Report: Willis Likely to Be Released; Should Marlins Be Interested?

[Beef]

as long as you can locate your pitches

Well....

[Swifty]

Why?

I assume just because we don't have a great rotation lurking for the regular season?

I don't really get the perfect sense thing or the we should be all over it thing.

He's a left-handed starter that'd be playing for the ML minimum. I have very real doubts the Tigers release him (if they were going to, it'd have already happened) but in the unlikely event they do, he's too good of a fit to pass up; we need innings (he's durable) we need a lefty (check) and we have no legitimate depth, beyond the guys at the ML level, we've got, what, Sean West (who's a year away anyway)? Yeah, go get him.

[Beef]

We need innings. It'd be awesome if he could provide them. But it doesn't matter how durable he is if he can't throw strikes, which he mostly cannot.

[wanks1212]

If the Marlins want a lefty with major control issues in the rotation, they can just go with Andrew Miller. At least Miller still has substantial upside.

I mean, if he's willing to sign a deal for the minimum and report to AAA, then great, see if he can work his shit out there. But at this point in time, I'll take anyone currently competing for a rotation spot (even Penn and Hensley) over Dontrelle.

[AdamRavs]

For the league min. its not a bad deal. If anxiety is his issues. hook him up with Ricky Williams if nothing else he will get him highhhhh

[Namaste]

If the Marlins want a lefty with major control issues in the rotation, they can just go with Andrew Miller. At least Miller still has substantial upside.

I mean, if he's willing to sign a deal for the minimum and report to AAA, then great, see if he can work his shit out there. But at this point in time, I'll take anyone currently competing for a rotation spot (even Penn and Hensley) over Dontrelle.

This is probably all much ado about nothing because DET won't release him but if I'm rolling the dice between Miller and Willis, I'll take my chances with the guy who has a winning attitude and has shown he can be successful. If Willis bombs, so what? We know Miller will bomb.

We'll still be talking about Miller's substantial upside 4 years from now.

[wanks1212]

Yeah, I'll take Miller. Even as bad as Miller's been over the past two years, his 2008 and 2009 numbers are equal to or better than anything Dontrelle's posted since 2006 (Dontrelle's 2007 is roughly what Miller's been giving hte Marlins the past few years, minus the durability part, but, really, durability at an ERA over 5.5 and a WHIP of around 1.60 isn't all that valuable and can be easily replaced).

I'll take my chances with the younger guy who's been the same or better the past three years, even if "better" isn't saying much.

[Metes]

Still, he could find a place as a reliever. Especially as a LOOGY like McKotsay said
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And he makes me smile
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Not Kotsay, DTrain

[wanks1212]

I'd like to see him brought aboard if he's open to coming out of the bullpen full-time. That makes sense.

[Namaste]

I would be really suprised if he was not open to anything at this point.

[Ralph]

Maybe mates, maybe. But I still believe in Hayden Penn.

[Bobbob1313]

For the minimum, he's absolutely worth a look. That being said, I expect absolutely nothing from him.

[Swifty]

Well, if he's released, he's playing for the minimum. Anything he takes above that reduces what Detroit gives him so there's no incentive for Dontrelle to take more than a minimum contract; his financial situation doesn't improve.

Anyway, if given the choice between Andrew Miller and Dontrelle, I probably take Miller too, I'm working on a blog post now about why Miller's still "fine," but Dontrelle lets us put Miller in AAA where he probably belongs right now, at least for most of the season, while getting a lefty in the rotation who'll give us 200 innings and an ERA around 5. No, it's not great, but I'll take that from my 5th starter.

[Bobbob1313]

Except do we really know Dontrelle can even give us 200 innings at an ERA around 5?

He hasn't even been able to be good when he's been in the minors, and he's been atrocious in the majors over the last two seasons. And yeah, he has a .90 ERA in Spring Training, but that comes with 5 walks over 10 innings and only 6 strikeouts.

We have people saying that "We'll still be talking about Miller's upside 4 years from now". Well, we're 4 years removed from Dontrelle even being a passable option as a starter on a good team.

And then there's the questions of whether his mental state is solid enough to stay up and handle the potential for failure, not to mention the extremely troubling physical problems that have obviously been a problem for him.

Like I said, at the minimum, it's worth a shot. But I wouldn't count on him for anything.

[Ramp]

Would like to see Willis as a possible loogy, nothing more though