What They Are Saying…The Mike Jacobs Trade
Let’s get a feel for what the innerwebs are saying about the Mike Jacobs trade…
Rotoworld: A nice pickup for the Marlins, as Nunez is 24 years old, cheap and has posted a 3.42 ERA with a 63/25 K/BB ratio in 92 innings over the past two seasons. He’ll likely slide into a setup role initially, but could be in the mix for saves at some point in 2009.
MarlinBaseball.com: Philly and Tampa had the two best bullpens in the playoffs and that contributed to their runs to the W.S. Bullpen strength and depth is huge. Trading for bullpen help is always a pain in the ass at the deadline (please see: Brian Fuentes 2008). Getting a just-turned 25 year old who has already shown a great ability to set up is so exciting.
Season Ticket: I’m not one to bet against Larry Beinfest. My concern is that, if Sanchez plays first, then Jorge Cantu will go back to third base, where he struggled. In a perfect world, the Marlins would find a taker for Jeremy Hermida, whose intangibles don’t match his skill level. And I still believe that Hanley Ramirez could be playing leftfield in a year or two.
Royals Authority: In my opinion, trading Leo Nunez for Mike Jacobs is a low risk, low cost insurance policy in case the September 2008 Ryan Shealy disappears and Kila Kaaihue hits .228 in Omaha next year. In the end you have two questions to answer: Mike Jacobs or Ross Gload? Can you replace Leo Nunez in the bullpen?
Royals Review: Jacobs has legitimate power and should be an upgrade over Gload. Unfortuately, that isn’t really a useful standard. Losing Nunez isn’t a disaster, but considering the Royals already had upgrades over Gload on hand, and that 1B/DH is the easiest position to fill, the trade just seems, in a best case scenario, pointless. Questions about Moore’s ability to build a lineup unfortunately must continue. C
It looks like most Marlins fans are looking at this deal as addition by subtraction and I think Royals fans are left sitting there scratching there heads.
Hot Stove Poll Up
I put a new poll up for the Hot Stove. Any time a deal goes down involving the Fish, I will try to get the pulse of the fan and display the results once the polls close. You can participate in the latest poll by visiting the home page, right in the middle sidebar. Thanks for participating! (Sportech Homepage)
Big Jake Dealt to Royals - Official
Clark Spencer is reporting that the Marlins are close to completing a deal that will send Mike Jacobs to the Kansas City Royals for relief pitching prospect Leo Nunez. As was reported earlier in the week, the Fish have been in talks with KC all week and almost had a deal done until they questioned the health of the pitching prospect they were going to receive in return. Here is a small breakdown of the prospect we would be getting in return…
Nunez, 25, went 4-1 with a 2.98 ERA in 45 games last season and would likely compete for a set-up role. The 25-year-old native of the Dominican Republic has pitched four seasons in the majors – all with Kansas City – and has a career record of 9-7 with a 4.92 ERA.
Nunez really stepped up this season, becoming Joakim Soria’s primary setup man. Nunez came up from the minors at midseason in 2007 and made six starts before the team moved him to the bullpen in September, after which he struck out 12 and walked none in 10 1/3 innings. Baseball Prospectus gives Nunez a good outlook…
When evaluating Nunez’s PECOTA forecast, which pegs him for a 1.42 WHIP and 4.99 ERA, keep in mind that PECOTA evaluated Nunez in his 2007 role of swingman; if Nunez sticks at the back end of the bullpen, as it looks like he will, he could very well push his 90th percentile projection for WHIP (1.20) and ERA (3.42), due to the significant improvement in performance that pitchers historically experience upon moving from the rotation into the bullpen full-time.
Update 1:43 PM: It’s official. The Marlins have acquired Leo Nunez from the Royals for Mike Jacobs. Nuñez, expected to be a key member of the Marlins’ bullpen, was 4-1 last season with a 2.98 earned-run average.
This now opens up the first base job to Gaby Sanchez. Jorge Cantu is also expected to get a look as well.
Quite frankly, Jake wore out his welcome here. I wish him luck with his third big league team.
Who Is Carlos Rosa?
That failed trade the Marlins explored last week involving Mike Jacobs and the Kansas City Royals (still seems like an odd landing place for Jake) involved a minor league pitcher named Carlos Rosa. Mike Berardino revealed that today in his article for the Sentinel. The man who has been on the DL since August 1st seems to be getting mixed reviews. The MinorLeagueBall blog takes a good look at Carlos Rosa.
Rosa went 4-2, 1.20 with a 42/7 K/BB in 45 innings for Double-A Northwest Arkansas this spring. He made two appearances with the Royals and looked quite good in 3.1 innings, fanning three with one run allowed. His Triple-A numbers were less impressive, though not bad at all for the Pacific Coast League: 4.09 ERA with a 44/12 K/BB in 51 innings, 51 hits allowed.
Check out this video of Carlos chucking up a no hitter through eight innings against the Travs.
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.
Marlins Trade Rumors - Tuesday
After a thrilling victory last night against the Mets in Miami the Marlins are feeling good about themselves. I think it’s only fair for the front office to show some confidence in the young team for the rest of the season by adding a quality bat or arm to the bullpen by the trade deadline. It would give a huge boost in morale that the front office believes this team can make the playoffs. Let’s run through the rumors for Tuesday before we hit Thursday’s trade deadline.
- Ken Rosenthal at FoxSports: The Marlins are the most aggressive suitor for Rangers catcher [[Gerald Laird]], but add the Brewers to the list of interested clubs, which also includes the Reds and Yankees. The Rangers are seeking a young starting pitcher in return for Laird, and also fielding calls on their other catcher, [[Jarrod Saltalamacchia]]. The Marlins, according to the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, are considering three catchers besides Laird: The Giants’ [[Bengie Molina]], Orioles’ [[Ramon Hernandez]] and Pirates’ [[Ryan Doumit]]. [[Matt Treanor]], the Marlins’ starting catcher, is suffering from a sports hernia.
- Jayson Stark at ESPN: The Marlins continue to hunt for what one baseball man described as a “battle-tested” left-handed bullpen arm. [[Brian Fuentes]] and [[George Sherrill]] have been at the top of their list. But the Marlins have been at a standstill on Fuentes for a couple of weeks, and they don’t appear to have the centerpiece prospect Baltimore is looking for in a Sherrill package — a young shortstop who is near-big-league ready. So unless they can make headway on Kansas City’s [[Ron Mahay]], they could turn to someone like Seattle’s [[Arthur Rhodes]], who is turning into the most popular back-burner option for all the teams in the left-handed relief market.
- Tracy Ringolsby @ Rocky Mountain News: A power bat and late-inning reliever are vital, but Marlins refuse to trade away any player with a future, which leaves them dangling the likes of 1B [[Mike Jacobs]], CF [[Cody Ross]] and RHP [[Kevin Gregg]].
- Joe Frisaro @ MLB Pro Blog: Giants veteran [[Bengie Molina]] is high on the Marlins’ shopping list for catchers. But the team is exploring a number of options, and they might even be finding themselves in the mix of a either a three-way deal or two separate deals, both involving the Blue Jays. The Blue Jays have contacted the Royals regarding catcher Miguel Olivo. So if Toronto pulls off a deal with Kansas City, it could set the stage for another move. The Marlins recently had a personnel representative in Toronto, leading to speculation that veteran [[Gregg Zaun]] could be on the Marlins’ radar. Zaun, 37, was with the Marlins in the mid-1990s.
Marlins Pitching 1 Hits The Braves
The Marlins pitching was on point tonight as Rick VandenHurk, Joe Nelson, Renyel Pinton and Matt Lindstrom combined to shut the Braves out and held to one hit. VandenHurk (1-1), recalled Monday from Double-A Carolina, pitched five hitless innings for his first win since last Aug. 23. He walked five and left the game after throwing 94 pitches. Mike Jacobs supplied all the needed offense with a 3 run HR, giving him 20 on the season.
Source: Yahoo
