Marlin Maniac Minor Notes

There were a few things that I wanted to discuss quickly, but did not feel were worth full posts in and of themselves. Thus, I decided to add some minor notes today. Call this a mini-Fish Bites, if you will. After the jump, a few words on Mike Lamb, Cody Ross, Baseball-Reference, and Out of the Park Baseball 11.

– Over the weekend (or whenever, I don’t really know or care), the Marlins signed Mike Lamb to a minor-league deal. The Sun-Sentinel’s Juan C. Rodriguez says that Lamb may be the lefty bat replacement for Ross Gload. My guess is that the team signed him with the intent to watch him in Spring Training. If he fails to register anything intriguing, the Fish will send him down to Triple-A for organizational depth. Lamb is 34 this season and is just two years removed from posting a .355 wOBA with the Houston Astros. Somehow, though, I feel as if he won’t make that kind of an impact on the Marlins this year. Expect nothing, but be happy if something comes up. If Lamb does perform, expect Jorge Jimenez to get sent back to the Boston Red Sox.

– Cody Ross won his arbitration hearing today, earning himself a cool $4.45M salary for the 2010 season (h/t HotStove.com). The link is to a Tweet from Joe Frisaro, who also tweets that Cody was surprised that the Marlins took him to arbitration. It should not have been surprising, since the Marlins have a stance on not negotiating after the submission deadline. Still, Cody has said in the past that this won’t bother him, so I expect no issues. Congrats to Cody, you played well for that money.

– Speaking of Cody, the Maniac is considering sponsoring some player pages on Baseball-Reference. Cody is already on my radar for the somewhat manageable price of $10. I’ll most likely snag his name up in the coming months. I also wanted a piece of the 2003 Florida Marlins World Series champions page, valued at $25. I figure that would be an excellent way to link people to the Revisiting ’03 series. Hanley Ramirez’ page comes off the hands of the guys at Fish Guts, and I would definitely be interested in that page. But I worry whether Ramirez’ page would cost a ton. Any thoughts on any Marlins-related pages, past or present, that the Maniac could sponsor? Let me hear from you Maniacs!

– Finally, I’d like to warn about something coming up that I’m very excited about. I don’t know how into baseball simulators you guys are, but I’m obsessed. Stupidly enough, I really enjoy calculating wOBA and FIP and stuff for fictional teams on my computer, which gives you some idea of the type of person I am (obsessed with baseball and numbers, has little else to do with his time). Well, one of the best simulators in the business, Out of the Park Baseball, is releasing its newest version, Out of the Park Baseball 11, very soon. And I’ll be getting myself a copy and running some  simulations of this very season through the game. I’m interested in testing out how the simulator eventually forecasts the Marlins, and how various roster moves or personnel decisions may change the outcome of the 2010 season. I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy and start tinkering with it, it’s going to be an absolute blast.