The Bour Ultimatum: Enough is Enough Marlins, Move On

The time has come to move on from Justin Bour.

The Marlins power-hitting, lineup balancing first baseman was originally scheduled to be a factor this weekend, returning to the lineup in time for a surprisingly big series against new NL Wild Card contender Colorado. Of course, that’s now what happened. Bour suffered another rehab setback, still recovering from that high ankle sprain that has kept him out of action for the past month.

Two weeks.  That then became a month.  And is now coming up for even longer.

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The Marlins can’t afford to wait on this any longer.  Not in the thick of a Wild Card race, not with a chance to have their best season in at least seven years.  They need to add a new piece, and do so in a hurry.

Yes, Bour could be back as soon as Monday against the Giants.  But even then, he’s going to have to eased back into action.  High ankle sprains linger, and from the beginning, this injury has felt far too similar to Giancarlo Stanton‘s broken hamate bone than to a run-of-the-mill ankle tweaking.  It’ll still be two weeks before Bour is a legitimate impact threat, and those two weeks will be chock full of either watching Chris Johnson pretend he can hit righty pitching or Derek Dietrich pretend he can play solid defense at first.

Time to break out the waiver-trade rule book and do something about this.  Move on a Justin Morneau. Convince the Yankees Mark Texiera should get to retire after playing for a contender.  Come up with something. This should have been addressed pre-Deadline, and with the season pressing on into August, the clock is ticking. Every game counts, and the Marlins can’t afford to tread water any longer.

When Bour does return, great.  But the Fish would do well to remember that, if they do make it to October, Dietrich won’t even be an option at first because of Dee Gordon‘s suspension.  They need a better plan in the meantime though, and they need to start planning as if Bour isn’t coming back at all.