by jonnylons
December 19, 2008 in Offseason
Coming back from Tommy John surgery, Josh Johnson pieced together 14 excellent starts and went 7-1 with a 3.61 ERA striking out 77 in 87.1 IP.
Luckily, Johnson didn’t come back for the full season, as it would have cost the Marlins even more. Instead, the Marlins and Johnson agreed to a $1.4M contract which enables everyone to avoid arbitration with the 24 year old right hander.
by jonnylons
October 3, 2008 in Offseason
According to the Miami Herald, Wes Helms’ veteran bat will continue to anchor the Marlins bench going into next season and beyond.
This makes sense for both parties as both Helms and the Marlins feel very comfortable with each other. After all, Helms left the Marlins organization to explore other financial situations and returned this season in a trade which stabilized the Marlins bench and added another strong veteran presence to the clubhouse. Along with Luis Gonzalez, the Marlins gained another veteran who could help lead by example and help reshape the Marlins young clubhouse into a winning environment.
by jonnylons
October 1, 2008 in Opening Day
The Marlins released Segio Mitre and did not renew Kevin Gregg’s contract, who is arbitration eligible – officially starting the 2008 baseball offseason for the Marlins.
Watching the playoffs from the comfort of their homes here in south Florida, the Marlins have to find a way to tweak their team payroll to maximize value. The Marlins are expected to increase payroll, up into the $30 million range, but in truth that will not be enough to keep this team together. So, even if the Marlins do decide to keep as much of this team together as they can, they have to start trimming the fat.
Mitre is not expected to return from Tommy John surgery until the middle of the 2009 season, and being slated to make $1.2M won’t help the Marlins.
As for Gregg, it was just a miserable second season here in Miami as Gregg started off the year with control problems and just never seemed to regain the control and sharpness he had last year. Considering his payroll on this roster, his production just wasn’t up the value the Marlins needed.
MarlinsNation ActivityCopyright © 2005-2013 MarlinsNation another MIATrifecta project.
Loading ...
by jonnylons
Rays in World Series; What Does This Mean for Marlins Offseason?
October 20, 2008 in Commentary, Offseason
I know it is a strange thing to ask – so let’s first give congratulations to the Tampa Bay Rays for making it into their first ever World Series. They went from worst to first – and truly turned around one of the worst franchises in baseball. It was done in a very short amount of time as the new ownership continued to stress building with young talent and focusing on their hitting surplus to get them there.
I hate to sound like a bandwagoner but I actually picked the Rays to win the whole thing back on October 7th. I just feel that this team is playing the best baseball in the league these days and they have been doing it for so long now. So, good luck Rays. I hope I didn’t curse you.
This begs the question though for us Marlin fans, what about us? The Marlins were hanging tough at the end of this season staying in contention when no one picked this team to even finish anywhere near .500. The fact of the matter is, this team is very talented and really, just a few blown saves from a playoff appearance and who knows? The pivotal sign was the final series against the Phillies – the Marlins blew them out in the first game, but dropped the next two in close matches.
And that team is now in the World Series facing the Rays, who swept the Marlins earlier in the year by the way.
Still, if you’re a fan of the Marlins, you got to feel pretty good about things. The Marlins need to re-tool their lineup, get more contact and put the ball in play more, but the pitching is there if it can finally stay healthy. Will the Rays amazing season push the Marlins brass to dig a little deeper into their pockets in order to get back into the playoffs? It is an interesting proposition but signs point to no as the Marlins will most likely continue to be frugal and not overpay for talent and instead look to maximize value on their returns.
There is virtually a whole team on this roster that is arbitration eligible – which means the Marlins will most likely be faced with some hard decisions and some turnover. Yet, if the Rays can beat the Phillies, who are in the World Series, the measuring stick for the Marlins is not all that big in terms of landing into the playoffs again.
And maybe the Rays success will push the Marlins to be a little bit more competitive during this upcoming offseason.
Tags: Offseason, Tampa Bay Rays, World Series No Comments »