Fish Bites

I’ve been absent for some time this beginning of the week due to illness and school business, but I promise you that A) the article regarding Rick VandenHurk and Pitch f/x will be up soon, possibly tomorrow, and B) in general, things will be back to normal today, so you can expect a major post or two a day. Right now, here are some morning links for you.

– As you know, much of the coaching staff around Fredi Gonzalez was canned or otherwise let go, and the team is searching for replacements. Three coaches returned: bench coach Carlos Tosca, hitting coach Jim Presley, and bullpen coordinator Pierre Arsenault. Among the leavers include pitching coach Mark Wiley, infield/first base coach Andy Fox, and third base coach Bo Porter. As for replacements, now that Rick Peterson has signed with the Milwaukee Brewers, the Marlins may be looking into former Washington Nationals pitching coach Randy St. Claire. The team was also shot down by now Cincinnati Reds pitching coach Bryan Price.

– Joe Frisaro of MLB.com talks to Marlins first baseman Nick Johnson about his impending free agent future. I too am interested in seeing where he lands. A number of American League teams could use a DH, and with Johnson’s physique, health history, and defensive play this season, he could be a great candidate. Then again, Johnson only a few years removed from being an above average first baseman, so maybe you can chalk up this season to a defensive slump and give him a shot at first base. Returning to the Marlins is almost an impossibility at this point.

– Noted South Florida car dealership owner Norman Braman was once again shot down in appeals court in his bid to halt the new Marlins stadium’s construction. I’m not a huge fan of the funding of the stadium either, but I’m getting a little tired of this guy. It isn’t as if he’s going to do something better with that land. We don’t need more car dealerships in South Florida. No more Braman Hondas please.

– Friend of the Maniac’s and Sun-Sentinel beat writer Juan C. Rodriguez notes that our Baseball Bloggers Alliance was not kind to Chris Coghlan’s bid for NL Rookie of the Year. In the piece, he mentions my ballot, in which I leave Coghlan out of the top three. To be fair, he was my fourth choice and he did end up fourth in the overall balloting, but only first place gets it. Also, I think anyone would be really hard-pressed to argue against Andrew McCutchen, who was almost as good overall offensively as Coghlan while playing a more difficult position and playing it better.

– Speaking of CC, him and Brett Carroll got mention over at FanGraphs regarding their future expectations. You know my stance on both CC and BC, in terms of not only their baseball acumen but their hilarious tandem show, which should prove to be better than Kensing & Johnson ever were. That being said, I hope the Marlins brass recognizes that Coghlan’s performance this year was overestimating his true talent and that his type of bat won’t stick in a corner outfield position. Moving CC out of there will give us more room for playing BC and yet another mystery free agent I have my eyes on.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091020&content_id=7503396&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb