The Trade

Now that we have had time for the Marlin’s trade to sink in, and the hate on Twitter has died down, let me throw a little fuel on the fire. Is this trade really that bad? Wait, wait, before you start writing me angry letters and stop following me on Twitter (@latinoloco4rwf by the way) hear me out. I’ve been a Marlins fan since 1993. I went to the first ever Marlins game, the last game they played as the Florida Marlins, opening day for the Miami Marlins, and one day I will go see them in a World Series game. Initially I was fuming when I heard about this trade; but then I started to look at it not from the perspective of a Marlins fan, but as an outside source looking in. Then it hit me maybe this was for the better.

I still don’t agree with how Mr. Loria lied to us about the Hanley, Infante, Anibel trade, saying he was building a team and it is not a fire sale. He said the players we have here are going to be here for a long time and will compete for The Series. I may not like him, but I am here today to talk about how this trade might work out for the best for the Fish.

I want to first address the obvious, WE FINISHED IN LAST PLACE IN THE NL EAST! I might still be a little bitter about last year’s winter meeting- on paper this team looked like a champion, and every analysis chose this team to go to the World Series, but we finished in last place. This team might not have had time to gel, but the players we traded also didn’t perform to the best of their past selves.

As for the players involved in the trade, let’s start with Josh Johnson. Next season he will be 29 years old with a Tommy John Surgery under his belt and shoulder problems. In 2012 his numbers were the worst they have been his whole career. He finished the season 8-14 (didn’t help that he had no run support, but we will get to that with the other 4 players). Only his 2007 0-3 season that was cut short due to injury is worse percentage wise. His 3.81 ERA, 84 runs, 1.28 WHIP and .252 BAA are all above his career average. Father Time catches up with all of us soon or later and I rather not have that on our team. Is this really a pitcher that we want our line up to look up to?

Next is John Buck, a 32 year old catcher at the start of the 2013 season. He is not a very young Buck when it comes to the catcher position (pun fully intended). Since 2009, Buck’s numbers have just gotten worse. From 2010-2012 he has stuck out more then a 100 times each season, his RBI have gone from 66 to 57 to 41, his HRs from 20 to 16 to 12, hits from 115 to 106 to 66, runs from 53 to 41 to 29, and the list of stats goes on and on and on. Maybe it’s time to look for a new catcher.

April 4, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; A jumbotron displays an opening day game logo prior to the game with the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins at Marlins Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Moving on to Mark Buehrle who is entering his 13^th year in the Major Leagues, just finished the season 13-13. He hasn’t had a 15 win season since 2008, the most wins over losses in his career is 8 back in 2005, and he has a career ERA of 3.82. That being said his numbers this year in BAA, WHIP, and ERA were better than his career average; but at this point the Marlins need a shut out pitcher, not an average pitcher whose best days may be behind him.

Now to the person who was suppose to be the face of the franchise, Jose Reyes. Wow did his batting average dip this year! Call me old fashion but I would like my lead off or number 2 hitter’s batting average above .300. This past season he batted .287, a few points under his career average and .050 less than his average in 2011. I don’t think that is what someone making over 100 million dollars should be putting up as his numbers. Also over his entire career his stats have been good one year, okay the next year, good again, then okay the next, and so on. 2013 could be a great year for Jose, but it also could be his downward trend. Only time will tell.

Finally, I give you Emilio Bonifacio. Injury after injury after injury, there is only so much time a person can spend on the DL before it is time to let him go. Emilio’s greatest asset was his speed, but after repeated knee injuries he has lost a step or two, taking away the best thing he brought to the team.

With all that said, no I don’t want any of those players gone from the Marlins. I love Boni and his “Lo Viste”, he is the one I’m going to miss the most of all the players we have lost. Watching The Franchise and listing to Jose laugh was so heart warming. I’m going to miss Mark’s gold glove. I have been following Josh since he started in the bigs and he has become such a fan favorite. Buck…. Eh. Look maybe it’s time that the Marlins infuse some new talent into itself. We got some great prospects in this trade with Justin Nicolino, Anthony Desclafani, and Jake Marisnick. The real Fish Fans will stay with the team and watch these young players become stars, just like we saw the 2001 crop become world champs in 2003. Who knows, maybe in a few years we will look back at this and say wow the Blue Jays got a raw deal. Only time will tell.