August 8, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Duane Below (64) pitches against the New York Yankees at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Marlins claimed left hander Duane Below off of waivers from the Detroit Tigers earlier today. The move put the Marlins 40-man roster back at 40, according to Joe Capozzi on Twitter:

#Marlins claim LHP Duane Below from DET and option him to NOLA.40-man now at 40.

— Joe Capozzi (@joecapMARLINS) April 25, 2013

The Marlins will assign Below to Triple-A New Orleans, but he could become an option later in the season if the Marlins bullpen continues to struggle or if they need a left handed reliever.

The Tigers designated Below for assignment yesterday to make room on their roster for the recently signed Jose Valverde. Below was drafted by the Tigers in the 16th round during the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft.

Below pitched in the majors with the Tigers from 2011-12, he totaled 75 1/3 innings in those two seasons. Below has posted a 4.06 ERA, 5.1 K/9, 2.3 BB/9 and 43.4 percent ground-ball rate in his brief major league career. Below has posted identical numbers to both right and left handed hitters, despite being a southpaw.

Prior to the beginning of the 2012 season, Baseball America noted, “Below’s stuff is average at best, but he throws strikes and has good feel for pitching.”  BA noted, “He fits best as a No. 5 starter or swingman.”

Dec 5, 2011; Dallas, TX, USA; Miami Marlins president of baseball operstions Larry Beinfest (left) announces the signing of closer

The trade deadline has come and gone.  Are the Marlins better off? I’d like to weigh in with a review of the hits and misses…

Detroit: Omar Infante and Anibal Sanchez for prospects Jacob Turner, Brian Flynn, and Rob Brantly. My take is that this was an OK trade by Beinfest. Sanchez and Infante were nearing free agency, and would have represented a pretty big hit to the payroll next year.  Although they both seem to be having decent seasons, neither is a marquee player.  In exchange, we got the #22 ranked prospect pitcher in all of baseball, and a decent young catcher.

The Los Angeles Blockbuster:  Hanley Ramirez and Randy Choate for Nathan Eovaldi and Scott McGough. A win for both clubs.  The Marlins unloaded an unhappy and underperforming Hanley Ramirez, in his third down year after an all-star 2009 season. Despite his fall from superstar status, he still represents a substantial improvement for the glaring weakness that is the left side of the Dodgers infield.  Choate’s role for the Marlins was limited to LOOGY, but he was an effective one. In exchange, we picked up an unremarkable prospect in McGough and what is looking like an excellent replacement for Anibal Sanchez.  Eovaldi’s first start was a very good one. How he fares against the Braves tonight will clarify the picture.

Pittsburgh: Gaby Sanchez and Kyle Kaminska for Gorkys Hernandez:  Another win for the Marlins.  It’s sad for me to see Gaby collapse the way he did, but trading him and an unremarkable minor-league reliever for a decent young outfielder with a good upside was a plus for the Marlins, especially since the announcement that Logan Morrison is headed to the DL for the foreseeable future.

If-I-Mighta-Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda: There was a late rumor circulating that the Marlins were talking to the Mets about swapping John Buck and Heath Bell for Jason Bay. If my prayers get answered, this is one rumor that becomes reality.  Both Bell and Buck are underperforming contract albatrosses, and we could use Bay to let Morrison replace Carlos Lee at first when the time comes. While the two teams weren’t able to come to terms before the non-waiver deadline, it looks like all three player would clear waivers if a deal gets struck between the two clubs. Keep your fingers crossed.

With a top heavy but weak overall minor league system, the Marlins had little depth to supplement their roster. Turner, ranked number 9  by MLB among all of baseball’s top 100 prospects, was acquired as a future top of the rotation starter. With relatively little service time, he will be controllable through 2018. Despite having a 98 mile per hour fastball and being previously labeled as “untouchable,” Turner does not come without concern; he previously suffered a shoulder injury in spring training and it seems he does not have dominant strikeout ability, considering he only struck out 40 in 62.2 innings at Triple A Toledo.

Rob Brantly is a 23 year old Major League-ready catcher. While not having legitimate power numbers in the minors, he has historically hit for a high average. The Marlins organization has had a dire need for catching in light of John Buck‘s struggles and Kyle Skipworth‘s status as a first round bust.

This trade makes sense as  the Marlins had not begun to approach Anibal Sanchez regarding an extension. It looked unlikely that he would have returned next season.

We can assume that Anibal will do well in free agency, and it would have been difficult for  the Marlins  to meet or top generous offers on the open market. Free agency, being the most inefficient means of player acquisition, leads to many starting pitchers to being overpaid and signed for years longer than what most teams are comfortable with. With that being said, if the Marlins wanted Sanchez to return, they would have made a legitimate effort to extend him by now. As such, it made the most sense to package him for a high upside prospect such as Jacob Turner.

Detroit, having just regained first place in the American League Central, is going all in this season. Thus, it was willing to deal a pitcher rated as highly as Turner.  With the exception of Justin Verlander, the Tigers rotation has generally struggled. As such, it made sense to add a quality pitcher such as Sanchez even if he is three months away from free agency. Detroit’s second base platoon has struggled this season, and Infante provides a quality bat and Gold Glove caliber defense in addition to being signed for only $4 million next year. As such, the Tigers greatly improved their team for its push into October.

Jacob Turner was widely considered Detroit's top prospect .

A quality starter, Anibal is a valuable piece to any starting rotation. Middle to top of the rotation innings eaters are difficult to come by and keep at a low cost. While Infante arguably was the Marlins most consistent player and was signed for next season, it most likely was his inclusion in the deal that awarded Miami such a highly ranked prospect. Without his inclusion in the deal, when considering a team’s unwillingness to part with top prospects, Miami only would have received B and C ranked players in return for Anibal.

At this point, this deal should be considered a success for both teams as Detroit improved its chances for a playoff run and Miami added a young, controllable top prospect to its ranks in addition to 2 quality prospects in Brantly and Flynn, who meet an organizational need.

I find the attendance issue ridiculous. There’s a reason why the Marlins built a stadium that will only hold 37,000. South Florida isn’t a mecca for baseball, or for that matter, any pro sport. It is an event-driven town. If the Miami Heat didn’t have Lebron James they’d have crowds similar to those of the NHL’s Florida Panthers. How do I know? I was there before the Heat became an “attraction.” If the Marlins play well they’ll draw crowds. If not, they’ll still draw bigger crowds than they did before. It’s a win-win for ownership. The announced attendance at yesterday’s day game was 23,168; very respectable when most of us were in school and at work. Take a look at the some of the supposed baseball towns in MLB and check out the numbers. The Chicago White Sox had a crowd of 11,836, the then 10-3 Washington Nationals drew 18,045, the loaded Detroit Tigers drew 30,029 for a game against the best team in the league; the Texas Rangers. The Toronto Blue Jays drew 18,976 against the Tampa Rays. The list goes on. Take a look at some of the New York Yankees home games so far this year and see the 10-12k empty seats for their games.

MLB has seen a decline in attendance specifically in those places where new stadiums have driven up the prices to the point where only the corporations can afford them. Here, however, the Marlins experience is very affordable, and now we see a game in the comfort of a retractable roof stadium with a view of downtown Miami.

The Marlins never thought they were going to sell out every game. The goal is 2.5 million coming through the gates in 2012. They’ve sold around 15,000 season tickets. MLB counts tickets sold, not actual turnstile entrants. If they average 25,000 per game that will bring in 2,025,000; a much higher number than in years past. With games against the Yanks, Red Sox, and other baseball powers, they will blow through that number and come close to their goal. Through seven home games the Marlins have drawn 206,096 with an average of almost 30,000. Of course the new park has a lot to do with it, but wasn’t that the point? Mind you, six of these games were played against the horrible Houston Astros, and a bad Chicago Cubs team.

To all of the media who still complain about the lukewarm pro sports market here in Florida, get over it! The Marlins did it right, and as long as they sell merchandise, concessions, and parking, they will be flush with money for years to come. My goal isn’t to make Loria a richer man, but it is to take my son to baseball games here in FL until the day I no longer frequent the planet.

The Marlins have always played in a large park. I hope there isn’t the reactionary move made by management to pull the fences in for next year. We see it happening more and more; the Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, and New York Yankees most recently. Large parks will benefit pitching and speed. Jose Reyes hit 16 triples last year because of the cavernous gaps in Citi Field. Marlins Park has those kinds of dimensions.

The alternative is to create an atmoshpere like the one in Philly where a pop-up somehow finds its way out of the building. A home run in Marlins Park, and many other parks for that matter, is a true home run, not a cheappie!

April 2, 2012; Miami FL, USA; Is the size of Marlins Park going to negatively affect the Marlins? (Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE)

Let’s not judge the stadium so quickly. When the roof is closed the balls will fly. When the roof’s open the ball will not travel. The good news for HR fans is that the roof will be closed 90% of the time. The next time Giancarlo Stanton hits a shot to right center field that looks like a home run, it most likely will be.  I love the new building. The players, both home and visiting, will adapt.