Comments from Loria

[Big Z]

From Joe Capozzi's twitter:

Marlins far from being done with moves "stay tuned"

If somebody wants to give Uggla 5 years, good luck to them

And Dan Jennings said-

Hoping to pick up some of the power lost with a free agent signing.

[Ramp]

Marlins owner Jeffey Loria promised further activity Wednesday at the GM meetings, "stay tuned."
But in all likelihood, the Marlins probably have made their biggest moves -- trading second baseman Dan Uggla and reaching agreement with free-agent catcher John Buck.
The team, according to one major-league source, has about $3 million to $4 million left to spend.
Such a figure would not be enough for the team to sign a free-agent starting pitcher such as right-hander Carl Pavano.
However, it could be enough for them to continue supplementing their bullpen. The team has traded for four relievers in the past week.
"We're always looking for pitching," Loria said. "We want this bullpen to be a tough one. We're still not done there."

http://mlbbuzz.yardbarker.com/blog/m...tivity/3626401

[Miamarlin21]

We're gonna have a fucking amazing bullpen come high or hell water.

[wanks1212]

Comments for Loria, eh?

YOU FUCKING ASSFACE TWATWHISTLE WHY DO U KEEP TRADING OUR BEST PLAYERS FOR PROSPECTS WE WILL NEVER WIN WITH A CHEAP DICKMOUTH LIKE U IN CHARGE THE TAXPAYERS GAVE YOU $350 MILLION DOLLARS WE DESERVE BETTER HIS NAME IS DAN UGGLA AND UR A CARPETBAGGING YALIE WHO DOESN'T GET US REAL FANS AMIRITE!!11!EXCLAMATIONPOINT

[TealMonster08]

Did @generalpublic just tweet that?

[Big Z]

Lol, I meant to put from, the iPhone put for.. I guess this kills the upton rumors, considering we won't have money to sign a 2/3 starter considering Nolasco is traded.

[Ramp]

In no way does this kill or jumpstart any rumors. It's just talk.

furthermore, Nolasco should make more than Upton in 2011, therefore it would save money for this season

[wanks1212]

by Joe Capozzi
Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria just spoke with reporters in the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria upon his arrival to the GM meetings.

He defended the trade of Dan Uggla — “If somebody wants to give him five years, good luck to them. He’s 31 years old” — and vowed more changes to what already has been an overhaul of the roster.

You can read a story on all of this later but for now here is the transcript of what Jeffrey said.

“We need to make some changes. We’re not fooling around, either,” he said.

“We made four great strides in our bullpen already. And the infield is suddenly a different infield. And with Perry Hill coming it will be a better situation. There’s nothing off the table. We are putting any we have right back into payroll.”

Were you disappointed you didn’t sign Dan Uggla?
“I was extremely disappointed that they never responded. We just kept adding more and more and more money.

“Dan is a wonderful kid but I can’t speak for the advice he gets. That’s his advisers.

“I don’t think he wanted out at all. I think he was told that this is what he had to have – five years. If somebody wants to give him five years, good luck to them. He’s 31 years old. We set him up for a lifetime, for several lifetimes.”

How busy will the Marlins be the rest of the winter?

“We are looking at lots of things. I can’t tell you until we come a little closer. But we needed to improve the defense. We did. We needed to improve that bullpen and I’m not finished with the bullpen yet, either.”

Your previous infields, with sluggers like Mike Jacobs and Jorge Cantu, were all about home runs.

“Did we win? All great kids, but we need to be better defensively. It’s about baseball and doing the fundamentals and getting it right.

“We’re talking several times a day on what we want to do.”

Are you talking about potentially acquiring as marquee name?

“Don’t focus on that. Focus on what’s good solid baseball. Whether it turns out to be that or not, I don’t know. We lost 27 games last year after the seventh inning – 27 games! If we’d won 10 of those games because of the bullpen and four of them because of defense, then it’s a different story.”

Are you happy with the starting pitching?
“I’m very happy with the starting pitching. Like all ballclubs, if we stay healthy, we’re as competitive as anybody.”

What do you say to Marlins fans who miss Dan Uggla?
“Everybody gets excited about home run hitters. The homer runs didn’t win enough games for us. It has a wow effect but let me remind you: We have Mike Stanton for a full year. He can it a few home runs.”

Won’t Uggla’s absence force younger hitters to adjust faster than they might be ready?
“They will on their own. They’re all very talented kids.

“The roster has already gone through quite a makeover. Stay tuned. You know me. You know what I’m about.”

Can you talk about trading away Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin?
“Young players. Very young players. You take your chances. The trade we just made for the two pitchers, we’ve gotten several calls from guys who called our scouts and were sort of annoyed that we jumped in and got those players from San Diego. We move when we want to move quickly.”

Why are the Marlins so busy now, so early in the off-season?
“Because you have more choices. And we make up our minds relatively quickly when we want ot do something.

Will your next move likely to be complimentary move or something big?
“We could do either way. We’re always looking for pitching. I want this bullpen to be a tough one and a lot more seasoned than what we’ve been experiencing. I think we’ve done that already but we’re still not done there.

“As I said (earlier), we lost 27 games last year after the seventh inning. Cut down 10 of those games and you’re in the playoffs. We certainly have a lot of strength in our lineup even without Uggla.”

Is third-base prospect Matt Dominguez ready?
“I don’t want to put any pressure on the kid but he’s probably one of the best defensive third basemen around. He hasn’t played yet.

“Can he hit? He can hit but that’s a touch-and-go thing and he’s gonna have to work his way through that. He started to show really good signs of it last year in the Double-A season and changed where he was standing, where he was holding his bat.

“So if you put that defensive star at third, and you have Hanley at short, Infante and Gaby at first, suddenly it all changes. Perry Hill is gonna work a little magic to it, too. It’s an overhaul, but in the right direction.

“We are doing good things. I think the six new faces, 25 percent of the team has changed already.”

Why only a one-year contract for manager Edwin Rodriguez?
“We talked about what he would like to do. He said, ‘Give me a chance.’ And I thought about it. And I said you know what, I am going to give you a chance.

“He’s not a household name but he did a very nice job with these kids and they feel good playing for him. It was the right thing to do. He didn’t play with a full deck at the end of the season. There were so many injuries. We had to be fair. And to be fair I thought I’m going to give you that chance.”

http://blogs.palmbeachpost.com/marli...-more-changes/

[Ramp]

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria just spoke with reporters in the lobby of the Waldorf Astoria upon his arrival to the GM meetings.

He defended the trade of Dan Uggla — “If somebody wants to give him five years, good luck to them. He’s 31 years old” — and vowed more changes to what already has been an overhaul of the roster.

You can read a story on all of this later but for now here is the transcript of what Jeffrey said.

“We need to make some changes. We’re not fooling around, either,” he said.

“We made four great strides in our bullpen already. And the infield is suddenly a different infield. And with Perry Hill coming it will be a better situation. There’s nothing off the table. We are putting any we have right back into payroll.”

Were you disappointed you didn’t sign Dan Uggla?
“I was extremely disappointed that they never responded. We just kept adding more and more and more money.

“Dan is a wonderful kid but I can’t speak for the advice he gets. That’s his advisers.

“I don’t think he wanted out at all. I think he was told that this is what he had to have – five years. If somebody wants to give him five years, good luck to them. He’s 31 years old. We set him up for a lifetime, for several lifetimes.”

How busy will the Marlins be the rest of the winter?

“We are looking at lots of things. I can’t tell you until we come a little closer. But we needed to improve the defense. We did. We needed to improve that bullpen and I’m not finished with the bullpen yet, either.”

Your previous infields, with sluggers like Mike Jacobs and Jorge Cantu, were all about home runs.

“Did we win? All great kids, but we need to be better defensively. It’s about baseball and doing the fundamentals and getting it right.

“We’re talking several times a day on what we want to do.”

Are you talking about potentially acquiring as marquee name?

“Don’t focus on that. Focus on what’s good solid baseball. Whether it turns out to be that or not, I don’t know. We lost 27 games last year after the seventh inning – 27 games! If we’d won 10 of those games because of the bullpen and four of them because of defense, then it’s a different story.”

Are you happy with the starting pitching?
“I’m very happy with the starting pitching. Like all ballclubs, if we stay healthy, we’re as competitive as anybody.”

What do you say to Marlins fans who miss Dan Uggla?
“Everybody gets excited about home run hitters. The homer runs didn’t win enough games for us. It has a wow effect but let me remind you: We have Mike Stanton for a full year. He can it a few home runs.”

Won’t Uggla’s absence force younger hitters to adjust faster than they might be ready?
“They will on their own. They’re all very talented kids.

“The roster has already gone through quite a makeover. Stay tuned. You know me. You know what I’m about.”

Can you talk about trading away Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin?
“Young players. Very young players. You take your chances. The trade we just made for the two pitchers, we’ve gotten several calls from guys who called our scouts and were sort of annoyed that we jumped in and got those players from San Diego. We move when we want to move quickly.”

Why are the Marlins so busy now, so early in the off-season?
“Because you have more choices. And we make up our minds relatively quickly when we want ot do something.

Will your next move likely to be complimentary move or something big?
“We could do either way. We’re always looking for pitching. I want this bullpen to be a tough one and a lot more seasoned than what we’ve been experiencing. I think we’ve done that already but we’re still not done there.

“As I said (earlier), we lost 27 games last year after the seventh inning. Cut down 10 of those games and you’re in the playoffs. We certainly have a lot of strength in our lineup even without Uggla.”

Is third-base prospect Matt Dominguez ready?
“I don’t want to put any pressure on the kid but he’s probably one of the best defensive third basemen around. He hasn’t played yet.

“Can he hit? He can hit but that’s a touch-and-go thing and he’s gonna have to work his way through that. He started to show really good signs of it last year in the Double-A season and changed where he was standing, where he was holding his bat.

“So if you put that defensive star at third, and you have Hanley at short, Infante and Gaby at first, suddenly it all changes. Perry Hill is gonna work a little magic to it, too. It’s an overhaul, but in the right direction.

“We are doing good things. I think the six new faces, 25 percent of the team has changed already.”

Why only a one-year contract for manager Edwin Rodriguez?
“We talked about what he would like to do. He said, ‘Give me a chance.’ And I thought about it. And I said you know what, I am going to give you a chance.

“He’s not a household name but he did a very nice job with these kids and they feel good playing for him. It was the right thing to do. He didn’t play with a full deck at the end of the season. There were so many injuries. We had to be fair. And to be fair I thought I’m going to give you that chance.”

Joe Cap

[Omar]

Not really sure where they improved the defense (at this very moment), but alright

[Bobbob1313]

Not really sure where they improved the defense (at this very moment), but alright

3B and 2B, with Coghlan, Infante, Bonifacio, or Dominguez in pretty much any combination.

Our 2B and 3B defense were pretty terrible last year.

We are probably definitely worse at one position, CF.

[Omar]

If Dominguez is our 3B, then our defense has certainly improved there by every report so far. But he, at best, will get "a shot" at Spring Training and I'd say is very likely not to be on the Opening Day roster.

Not convinced that we improved second base defense regardless of who plays there from our current options (and that's despite the fact that Uggla wasn't really good with the glove).

Downgrade in CF from Cody's defense is almost entirely likely, and moderately likely from Maybin's defense.

I'm very hopeful that we make a legit defensively oriented move (Upton would certainly be that), but there's no improvement yet from the likely options IMO.

[Bobbob1313]

Infante is certainly an improvement over Uggla at 2B, as is Bonifacio, and likely Coghlan.

And our 3B were pretty terrible last year, mostly because of Cantu. So Infante and Bonifacio are probably better there too.

[lou]

I still think the best idea is to get another strong bench player to help at 3B and keep Dominguez in AAA for 2-3 months.

We can ride out "Vet," Bonifacio, and Helms at 3B... and if you get a guy capable of CF also, maybe Coghlan plays at 3B sometimes too and other guy gets some OF starts.

I like the flexibility of what is going on here... but they do need 2 more veteran types, one for infield one for center.

[Ramp]

ORLANDO — Think the Marlins have already done enough to overhaul their roster? They're not done yet.

"Stay tuned,' owner Jeffrey Loria said Wednesday. "We need to make some changes. We're not fooling around, either.'

In the span of one week, Florida added four relievers and an infielder through three trades. But Loria promised more improvements to the bullpen and said the Marlins might make a run at a starting pitcher and an outfielder.

All of those moves are possible, he said, because Florida on Tuesday traded second baseman Dan Uggla to the Braves, a move that freed up at least $10 million that had been earmarked next season toward the Marlins' all-time home run leader.

"There's nothing off the table,' Loria said about potential future moves. "We are putting any money we have right back into payroll.'

The Marlins have expressed strong interest this week in trading for Arizona center fielder Justin Upton. But if a deal happens, it probably wouldn't be until December.

They reached an agreement on a three-year, $18 million deal with free-agent catcher John Buck, who must pass a physical before the contract can be announced.

Loria knows that a series of injuries to key players contributed to the Marlins finishing a disappointing 80-82 last season. But he wonders if the Marlins would've reached the playoffs if they performed better on defense and in the bullpen.

"I want this (2011) bullpen to be a tough one and a lot more seasoned than what we've been experiencing. I think we've done that already but we're still not done there,' he said.

"We lost 27 games last year after the seventh inning. Cut down 10 of those games and you're in the playoffs. And we certainly have a lot of strength in our lineup even without Uggla.'

Uggla, who was traded for All-Star infielder Omar Infante and hard-throwing left-handed reliever Mike Dunn, turned down a four-year, $48 million offer from the Marlins.

He wanted a five-year deal worth a reported $71 million - a package that would've exceeded by $1 million the five-year extension Hanley Ramirez received in May 2008.

Loria said he believes Uggla wanted to stay with the Marlins but listened instead to his agent.

"I don't think he wanted out at all. I think he was told that this is what he had to have - five years,' Loria said. "If somebody wants to give him five years, good luck to them. He's 31 years old. We set him up for a lifetime, for several lifetimes.'

Uggla's departure most likely signals the end of the home-run slugging Marlins, who have also parted ways with power threats such as Cody Ross, Jorge Cantu and Mike Jacobs.

"Everybody gets excited about home run hitters,' Loria said. "The home runs didn't win enough games for us. It has a 'wow' effect, but let me remind you that we have Mike Stanton for a full year. He can hit a few home runs.'

Stanton, 21, hit 22 home runs in 100 games as a rookie in 2010. The Marlins are counting on Buck to hit at least 20 homers, which he did last season for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Infante will improve the defense, Loria said, and the Marlins got three other relievers last weekend by trading under-achieving left-hander Andrew Miller to Boston and center fielder Cameron Maybin to San Diego.

"We made four great strides in our bullpen already and the infield is suddenly a different infield,' Loria said.

"We are looking at lots of things. I can't tell you until we come a little closer.'

PalmBeachPost