Tuesday Video Switch
Forgot to update the video feature yesterday but managed to get a new fresh one up today. This weeks video features Jeremy Hermida and his entrance into the big leagues. Let’s take a step back and remember what happened that night at Joe Robbie against the Cardinals…
Jeremy Hermida of the Florida Marlins hit a grand slam home run in his first big league at-bat on August 31, 2005 against the St. Louis Cardinals. He is one of just three players in baseball history to hit a grand slam in his first major league plate appearance (Kevin Kouzmanoff and Bill Duggleby are the other two).
If only that was a sign of things to come…enjoy!
Team Report
We all know the Marlins head into the long off season with a record number of arbitration eligible players set to make more money. While there are 15 arby players, not all of them will return with the Fish next year. With a little help from Yahoo Sports, I will break down our off season outlook…
Free Agents: OF Luis Gonzalez, C Paul LoDuca, LHP Arthur Rhodes, LHP Mark Hendrickson.
The only one from this group that I expect to return is Arthur Rhodes. Rhodes is still effective even as he gets older. Problem is he can’t give you more than a few batters a game. Rhodes was a huge asset down the stretch last year when Renyel Pinto started struggling. A one year offer seems fair for Rhodes who deserves a Kevin Gregg 2008 type salary, considering he was much more effective than Gregg.
Arbitration-eligible: 2B Dan Uggla, RHP Kevin Gregg, LHP Scott Olsen, RHP Ricky Nolasco, 1B Mike Jacobs, LF Josh Willingham, 3B Jorge Cantu, RF Jeremy Hermida, CF Cody Ross, INF Alfredo Amezaga, RHP Josh Johnson, C Matt Treanor, RHP Joe Nelson, RHP Logan Kensing, 3B Dallas McPherson.
We already know the story on most of these guys. I do expect the majority of these guys to be back and battling in Spring Training for starting jobs. Kevin Gregg, Mike Jacobs and Scott Olsen are 80-90% gone and guys like Dan Uggla would be traded only if the Marlins are blown away by an offer. That being said Hermida should get another shot in Spring Training to prove he is worth sticking around. Cantu should be back as well. I also expect McPherson to get a legitimate shot out of Spring Training for third base.
Fire Up That Hot Stove Baby!
Out of any writer in the Miami Herald, Barry Jackson seems to get the most juicy information on a weekly basis. Looking past the fact that Antoine Walker spent $6500 bucks on champagne and Patron at club BED in Miami, Barry brings us some good info this morning regarding potential trades going down for the Marlins.
First off it looks like the Marlins are looking to increase payroll into the $30-35 million range, which would be a drastic increase in Marlins terms from the $22 million dollar payroll in 2008. One of the people I’ve been hoping that the Marlins would put on the block was almost dealt last week in a deal with the Royals…
The Marlins, who had a $22 million payroll in 2008, wanted to deal Jacobs to Kansas City, but the deal died last week because of a medical issue involving the minor-league pitcher that Florida would have received. The Marlins also spoke to Toronto and San Francisco about Jacobs.
If the Marlins move Jake, which I hope they do, they could slide Gaby Sanchez into that role, who we got a sneak peak of at the end of the 2008 season. Jorge Cantu is also a viable candidate to slide over from third base, allowing Dallas McPherson a legitimate shot to make the team out of camp.
It looks like most GM’s value Jacobs and Olsen the most, as the Marlins have been discussing deals for Olsen as well making room for Andrew Miller to grab a rotation spot. Olsen is a great sell high candidate after his bounce back season.
Check the rest of the article over at the Herald.
Florida Trade Chips Are Mediocre At Best
One day, somewhere I would love to meet these “veteran scouts” who supply information to there GM’s to help make proper decisions when dealing with other teams players for trades. Mike Berardino wrote an interesting blog post two days ago that caught my eye. Let’s analyze this shall we…
“Jeremy Hermida does nothing for me. No passion for the game. Once Fredi took him out of the lineup down the stretch, his lower lip was dragging. I saw him take BP late in the year and he looked like he was getting ready for an A-ball game. I have my doubts about him. No interest here.”
I think this is pretty obvious as Hermida has done nothing for the Marlins fans that were once clamoring for him to get the early call up back in the day. I’m not one to drop phrases like “lack of passion” or “he is not hungry enough” but Hermida just looks like he would rather be somewhere else than on a baseball field. His attention span in right field is that of a 5 year old at school. I’m wondering if the Marlins brass has soured on him as well or if they are willing to give him one more shot.
“Kevin Gregg has those knee problems (patellar tendinitis) and you have to worry about that. He really bangs and twists his front leg when he lands, and that’s where the problem is. He’s not a closer. Not for me. Maybe you stick him back in the seventh inning like he used to be for the Angels, but the arbitration number ($4 million or more) is too high for that role.”
I think it’s a forgone conclusion that Gregg is gone sooner than later. With teams always looking for quality bullpen help, he should fine a landing spot soon. Considering Gregg was hiding and injury down the stretch, blowing games left and right, and until Hanley signed his extension was the most expensive player on the team. Someone like the Mets will overpay. No thanks.
More after the jump.
Manny en Miami?
So obviously, unless you have been living under a rock, you have heard the Marlins are working a deal to acquire all around headcase and badass [[Manny Ramirez]]. The trade deadline could not have come on a worse day as Thursday are hectic here in the office. I will try to post updates as I can. Here is the latest coming from Jayson Stark…
ESPN’s Jayson Stark said an official with one of the clubs said the three-team Red Sox-Marlins-Pirates deal is dead.
According to Stark’s source: “The Pirates are blaming the Marlins. The Marlins are blaming the Pirates. And the Red Sox aren’t too happy with either of them.”
Quote frankly I’m not sure what to believe. It’s quite possible the Marlins are being stubborn regarding money and the Pirates are being there usual stubborn selves by asking for half off Florida and Boston’s farm system.
I’m sure we will get another update shortly.
Marlins Trade Rumors - Wednesday - Manny To Miami?
Leading up to tomorrows trade deadline I will be checking in on the latest rumors for the Fish. Here is what we have today…
- MLBTradeRumors: [[Gregg Zaun]] would welcome a trade. GM J.P. Ricciardi responded by saying “someone has to want you.” The Marlins could make sense; their catcher hunt may hinge on Matt Treanor’s decision whether to have surgery.
Geoff Baker says the Brewers, Marlins, and Tigers are eyeing [[Eddie Guardado]].
- Jon Heyman at SI.com: The other teams in the mix for Ramirez aren’t known, but it is believed that the Dodgers and Marlins showed some level of interest in the past few days, since Ramirez ignited a public battle with his team. If true, the Marlins’ interest would be stunning in that they have a baseball-low $22-million payroll.
- Will Carroll at Baseball Prospectus (Subscription Required): [[Manny Ramirez]] entered the market on Sunday as more of a complicating factor than a real trade target. There’s a lot of conflicting reports, but the fact is that very few teams could take on Ramirez and return the kind of even-up players that the Sox would need to make the deal. One good source told me that he had heard that the Marlins were involved, willing to give up [[Jeremy Hermida]] and Boston-area product [[Jeff Allison]], but I couldn’t confirm this. I just don’t see this deal getting done.
Plenty of juicy tidbits. I will continue to update through the day if I have time and anything pops up.
