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.

July 17, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; Miami Marlins player

The Marlins traveled to Chicago to face the Cubs in an evening game. The on-field heat index was north of 100, and a light breeze was blowing out of Wrigley Field.  The Marlins took advantage of the warm air, balmy breezes and short fences, putting three into the bleachers as they notched a 9-5 victory over the northsiders. Carlos Lee added another grand slam to his record, moving him past luminaries like Henry Aaron and Babe Ruth. At 17 career slams, he is now tied for second place with Ted Williams and Jimmy Foxx. At 23, the all-time leaders are Alex Rodriguez and Lou Gehrig.  Rare air indeed.  Well done, Carlos.  Omar Infante put a two-run shot out in the fourth, and Hanley Ramirez hit such a hard line drive to the center field bleachers that it looked like it was still going up as it cleared the fence. Lee’s slam came as part of a five-run fifth inning that featured Anibal Sanchez as both leadoff and final batters of the frame.

Lee’s fifth inning slam provided a welcome cushion for Sanchez, who threw seven sweet innings, giving up one earned run and two walks, striking out seven. The 9-run score also served to help Sanchez inch closer to moving off of the bottom of the average run support list.  Keys to the success of Anibal’s outing were his ability to keep the ball on the corners of the zone, and his effective use of velocity, rather than bend, to fool hitters into swinging.  Lots of Cubs were way out in front last night.

As the trade deadline approaches, and as Edward Mujica gets closer to completing his rehab assignment, I suspect that the atmosphere in the bullpen is a bit like it is late in spring training.  Everybody knows that someone is getting tapped to head down.  Chad Gaudin didn’t make a convincing argument to keep him around. Facing four batters, he gave up a walk and three earned runs on three hits. Gaudin didn’t tally any outs during his eighth inning appearance.  Thankfully, manager Ozzie Guillen pulled the plug on Gaudin before any more blood was spilled.  In his defense, it has been almost two weeks since Gaudin has thrown in a game. Randy Choate stepped in and finished the inning, setting the stage for a Heath Bell ninth inning non-save appearance.  The ball was really jumping out of Bell’s hand last night, and he dominated the end of the game. It will be a bonus for this team when he figures out how to bottle up those aggressive pitches and uncork them at will.

It’s the Cubs again tonight.  Josh Johnson faces Jeff Samardzija.  Both are right handers, and both are probably due to regress a little bit tomorrow.  Johnson has struggled to get through six innings lately, and Samardzija has allowed only four runs in his last 14 innings.  Baseball has a way of evening out streaks and slumps, and Johnson is a fundamentally better pitcher.  Combined with the energy injection coming from Emilio Bonifacio and Carlos Lee, the Marlins will be tough to beat tonight.

Prediction:  Marlins by two.

July 14, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins center fielder

Against the precisely placed curve balls of Gio Gonzalez and the Nationals, Mark Buehrle and the Marlins played one of the best games of the season and battled to a 2-1 victory last night.

Classic National League small ball was the name of the game, and the Marlins played it better than the Nationals did.  Baserunners were bunted around, followed by base hits behind the runners.

Mark Buehrle pitched a gem of a game, notching seven strikeouts and yielding only one earned run in seven innings.  His front-door curve straddled the black, and his changeup was particularly effective against the heart of the Nationals order. Randy Choate came in as a LOOGY in the top of the eighth, followed by an outstanding Steve Cishek 5-out save.

Carlos Lee logged his first RBI single as a Marlin.

One of the notable performances of the game came from John Buck.  While his bat is still on vacation somewhere out of cell phone range, his game-calling abilities really shone against the Nationals.  It’s a subject rarely discussed, as it’s difficult to quantify and track via statistical measurement.  The knowledge of opposing hitters and the situational awareness necessary to call a good game is definitely not a commodity, but it’s skill that Buck continues to demonstrate.  I don’t have an accurate count for last night’s game, but I suspect that Buehrle shook off fewer than five of Buck’s signals.

Another factor that led to the win was the return of Emilio Bonifacio.  It seemed as if the entire lineup was running more aggressively, as though Boney’s speed is contagious.  We stole four bases last night, including a nifty double steal by Omar Infante and Carlos Lee.

Up next is a day game, with Stephen Strasburg facing Ricky Nolasco.  This looks like another tough matchup for the Marlins, as Strasburg continues to dominate his games.

Prediction: Nationals by four runs.   I’m also seeing no-hitter potential in the tea leaves.

The Marlins have been playing very well as of late, as they are winners of seven of their last ten ballgames. If the Marlins can win tonight, they will be back at .500 for the first time since June 18th, when the Marlins fell to the Tampa Bay Rays to drop their record to 33-33.

In care you were wondering, last year, at this time, the Marlins were sitting at 40-48. This years Marlins team is just a little bit better.

July 6, 2012; St. Louis, MO. USA; Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton (27) poses with his National League All Star Game jersey before a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The Marlins won 3-2. (Image: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE)

Busch Stadium

Five-year Run PF*: 0.99
Five-year HR PF*: 0.92
Stadium Dimensions:
Left field line—330 ft.
Left-center field—372 ft.
Center field—402 ft.
Right-center field—375 ft.
Right field line—330 ft.

*Five-year regressed park factors provided by Patriot here

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