The Don Rey

In the Marlins 13 losses they have averaged 1.7 runs per game with 5.3 hits per game. Some games they hit well, but most they didn’t. You’re not going to win many games if you can’t get more than 3-5 hits per game unless those are homeruns with men on base.

 Up to this point the blame for losing falls into 3 categories for the Marlins struggling in the first month of the season. Can’t close out games, can’t catch the ball, and can’t hit the ball.

 

Need Some Relief

Heath Bell has looked worse than Lebron James when it comes to the end of the game. It has me screaming where is Leo Nunez? “WHERE IS LEO NUNEZ?”

 

Bad Defense

The defense is horrible in the outfield. We’re looking at Giancarlo Stanton and Logan Morrison. Combined they have 5 errors. The team as a whole has 15 errors which places them in the middle of the NL, but those errors have cost the team some games.

 

Hitting Woes

Now we all know coaches can’t hit the ball for the players, but a hitting coach has to be a leader and help the players take a different approach. Scouting reports, batting practice, motivation techniques, videos, and time well spent with the players to help them recognize where they need to practice and be ready come game time.

What is Miami Marlins batting coach Eduardo Perez doing to earn his paycheck? Does he even deserve to be a batting coach? Eduardo Perez became the batting coach on June 8, 2011. Yes that fateful June when Fredi Gonzalez and his crew got the axe. That June when the Marlins couldn’t hit the ball, couldn’t score runs, and just couldn’t win if their baseball career depended on it. That June when the Marlins went 5-23 and followed it up with an epic collapse. They couldn't hit and they couldn't score. Under Eduardo Perez's watch for most of 2011 the Marlins offense have sucked.

It is April 29, 2012 and nothing has changed. Under previous batting coaches Jim Presley and John Malle the Marlins struck out a lot, but they were beasts in the home run department and could go on scoring tears for stretches of games.

Under Eduardo Perez the offense has been anemic for long extended periods of time. The guy does not belong in that dugout as a coach. He barely survived the major leagues as a player so how can you expect him to be able to help other players be able to recognize how to break out of these slumps when he himself was never able to get it going?

Currently the Marlins are second to last in hits, runs batted in, extra base hits, runs scored, and on base percentage. They are third to last in batting average, and dead last in sacrifices. For a team who can’t hit, but is in the middle of the pack in the walks department you have to ask what the hell is going on out there?

If things don’t change soon then Eduardo Perez needs to be fired. He is long overdue anyways.

 

On the bright side we have seen great overall play from Omar Infante, Emilio Bonifacio, Anibal Sanchez, Carlos Zambrano, Ricky Nolasco (gasp), Mark Buerhle, and the bullpen minus Heath Bell.

 

Team MVP: Emilio Bonifacio

Team Cy Young: Carlos Zambrano

Most likely to be Fired: Eduardo Perez

Team Goat: Hanley Ramirez

 

P.S. Hanley Still sucks. Take that .198 batting average someplace else, but do us a favor first and put all the blame on Eduardo Perez like you did to Fredi Gonzalez.

P.P.S. Who gives a #$%^ what Ozzie Guillen said about Fidel Castro. Lets get some dam wins.

I present to you “Major League: The True Story”

 

No this is not another sequel to the Major League movie. Instead it is the real life version.

 

A team with the most ridiculously ugly logo. Team colors and a team uniform that suggests some elementary kid drew it (probably David Samson himself).

Then there is the team.

 

Leading off and playing short stop for the Miami Marlins, none other than the flashy and potential Dance Dance Revolution guy Jose Reyes.

 

Batting second in center field the ever infamous Emilio Bonifacio who Mets fans totally hate.

 

Third  and at third base is Hanley “the crybaby” Ramirez who needs a couple days off a week to work on his tan to look pretty for the ladies. He also doesn’t put in much effort on the field. He’s that high priced talent, or just high priced like Roger Dorn.

 

Fourth playing right field  is Mike Stanton. He is a quiet guy, much like Pedro Serrano who has problems with curve balls, but can pound the daylights out of a straight fast ball.

 

Fifth is first basemen Gaby Sanchez. He’s a quiet guy who can really clothesline someone. Just ask Tony Plush or whatever alter ego Nyjer Morgan is using nowadays.

Sixth and playing left field is twitter addict Logan “LoMoMarlins” Morrison. There is a couple betting pools open on who gets in trouble first, LoMo for tweeting or Ozzie for tweeting or going on a rampage.”

 

Seventh at Catcher John Buck. He very well may be the closest thing to normal.

 

At second base and batting 8^th is Omar Infante. It really should be “his name is …” Dan Uggla which in this case he would be much higher up. Infanto sucks and probably won’t last long there. Maybe Coghlan will run him out in the second half if Coghlan doesn’t get injured again throwing pies at people.

 

Notable Pitchers

Leo Nunez with the fake illegal name.

Ricky Nolasco who is another high priced talent who is just “high priced.”

 

And last, but certainly not least the management.

 

David “the loud talking midget” Samson as team President or whatever it is that he actually does.

Jeffrey Loria the weirdo art dealer.

 

And the biggest nutjob manager in baseball, Ozzie Guillen.

Rumors have it the Miami Marlins may be looking to increase their payroll and project it to be in the range of $60 to $75 Million. The increase is likely to come even with possible deals involving Hanley Ramirez and Ricky Nolasco.

Ricky Nolasco has been a severe disappointment the past three seasons and much of his career and will me making just over $6 million next season. He has gone from being the teams ace in past years to being demoted to the minor leagues several times and just barely winning a backend of the rotation starting job over Chris Volstad, Alex Sanabia, and other rookies. Brad Hand, and Alex Sanabia could be battling for the #4 and/or #5 spot next preseason.

Hanley Ramirez has been rumored to possibly being moved over to third base with recent discussions of the possibility of Jose Reyes being picked up to leadoff and play short stop for the Marlins. The signing of Reyes will definitely move Hanley over to third base, but other rumor rumblings could land Hanley at short stop or third base on another team.

Matt Domiguez the Marlins third baseman of the future does not appear ready to play in the majors, but will be given a look next spring. He is one of the better defensive third basemen in the league, but his plate discipline is lacking.

With the acquisition of Ozzie Guillen to be the Marlins next manager there has been rumors that third basemen Aramis Ramirez may sign with the Marlins. The deal could be for just one or two seasons.

For now it does not appear that Hanley Ramirez is going anywhere. Management has become disgusted with Hanley ever since the Logan Morrison and Jeff Conine clashes with Hanley. Next spring a new class may arise between Hanley Ramirez and manager Ozzie Guillen.

For Hanley to get traded two situations need to occur:

1. Marlins sign Jose Reyes, and

2. Marlins sign Aramis Ramirez OR Matt Dominguez shows he is major league ready.

Hanley Ramirez was called out by [insert name here] and the result was.

• Dan Uggla scolded ... then traded.

• Fredi Gonzalez ... fired.

• Wes Helms ... released [ same as fired although Helms should have retired last year].

• Chris Coghlan ... demoted to the minors.

• Logan Morrison ... demoted to the minors.

• Cody Ross ... given away for free.

• Jeff Conine ... reprimanded.

• Dave Trembley ... rumor has it calls were made by David Sampson to Baltimore to have Trembley demoted to single A.

• future Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen ... quit (with final words of [censor] that [censor] mamas boy and [censor] [censor] Loria [censor] ... M [censor]).

• Josh Johnson ... rumor has it he's not injured but actually tied up in a basement somewhere in the Caribbean for giving bad looks at Hanley.

• Fan in seat number 23B ... kicked out by security and banned from attending Marlins games.

• This blog ... rumor has it Hanley Ramirez is contacting CBS Sports any moment now to have the writer banned and picked up by the Men in Black.

Seriously ... when will it end?

The resignation of Edwin Rodriguez coming this weekend is not suprising considering recent play in the past two weeks, losing 20 of the last 23 games. The Marlins were once a 1/2 game behind the Phillies, but now sit at 13 games back and right next to the Washington Nationals in last place.

What went wrong for Edwin Rodriguez?


Was trading Dan Uggla a bad move that hurt the offense?

Answer: NO. Dan Uggla has a batting average well below .200. He is having a worse season than Hanley Ramirez.


What about dealing Jorge Cantu and Cody Ross from last season?

Answer: NO. You can Wahh wahh cry all you want about these guys getting dealt off. Cameron Maybin was traded off also and no matter how bad Chris Coghlan is playing, Chris is still better than Maybin. On paper and on the field Gaby Sanchez and Logan Morrison are flat out raking the ball. Cantu and Ross got replaced with better overall talent period.

Is this all Hanley Ramirez's fault?

Answer: Maybe, but I still say no. If Hanley lost anything I would say he lost two things. First thing he lost was his competitive edge. He lost his rival in Dan Uggla. The Marlins had two guys who were critical of each other and had to put up or shut up. To me it is no surprise that the separation has led to Uggla and Hanley having the worse season of their careers. They may hate each other, but they need each other also.

The second thing Hanley lost is his game. He wanted to become a power hitter and he did for a while when Jim Presley was his hitting coach, but now with Presley gone, Hanley's power game is gone too.

Hanley's Numbers since his rookie year, through June 19th shows a steady decline in his stolen base numbers and inconsistency in his power numbers. He was a leadoff hitter who turned into a decent number 3 hitter, but there comes a point where reality has to kick in and the Marlins need to realize that Hanley is not a true #3 hitter. He is at best a #2 or #6 hitter, otherwise leave him as the leadoff hitter.

Hanley's Stats through June 19th over his career.
2011 - 4 HRs   12 SBs    .204 Avg
2010 - 11 HRs 12SBs     .286 Avg
2009 - 8 HRs    9 SBs     .324 Avg
2008 - 15 HRs   17 SBs  .294 Avg
2007 -  9 HRs   22 SBs   .325 Avg
2006 -  3 HRs  20 SBs    .268 Avg

Should the Marlins trade Hanley Ramirez?

Answer: Hell no. Hanley is entering his prime right now. One bad season doesn't mean you should trade a guy. Today is June 19th. Ask me that same question in July of 2012. Until then the Marlins need to consider options of getting Hanley some extra batting help and a better spot in the lineup. Right now Hanley is the only guy who you can seriously consider as a leadoff hitter on the Marlins team. Coghlan has been great, but Coghlan is no leadoff hitter.

Can any blame be focused on the injury to Josh Johnson leading the Marlins to their bad streak of losses?

Answer: Yes. Before Josh Johnson got hurt, he was among best pitchers in baseball. Of the last 20 losses, if JJ was healthy you're looking at a better rested bullpen, because with JJ on the mound you're looking at a 7-8 inning pitcher. He gives the bullpen a rest. You can't count on Nolasco, Vazquez, or Volstad.

Can blame be shifted to the Marlins 2-5 starters?

Answer: Nolasco yes. Vazquez Yes. Volstad Yes. Sanchez no. Ricky Nolasco deserves a lot of blame, because he has been just as bad as Javier Vazquez the past month. Javier Vazquez needs to simply retire. Someone needs to sit down with Chris Volstad and work with him. The Marlins rushed Volstad to the majors and he has been unable to develop since having a great rookie season. Anibal Sanchez right now is the Marlins second best pitcher behind JJ and probably has the most competitive spirit in the Marlins entire rotation, probably even moreso than JJ.

The ultimate changes needed to get the Marlins back on track would be to send Chris Volstad down or trade him to an organization with a pitching coach who can help him. Javier Vazquez needs to retire. Ricky Nolasco has had his chances and up to this point has not been able to get any consistency. Now is the time to trade Nolasco if he cannot get his stuff together. The Marlins have Alex Sanabia and Brad Hand available and ready to start. Brian Sanches started one game and looked excellent as well, but Sanches has been one of the Marlins better relievers. Ryan Webb is also another potential candidate for the starting rotation. Where do you go?

Trade Nolasco, coax Vazquez into retirement or release him, and trade or send Volstad to he Minors.


Can Leo Nunez be blamed for the Marlins and Rodriguez's failure?

Answer: Maybe. Nunez is a decent closer. He's not the best, but he is not the worse either. He can get the job done, but he can't handle pressure or pitching against good hitting teams. He is good enough to be a closer, but he doesn't have the right set of balls to take his game to the next level.

What abut the Marlins bullpen?

Answer: Yes, but this goes back to the starting rotation. Josh Johnson and Anibal Sanchez has been great this year. Nolasco was good in the month of April, but turned to crap afterward. Javier Vazquez and Chris Volstad has been batting practice for 95% of their starts. The bullpen was doing great, but they can't go out there every day when your starting pitcher can't reach the 5th inning two to three times a week. The Marlins bullpen is solid when rested, but as a unit when they're tired they can't get the job done. You have to look at that and speculate, if this is October and the playoffs are they going to step up and get the outs or get run out of the ballgame?


Final Verdict:

Edwin Rodriguez is not the person to blame for the Marlins failure. As the manager his job is to direct the team. He is a spectator with a front-seat view of his players strengths and weaknesses. The organization's goals likely will not be met with the current losing trend shown. As a manager, Rodriguez needs to use a strategy that will end the losing streak. He utilized unfavorable line-ups that did not produce when hitters such as Gaby Sanchez, Logan Morrison, and Mike Stanton was hot. Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco in several of their outings were left in one inning too long which led to the opposing team coming up with victories.
Edwin has the potential to be a decent major league manager, but this Marlins team needs a leader with experience. Fredi Gonzalez was not the answer and is still not the answer. The Marlins team needs leadership and experience, and right now Rodriguez cannot bring either.

Rodriguez can take 50% of the blame for the Marlins recent failure. The other 50% of the blame can be distributed evenly among the pitching coach, Hanley Ramirez, the batting coach, Jeffrey Loria the owner, and injuries.

Some of Mike Lowell's comments he said on 790 The Ticket on the Dan LeBatard Show on June 3, 2011. Comments are in regards to the incident involving Buster Posey and Scott Cousins, and the comments by San Francisco Giants GM Brian Sabean.

“If Posey knocks out Buck, Sabean is telling everyone how good of a player Posey is.”

 

“I’m kind of sick of that. That’s ridiculous. I thought Posey said right after the next day 'I don’t want to vilify Cousins.' All this stuff. I mean, did he have a lane? Maybe. What people fail to understand is that the ball beat him. You’re taught that in baseball if the ball beats you and the catcher is going to get in there, you crush him. And you know what, he crushed him. And he didn’t crush him down low, and he didn’t crush him dirty. He hit him at the top. He didn’t even hit his leg. His leg got caught underneath, that’s baseball man.”

“I dislocated Piazza’s shoulder on a play at third. He slid head first. I felt terrible, I called over. He said ‘hey man it was baseball. You caught the ball I was sliding away from the bag.’ I dove and I kind of tagged him and landed on his shoulder and I heard him go ‘ohh’ right away. And you feel terrible. I mean hey Buster Posey is great, but he’s not Mike Piazza yet.  And I felt terrible and I called him. I said Mike I apologize, and he said ‘you don’t need to apologize.’”

Click here to see video.

After yesterday's performance by Anibal Sanchez coming 1 inning away from tossing a no hitter against the Colorado Rockies, I came to notice that all of the Marlins no hitters have come against NL West teams. Marlins have no hit 4 of the 5 NL West teams. Only the Dodgers have yet to get no hit by a Marlins pitcher.

Al Leiter threw the first Marlins no hitter on May 11, 1996 against the Colorado Rockies.
The second no hitter was by Kevin Brown on June 10, 1997 against the San Francisco Giants.
Third was by A.J. Burnett on May 12, 2001 against the San Diego Padres.
The fourth by Anibal Sanchez against the Arizona Diamondbacks on September 6, 2006.

The Marlins also have 13 1-hitters. Almost half of them, 5 of 13, came against NL West Teams.

Brad Penny and Anibal Sanchez are tied for the most 1-hitters in franchise history (2 each), but Anibal beats out Penny with his one no-hit.


Marlins should consider signing Anibal Sanchez to an extension if he continues to improve and stays healthy. He is the Marlins second best and most consistent starter after Josh Johnson.

There is one thing I find unacceptable regarding Miguel Cabrera's current problems and that is the fact that he is driving while intoxicated. He is a rich man who can afford a taxi. He is a rich man who can afford a limousine. He is a rich man who could call me up and pay me $50 to drive his drunk #$% home.

He was charged with 2 misdemeanors, DUI-Misdemeanor and Resisting an Officer w/o violence. It is quite clear he is one of many people around this nation that act like a complete inconsiderate retard while drunk. But does he have a serious personal problem? Perhaps. Keep in mind he is not from this country, and his culture is a lot different from ours .

Should he go to jail for 364 days? Heck no.

Should he be rahibiltated and educated on the seriousness of driving drunk? Certainly yes.

Is he a dirtbag for doing what he does while drunk? The hell if I know. I don't know the dude personally and probably neither do any of you. So why should we judge him or his reasons for drinking?

Should Miguel miss an entire season for this incident? Joba Chamberlain didn't so neither should Cabrera. Scott Olsen didn't either, neither did Daryl Strawberry, Gary Sheffield, or Tony Larussa and they did much worse than Miguel.


Miguel needs to be educated on how to drink properly, because a lot of us do it responsibly. To say he has a drinking problem is absurd. How do you measure "a drinking problem"?