Bullpen. Huh. Giving up on a Tayron Guerrero, who had the fastest average Fastball Velo in BASEBALL.. 🤔. It didn't take anytime for both to be scooped up by other Clubs. These are 2 individuals who not only possess tremendous upside, But whose salaries wouldn't be more than the Major League minimum 🙈. Gone. With nothing to show for them. Similar to Reliever Nick Wittgren an Offseason ago. The same Wittgren who was traded for absolutely no reason then went on to have a lights out year in Cleveland! Did I mention the Marlins had one of worst Bullpen's in Baseball 🙉. They also seem to have one of the worst Front Offices. Or is it the Yankees who do 🤔?! 😉