Archive for November, 2010

Fellow Maniac Isiah had a good question following the signing of free agent Javier Vazquez. Michael, do you have any idea as to why we didn’t go for Jon Garland? he’s 31 and pitched 200 innings with a 3.47 ERA last season, and he just signed a one-year deal for $5 million (plus incentives to $8 million max), while pretty much at his prime. We instead decided to sign what looks like a 50/50 chance at a washed up Vazquez for at least $6-7 million guaranteed? I admitted that this was an excellent question. In addition to the Jon Garland [...]

Yesterday, the Marlins finalized a deal with free agent starter Javier Vazquez, signing him to a one-year deal worth $7M. This is quite a hefty deal for the Fish; it is the first free agent contract the team has signed of decent magnitude since the Carlos Delgado signing before 2005. It is also one of the heftier one-year deals the Marlins have handed out, bigger than the offer they gave to Armando Benitez before the 2004 season and a bit shy of the Ivan Rodriguez contract. All of that is to say that the Marlins don’t often splurge on free [...]

It seems as if the Marlins have continued their shopping spree, spending on a one-year deal on Javier Vazquez as expected, pending a physical examination. The news was broken by Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports and confirmed by quite a few other sources, so I’d say that at this point it is safe to assume that the Fish have acquired Vazquez. We’ve already discussed Vazquez is some detail in this blog, so Marlin Maniac readers should be well aware of the risks and potential rewards of this deal. Barring the physical, Vazquez should become a Marlin, but I think [...]

Good morning everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving to my friends and readers currently in the United States. Down here on the little island of Dominica, I do not get the time off to enjoy Thanksgiving like you all, but in my mind I am in the spirit of the holiday. As such, I’d like to discuss two topics regarding Thanksgiving, the Florida Marlins, and baseball as a whole. Right now, we’ll start with the Florida Marlins. For those of you who read my bio, you know that I started off as a bandwagon Marlins fan, becoming a full-fledged fan during their [...]

This according to ESPN’S Jayson Stark: Javier Vazquez isn’t a Marlin yet. But contract negotiations to bring him to Florida have gotten “hot,” according to one source familiar with those discussions. Vazquez has been atop the Marlins’ shopping list for a week, since the trade of Dan Uggla freed up money for a veteran starting pitcher. And sources within the industry told ESPN.com late Tuesday that the club’s negotiations with the 34-year-old right-hander were “moving forward.” It’s viewed as unlikely a deal would be finished until after Thanksgiving. But other clubs that have expressed interest in Vazquez are now saying [...]

This offseason, I figured we could go ahead and begin the process of thinking about 2011 extremely way too early by attempting to project the 2011 Florida Marlins and how well they will play next year. In order to do that, I decided to enlist the assistance of you, the Marlin Maniac readers, to figure out how well the team will do next year. I created a set of Google Docs forms where you can make an input as to how well a player will perform in four different categories. Here’s how it works: 1) You name a player of [...]

I’ve paid a lot of attention to Omar Infante as part of the recent Dan Uggla trade, but I am almost certain that the Marlins brass coveted a pitcher more than they did a year of Infante playing for the Marlins. Indeed, during the negotiations, it was said that the Marlins returned during the GM meetings asking for a pitcher in addition to Infante in order to complete the Uggla deal. So it wouldn’t surprise anyone to think that Mike Dunn, a reliever originally acquired by the Atlanta Braves as part of the Javier Vazquez package, was actually the most [...]

Before the season started, I did a bit or two of answering questions posted up on MLB.com for beat writer Joe Frisaro, and I figured it was a fun enough post that I could try it again for some parts of the offseason, when the questions posed on Frisaro’s inbox get interesting. I think I can bring a different perspective on those questions than Frisaro can; he is, after all, tightly attached to the team as their official MLB.com beat writer. While that affords him more information about the club, it also has its downsides in terms of what he [...]

After the Dan Uggla trade, I have mostly been focusing on how the new Marlins will be playing in this upcoming 2011 season. But one comment I saw on Twitter with regards to the Uggla press conference with his new team, the Atlanta Braves, got my blood boiling a little bit. Here it is, relayed by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s David O’Brien: Uggla said that he understands some free agents want to get most dollars they can, but that he’s just looking for fair offer from #Braves As a Marlins fan, you have to be upset about this comment. The Marlins [...]

Thanks to the excellent Alden Gonzalez of MLB.com for this funny picture: I love me some Chipotle, so I’ll to stop by at Edwin Rodriguez’ location for a chicken burrito with rice, black beans, sour cream, and cheese. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it. By the way (and we’ll talk more about this tomorrow), Gonzalez shares the sentiment of many Marlins fans who felt that, regardless of how the deal ultimately went down, the Marlins were right in not signing Dan Uggla to the extension he was requesting.