Fish Bites

Late morning Fish Bites, hope that’s all right for everyone!

– With the Marlins’ acquisition of Nate Robertson yesterday, the entire pitching staff is set for Opening Day. That meant a few additional moves yesterday, particularly sending Tim Wood and Rick VandenHurk down to the minors and releasing Seth McClung. No big loss on McClung, but I think a lot of fans are down on sending VandenHurk to the minors.

– Another victim of the crunch on the Marlins pitching staff was promising minor league veteran Scott Strickland, who says he won’t take a minor league assignment with the team. Instead, apparently he will return to being a repo man. The life of the minor leaguer is difficult, and I wouldn’t blame Strickland for working there instead of in Triple-A New Orleans. The best of luck to you, sir.

– One more thing on Nate Robertson. Here’s the article friend of the Maniac and FanGraphs writer R.J. Anderson wrote on the deal. Solid piece, as usual, but what’s more entertaining is that it spawned this series of pun-tastic tweets that still have my head reeling. Good stuff R.J. and Erik.

– Trouble in right field may be on the way, as Cody Ross may not be ready for Opening Day. I’ll talk a little later about what might happen if that’s the case.

– Ben Duronio posted this article on the Marlins’ defense over at Bleacher Report and Hotstove.com that I had an issue with. The article’s premise is probably correct; the Marlins’ defense is probably bad enough that it might cost us two wins on the season. I took issue with the way it was presented; Duronio lists the Marlins’ starting lineup and their UZR/150 from 2009. He does explain a few players, but it seems like he draws conclusions primarily from those 2009 numbers. For example, he concludes that Ross is a below-average right fielder even though Ross has been above average in the corners for his career and he projects as around average in center and right. He also proclaims Cameron Maybin as a positive after one season (though I also believe he’ll be a positive). It’s worth a look to see what I’m talking about. If any of you write about the Marlins’ or any other team’s defense, PLEASE USE PROJECTIONS!

– Did you see the gift owner Jeffrey Loria gave to Hanley Ramirez for winning the batting title? It’s…gaudy.

"Loria handed Ramirez a diamond-studded chain with “.342” inscribed on it. The necklace also reads: “Hanley Ramirez 2009 N.L. Batting Champion.”On the back is the wording: “Congratulations — Jeffrey Loria.”"

Seems like Loria doesn’t mind spending on trinkets, but does mind spending on the team. Meh.

– One final note for this morning: FanSided’s new flagship baseball site, Call to the Pen, is finally up! We’ve started articles this week, and expect mine to be coming by Friday. I’ll start with a discussion on what ultimately is most important about baseball.