Marlin Maniac RTD: Miami Marlins Trades, All-Star Choices

Hey there Marlin Maniacs.  After a long hiatus, the Marlin Maniac Round Table Discussion (RTD) is back.  I, for one, am very excited to have people to talk to again.

Once a week, the staff here at Marlin Maniac sits down to pull some questions out of a hat that concern everyone’s favorite baseball team.  The answers?  While those get pulled from somewhere else, we list them below for your enjoyment

Avid readers are fully encouraged to submit questions they’d like to see the staff discuss via Twitter, Facebook, or in the comments.  They are also encouraged to come up with a better title than Miami Marlins RTD.  But until that day of deliverance, let’s get to the Round Table Discussion.

More from Marlins News

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• Miami Marlins are pursuing Michael Conforto
• Miami Marlins need to spend to win
• Miami Marlins can’t afford to botch this trade

Looking back to your preseason predictions, with the first half now in the books, have your expectations changed for the 2016 Marlins?  

Sean Millerick: I’m adjusting.  The second half schedule is a more imposing slate of games…but the Marlins have really only struggled against the downtrodden teams on the schedule so far.  With all the adversity they’ve dealt with, namely the poor production or total absence of their reigning All-Stars from the previous season, not believing in this team to continue doing what they’ve done so far seems foolish.  The Wild Card may still be a stretch, although it’s worth noting they’ve already locked up a tiebreaker with the Dodgers and need just a single win to do the same with the Pirates.  But my prediction was 80 wins, and that’s starting to feel a little light.

David Marcillo: I expected the Marlins to be somewhere near the Wild Card race, with the Nationals comfortably ahead of the division race. Seems about right. While the way the Marlins got to their 47-41 record may not have been the way I predicted, their position in the standings seems about where I would have expected. Given that, my overall expectations for the Marlins are still changing. They did as well as they did in the first half basically without Giancarlo Stanton and without a fifth starter. If Stanton’s recent four-homers-in-four-at-bats streak is indicative of his second half and if the Marlins make a trade to bolster the rotation, all of a sudden this “Wild Card-contending” team could become a Wild-Card favorite.  

Eddie Noy: Not at all. I predicted a .500 team, and sure enough this is a .500 team – adjusted for a weak division/league. I think that in the second half the Fish will continue to make ill-advised moves (see Rodney, Fernando) in order to get into the “Clint Hurdle Invitational”, which is a fool’s errand. The current MLB setup favors teams who have either completely tanked or are making a push post-tank (or the uber rich – Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers); this half-in, half-out nonsense is the long road to mediocrity.   

Next: Second Half Hopes

On August 1st, will Fernando Rodney still be the biggest piece acquired, or will the Marlins have made another impact deal by then? 

Sean Millerick:  Depends whether or not the Marlins win 9 games by then.  The Fish kick off the second half with 17 games against just 3 teams, two of them fellow Wild Card chasers. If Miami weathers that stretch with an above .500 record, the front office will find a way to swing a major deal. If not, they’ll stand pat and explore non-waiver options.

David Marcillo:  I sincerely hope Rodney will not be the biggest piece acquired. While bullpen help was a slight need, rotation help is a huge glaring hole. With the Marlins scouting guys like Jake Odorizzi, Sonny Gray, and Rich Hill, I honestly hope they make a move well before the August 1st deadline. Every fifth game this season has essentially been a loss given the Minor League Baseball arms that have been trotted out there to start Major League Baseball games. 

Eddie Noy:  I reject the premise of the question. There is no universe in which Fernando Rodney is the biggest anything. Unfortunately/Fortunately, the Marlins don’t have much of a farm from which to make further “impact moves”, so subtraction by addition aside, they might be done. Josh Naylor, teal-on-teal knife attack survivor, just barely making Baseball America’s midseason top 100, being the sole exception.

Next: Right Marlins Picked For ASG?

Let’s say the Marlins were only allowed four All-Stars.  Did they get it right? 

Sean Millerick:  No, they didn’t.  J.T. Realmuto has a higher batting average than every participating catcher, and is their equal or better in throwing out runners.  I’d of put Realmuto in over Ramos, and over Lucroy; the Brewers spot could have gone to Ryan Braun or Junior Guerra.  

David Marcillo:  Ramos, Ozuna, and Jose definitely deserve the All-Star nods. Rodney does too, but it’s just a bit awkward to have him in a Marlins uniform since he did all of his good work with the Padres. Still, he deserves the All-Star appearance, and it isn’t his fault that he was traded and has a new uniform, so yes: I think the four Marlins taking the trip to San Diego are the four that deserve it the most.

Eddie Noy:  St. Jose is of course an automatic all star. Marcel Marceau Ozuna has had such a nice season (as predicted!) that him being included was a pleasant surprise. AJ Ramos has been fine, but really… relief pitcher all stars? AKA guys not good enough to be starting pitchers. Absurd. Case in point, Fernando Rodney’s inclusion. Sir Stanton’s snub (again… vice Rodney’s inclusion) is further proof that this game is a farce. Is it really the “All Star Game”, or the Hot-First-10-Weeks-of-the-Season-Game. The All Star Game is a showcase for baseball’s biggest names and stars to penetrate non-Marlin Maniac readers’ living rooms, not feature the like of (again..) Fernando Rodney and Adam Duvall. Players seem to vote based on 1980s statistical analysis, fans vote for their teams’ players, and managers include every relief pitcher not already named to the squad. Ab-Surd.

Next: Should the All-Star Game Count?

Should the All-Star Game “count”? 

Sean Millerick:  Of course not. Ending in a tie is ridiculous, but just expand the roster by a spot. Have fans vote in an extra starting pitcher, or better yet, allow for one of the young guns in the Futures Game to enter if the roster gets thin in an undecided game. Fans don’t care about baseball’s All-Star Game because “it counts”.  They care because, more than any of the other major sports, baseball lends itself to the entire premise of an All-Star Game actually being compelling to watch.

David Marcillo:  Absolutely, unequivocally, eternally NO. The All-Star Game is an exhibition game that requires plenty of written rules like “every team gets a player” and unwritten rules like “pitchers can’t go more than two innings” which makes it not a normally-competitive baseball game. If it counts, then the two best teams should play against each other without fan votes, roster restrictions, or playing time restrictions. That wouldn’t be nearly as fun to watch. Having the All-Star Game count is ridiculous. The team in the World Series with the best record should have home field advantage. Same record? Then maybe the team with the best Interleague record. Still the same? Team with the most runs scored. Fewest runs allowed. Plenty of “if-then” scenarios, but all of them make more sense than, “the team whose league won the exhibition game three months ago.”

Eddie Noy:  It hardly “counts” now. The extent that an extra home game means much in baseball is certainly debatable. But for what it’s worth, for the reasons listed under question four, no – it should not count. The All Star Game should be a fun showcase for the game’s biggest stars (Trout, Harper, Sir. Stanton, Kershaw, St. Jose, Big Papi, et al.), not the corporate ad-rush beneath a ridiculous veneer of this-time-it-counts. I want to see some jacks, not be subjected to Ned Yost making 47 reliever changes, or googling the double switch. 

Alert Reader Answer:  ASG shouldn’t count. Best regular season record between the two pennant winners should get home-field advantage in the WS. None of the major sports’ ASGs need to “count”. Baseball doesn’t get ratings as it is anymore. Making the ASG “count” isn’t going to make an average baseball fan watch it.

That’s it for this week.  Remember to find us at Marlin Maniac on The Facebook, or @MarlinManiac on Twitter if you have any questions you’d like us to tackle; we might even publish your answer as well, if you share them.