Stark: Marlins Could Be Big Players This Off-Season UPDATE: All Big Names In Play

[Erick]

CF and 3B are clear holes, plus We only have 3 bats on the Bench for sure. That's about 1500.

Bonifacio can play CF. He's already on the team.

Aramis would be my bat signing. That's the 3B.

Bring back Infante for 2B. He's decent and not too costly.

The bench is about the easiest thing to fill out. Bench players are cheap; they just need to find the right guys. The Greg Dobbs/Ross Gload's of the world are out there just about every offseason.

More difficult to acquire good relievers than it is to acquire good bench players.

[Jay]

We really need two starters

You could easily argue 3 and I can see someone making an argument for 4. I think the rotation is a definite priority.

We need minimum 2 starters, a bat and Infante resigned before any funds are focused on improving other aspects of the team.

[McKeon]

We need minimum 2 starters, a bat and Infante resigned before any funds are focused on improving other aspects of the team.

I agree with that 100%. I think it's important to add either a CJ Wilson or a Mark Buhrele, hopefully both, and that way your #4 or #5 guys are Sanchez and Nolasco, as opposed to #1 and #2 this year.

Infante has had a stellar 2nd half and re-signing him is a must. I think Aramis is the most likely of the big names we'd get.

[Erick]

You could easily argue 3 and I can see someone making an argument for 4. I think the rotation is a definite priority.

We need minimum 2 starters, a bat and Infante resigned before any funds are focused on improving other aspects of the team.

You cannot easily argue 3 and you definitely cannot make an argument for 4. That is silly.

You could definitely make an argument for 2, yes.

It's also really not a big deal if our rotation next year is JJ, Anibal, free agent, Nolasco, #5. That is a good rotation.

The #5 doesn't have to be a big deal. Most #5's in the big leagues suck.

The reason why the rotation has been an issue this year is mainly because Josh Johnson got injured.

Every rotation would suck if their ace is out for the year.

Anibal is a good pitcher. Nolasco is Nolasco.

They need to add a starter in free agency, but it's seriously not a horrible rotation pending they stay healthy for once.

[Erick]

I agree with that 100%. I think it's important to add either a CJ Wilson or a Mark Buhrele, hopefully both, and that way your #4 or #5 guys are Sanchez and Nolasco, as opposed to #1 and #2 this year.

Infante has had a stellar 2nd half and re-signing him is a must. I think Aramis is the most likely of the big names we'd get.

Because Josh Johnson got injured.

I'm not going to be disappointed if we don't sign both of those guys. That would just be a great rotation.

Anibal #4, Nolasco #5 would be nice, but realistically speaking, your rotation is not fucked if Anibal is your #3 and Nolasco is your #4. That's exactly what they are, unless you're talking about the Phillies rotation or something, which is incredible.

I'm not overly concerned about the #5 starter. The average #5 starter in the big leagues sucks.

[McKeon]

Personally, as long as Volstad isn't our #5 I'll be more than happy.

[Bobbob1313]

You can't count on JJ being healthy for a full season. You simply cant. This team needs 6 serviceable starters. There's really no way around it.

[Jay]

What I meant was those guys had a large amount of success in the closer role. None of this LeoCoaster nonsense. No, I don't think we should make a bunch of minor league deals, but we shouldn't just hand the role over to an unproven rookie.

Borowski had 44 saves before coming here. Not really supporting your case there. Also both him and Jones have higher career whips then Nunez.

[Erick]

That won't cut it in the NL east

A top 4 of Josh Johnson, C.J. Wilson, Anibal Sanchez, and Ricky Nolasco cuts it in any division.

That's two aces, a very good #3, and a #4 who despite his inconsistencies is going to be good more often than not/give the team 200+ innings.

That's an above average rotation, regardless of who the #5 is.

Some of you are talking about backend relievers like "who cares, anyone can do it!"
Anyone can be a #5 starter, as well. Even in the great Phillies rotation, their #5 for a large part of the year was Joe Blanton/Kyle Kendrick, until Vance Worley came out of nowhere and went 11-1.

[Jay]

I forgot we needed to sign Hammer. Oops. That's high up there on the offseason checklist as it allows other roster moves to be made in addition to how awesome he is.

[McKeon]

A top 4 of Josh Johnson, C.J. Wilson, Anibal Sanchez, and Ricky Nolasco cuts it in any division.

That's two aces, a very good #3, and a #4 who despite his inconsistencies is going to be good more often than not/give the team 200+ innings.

That's an above average rotation, regardless of who the #5 is.

Some of you are talking about backend relievers like "who cares, anyone can do it!"
Anyone can be a #5 starter, as well. Even in the great Phillies rotation, their #5 for a large part of the year was Joe Blanton/Kyle Kendrick, until Vance Worley came out of nowhere and went 11-1.

You can't really compare it to Philly's rotation cause they have four guys who could be legitimate Cy Young contenders every year. However, a rotation where Javy Vazquez could be the #5 would be kickass, even if JJ goes down with injury. That rotation would be better than Atlanta's.

[Erick]

You can't count on JJ being healthy for a full season. You simply cant. This team needs 6 serviceable starters. There's really no way around it.

If JJ isn't healthy for a full season, we're likely going nowhere, anyway.

If we have hopes of making the playoffs, we definitely have to count on JJ being able to stay healthy a full season.

His injuries this year weren't serious. He had the Tommy John in the past; point is, either way, if JJ gets hurt, we're screwed anyway, no?

It's not as if we're going to have JJ + 5 other big league starters (5 instead of 4 just in case JJ gets injured). I doubt the front office is thinking that way. That's just unrealistic, imo.
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You can't really compare it to Philly's rotation cause they have four guys who could be legitimate Cy Young contenders every year. However, a rotation where Javy Vazquez could be the #5 would be kickass, even if JJ goes down with injury. That rotation would be better than Atlanta's.

I'm not comparing it to the Phillies rotation.

I'm just stressing the point that most #5's are mediocre even in the greatest of rotations.

[Bobbob1313]

The plan should be "5 legitimate proven big league starters plus the Sanabia, Volstad, etcs" of the world.

It's absolutely nuts that you think 60 relief innings At a premium is a bigger priority than a #5 starter who can compete.

[McKeon]

I'm just stressing the point that most #5's are mediocre even in the greatest of rotations.

That's true. The problem becomes when you have three average to below average pitchers in your rotation, which we won't have next season barring another set of injuries that occurred this year.

[Erick]

The plan should be "5 legitimate proven big league starters plus the Sanabia, Volstad, etcs" of the world.

It's absolutely nuts that you think 60 relief innings is a bigger priority than a #5 starter who can compete.

That's the plan for every team; I'm not saying otherwise.

I'm just saying that the JJ, Wilson, Buehrle, Anibal, Nolasco rotation everyone seems to be in love with right now might not necessarily happen. At the end of the day, we're fine with one of those lefties and competition for the #5 spot.

It's also not that nuts or silly, imo.
The math might say it's silly, but at the end of the day, the main goal is to have the best overall team possible regardless of which positions allow you to have that best team possible.

I don't know the exact figure but I'd be willing to bet that the average 60 relief inning closer is paid a lot more than the average #5 starter.

It's important to have a good backend of the bullpen and use of payroll is only silly/nuts depending on the payroll.

I think some are thinking along the lines of the 50 million dollar payroll Marlins. Next year we'll be the ~100 million dollar payroll Marlins. It's not that silly to spend on a closer when your payroll is getting to such a figure.

Heck, if anything, it was silly to pay Leo Nunez what they paid him this year in comparison to the overall payroll, yet the team did it anyway.